Jardaloo Ice Cream

A lasting fragrance, smooth and chunky at the same time. The Kernels enhance every mouthful further with their nuttiness.

It's an ice cream that you will want to make immediately and it is so easy!

Make it now:

400 gms of condensed milk (Amul Mithai Mate)

+

200 ml of Low Fat Fresh Cream (Amul Fresh Cream)

+

Whip together both in the food processor until frothy. Freeze in an airtight box for 2 hrs. 

Whip second time. Freeze again for 2hrs in an airtight box.

+

1 cup of Jardaloo pulp

 Once the icecream is set. Mix in the pulp. Give the ice cream a marble effect. Do not mix completely. You will see the pretty chunky fruit bits as the fruit is hand pulped. The ice cream gets a beautiful peach color. Freeze overnight or atleast for 4 more hours. 

Serve the delicious ice cream in scoops.

+

Jardaloo Kernels for studs

 To further intensify the experience of this beautiful treat stud the ice cream with the Jardaloo kernels, toasted is better.

Enjoy this summer!

Jardaloo Ice Tea

Well so if you read the previous post and you are back then you are curious about what I did with the water in which the Jardaloo soaked?

In a jar I poured the Jardaloo juice enriched water and topped up with more water to a total of 500ml. I adjusted the sweetness by adding sugar to my taste. Then about 1/2 teaspoon of tea powder and let it steep all night in the fridge.

The next day I had a wonderful Jardaloo iced tea ready for a afternoon sipper. Just strain it before serving. Serves 2 small tumblers or one huge glass. 

Make sure the Ice tea is consumed the next day else the Jardaloo pulp in the tea starts spoiling. While serving you can add slices of lime but don't add lime juice, it does not go well with the steeped Jardaloo juice and tea.

Enjoy!

On a sultry day I chose to sit near the balcony and the natural breeze was much welcome to relieve the heat that the whirring of the fan did not help. The Jardaloo iced tea was perfect!

Jardaloo Jadoo!

This picture of Nubra Valley is taken by my nephew. The Jardaloo in this post were grown here.

Last year in July, M Vahini and family had gone to Leh-Ladakh and they came back with a big packet of Jardaloo for me. They were very dry and impossible to snack on the the flesh without fracturing your teeth. Not very happy, I stashed away the packet in the fridge. Its been months in there, every time I looked at it I felt sad that they were getting fridge burnt!

To my rescue came ET, she had made an ice cream with apricots. If you remember this post was also inspired by her. I love her desert ideas. So I decided to make some ice cream too. Yes at first that's all I wanted to make, then on second thought I was inspired to make a curry with Jardaloo as the star ingredient so you saw the Jardaloo Chhole post.

It all began with soaking some 40 plus Jardaloo in hot water. Yes I know that's luxury but I wanted to get rid of them so saved a few but literally emptied the pack for soaking. I poured about 600 ml hot boiling water over those 40 and let them soak in the bath for almost 8-9 hours.

Sneaking on a few to taste as they soaked and used about 7 of them in the Chhole. By lunch time they were still not soaked till the seeds. Yet after the entire day under water a slight squeeze and the seeds just popped out clean. 

The water in which I soaked the Jardaloo looked brownish and thick with the juices. Of the 600 ml water what remained in the bowl was about a little more than 200 ml. It resembled my favorite summer cooler. Ah! but I am not telling everything in this post come back again to see what I made. 

With clean washed hands I mashed the flesh. I don't like using the blender as it destroys the natural fiber in the fruit and it does affect the taste. You must be wondering what I did with the pulp? Of course I made ice cream! Promise I'll show you pictures. The color is beautiful and right now in a tub and chilling in the freezer.

The seeds that you popped out are not to be discarded. Crack them up with a pestle carefully and you will be rewarded with kernels that taste like almonds. I checked out a few for bitterness. They tasted good with no trace of bitterness. The rest are saved to sprinkle on the ice cream servings. 

Now you must be thinking I ate the shells too. No no, I did not eat them but you know me. I don't waste anything and I upcycle a lot, so the shells went into the Brahmakamal pot which was showing receding planting soil. Remember next time shells of any nut can be mixed with planting media to give it some aeration and texture.

Now do you agree Jardaloo has Jadoo in it's name itself! It's magic!

See the complete magic of Jardaloo now!

Jardaloo Chhole With Vegetable Pulao And Rose Milk

Jardaloo Chhole With Vegetable Pulao, Nuts from Jardaloo, 

Microwaved Potato Mirgund and Rose Milk

Today, 1st May 2013, was one of the days I did nothing and actually enjoyed doing nothing!

The Nothing is giving me something, Peace of mind!

It is the heat and dust that is causing trouble but harsh summers make the anticipation of the monsoon showers worth the wait! That's life too!

In this unbearable summer time I have been making simple meals and lots of coolers for the afternoons. So far the meals went something like this Chilled Kelyacha Shikaran and Poli, Bean cultlets with salad, Greens stir fry and Phulkas, Tomato Omlette etc. 

Today I felt like making a combo meal complete with dessert. It should get ready in under 30 mins being the criteria. Having started cooking only at 12.30 pm I ensured the hungry Dad got his sharp 12 noon fill of a plate of cut papaya. The papaya was tasteless so gave it a honey bath.  

That done I could focus on preparing the meal. I had cooked and frozen chickpeas that turned out to be of great use today, I pulled them out and set them on the counter to defrost. On the side I was soaking Jardaloo for the things I wanted to do inspired by ET, I also promised her that I will experiment with them in a curry.  

Now the cuisines that I know which use Jardaloo or Apricots in their cooking are the Parsi and Middle Eastern. So I froze on the simple veg pulao which is on the lines of Brown rice that goes with Dhansak. To round off the meal on a sweet note I thought Rose milk fit the theme perfectly.

So presenting to you a Parsi inspired combo-meal.

Jardaloo Chhole

Ingredients

5-7 Jardaloo/ Apricots soaked in hot water for atleast 2 hours.

2 cups cooked Chickpeas/ chhole

 (Incase cooked are not available, soak overnight and pressure cook until completely cooked about 4-5 whistles)

2 medium onions chopped lengthwise

3 tomatoes diced

1 teaspoon Koli masala

1/4 teaspoon red chili powder

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon jeera

1 teaspoon coriander powder

1 teaspoon sugar

2 tablespoons oil

Chopped Cilantro for garnish

Masala paste

2 green chilies

7-8 cloves garlic

1/2 inch piece of ginger

1 teaspoon salt

In a mortar and pestle, grind the green chilies, garlic, ginger and salt to a coarse paste.

In a small pressure cooker heat oil. Fry the masala paste till caramelized slightly. Add the chopped onions and fry till transparent and pale pink. Add the tomatoes and the spices, jeera, coriander powder, turmeric powder, red chili powder, Koli masala and fry on high heat till the tomatoes form a paste. Add the sugar. Now tip in the cooked chhole.

Add the soaked Jardaloo. Remove the stone from the Jardaloo before adding or if you don't mind them while eating you can just remove it at the table. If you have strong teeth crack the stone and eat the nut inside!

Close the lid and allow 3 whistles. Put off heat, allow to cool completely. Open the lid and mash the chickpeas a bit with the back of the spoon against the cooker wall to get a thick gravy.

To serve ladel out the chhole into a bowl, top up with a cooked jardaloo from the gravy and garnish with chopped fresh cilantro.

Vegetable Pulao

(Parsi Brown rice inspired)

This is a very simple pulao and goes well with this curry. I would not recommend it as a pulao for consumption on its own but may be the western palate may still find it good as a stand alone. 

Ingredients

1  cup Basmati rice

6 Fresh beans, I used black eyed beans from the Green Balcony

1/2 cup florets of cauliflower

1/2 green peas

2 onions chopped lengthwise

1 Tej patta

5-6 cloves

10-12 pepercorns

2 cardamoms

3 tablespoons Oil 

1/2 teaspoon of sugar
Salt to taste

Wash and soak basmati rice in water for 30 mins. Drain the water and keep aside.

Heat oil in a wok. Fry the onions with half teaspoon of sugar. They will brown evenly and quicker. Add the vegetables to it  and fry. Add the drained rice and mix to coat the rice well with oil. Cook for 10 mins.

Meanwhile boil 3 cups water with salt.

Pour the boiled water into the rice.

Cook another 15 mins covered. Till all water it absorbed. Fluff the grains of rice.

To serve mould it in a cup and turn it out on the plate. Top with a red cherry.

On the side serve some jardaloo nuts. When you deseed the jardaloo before adding to the curry, keep the seeds aside. Smash these seed open to get the nut, it tastes like almond. No part of Jardaloo is wasted.

Rose Milk

Ingredients

3 tablespoon rose syrup (I used Kalverts) 

400 ml chilled milk

few ice cubes

sugar to taste

Mix everything in a shaker and serve in elegant glasses.

Enjoy this Parsi inspired combo-meal. Put together the plate with a small portion of the vegetable pulao, a bowl of Jardaloo chhole. The curry as well as the pulao has sweet notes from the Jardaloo and the sugar. It makes it a balanced taste. Add the microwaved potato mirgunds for some crunch. Sip on the perfect summer cooler of Rose milk and end your meal on a sweet note.

Life is about living the best way you know inspite of the harsh summers and the heat and dust!