N: Nan Khatai #AtoZChallenge

In school, in Class XI, I took Nutrition as one of my subjects. I don't really know why. I used to hate cooking and nothing about food (except eating it) interested me. However, I discovered pretty early on that I enjoyed cooking. There was something very intriguing about taking some raw foodstuff and turning it into something delicious! 

One of the early recipes we were given were of Nan Khatais. That was when I discovered these lovely Indian "cookies"! Oh there were a lot of things we learnt, right from cheese balls to alu dum to eggs to cutlets ... For a long time I had even saved the file. It got lost along the way, but that introduction to cooking started me on a journey that (thankfully) never ends! 

So for the Nan Khatai recipe, I checked into one of my favourite recipe blogs and here it is, thanks to @MonikaManchanda I'll be trying these soon, will you?  

M: Malpoa AtoZChallenge

I married into a very religious and conservative family. My husband thankfully, had warned me that I would be expected to go the the puja room as required and help out with the rituals and stuff. I agreed, saying that I would do it is a duty provided I was not asked to believe in those Gods and rituals unless I wanted to. The husband agreed, done deal. 

I was married in August. My trial by fire was in September, when Janmasthami came around. I was told to make luchis. Luchis? I almost died right there, I knew what they were, but I had never made one in my life! But.. I did know how to make rotis. Undaunted, I took some white flour, mixed in oil and water and proceeded to make the  luchis the same way as rotis, except that I fried them in oil. In hindsight, I know now what a disaster those were. They tasted okay and by some miracle swelled while frying, but I had burnt loose flour all over, the oil was thick with it! I did not know that unlike rotis, for luchis, when you roll them you use oil, not loose flour! Best thing is that no one complained or said a word! 

Next was malpoa. Thankfully I was told to cut a pineapple (on a Boti which is another story altogether) and one of my brothers-in-law made them. I had seen my mother make it at home but had no clue how it was done. I will not forget that afternoon easily... struggling with the pineapple (and other fruits) while my brother-in-law sweated over a tiny stove. Now there have been a lot of changes. There is gas in the puja room kitchen, there are ladies hired to do the cooking, there are knives and even a peeler, convenience has taken over. But that day more than twenty years ago, has been etched in my memory. And those sweet pancakes? Those malpoas? That remains a constant favourite of every ones, specially at Janmasthami, only now it comes from Gupta Brothers! 

Here's a simple recipe I found online. We Bengalis do not do the rabri part, our malpoas are soaked in sugar syrup and served, preferably warm and crisp at the edges. 

Malpua recipe

L: Lamington cake #AtoZChallenge

In college in Pune, we were a hungry lot. Good food was expensive and depended largely on our budgets. More often than not, we were broke and survived on Maggi Noodles and bread and eggs. One of those "I am hungry but am broke" days, a friend got us some Lamington cakes from Spicer College Bakery. We greedily lapped it up, it was like the best thing we had eaten in days!

Years later, pretty recently in fact, we went somewhere and I saw Lamington cakes and promptly got some for my girls. The spouse did not care for it much, "too much coconut," he said. The girls were okay with it and I found it wasn't half as exciting as it had been, years ago. I remembered those college days and the friendship we shared. I found myself thinking of how it would have been a treat for us in those days.

Hunger is such a wonderful thing.

And you? Is there any memory of any food you would have greedily lapped up when you were broke but would not care for now?
Hunger is such a wonderful thing.

K: Key Lime Pie #AtoZChallenge

I had my first slice of this little bit of heaven as a teenager when we were visiting Florida. I had obviously ordered something full of gooey chocolate while the rest of the family decided to try the key Lime Pie, which is a speciality of Florida as it uses limes found in the Florida keys. (I'm sorry, no offense meant, but I do think the Indian tart limes work just as well. In any case one must make do with whatever is available!) Needless to say, even chocolate faded in comparison. I must mention that as a child I did not dislike chocolate as much as I do now. Maybe this was the beginning? 

Anyway back to the dessert: Key Lime Pie is made of lime juice, egg yolks and sweetened condensed milk in a biscuit crust, yes like a cheesecake. The original Bahaman native version also adds meringue topping so the egg whites are not wasted. 

During mixing, a reaction between the condensed milk and the acidic lime juice occurs that causes the filling to thicken on its own without requiring baking. Many early recipes for Key lime pie did not require baking the pie, relying on this thickening to produce the proper consistency of the filling. Today, because consuming raw eggs can be dangerous, pies of this nature are usually baked for a short time. The baking also thickens the texture more than the reaction alone.

Despite its tart center, the top juxtaposes it adding more sweet flavors in some pies.

If you check online, there are tons of recipes for this this. Here is my favourite by Martha Stewart. 

Key lime pie Recipe here

A few tips: 

• Digestive biscuits are a great substitute for graham crackers. 
• If the meringue part looks scary (I have friends who are petrified) omit it. It tastes great even without it. 
• Do not try this in the hot summers, wait till it's cooler. The humidity in the air makes everything go flat. 
• If you are making the meringue and you do not have a blowtorch (I don't) bake in the oven for about 10 to 12 minutes (180 degrees C) , it will have a similar effect.
• All the best. Do let me know how it goes! 

J: Jelly #AtoZChallenge

Ah, jelly. When we were very young, those jelly packets were hard to come by in India. My aunt who stayed in Sunderland used to bring them for us. the one she got wasn't like the powdered gelatin and flavour mix you get these days, it was a wobbly concentrated chunk that came in squares and looked much like a small waffle. Anyone remember those? I do not know if those are still available, but they used to come in amazing flavours like black-currant and black cherry and raspberry and used to be delicious. I often stole the cubes, (much to my mother's chagrin) and could not wait for it to be "cooked" (as in melted and set). Yes, jellies were always a favourite and my daughters love them too. I remember every birthday party they had as kids used to see me making piles of jellies for them and their friends. Nowadays they make their own jelly (from packets) and sometimes set it in the ice tray so they have little cubes of jelly to have! The other day my sister-in-law was making jelly for her two year old twins and that's what I told her too do! 

Here's to the wobbly dessert loved by the kids, add some fruits (except pineapple because there's something in it that prevents gelatin from setting), have it with custard or icecream, make it into a trifle...whatever. Jelly always disappears fast in our house! 

I: Ice-lollies #AtoZChallenge

No matter how old I get, on a hot summer's day in Calcutta, one of the few things that I love to have are ice-lollies. Remember the orange lollies in school that left an orange stain on our uniforms and our tongues? Yes, that. 

And also the Bombay Chowpatty style lollies made of crushed ice stuffed into a glass with a stick and then covered with syrup? That too. 

I tried to make them at home when I was young. We used to have trays of orange squash (with a little sugar, otherwise it will not freeze nicely) and odd bowls and glasses with old ice-cream sticks in them sitting in the fridge. My mother used to be complaining that half the kitchen napkins were ruined because I was forever making crushed ice (I would put the ice cubes in the cloth and hammer away at it with a pestle!)  and making a mess! In fact, during our holidays, on hot summer afternoons, when the rest of the house was sleeping, ice-lollies provided a lot of fun, pleasure and entertainment as far as I was concerned!

I remember in Ranchi, my grandmother used to cut up watermelon, sprinkle a teeny bit of sugar on it and freeze. It was one of the most awesome things ever; fresh, natural and delicious. And that is still my favourite way to have watermelon.  

It's 37 degrees Centigrade here today, right now. My cellphone tells me the real feel is 44 degrees. Time for an ice-lolly, don't you think?