Apricot Pudding ....Kerala Style

I was not born a foodie. Neither did I grow up as one. My mom can narrate stories (horror for her, I am sure ) about how difficult it was to make me eat.  I grew up as the ‘thin girl ‘, with all of my hundred aunts giving my mom tips on how to make me healthy!  And then I got married. If someone tells you, marriage changes your life, that would be an understatement.   Cooking de-stresses him ( seriously !!)  God has a weird sense of humor, I should say ! He looked down at me and said ‘not enough ’and gave me a group of friends for whom life revolves around food.

We celebrate all festivals…., Onam , Vishu, Easter, Eid, Diwali , Thanksgiving, Christmas,  Independence day, Republic day, National day, not to mention the birthdays and anniversaries of all of us. In short anything where food is an integral part. We reminiscence our vacations by cooking food specific to the places we visited .

When Eid, Diwali and Kerala day fell within a span of 2 weeks, the busy but foodie group decided to celebrate it with a lunch. A meal invitation to Laxmi’s always comes with a lot of anticipation and hope and sometimes even skipping a meal to make space for the delicious food. Last weekend was no different. We celebrated in true fusion style, with mutton biryani and chicken biryani on a plantain leaf.

We finished off the sumptuous meal with Apricot pudding, Laxmi style….finger licking delicious…

Here’s the recipe for Laxmi’s Apricot Pudding.

Ingredients :

1/2 kg dry Apricots

1 cup water

½ cup sugar

350 gm Mawa or khoya (Its actually just semi solid thickened milk !)

½ lit whipping cream

½  tsp Vanilla essence

To make Cashew caramel : 2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp water and 100 gms Cashew nuts

Method :

Wash and keep the Apricots in water for about  4 to 5 hrs. Boil with 1 cup of water  and ½ cup sugar. Add the Apricots and cook till it is soft. Remove the seeds , smash the apricots to a paste and let it cool.

Layer it in the vessel you are planning to set it in and serve and refrigerate, for about an hour. If you are in real hurry stick it in the freezer for  10-15 minutes.

If you are strong enough, crush  the Mawa  ( Khoya) or else grate it and layer it over the apricot. Keep it back in the fridge for another 30 minutes.

Add ½ tsp vanilla essence to ½  liter whipping cream (add 100 ml condensed milk if the cream is unsweetened )  and pour over the Mawa .  

Back it goes into the fridge again. Can stay there till your main course is done.

Meanwhile roast the cashew nuts.

To make caramel ( boil 2tsp of sugar with 1 tsp of water . As it changes colour throw in the roasted  cashew nuts. Mix well and pour into another vessel to let it cool. Crush it and sprinkle over the  cream just before serving.
 
                               

And , yes, Now I eat everything & I love food !!