Broken Wheat / Dalia Upma

So we were off to Delhi and then Punjab for a couple of days. A trip that promised us a well deserved holiday, travel and loads of fun. Apart from the series of celebrations and the wedding, it was an excitement to explore more of Punjab frontiers that I had never been to. I feel rejuvenated just as I am back from our Delhi Punjab trip. Undoubtedly as it's known for, both stood out to be a thorough gastronomical feast to our ever hungry selves. If Delhi's metro ride seemed ultimate fun and an easy route to curb the traffic, Amritsar's exquisite Golden Temple was a devout treat to our eyes and peace to our reverent soul. While streets of Jalandhar brought similarities to the small town down like Mangalore, what set them apart is probably their difference in culture, language and food. A food that realms under magical addiction of ghee and butter, served with love and passion for relishing and feeding.

North is famous for culinary creations. I was looking forward to the most coveted Amritsar's Temple Langar, supposedly a must visit if you are around this place. Baisakhi brought in huge volume of devotees and the unending queue to visit the temple premises, following the Langar left us disappointed as we couldn't make it. However, right outside the temple, Bhrawan Da Dhaba blew me off with those fresh Laccha Parathas and Tandoori Kulchas, served with a massive dollop of melting butter, a food fit for kings. Being back home feels good. After all that travel, excess indulgence in food and celebrations, it’s a relief to our tummies and rejuvenated selves. Dalia or broken wheat upma that I made back home gave us a respite from all that heavy foodie indulgences we had over the holiday.

Dalia Upma / Broken Wheat Upma

Inspired by Tarla Dalal’s book, Healthy Breakfast
Also available on Tarladalal.com

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup broken wheat /dalia
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 slit green chilli, chopped
1/2 tsp. grated ginger
1/4 cup green peas
1/4 cup carrot cubes
1/4 tsp. mustard seeds
4-5 cashews
2 tsp. oil
Salt to taste

 To Garnish

2 tbsp. chopped coriander
A dash of lime juice

DIRECTIONS

Clean and wash the broken wheat thoroughly. Drain and keep aside. Heat the oil in a pressure cooker. Add the mustard seeds. When they cackle, add the onions, cashews, green chilli, and ginger and sauté till the onions turn translucent. Add the green peas, carrots, broken wheat and salt and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes. Add 1½ cups of water and pressure cook for 1 whistle. Before serving, add a dash of lime juice to zing the flavors. Garnish with the coriander and serve hot.

While on our journey, a couple of my favorite cookbooks kept me and my little one engaged with their recipes and eye catchy photographs, also my ways to wield travel boredom. This Dalia upma by Tarla Dalal was one of the recipe from that cookbook I am hooked to, ever since it caught my attention. Dalia, a food I always considered was fit for the sick and patients, this recipe changed my perception then on. I make upma very often and using dalia is a good twist to the original upma. I’ve made this umpteen number of times and we all love the way it transforms a boring ingredient to an exotic, healthy breakfast dish.

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Kahlua Pistachio Mini Popsicles

I am just back from a short hiatus. The past two weeks have been extremely hectic for me as an official tour took me to the 'City of Pearls', Hyderabad. My weekdays were phenomenally stressful, packed with working late hours, loads of learning and deadlines I had to submit. It's a city I had heard about and visiting it for the first time was indeed exciting. I always look forward to the gastronomical adventure in most of my trips and just as I expected the Hyderabadi biriyani and Karachi biscuits did not disappoint me for sure. Of course I had limited time at hand since this was not meant to be a holiday trip... but I am not complaining!

Even as I begin to unpack my stuffs I am ready packing off for a week long planned holiday tour. It's been a travel packed month as I am looking forward to a fun packed trip to northern frontiers of our country. A distance travel, sangeet, mehandi, baaraat, marriage, bidai... meeting relatives, fun with shopping and some gastronomical delight with floats of ghee and gleam with butter in food to indulge into and more is what we are looking forward to. Delhi, Jalandhar, Amritsar is calling us for lots more.

Back in Bangalore right now the summers are here and the sun has been blazing real hot. My sunscreens, gogs and umbrellas are out of their hiding as temperatures soar high. They'll make their trip north too. Fruit juices, milkshakes and ice-creams have been ruling our menu to quench thirst. I am missing our chill winters terribly. Also my humble prayers to rain God for a few showers.

This Kahlua ice-cream was made to beat the summer heat. Sure treat for coffee lovers.

A couple of my readers have dropped me questions on how I manage to get good ice-creams without any ice-cream maker. Though I would still stress on the fact that homemade ice-creams cannot be as creamy and voluminous as store bought ones. My simple trick is to fill the ice trays with the ice-cream batter, freeze them chill and then churn them in a high speed blender/mixer. It breaks the ice-crystals easily. Transfer to another container and then you return them to the freezer. It helps to a large extent.

Kahlua Pistachio Mini Popsicles

INGREDIENTS

200 ml middle fat cream
200 ml condensed milk
200 ml full fat milk
40-50 ml Kahlua (replace with strong coffee decoction instead for non alcoholic version)
2 tbsp chopped Pistachios
Sugar adjusted to taste

DIRECTIONS

Combine condensed milk along with the full fat milk. I do this in a mixie. Whip the middle fat cream to soft peaks. I used Milky Mist here. Add this to the whipped milk. Give a quick whizz. Add in the Kahlua. Replace with strong coffee decoction instead for non alcoholic version. Taste and adjust sugar to your taste.

Transfer this to ice trays and freeze them for 2-3 hours. Once almost set, transfer the ice-cream to a mixie and give a quick whizz till the ice cream is creamy. Transfer to the ice cream tray again and repeat twice. In the final churn add the pistachios and mix well. Transfer to popsicle moulds if available. You may also transfer to regular freezer proof containers and serve like regular ice cream.

I hope this ice cream brings smiles on your faces. It's super simple, easy-peasy and makes up a great treat. Simple to remember recipe with ingredients in equal quantities. Do try it sometime and be prepared for accolades to follow :) Hope you have some soothing moments with this treat while I shall be back with more next week.

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