Chillibibi

Cheesy, Creamy, Yummy Macaroni Pie

2010-05-15T17:19:00.009-04:00

Yeah, for those of you who’ve never been to the ‘teensy weensy’ Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago, you may be a little confused why I’ve listed this pasta dish as a Trinidadian concoction. Well even I wonder why! I just know that macaroni pie is something every body does make in Trinidad. You’ll find macaroni pie in eateries everywhere along the length and breath of this sunny twin island republic usually as a sidekick to fried rice, stewed or baked chicken, stew red beans and callaloo, with some ground provisions thrown in. Makes you feel hungry doesn’t it?

It’s as to be expected with cheesy gooey delights a favorite of adults and children; I am huge fan as well. But then I can happily eat pasta and pizza every day of the week. In my last life I suspect I was Italian and one day I hope to dedicate a year to chomp my way through Italy’s culinary attractions.

Macaroni pie is not your run-of-the-mill macaroni and cheese, its sooooo much better. The top is crusty and golden caramelized cheesy goodness while the insides are macaroni laced with a heavenly melted creamy cheesy sauce! So so good…

I’ve been wondering how this reached our white sandy shores. Was it the Americans with their base in Chaguaramas in the Second World War? Was it some unknown Italian who came and changed our culinary landscape forever and disappeared unknown into history. Or was it some nameless trini cook who made this hallowed discovery when pondering what to do with the long hard strings of dough that is macaroni? We might never know, but whoever it was, we are eternally grateful.

A word about ingredients: use 100% durum wheat macaroni as this will not be gummy when boiled. I used Swiss Macaroni but you can use any brand you prefer The cheddar cheese we get in Trinidad I don’t know if that is available in the US as my aunt always asks family who are visiting her in the US to bring a few blocks since she can’t find it there. The one I used did not have a brand name. You can use Anchor cheddar cheese as we get that brand in Trinidad or I guess any other cheddar cheese will do. I used normal, ‘Stay-fresh” milk (now Nestle), not evaporated milk; the milk does get creamier when the sauce boils down but you can substitute a little evaporated milk for some normal milk. I did not want it to taste too milky but you’re free to use more if that’s more your thing.

I present to you Trini Macaroni Pie. Beware its quite addictive.

Cuisine    Trinidadian
Type        Side-dish, Starch,
Time        30 mins Prep + 45 mins cooking
Serves    15

Ingredients

400g/14.1oz        pack macaroni (100% durum semolina)
3 tb           Butter (room temperature)
5 tb           flour
3 c or more       cheddar cheese grated
4 c              milk (normal or evaporated or a combination)
¼ tsp               ground black pepper
1 ¼ tsp          Salt (extra for salted water)
1 tsp              Sugar
1tsp           vegetable oil

Procedure

1.    Put a large pot of well salted water to boil. Add macaroni when the water starts to boil and add oil. When the macaroni is cooked but firm drain and reserve.

2.    Grate the cheese. Measure out the milk and have ready.

3.    Heat a large pot on low heat. Mix the butter and flour together and add to the pot. Stir until the flour smells cooked and not raw. This should take about 5 minutes but be careful not to burn. Once the flour is cooked start adding milk a ½ c at a time while whisking so that there are no lumps of flour. Continue whisking until all of the milk is added. Mix until the mixture thickens. This will take about 10 mins or less.

4.    Mix in salt, sugar and black pepper and take off stove and cool sauce for a few minutes. Take 2c of the cheese and add a little at a time while mixing to melt into sauce. Add macaroni and mix well to coat with sauce. Add ¼ c of cheese now and mix gently.

5.    Pour into a greased circular pan or a rectangular pan. Top with rest of cheese or more if you like.

6.    Bake at 350 for 45 mins. You can broil on low for 5 mins if you want the top golden.

Copyright © 2010 Aruna Ria   All Rights Reserved

Coconut Chutney, how my agee does make it

2010-05-10T11:54:00.012-04:00

Coconut chutney and Aloo-pie on a banana leaf

“Vote for me, I will not disappoint. I guarantee total gastronomic satisfaction; dem odders eh have notin on me. I is the only one with a smoky disposition and a serious spicy undertone. I could take de heat and with all dis fuss about de environment I can boost of being green….ish. I am a team player, I doh go it alone, whether I working with aloo pie or kachorie or even pholourie I am a hit wherever I go. Try me with some dhal and rice and you’ll see what I mean. So vote for me; coconut chutney, I am the king of chutneys, tamarind and mango is only pretenders, I am the real contender” That was an unpaid culinary announcement. The views expressed may be exactly the views of this blog.

So with all the electioneering going roung, ah was in a politicking mood. Is just two weeks again before Trinidad’s 41st General Election and I hope that we make it there without any violent or ugly incidents. I don't tink so though, Trinidadians are in general a peaceful people, unless you raise the price of a doubles or try to cancel Carnival.

Coconut Chutney garnished with Bandania

Coconut chutney is really vying for my vote as my favorite chutney with tamarind running a close second. This recipe is how my agee used to make it long time. She used to grind it with this massive stone mortar and pestle. It was a massive 15’’×20’’ stone with a concave indentation on the top and a smaller oblong stone which she used to do the grinding. I think she got it from the beach or a river. I wish I had one of those but I had to make do with a blender. The main drawback of the blender was the exorbitant amount of water required to get it to blend properly which sometimes gives a watery result. With the mortar and pestle my agee has you get everything even the bandania ground really fine giving the chutney a green ting and you don't require a huge amount of water to achieve this.

This version of coconut chutney is very versatile as it does not contain any exotic spices and so can go with any type of cuisine. I’ve seen other coconut chutneys recipes on the net and in cookbooks but they don’t do what my agee does which is roast the coconut. The roasting brings out the fabulous warm earthy aroma of the coconut, it’s really fantastic. It makes the whole house smell yummy.

Cuisine   Trini-Indian
Type       Condiment
Serves   20 (makes 2 ½ c chutney)
Skill    Easy
Time       40 mins


Ingredients

1 ¾ c        coconut diced into ¼ “ cubes (about 1 ¾ of a whole coconut)
7 cloves   garlic chopped coarsely (so would not stick in blender blades)
4                congo pepper (or whatever hot pepper you have) chopped
1 ¹/8 tsp   salt
15-20       leaves bandania (can subst curry or mint leaves) chopped
1 ½ c       water

The heat of this chutney I would say is medium. You can add more pepper if you want it hotter or less if you prefer a milder chutney.

Procedure

1.   Cut your coconut into two with the blunt edge of a knife. Separate the white coconut flesh from the hard brown outer shell. You can use a knife to do this but be careful not to cut yourself.

2.   Try to flatten the pieces of flesh so they are not too curved as this will help them get evenly roasted. Roast the coconut on both sides on a stove top until there are dark brown patches but do not burn to a crisp. Some parts may catch fire but that’s okay, just put it out and continue. When you are done you can scrape out the really burnt bits. When done chop coarsely enough so that it will not get stuck in the blender blades.

3.   Chop garlic, bandania and pepper.

4.   Drop the coconut, garlic, bandania and pepper into the blender and pulse until everything is minced. If you like this consistency you can add salt to taste and you’re done.

5.    If you prefer a more soupy consistency add the water a little at a time and blitz until you get the consistency you like. Add the salt and blend. Pour into a bowl to serve.

Copyright © 2010 Aruna Ria    All Rights Reserved

Sada Roti, hot off the tawah

2010-05-06T21:41:00.028-04:00

Sada Roti is a daily staple in the Indian Trinidadian diet. Sada roti for breakfast with some fry aloo, sada roti for lunch with curry bodi, sada roti in the after noon with bhaji, or tomato choka. Let’s just say in my lifetime I’ve eaten a lot of this flat bread.

It’s a very simple recipe and does not keep well hence the reason I added the yeast and a little butter. It tends to get dry if made in the morning and kept till lunch. The traditional recipe is very similar to India’s chapatti although Sada roti is bigger in diameter, thicker and contains baking powder but the cooking process I suspect is the same. The traditional thickness of sada roti is around ¾’ but you are free to make it thinner if you like, just adjust the cooking time accordingly. Right off the tawah sada roti is fragrant, spongy and delicious. I recommend eating it hot off the tawah, with a little butter.

My first experience with making sada roti probably occurred when I was about five or six when I begged my agee (paternal grandmother) to let me beleh (roll out) the loyah (ball of dough). I was only allowed two rolls of the bilnah (rolling pin) that time. Later when I was a little older I was allowed to finish the rolling process I ended up with square roti instead of the perfectly round ones my agee made. The cooking of the roti was another hurdle requiring much experience and skill to produce the soft, ‘puffed’ result which was produced by a process called ‘saykaying’.

Its been years since then and if it’s one cooking skill I can attest to have mastered thanks to my agee it is the cooking of sada roti. Before we begin you must have a tawah (round griddle) or a griddle and a rolling pin (bilnah).

Cuisine: Trini-Indian

Type: Bread

Time: 1hr
Serves: 4-8

Skill: Easy

Kid Participation: Some

Ingredients
2 c      white flour (or 1 ¼ white flour plus ¾ c whole-wheat)
2 tb           baking powder
¾ -1 c      water, as needed

You can safely omit these:
¼ tsp        instant yeast (optional)
¼ tsp        sugar (optional)
1 tb       butter (optional)

Procedure

1.   Mix the flour, baking powder, yeast butter and sugar if using in a bowl.

2.   Make a well in the centre of this mixture. Add a half cup of the water and mix with your fingers, adding more water as needed until you have a ball of dough.

3.   Knead the ball of dough on a flat floured surface or a chowkee for about 5 minutes until you have smooth elastic dough, sprinkling more flour if the dough is too sticky.

4.   Leave the dough to rise for 30 mins.

5.   Cut dough into two pieces and knead each piece into a ball. Leave to rest for 15 mins. Turn on the heat under the tawah or griddle.

6.   Take one piece of dough and roll out into a round flat shape
of approximately ¼ ‘ thick on a chowkee or flat surface. You do this by rolling the dough, flipping it over and rotating it and repeating. Sprinkle flour if necessary to prevent sticking while you roll out the dough with the rolling pin. (bilnah)

7.   Check to see if the tawah or griddle is hot. If it is not hot enough the roti will take too long to cook and if it is too hot the roti will get too stiff and will not swell.

8.   Put the roti on the hot tawah and wait until you see some small ‘bubbles which should be after a minute. Flip over at this point and leave for less than a minute. Then pull the tawah halfway off the burner. Pull the roti over the burner and rotate it over the fire quick enough so as it does not burn but slow enough so that it gets enough heat to that it starts to swell. Do not worry if it does not swell, it will still be delicious.

9.   Flip over and repeat until the entire roti swells. This is called ‘saykaying’

10.   Take off tawah and wrap in towel to keep warm while you roll out and cook the other loyah (ball of dough).

11.   Cut into quarters to serve. If your roti swelled you have a nice little pocket to fill with yummy things like fry aloo, bygan choka, curry channa and aloo etc. Or alternately you can eat it like we do in Trinidad by tearing a piece of the sada roti and scooping up some talkari or choka. Enjoy

Tips
•   If your roti does not swell it may be because the tawah is too hot and the roti had gotten too hard.
•   Use the flat end of a large pot spoon (or if you have a dabla) to flip over the hot roti. Use a cloth to rotate the roti when saykaying if your hands cannot stand the heat.
•   Don’t worry if you end up with a square roti, it takes practice to get it to be a circle.

Copyright © 2010 Aruna Ria All Rights Reserved

Currant Rolls from scratch

2010-04-30T09:47:00.013-04:00

Currant Rolls cut diagonally

Well its election time in Trinidad, so you know what that means; lots of noisy rallies and politicians promising all sorta things. Well let me make you a promise, you will not be disappointed with this currants roll recipe. The pastry is very simple to make and it is has just the right combination of currants and sugar. It tastes sooo good, you’ll never realize you’re eating something with whole-wheat in it!

I was a little worried at first since I did ‘ratch’ the recipe having never made it before. But when two of the three currant roll logs disappeared without a trace within four hours of being out of the oven I knew I was on to something. Enjoy

Cuisine: Trinidadian

Type: Dessert

Time: 1hr 40mins
Serves: 15

Skill: Easy

Kid Participation: Some

Ingredients
¾ c            wholewheat flour
2 ¼ c         white flour
150g        butter and shortening (approx 9tb) cold
¼tsp        salt
1c    or more ice cold water

1 c             currants
½ c            sugar
¼ tsp         cinnamon
2tb           butter (soft for brushing) or more
        Sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Procedure

1.    Put the wholewheat flour, white flour and salt in a large enough bowl and combine.
2.    Make sure your 150g of butter and shortening is very cold so that you can cut it into small cubes with a knife or a pastry blender. If after you have reduced all the butter and shortening to cubes it starts to melt, place it back in the fridge or freezer to cool and becomes solid again before continuing.
3.    Try to separate the cubes of butter/shortening when you take it out the fridge and cut it into the flour until the mixture resembles peas.

4.    Pour in some of the cold water and mix adding more water until the mixture is moistened. Form the above mixture into a ball by kneading gently for a minute. Put this ball into the fridge and refrigerate for 30 mins.
5.    While the dough is in the fridge mix the currants together with the sugar and cinnamon.
6.    Divide the cold dough into three equal portions and make each portion into a ball.

7.    Roll out a ball of dough into a 30cm × 25cm rectangle and approx 3mm thick.
8.    Brush the top of the dough with butter and sprinkle a third of the currant sugar mixture evenly leaving a 1” border.
9.    Start at the shorter end of the dough and start rolling tightly. When you finish rolling the dough into a log pinch the ends closed.

10.    Repeat steps 7-9 with the remaining dough.
11.    Grease a cookie sheet and place the logs side by side. Bake at 350° for 45-60mins.
12.    Brush with butter and sprinkle with sugar when cool. Cut diagonally to serve.

History written in Brown Paper

2010-04-14T10:51:00.062-04:00

These brown paper cone packets were common long time in Trinidad, I guess the introduction of the plastic bag changed that. My mum told me that when she was small she used to make lots of these to help her grandfather; ‘Baap’. Instead of chillibibi, my mother and her siblings would help my great-grandfather fill 200-500 of these cones with fried channa (garbanzo beans). He would then take the packs of channa and sell them for 2¢ each at the two Cinemas in Penal; the Regent which was an English Movie Cinema and the Sunbeam which showed Hindi films (or as we say in Trinidad ‘flims’)

According to my mother my great grand father ‘Baap’ was just a baby when he arrived in Trinidad from India with his parents (my great-great grand parents). They came to work as indentured laborers in the sugar-cane estates and as you can guess; since I’m still in Trinidad, they stayed.

So you may be wondering what prompted this jolt back into the 1960’s? It was the chillibibi more specifically the paper cones they used to be packaged in. When I asked my mother how to make the cones, she also told me the above story (again). Thankfully my dad did not hear the conversation or I would have been treated to the “When I was small I had to go tie the goat on the hill at six in the morning before I go to school” stories

You’ll need:
A sheet of Brown Paper
Scissors

Procedure

1.    Cut the brown paper into a rectangle. You can start with a 14cm × 10cm rectangle to practice. I found this size suitable for the chillibibi but if your filling is channa you'll need a bigger size rectangle.

2.    Hold the left bottom corner with your left hand and use it as an anchor while you twist the bottom right corner to form a cone. Try to tighten the cone to about a 2cm diameter at the top; the paper should go at least twice around. This is to ensure that your filling does not spill out, especially if your filling is chillibibi.

3.    To secure the cone shape twist the bottom of the cone like the picture on the left.

4. Fill the cone leaving at least 1cm from the lowest edge of the cone. Fold the higher edge over first so that an excess piece folds vertically as shown. This is important because this ensures that your filling does not fall out.

5. Fold the two (left and right) sides in and then fold the last edge on top. It’s done!

Copyright © 2010 ArunaRia All Rights Reserved

Chillibibi, a taste of the good ole days

2010-04-13T11:45:00.032-04:00

Chillibibi

Remember going dong by de parlor dong de road or the old lady selling next to yuh school and buying chillibibi in a brown paper cone for 25¢? Well if yuh older than me yuh wouda buy it fuh less, like a few cents.

Those were de days, when yuh couda buy seven palourie for 25¢, a sunshine cheese balls fuh 25¢, tambrand balls, nutcake, sugar cake… Okay ah kinda gone off course deh, back to the chillibibi.

So it goes like this, ah was tinking bout chillibibi Friday evening and so ah ask meh fadda how to make it. The conversation went like this
Me: Daddy how yuh make chillibibi?
Meh Fadda: Yuh does have to Patch the corn and then grind it and add the sugar

“Great” I thought “Piece ah cake” WRONG! It sounding so simple eh, but in practice, well that’s a different story. Getting the corn kernels off the cob was easy but the ‘patching’ (roasting) of the kernels was frustrating as I had to turn the kernels every few minutes for about 40 minutes! I really doh know how this used to be selling for 25¢ because it’s downright gourmet. Now I get why I doh see it selling anymore.

My dad also told me that my agee (grandma) used to add condensed milk to the chillibibi and make it into balls he called ‘satwa’. In the end, my chillibibi sent me back to my primary school days in ‘Vedic School’. I hope when you try this recipe it does the same. It’s worth the effort.If you're not from Trinidad and you're wondering how you eat chillibibi you drop some in your hand and lick it. It's really made for kids.

A note of caution, (thanks to a comment by Hisham) who reminded me, putting too much chillibibi all at once in your mouth is dangerous and can cause suffocation. Put a little in your hand and lick it slowly.

Cuisine: Trinidadian

Type: Dessert

Time: 1hr 40mins
Serves: *15+

Skill:Difficult

Kid Participation: Some

Ingredients

2c     corn kernels (Mature corn)
¾ c    brown sugar

¼ - ½ c     condensed milk (optional) (¼ c to 1c chillibibi to make ‘satwa’)
1 tb unsalted butter

Procedure

1. Separate the corn kernels from the husk by sliding a teaspoon in between a row of kernels and then moving the teaspoon backwards to force the kernels in front off the husk. Once you’ve done a few rows you can either continue using the spoon or you could use your fingers to pry the kernels loose a row at a time. I found using my fingers was easier once I used to teaspoon to open up a space between the rows.

2. Once you’ve got the kernels, check for any loose corn silk strings AND discard them.

3. Place kernels in a heavy bottomed pan on low heat. Stir every few minutes to brown evenly and prevent it from burning for about 40 minutes. This is what my agee calls ‘patching’. It will start to suspiciously give off an intoxicating popcorn smell but it will not pop (**unless you’re trying to use popcorn to make chillibibi, I don’t recommend it). Once all the kernels have turned browned (See picture above) pour into a bowl and cool.

4. Grind the browned corn in batches as fine as you can in a food mill or food processor. I sifted the corn after I ground it because it seemed grainy and what was left in the sifter I put through the mill again and re-sifted.

5. Once you’ve got the corn at a texture that you’re pleased with add the sugar according to your taste. This is what we in Trinidad call chillibibi. You can serve Chillibibi in brown paper conical packets as shown in picture above.

6. If you want to make satwa with some of the chillibibi add the condensed milk (¼ c condensed milk to 1c chillibibi) and the butter until the mixture is moistened and then roll into lime size balls. This is what my dad calls ‘satwa’.

Tips

Corn has to be mature, having dried on the stalk, not young corn that you boil or roast.
See post History written in brown paper for instructions on making the conical brown paper packets for the chillibibi.

* It depends on how you portion it out. You really only eat small amounts of chillibibi.

** My dad says the corn used to make chillibibi is different from the one used to make popcorn.

Origin

The addition of the condensed milk to the chillibibi is something that the East Indians in Trinidad would do. This makes me wonder about the origins of Chillibibi. I asked my dad and he didn’t know, he just knew that when condensed milk was added to the chillibibi and made into balls he called it ‘satwa’.

Copyright © 2010 Aruna Ria All Rights Reserved

Trini Cassava Pone

2010-04-07T12:58:00.007-04:00

Cassava Pone Slice garnished with Coconut and Cinnamon

My dad emerged from the back yard today carrying a large cassava root he had just dug up! One word, actually two words popped into my head; Cassava Pone.

Cassava pone; sweet gooey, who knew cassava could taste this good! I normally don't care much about cassava but when it's made into this I can't get enough. It's quite an unusual desert, not quite light and spongy like a cake but dense and moist. For those of you who've never had this, its quite a desert and very simple to make, and very hard to get wrong.

The only problem in the making of this is the cassava itself. It spoils easily so as soon as the cassava was peeled, cut up and washed I took a portion to make my Pone and the rest was chucked into a plastic bag and put into the freezer. My cassava was white but if your cassava is black please discard it as it will be poisonous. This was my first attempt at pone making with the help from my mum and dad and the result was very close to my agee's (grandmother).

Cuisine: Trinidadian

Type: Dessert

Time: 2 1/2 hrs
Serves: 16

Skill: Easy

Kid Participation: None

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb cassava (3 c grated fine)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cardamon (elichee) optional

1/2 lb pumpkin (1 1/2 c grated fine)

2 c grated coconut

2 c brown sugar
3tb butter

Water (less than 1c)

Procedure

Peel and wash cassava. Grate as fine as possible or alternately you can cut into chunks to put into a blender.

2. Repeat step 1 with the pumpkin. Put the cassava, pumpkin, coconut, cinnamon, cardamon, butter, sugar and some water in a bowl or blender and mix. You need to add just enough water to bind everything. (Less than 1c)

     3.   Grease and flour two circular pans and pour the cassava mixture to about 1" depth in pan. Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 1 1/2 hours till golden on top.

Copyright © 2010 Aruna Ria All rights reserved

Quickie Salad for the hungry

2010-04-06T12:50:00.005-04:00

Quickie Salad

So I was real hungry and I wanted something to eat quick. I've made this quick salad with dressing before. I usually don't like dressings I find in recipe books; they're too sour for my taste. I just made this from scratch one day and it turned out fantastic. I added mustard to this one which I don't usually use but it gave the dressing a very appealing color, at least to me. So if you're in the mood for a quick healthy snack this one is for you. I had mine with a cup of tea.

Salad dressings are not a normal occurrence in Trinidad cooking unless you count potato salad. We in Trinidad usually put only salt, black pepper and probably some hot congo pepper in our salad. Otherwise we take fruits such as mango, add a lot of pepper and call it 'chow', but that's another post. I was at a bank in Trinidad recently where a TV was showing the Food Network. A chef was making a garbanzo (channa) and beans salad with a salad dressing and the old Trinidadian lady sitting next to me commented that "Ah goh never eat that, how dah goh taste!" All joke aside I'm sure you'll enjoy this salad whether you're Trinidadian or otherwise.

Cuisine: Foreign

Type: Savory snack

Time: Less 30mins
Serves: 2

Skill:Easy

Kid Participation: Some

Ingredients

Dressing
1 tb apple cider vinegar

3 tb extra virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic minced

1/2 tsp hot congo or bird pepper chopped fine

or chilli powder

1 tsp sugar or honey (put to taste)

1 tb fresh or dried basil or parsley or other green herb chopped fine

1 tsp capers (optional)

1/4 tsp mustard (optional)

salt and black pepper to taste

Salad

1 apple cut in chunks

1 cucumber cut in chunks

1/2 onion cut in slices

4 slices cheddar cheese broken (optional)

any other vegetable you prefer such as tomato or lettuce

4 bread slices toasted

Procedure

Chop up garlic, congo pepper and herbs
Pour vinegar into bowl and whisk in olive oil slowly until incorporated.
Add rest of ingredients and mix. This is the dressing.

Cut up vegetables and put into a suitably large bowl
Toss with salad dressing.
Spoon some over the bread and Enjoy!

Tips

You can vary the amount of vinegar. I do not like mu dressing sour but if you do you can add more vinegar and omit the sugar or honey.

You can add salt to the dressing or you can omit it if you have people whose diet requires less salt and put salt in the vegetables instead.

Hike to Brasso Seco Waterfall

2010-04-02T16:07:00.003-04:00

Brasso Seco Water-fall

On Friday I had the opportunity to hike with a group of people. It has been such a long time since I'd hiked anywhere so I jumped at the opportunity and I did not regret it. The hike was not difficult and with the trail one way taking less than an hour it was not uncomfortably tiring.
I think the pictures speak for themselves.

Blanchisseuse Road

Beginning of Trail

"Trinidad Original Evergreen Seasonal Forest Still Exist in this Area"

Trail

The trail is wide and shaded and up to a certain point due to it's width a 4-wheel vehicle can assess it. However there comes a point where a small river has to be crossed and from this point the trail gets to about 3ft in width and is on the side of a hill. At this point it can only be trodden by foot.


View from bottom of Waterfall


Flower along trail


Another view of falls

The entire waterfall is pictured above. The water was icy cold. There was a shallow pool (2-6.5ft) pool at the base of the falls and you could also have climbed on the ledge of rock right under the fall and feel the tumble of water directly on you!

Trinidadian Kurma, indian sweet

2010-04-01T16:58:00.009-04:00

Kurma is my absolute favorite Indian sweet, I've made this so many times from scratch for years so in honor of my first real post I'm presenting this recipe for kurma. This sweet is of Indian origin although I'm not sure if you went to India right now and asked for kurma you'd get this; you might quicker get something savory. My ancestors came to Trinidad a very loooong time ago so that might explain the kurma mystery. This sweet indulgence is usually made for Divali or special occasions such as weddings or prayers but it can be found throughout the year in Trinidad. Stripped down, its essentially sugar coated fried dough so whats not to love! It's yummy and dangerously addictive, you will never eat just one!.Yum yum yum yum yum :)

Cuisine: Trinidad Indian

Type: Sweet snack

Time: 2½ hours
Serves: 15 (or less :P)

Skill: Medium Difficulty

Kid Participation: Some

Utensils

        Deep heavy pot for fryimg
       Griddle or 9” tawah or large 9” frying pan
       Flat surface for rolling out dough or a chowkee
       Rolling pin or belenah
       2 Large bowls
       Small pan for sugar syrup

Ingredients

Dough

4 c                flour
3 c + 2tb      water (or coconut milk, in which case
                     do not use coconut milk powder)
6 tb              coconut milk powder (optional)
2 tb            ghee or unsalted butter (optional)
4+ c    vegetable oil for frying

Pag (Sugar Syrup)

2 ½ c        white sugar (can use brown sugar will taste great but look all brown)
½ c            water
¼ tsp       cardamom (elichee) powder (optional)
1/8 tsp      ginger powder or 1” piece of fresh ginger bruised (optional)
1/8 tsp   cinnamon powder or a stick of cinnamon (optional)

Procedure

Well made for wet ingredients Dough after being kneaded Dough cut into four pieces

Sift flour into a bowl and make a ‘well’ in the middle. This is for the wet ingredients. Mix the coconut milk powder if using with ½ c of the water that has been warmed and then mix this into the rest of the water.

Pour half the coconut milk (or water) and all of the ghee into the well made in the flour and start to incorporate into the flour adding more of the coconut water until the dough is soft. You ideally should use all of the coconut water but use more or less, or add more flour until you get the dough to be soft.

Flour a clan surface or a chowkee and place the dough on it and knead for a few minutes until soft and springy.

Light the stove with the griddle/tawah/skillet.
While the tawah (griddle/skillet) heats up separate the dough into eight pieces. (The amount of pieces depends on the size of tawah, griddle or skillet you have.) Take each piece of dough and knead it for a few seconds so that it becomes round.

Rolling out dough Dough rolled out Dough on hot tawah

Take dough off the surface and place on hot griddle/tawah. If the griddle is not hot enough the dough will stick. Leave for about a minute and then turn over and heat the other side for another minute. You are not trying to cook it, just toasting it enough so that it holds its shape when you are cutting it into strips.
Repeat steps 6 and 7 with the rest of the ball of dough.

Dough toasted Cut strips of dough Strips fried

Heat a heavy deep pan with the vegetable oil for deep frying. Drop a small piece of dough into the oil as a measurement.

On a cutting board or a chowkee if have, place the circular dough and cuts in three strips. Then take each strip and cut into ½” strips. Repeat with rest of dough.

When the first piece of dough that was dropped in earlier starts to sizzle, start dropping a batch of the ½” strips from step 10. Cook until they are golden brown and drain on absorbent paper.

Pag being heated Kurma fried golden Drops of pag hardened

At this point combine in a small pan the pag (sugar syrup) ingredients and place on low heat.
Continue frying the rest of the dough while keeping an eye on the sugar syrup. The syrup should be ready when a few drops of the syrup when stirred with a spoon on a cool surface starts to turn white and harden. If this happens before you are finished frying all the strips of dough take the syrup off the heat.

You can coat the fried dough all at once in a large bowl or in two batches in a smaller bowl. In the latter case you can do half of the dough with half of the syrup while the rest of the dough fries if the syrup is ready. To coat the dough, place in bowl and drop syrup on top. Then you stir like crazy until the sugar starts to turn white and crystallize and harden. You’re done when all the sugar has hardened.
Grab a handful and enjoy, but be warned if you have company over, the next time you reach for some, it might be all gone.

If this had whetted your appetite for East Indian sweets made in Trinidad or if you are curious about Trinidadian cuisine and all its variety you can check out the Naparima Girls Cookbook. It as the name suggests was made by the Naparima Girl's High School to raise funds for the school and it remains one of the most comprehensive collection of Trinidadian food to date. Everyone I know in Trinidad has one (including me) and I highly recommend it.

TIPS

Kids can help roll out the dough. You can cut the dough into longer strips after it's been toasted and kids can shape the longer strips into different shapes or letters. These unusual shapes can then be fried and frosted by an adult.
Do not put the sugar syrup on high heat or you will burn it.
You can drop a glob of the syrup on a cool surface and if you have heat resistant fingers like me you can poke your fingers into this, get some on your index finger and then rub the syrup between your index and thumb to test it's stickiness. If the sugar hardens within 5 seconds the syrup is ready.
You can either have crispy kurma or chewy kurma depending on how you fry the dough.

Blog Index

2010-03-30T13:10:00.019-04:00

Brasso Seco Waterfall Hike to Brasso Seco Waterfall

Bread
Sada Roti Sada Roti hot off the tawah
Brown Paper Conical Packets History Written in Brown Paper

Coconut Chutney Coconut Chutney how my agee does make it
Cassava Pone Trini Cassava Pone
Chillibibi Chillibibi, a taste of the good ole days
Condiments
Coconut Chutney Coconut Chutney how my agee does make it
Currants Roll Currant rolls from scratch

Deserts
          Cassava Pone Trini Cassava Pone
          Chillibibi    Chillibibi, a taste of the good ole days
          Currants Roll Currant rolls from scratch

Kurma Trinidadian Kurma, Indian Sweet

H
History History Written in Brown Paper

Kurma Trinidadian Kurma, Indian Sweet

M
Macaroni Pie Cheesy, Creamy, Yummy Macaroni Pie
R
Roti

Sada Roti Sada Roti hot off the tawah

S