Category Archives: Dessert

African Banana Puri – Banana Dumpling

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My Grandmother’s Recipe

If you’re craving something not too sweet and delicious with your coffee or tea (chaa), this is the recipe for you.  I won’t beat around the bush, but I struggled a little thinking of the best way to describe this to you.  The puri is not, by all means, meant to be soft and fluffy like a beignet or doughnut.  It is rather solid, moist and crunchy all at once.  I ate these puris countless of times during my childhood.  If I had to put a finger on it, I would say the banana puri  to me is the equivalent of a doughnut to some, that is if we were talking about childhood nostalgic foods.

If you’re lucky enough, when you’re frying the puri’s they puff up into these balloon like disks, creating a hollow center.  I love peeling away this layer and eating it first before polishing off the rest of the banana puri.

Making the dough is a lot of fun and easy.  Although I do love mushing up the bananas, grabbing handfuls of the earthy dough to make the puris is always a treat, they feel grainy, moist and sticky.  Reminding me of making mud pies in the rain…

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Chocolate Ginger Cake

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Adapted from Baking, From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Fortheloveofghee.com

Fortheloveofghee.comWith a hot cup of chaa in my hand, I stared out my window into the winter wonderland before me.  The snowflakes gently floated from above in a steady haze of cool white.  Slowly, ever so slowly they whisped side to side eventually settling atop a mound of snow.  We had our first real snowfall a couple of weeks ago and it has been gradually accumulating ever since.  I could have sat there forever, watching this delight but alas I knew the kids would be home soon and I really should’ve been baking something for their afternoon snack. Continue reading →

Jilebi – a delicate Indian funnel cake

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A couple of days ago in lieu of Bakri Eid, I decided to try my hand at making Jilebis, a very delicate and syrupy Indian dessert best eaten hot.  That is, if you’re lucky to be around someone making it fresh – which is pretty rare these days.  So I did make them, and the jilebis came out perfect – like my grandmother made, if I may add.  They were tender crisp and ‘glassy’ from being drenched in a perfect syrup.  Luckily the syrup did not crystalize or it would have resulted in a dull opaque looking Jilebi.
I was ecstatic when I took the first bite.  Perfect crunch was followed by the oozing of the unctuous sugary liquid.  I felt so proud and immediately snapped a couple of shots of my masterpiece and texted them to my family in Zimbabwe.  I basked in the glory of the numerous ‘Oohs’ and ‘Aaahs’ I received from them.  So with great comfort I share this recipe with you.

Gulaab Jambu – with coconut

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My Mum’s Recipe
Gulaab Jambu - with coconutA couple of weeks ago in preparation for Eid I spent countless happy hours in the kitchen making tonnes of sweet indian delicacies, as well as other baked goodies.
First of all I have to explain the different forms of gulaab jambus that I grew up eating.  The first being the round glossy brown balls of spongy goodness that are soaked over night in syrup. My Grandmother, bless her soul, used to make the most perfect gulaab jambus this way.  Well needless to say, my attempt at making this version did not go so well.  Feeling slightly defeated, I decided to make the gulaab jambus I know best.  I would describe these as fried oval-shaped dumplings, dipped briefly in syrup and rolled in desiccated coconut. 
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Halwo or Falooda – Creamy Milk Dessert

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My Mum’s Recipe

I was about to publish this recipe and realized that maybe some of you out there may have no idea what halwo is.  I would humbly describe it as a cool, creamy, almost jello-like milk dessert.  Maybe in the same family as Panna cotta, an italian dessert, but a lot lighter and creamier.

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