khubaani ka meetha ..an apricot dessert from Hyderabad..

Made with fresh juicy apricots . Yes , I am back from my cycling expedition with a Hyderabad special dessert made using the freshest of apricots i picked up from Leh .

Sounds like a perfect North South connect ?

Yes it is. I used to wonder how this khubaani (apricot) reached Hyderabad to please the taste buds of the navabs . How stupid i was to forget the fact that the mughal rulers entered India passing through the same terrains where this wonderful little fruit grows. The Himalayas. And true foodies they were to enjoy the apricots in the form of khubaani ka meetha , made from dried apricots too .

I have tried this dessert with fresh and dried apricots both in the past years , dried apricots result in the same consistent taste every time but fresh apricots taste different depending of what variety they are. I saw many types of apricots for the first time growing fresh on the trees , fallen from the trees and in the markets too , fresh and dried both. I was reminded of an apricot tree our neighbors had in their backyard when i was growing up in Chandigarh , i used to climb that tree to pluck apricots , usually unripe because ripened ones fall off the tree anyways. But we had no patience as any other children :)


If using dried apricots , you need to soak them overnight and cook with sugar to sweeten till soft . It is cooked to a jam consistency and is usually served with fresh cream or home made malai.

I usually prefer fresh apricots whenever in season for a fresh flavor and nice color too. Apricots do not keep well  for long and have to be used up within a week even when refrigerated, so it's always a good idea to stew them with some sugar and keep for longer duration in the fridge , especially when you have had your fill of the fresh ones...

This time i halved them to remove the stones....

A knife is not required to do this , just press along the groove and split the fruit in two, remove the seed and keep the flesh for stewing...

Add some sugar ... For 2 cups of halved fresh apricots i used 3/4 cup of sugar . You can use more if you want it very sweet , the Hyderabad version is too sweet for me.

I placed everything in a ceramic bowl and microwaved it for 3+3 minutes and that's it. You can always cook on gas stove to stew it slowly for 15 minutes or so. To the consistency you like.

A shiny look on the cooked apricots is an indication it is yummy cooked to be called khubaani ka meetha. I used half of the apricots to make a thick jam too . I like it sometimes as a topping on ice creams or trifles . Home made chunky jams are so versatile you know.

Now is the time to serve the Khubaani ka meetha with fresh malai . You can go for whipped cream too but i always like my good old home made malai for this....

Out of this world flavors..best served at room temperature.... small servings are wiser you know...just one tablespoonful of stewed apricots and 3/4 tablespoonful of malai . The flavors are so intense you wouldn't need more to get high on it.

Getting high on the fruit of the highlands....I am sharing a picture from my cycling expedition before i leave ...

This was the first day of our cycling from Kullu . It was drizzling and a great start to a wonderful journey ahead. We ate many fresh apricots, apples and soft pears directly from the trees in kullu and finally i bought these golden apricots with rosy cheeks from a Leh market to take back home. I am happy i did bring these beauties home as they made a nice start to my home cooking after a long crazy trip.....

Apricots from Delhi markets also make good Khubani ka meetha and jam . I have posted an apricot compote stewed with orange juice long time back and that was made using the apricots available in Delhi....

Fresh apricots can be versatile you see...stew them the way you like and enjoy !!

A cheat's version of matar paneer | a quick and low fat matar paneer recipe

A quick matar paneer recipe, a cheat's version.

Not only to save time but to make the dish low on fats too. I used butter and ghee to make this matar paneer and if that can be done in the lowest possible amount and the results are nice and aromatic, you would prefer this cheat's version whenever you want to cook matar paneer. Note that I usually don't cook low fat but if a curry is being served with paratha or other fatty sides, it makes sense to lower the fats in the curry.

Before sharing the recipe I have to share an exciting thing with you all. I am counting down the last few days before my biking expedition. A group of 100 women is biking through the most grueling passes in the Himalayas to reach the highest motorable road to Khardung La. I am a part of this wonderful group and will be cycling with them, starting from Kullu, going up to Khardung La and then back to Leh. It is a 600km ride to be covered in 17 days. I just can't wait to be at the base camp at Kullu to start this ride of my life time.

Now you must understand the reason for a quick curry to be posted quickly too.

The usual fare of Banaras ka khana will be back after a break of about 3 weeks. This matar paneer was made in huge quantity and was frozen to last a few days in my absence. You understand that :-)


ingredients...
( 4-6 servings)
paneer 400 gm
green peas 250 gm ( i used frozen)
red ripe tomatoes 500 gm
onion 200 gm
garlic pods 4-5 nos.
ginger 1 inch piece chopped roughly
red chilly powder 2 tsp
cinnamon 2 pieces on an inch each
bay leaves 2-3 nos.
black cardamom 1 large
everyday curry powder 1 tbsp
turmeric powder 2 tsp
salt to taste
butter 2 tsp
ghee 2 tsp
freshly milled black pepper as per taste
fresh cream or malai to finish

procedure...

In a pressure cooker boil the roughly chopped tomatoes, onions, garlic pods, roughly chopped ginger, red chilly powder, cinnamon and thrashed black cardamom. Boil these ingredients just till the whistle blows and then let the cooker cool down and release the pressure.

I do this step in microwave and cook all the ingredients covered for 8-10 minutes and proceed after cooling them a bit so they are safe to handle. They are going to be pureed.

Remove the bay leaves,whole cinnamon and black cardamom and bland everything fine, like a soup. The skin of tomatoes can be removed before blending.

Meanwhile cook the peas in microwave too for 3 minutes. If not doing this add the peas in the pan after powdered spices and cook them with a sprinkling of water before adding the puree.

Now heat the ghee and butter in a pan and tip in the powders of  turmeric and everyday curry powder. Just let it get roasted and get aromatic, taking utmost care not to burn the powders. It will be wise to remove the pan from heat after heating the ghee n butter and then add the powders.

Pour in the pureed mixture, tip in the paneer cubes, the cooked peas and give it a good boil.

Add a tbsp of fresh cream or malai to finish .

It actually took more time to write the recipe than cooking it. The pictures are night time snapshots and I could not take any pictures of the leftovers too as the extra curry was promptly frozen.

This is one curry which you would love to cook for it's easy foolproof procedure and the ease of making a creamy looking curry without much cream and butter.

Which one would you like? A rich matar paneer or the cheat's version?