Wine

There was a lot of backlash for my previous post. Homemade raisins? My friends and family couldn't believe I would waste precious grapes like that when instead I could have used them for more intoxicating purposes! To them I say, Fear Not! Of course, everytime I have a stockpile of grapes, the first thing I do is ferment a batch of my very special wine.  

You could say wine making is in my genes. My maternal grandmother did a professional course in food preservation, and with all the jams, jellies, pickle and marmalades, she also made vast quantities of sweet red wine. Bottles of which made an appearance even twenty years later. It is another matter though that being a teetotaller she never tasted a sip of the stuff. The rest of us, well, we were a 'happy' bunch! 

My paternal grandfather was quite the vintner as well. He was more experimental and apart from grapes, also distilled beetroot, carrot, apricot and mixed fruit wines. He was also known to brew his own beer at times. But that's a tale for another post. 

It comes as no surprise then that every year I distill a few bottles of the potent stuff for my friends and lazy sunday brunches. If you think wine making is complicated and time consuming, you are wrong. It really is the simplest. And requires very little effort on your part. After all, Nature does most of the hard work. 

Ingredients:

Grapes       2 kg

Sugar         1 kg

Yeast          1 tsp

Water         just enough to cover the grapes

Rum           1/2 cup (optional)

Method:

 Remove the stalks of the grapes and wash them thoroughly. Put them in a large glass jar with a wide mouth. Pour the water and mash the grapes coarsely. You can use your fingers or a potato masher. Add the sugar, mix and keep in a cool, dark place. Make sure the lid is secure. The next day, add the yeast to 1/4 cup luke warm water. When it froths, mix into the grapes. Cover and return to dark place. Let it stand for 21 days, ensuring you stir it with a clean, dry spoon every two days. On the 21st day, strain through a muslin cloth and add the rum. Pour into clean, dry and sterilized glass bottles. Store in a cool, dark place and leave to mature for two months. After two months, call over your friends and uncork a bottle for some good times!

Homemade Raisins

Its been a while that I've posted on the blog. That didn't mean I wasn't experimenting and turning my kitchen into a lab! The last I posted I was working my way through a large batch of oranges. Well, the oranges met a delicious end. And then came the avalanche of grapes. They found their way onto salads and fruit cream and the monster munchkin's snacks. But just when I thought I was done with them, a whole new bunch would make it to my fridge. This needed large scale tackling and I figured let me save them for a rainy day. Now the only way to make them last intact till the aforesaid rainy day was the sundried way aka raisins.

Now, i am a raisin phobe. Cannot abide those slimy squishy things in any dessert or cake. But hubby dear and monster munchkin like em well enough. And they are great for zinging desserts when we've got company. I trawled the net for various recipes and in the end settled for one I found between the yellowing pages of the first recipe diary I started at the age of ten! It is simple and requires practically no effort from my end, And a few glorious days later, I get rewarded with glossy, granola worthy raisins. It was almost like Farmville all over again!

Ingredients:

Seedless Grapes     1 kg

Water                      1 litre

Milk                        1 tablespoon

Method:

Remove the grapes from the stalk and wash them well. Boil the water and milk together in a deep pan. Add the grapes and continue boiling till the grapes turn a lighter green. Drain well in a colander. Spread out on a thin cloth under the sun. Cover with another thin muslin. After three to four days of bright sunshine, voila, the grapes are now golden raisins!

Pork Sorpotel

My earliest memory of my uncle was of a tall, mustachioed guy with a booming voice. It was dislike at first sight. How dare this loud creature take my delicate Masi away from us. I clambered furiously up to my aunt's arms and declared. " Masi iss aadmi ke saath nahi jayegi!" (My aunt shall not leave with this man!) No one paid heed to my decree. And for that i am grateful!
Over the years I came to adore him. He was a madcap friend with a great taste in music and a shared love for PJs and puns! He was a neatness freak who drove us crazy. He was the life of the party, always up for a pint. And he was a insatiable foodie who was also a fantastic cook!
Sunday afternoons at his place usually meant beer, conversation and pork. Cooked with his meticulous perfection and served with a whole lot of love. When I started my food blog, he was always the first to leave a comment. He was my testbed for some of the more experimental recipes. And he always complained that I didn't devote enough space to his favorite red meat!
The last time I met him, I promised I would perfect my skills and wow him with the ultimate pork dish. And I did! Perfect it. But I still needed his final approval on it. I clicked a pic and sent it across. He texted that it looked tempting and he was looking forward to the taste test. Alas! That shall never be. He was taken away too soon, too sudden.
This post is in your memory my MeshoMoshai ( I can see your eyebrows shoot up and your mouth hang in shock at that traditional address!) I guess I'll have to wait till I join you up there for your seal of final approval. Till then, I know you look down and send me all the love and luck. And plentiful beer to go along with this spicy Pork!

Ingredients:

Pork                        1 kg

Red Chillies            25

Coriander seeds      1 tablespoon

Peppercorns            15

Garlic                      10 cloves

Cinnamon               2 inch

Tamarind                an onion sized ball ( roughly 5 tablespoon)

Turmeric                 1 tsp

Cumin                     4 teaspoon

Onions                    4

Green chillies         6

Ginger                    2 inches

Vinegar                  1/4 cup

Sugar                     1/2 teaspoon

Method: 

Finely chop the onions, ginger, garlic and green chillies. Grind together the rest of the ingredients except pork and sugar. To the pork, add just enough water to reach the level of the meat. Boil pork till it becomes light pink in colour. Add the ground masala, the chopped ingredients and salt to the pot. Pressure cook for 30 minutes. Once the cooker cools, add the sugar and thicken to the consistency you like. Serve hot with steamed rice and chilled beer!

Mocha Layer Pudding

Everybody loves dessert. And if you are me, you probably skip the main course to make room for dessert. But be warned! You can't serve me ice cream and call it dessert. Ice cream is ice cream. When I was younger, parties always meant light citrus souffles and decadent mousses. There were multi layered trifles and warm, gooey flans. Ice creams were for weekdays when mom was too busy to whip up dessert. 

Of late though, desserts have vanished from the dinner parties. Too complicated and tedious, say the ladies. Trust me, it doesn't have to be. I am no superhero domestic diva, but I do manage to serve up a duo of desserts at the dinners I host. This Mocha Layer Pudding is almost always a permanent on my menu. And it only takes me five minutes. Honest! 

Give yourself a treat today and go ahead and try this blockbuster hit. I promise you will never fear once you've tried this dessert dare!

Ingredients:

Bread                          10 slices

Cocoa Powder             6 tbsp

Coffee Powder            1/2 tbsp

Sugar                           6 tbsp, powdered

Fresh Cream               500 gms

Walnuts                       1/2 cup, chopped

Rum or Brandy          2 tbsp (optional)

Method:

Run the bread in the mixer to make bread crumbs. Whip the cream lightly and add 2 tablespoons of sugar and the brandy or rum. To the bread crumbs, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. In a serving dish, spread a layer of the bread mix. Then pour a layer of the cream. Repeat layers till the ingredients are used up, ensuring the last layer is of the cream. Garnish with chocolate bits and shavings and some walnuts, Refrigerate for an hour. And you have yourself an easy dessert to indulge!