Dec 102013
We spent day 10 in the bus driving to Jaipur, so not much to report. Day 11 we have spent at a fabulous fort in Jaipur, and then we were to head out to the countryside. HOWEVER, today is election day, and the police have closed many of the roads leading in and out of town. Not for danger purposes, but to make sure the ballots can get through to the court where they count the ballots. So we couldn’t get out of town today. That means Mom got a nice massage and I am finally finding time to sit down and write.
I decided it was time to address the food in India. I am not ready to do the main courses, so I thought I would start with desserts. There are regional sweets, and more common countrywide desserts. I will try to give you an idea of the variety we have had thus far.
Gulab Jamun
This is the most popular dessert in India. They are deep fried balls of dough soaked in honey, or aromatic sugar syrup.
Jalebi
The batter for Jalebis is piped directly in hot oil or ghee in circular shapes then soaked in syrup. They’re bright orange or yellow in colour and are very common around India, you see people lining up outside the Jalebi stores first thing in the mornings, I assume it is a lot like donuts and coffee for us. Jalebi can be served warm or cold and has a somewhat chewy texture with a crystallized sugary exterior coating. The best we had was at the hotel, covered in a sweat cream sauce.
Halwa
This is carrot Halwa or Gajar Halwa
Halva also spelled Halwa has the texture of what we think of Turkish Halva, but that is not what it is. I have been told that Halwa means ground up, I don’t know if that is true, but it works for me. The halwas are made out of finely grated vegetables, milk, sugar and flavored with cardamom. They can also be grain based and made out of semolina or pulses like the mung bean. The semolina halwa known as Suji Halwa is common and popular in India. I believe I have tried everyone :-).
This is what they look like when I don’t know what the ingredient is – but they all taste great
Gajar halwa or a halva made of carrots is widely popular in India. It is prepared with condensed milk and ghee, without semolina to bind it together.
Some halvas are put in molds to give them a shape or they are neatly cut in squares or diamonds and garnished with a nut, raisin or beaten silver foil. We have been having a lot of the ones with silver foil.
Rasgula
These are soft and very spongy balls which are made of milk or indian cottage cheese that soaked in sugar syrup and rose flower water. The texture is somewhere between custard and a very, very finely sieved cottage cheese. The larger they are the better they are because the more rose water they soak up the tastier they are.
Burfi
The only time we have had Burfi was when it was passed around on the bus. Plain burfi is made with condensed milk and sugar, cooked until it solidifies. There are many types some made with gram flour, some with cashews, or pistachios (which is the type we had). It can also be flavored with fruits and spices, the most typical being rose water and cardamom. These can also have a thin layer of edible silver