Lemon Basil Concoction

Herbal drink et moi? Am I feeling okay? I know, I know, that’s your first thought. I’m feeling just fine, thank you. *evil grin* I was at Bellisimo, my salon/spa, a few weeks ago, and after the most awesome two-and-a-half-hour facial *sigh* the owner Alifiya walked up to me and asked if I’d like something to drink. I turned down her offer for tea or coffee at which she insisted I try the herbal drink they make in-house. Herbal! Me? Gosh! I mentioned I was not an herbal drink person, but she put my mind at ease by telling me it was a delicious one; not yucky at all. I decided to be brave and gave it a try. The end result was that I requested for the recipe and I now brew this concoction nearly every afternoon. I do believe, sometimes, the simplest recipes with the fewest of ingredients turn out to be superb.

Ingredients:

A handful Italian Basil, rinse well under running water

One-inch lump of jaggery or to taste

Juice of half a lime or to taste

250 mils water

Method:

1.  Add Italian Basil to 250 mils water and bring it to a roaring boil. (Don’t worry if the leaves discolour and turn dark during this process)

2.  Continue boiling for a few minutes until the water turns a nice light green hue. The colour change should be visible.

3.  Turn down the heat and remove the basil leaves from the water.

4.  Add a lump of jaggery and allow it to dissolve in the simmering liquid.

5.  When the jaggery melts, check the liquid for sweetness as desired by your palate. Add more if so desired and, of course, allow that to dissolve in the liquid.

6.  Turn off the heat, squeeze in the lime juice.

7.  Strain the liquid into a mug and sip away. This quantity makes one mug (200-210 mils). It's a simple, healthy drink. Bas aur kuch nahi.

Chef’s Notes:

1.  The sweetness of jaggery and the sourness of limes vary hence I’d advise you to check both flavours before adding too much. You can always add more if required.

2.  I have never used Indian Tulsi/Basil for this drink so please don’t ask me if that can be used coz I do not know the answer to that. Try it and if it works, let me know, too. 😉

3.  I think there can be lots of variations to this drink: honey instead of jaggery, organic jaggery instead of regular jaggery, maybe a bit of mint or peppermint when simmering the Italian Basil. I stick/stuck to the basic recipe, though. I don’t like to toy with delicious things. 😉

4.  I’m sure this will taste just as yum if had cold but I think it’s more beneficial when had hot.

5.  Heartfelt thanks to Alifiya for sharing this recipe so wholeheartedly. Not many salon owners would do that. The credit for this recipe is all hers. 

6.  You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blogsite or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off this recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.

The Quintessential Parsi Lagan nu Custard

When we Bawas receive an invite to a wedding, or a navjote (Parsi thread ceremony), two thoughts immediately come to mind. One, ‘caterer kaun che?’ (Translation: Who’s the caterer?). Second, I hope they have Lagan nu Custard on the menu. Fortunately (phew!), there’s hardly a Parsi wedding or navjote that’s complete without this delectable dessert. It’s rich, smooth and positively sinful. But invites to these Bawa dos don’t come too often and I don’t see why any of you should have to wait to try this delightful dessert. Go on give this a try, it's a very easy bake.

Btw, we Bawas (Parsi) pronounce this as “Lagan nu Custar”. 😉

Ingredients:

1½ liters full fat milk (I use Amul Gold or Chitale)

4 eggs, well beaten but NOT very frothy

¾ teaspoon vanilla extract/essence

6 + 16 teaspoons sugar or adjust to taste

Two pinches of nutmeg-cardamom powder (elaichi-jaiphal powder)

20 almonds, slivered

Method:

1. Heat milk and bring to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, reduce heat and allow it to simmer until 1.5 liters of milk reduces to 1 liter.
   
   
   
   
2. Take 6 teaspoons sugar in a clean, DRY vessel.
   
   
   
3. Heat the sugar on very low heat until it begins to melt. As soon as it begins to melt pick up the vessel with a kitchen pincer/pakkad, hold it above the flame and keep moving the vessel around to ensure the sugar caramelizes evenly.
   
   
   
   
4. As soon as the sugar turns an even golden brown, GRADUALLY AND VERY CAREFULLY pour the molten liquid into the simmering milk.
5. Stir to mix the caramel evenly into the milk.
   
   
   
   
6. When the milk reduces to 1 liter, begin adding the rest of the sugar, little by little. Keep checking for sweetness - to suit your taste buds. The amount mentioned in this recipe is the exact amount used by me. (Recommended: Add some extra sugar once the milk sweetens to suit your palate. I recommend this as you will be adding 4 eggs to the milk at a later stage)
7. Take the milk off the stove and allow it to cool completely (room temperature).
8. Beat 4 eggs with ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract/essence. (Recommended: Beat eggs with vanilla extract/essence as that helps eliminate the typically egg-y smell from the custard)
9. Add the beaten egg-vanilla mix to the cool milk. Check for sweetness and add extra sugar if/as required.
10. Strain the milk-egg mix into another bowl/vessel or strain it directly into the baking tray/pyrex dish.
11. Sprinkle the nutmeg-cardamom powder, give the mixture a gentle stir.
12. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees C for about 20-25 minutes.
    
    
    
    
13. At the 20-25-minute mark, carefully slide out the dish for a minute, sprinkle a few slivers of almonds. If they do not sink to the bottom, evenly sprinkle the rest of the almond slivers over the custard. Slide the dish back into the oven and bake for 10-15 more minutes or until a knife comes out clean. (Note: If the almond slivers sink to the bottom when you throw in the first few slivers to check, please bake for 10-12 more minutes and then sprinkle the remaining almond slivers)
    
    
    
    
14. If you want a nice golden brown on top with specks of dark custard, shut off the oven, fire up the grill and continue cooking/baking until the desired color is achieved. (Note: You may have to move the baking tray/pyrex dish a few notches higher in the oven so as to allow the custard to brown under the grill.
    
    
    
    
15. This custard can be served warm (room temperature) or cold.
    
    

Chef Notes:

1. Apologies for the ‘caps’ at certain points in the recipe. The caps are not written to offend; only to emphasize.
2. When you heat the sugar for the caramel, it's best to avoid using a spoon. Videos for the same are available on my You Tube channel, Kenzy's Kitchen Korner. They're simple, amateur home videos, made merely to show you the process. Do read the notes attached to the videos. That way, you won't go wrong with the caramelization process. 
3. You may use regular milk instead of full fat milk, but the custard will lack the richness that it’s meant to have.
4. When you add the caramel to the simmering milk, please add it very gradually and carefully (I cannot stress this enough), as the milk tends to froth up and rise in the vessel.
5. Do remember to add extra sugar as the sweetness of the milk will reduce once you add the eggs. You really don’t want to eat a bland custard.
6. The vanilla extract added to the eggs, to eliminate the egg-y smell, is a trick that will work with any dessert. 😉
7. Please ensure the milk is absolutely cool before you add the beaten eggs coz you sure as hell don’t want scrambled eggs in your custard. *evil grin*
8. Straining the milk-egg mixture is an important process as it will keep out bits of egg that haven’t blended in. 
9. I cover the baking tray (from outside) with tall aluminum foil on all four sides so as to prevent oven wall splatters. Saves me an enormous amount of time from having to scrub the oven clean after the bake. Once the milk is in semi-set mode, I snip off the tall foil and proceed with sprinkling the slivered almonds. Easy-peasy! 😉
10. The bake time will vary with individual ovens therefore, the first time you bake the custard, please keep an eye on the dish to ensure it does not burn.
11. I sometimes blanch the almonds and then cut them into slivers and sometimes, I don’t. Either works so don’t fret over that.
12. Do not add slivered almonds at the beginning of the baking process as they will settle down to the bottom of the tray if you do so.
13. Variation: You may add ¼ tin condensed milk to the simmering caramelized milk and adjust the sugar quotient accordingly. I prefer not to, though.
14. The photographs that you see in this recipe have been taken at various times, over the years, as and when I have made Lagan nu Custard.
15. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blogsite or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.

Caramelization Videos:
                                                             Step 1:

I have not added any music to this video as i need you to understand the consistency of the sugar at this point of caramelization. The sound of the sugar says it all. 

 

Step 2: 

     Tiny points to remember when you caramelize sugar

1. Do not use a spoon to stir the sugar or the caramel.
2. Caramelize on very low heat; do not be in a rush or the sugar is sure to burn.
3. Once you see the sugar beginning to melt, from any side/corner, hold the vessel with a kitchen pincer/pakkad, keep it slightly raised over the flame and keep swirling the vessel gently as shown in the video. That'll ensure the sugar caramelizes evenly. It'll also ensure the sugar does not burn or darken excessively from any one side.
4. Once the desired colour is achieved, pour the caramel quickly (but very carefully), while it's molten, into whatever you wish to use it in.

Step 3:

The details of the video are the same as the ones mentioned in Step 2. The only difference is the sugar caramelization is just about done in this video.                                             

                                                                    Step 4:
In this video the caramelization process is complete. The sugar has turned into a beautiful, molten liquid of golden brown.
I used this caramel to make Lagan Nu Custard, a Parsi dessert. I carefully and gradually poured this, little by little, into the simmering milk as the milk froths up vigourously when you add the caramel to it.
For the leftover caramel that cooled and stuck to the vessel, i poured in half a cup of the same hot milk and gently simmered it until the leftover caramel began to re-melt and sipped into the simmering milk. No wastage! 😉
This process of caramelization can also be used for Caramel Custard.

Some more photographs..