winter sweets Archives | Sindhi Rasoi |Sindhi Recipes

Khoyo~AlifBe~37

Alka Keswani — Tue, 07 Sep 2021 12:09:16 +0000

Took a small break to rejuvenate and to cope up with the seasonal allergies and stayed away from social media to relax and heal . Slowed down the pace of working on the projects that I am currently involved in, including the AlifBe and the recipe videos. A lot happened in the last fortnight, some good, some bad, some ugly and some, almost surreal but life moved on! And here I am today, with the 37th alphabet of the Arabic Sindhi script ; ک i.e ख in Devanagari and Kh, as in Khajur, in Roman Sindhi. And the corresponding dish is Khoyo, a traditional fudge or a halwa like, made with poppy seeds and dried fruits/nuts, warm spices and milk. I was confused about the term Khoyo as the dictionary that I refer, mentions Khohyo (and not the Khoyo) as the sweetmeat made from reduced milk. But due to the lack of enough of information, I approached my friend Amrita lal, who went out of the way to discuss the same with some literary experts and finally it was concluded that the term used is the Khoyo and not the Khohyo as mentioned in the dictionary. If you have some more information about this, kindly get in touch with me. Thank you Amrita for always being there with me in my crazy journey of the AlifBe. Can never thank you and Barkha Di, enough! Kindly do not confuse this with the Khoya (mawa) as both are different in terms of looks, texture and flavors. Khoya: The Khoya or Khoa (Mawa) that is generally used as the base for making sweets like Gulabjamun, Kalakand, barfi etc is a kind of heat desiccated milk product in which milk is reduced to obtain granular milk solids (dried evaporated milk solids) which is then used in the different traditional sweets. The Sindhi style Khoyo, on the other hand is a halwa made with whole fat milk, ghee roasted poppy seeds and nuts, slow cooked for hours till it reaches a fudge like consistency. The unique add ons are Dharan jo magaz (coriander seeds/kernels, pounded) or Dhaniya magaz and black cardamoms, two spices that are not commonly used in sweet dishes. While Dhaniya panjiri (made for the Janmashtmi in some communities) may sound similar to the Sindhi Khoyo, it is actually very different from it. This Khoyo is ideally made at the onset of winter season and huge dhabbas (steel containers) are sent to the married daughters/sisters or aunts around Diwali. I remember my mother making this every year and the memories of her sitting on the ‘sandhali‘ (wooden chowki used for sitting), making this Khoyo often warm the cockles of my heart. The preparations would start a few days ahead. A child (mostly it would be me) was sent to the ration shop to procure Kerosene for the stove as the khoyo was always made on the kerosene stove that was placed on the floor of the living room (so that she can avoid standing in the kitchen for hours). The kerosene stove was used for few times a year to prepare Gogo, Thadri meals when one has to cook for hours at a stretch and hence it would be less tiring to cook while sitting on the floor. An order for 5-7 litres of full fat milk would be placed with the milk man and dried fruits and nuts were stocked. The large Sipri (kind of vessel) would be taken out, cleaned and kept handy. The same sipri would travel to few homes around as it was not uncommon to borrow utensils from the neighbors. My mom never wrote down a recipe. And though she was an amazing cook, she would reach out to the generous old lady, Chandra Aunty, in the neighbourhood to seek help regarding the quantities of ingredients used. Aunty would eye ball everything, suggest changes, if any and would leave only to return a few times to see how things are progressing. She would also pitch in for bhunoing the khoya so that mom could take a break. I really miss those days when neighbours would be so caring and generous. Making Khoyo is a time consuming process and it generally takes anywhere from 3 – 5 hours to cook well. Honestly speaking I never cared much about the Khoyo… firstly because I never had a sweet tooth and secondly, I find combination of Dhaniya magaz and the black cardamoms to be a misfit in the family of nutty poppy seeds, sweetish reduced milk and delicious soft, naturally sweet chuhara (kharik/dried dates) and nuts. Somehow the combination never worked for me yet I always ate a little of it, every year, when my mom would send in some, as a part of winter treats. Print Khoyo~AlifBe~37 Khoyo is a Sindhi style halwa made with milk, khaskhas, nuts and ghee. It is a winter special and is often sent to married daughters and sisters in our community. Ingredients 2 lit full fat milk 150 gm Khaskhas 15- 20 Chuhaara (dried dates/ kharik) 100 gm Almonds 80 - 100 gm unsalted pistachios 100 gm Cashews Few walnuts (optional) 10 Green cardamoms 2 black cardamoms 75 gm of Dhaniya magaz 400 - 500 gm of sugar ( I actually used around 250 gm but you can adjust as per your taste) 1 Cup ( at room temperature) of Ghee (Ideally around 400 gms of Ghee should be used) 1 gm Mace A pinch of nutmeg powder 2 gm of Moonh Lalai (Brown colored powder available at Pasari shops) or you can use some brown food color. I didn't use any. Method There are two approaches for making this khoyo. First approach: Simply boil the milk with dried dates and add blended khaskhas and ghee. Slow cook and allow the milk to reduce, add nuts, spices and sugar towards the end. Cook till the mix is dry. This is how my mom used to make. The other approach is to cook khaskhas paste in the ghee along with Dhaniya magaz and then add it to the boiling milk along with the rest of the ingredients. I find the flavors to be better by following this method. So I am sharing this method here, in detail. Soak the poppy seeds in water for 5 - 6 hours. In another bowl, soak the almonds in water for 5 hours. Later peel the almonds and cut open each into 2. Soak dried dates in lukewarm water for an hour or so, to soften it. Later, deseed and slice each into large chunks (can cut into 4-6 pieces each). Roughly chop pistachios, cashew nuts and walnuts. Strain the poppy seeds and rinse a few times, using the tea strainer to catch the seeds. The process of soaking poppy seeds and rinsing few times with water is believed to reduce the concentration of morphine or opium alkaloids, if present, in the poppy seeds. Strain well so as to get rid of as much of water as possible. Now using 2-3 tbsp of Ghee (from 1 cup of the Ghee set aside for the recipe) blend the poppy seeds till coarse. You can use milk to blend poppy seeds but then it tends to splutter a lot when you start cooking it. In a thick bottom pan add 2 lit of milk and add green cardamoms. Add chuhara (dried dates) and continue cooking the mix on moderate heat. Keep stirring at frequent intervals. In another pan, heat the remaining ghee and add the blended khaskhas paste. Keep stirring and continue cooking at medium heat. When the color of the khaskhas changes to light pink, add cashews, almonds, pistachios and stir nicely. The khaskhas should be cooked till faint brown. Add dhaniya magaz and mix well. After half a minute switch off the flame and pour this mix in the milk and dates mixture. (Beware of the spluttering). Add black cardamom, mace and nutmeg and allow the mix to simmer. Add color powder, if using. Keep stirring at intervals. The dried dates are to be cooked till soft. So if needed, add some more milk. When the dates turn soft and the milk is almost completely reduced, add sugar. Continue cooking on low flame. Cook till sugar is absorbed and the mix is dry. Some prefer the consistency of the khoyo to be little loose while others like to cook till it is dry (as in the picture). If refrigerated, the Khoyo has a shelf life of 10-15 days. Before serving, take out the required portion from the refrigerator and heat on low flame with a tbsp or so of milk. Can garnish with more nuts while serving. Note: Traditionally the quantity oh the Ghee used in Khoyo is almost the double that I have used here but I don't like overpowering flavors of ghee in any dish hence less amount of fat is used here. If using low fat milk, please do increase the quantities of ghee for better flavors and texture. Buffalo milk is preferred for making Khoyo. If after soaking in water, the dried dates are not soft enough to cut, then just gently pound the dates using a mortar pestle. The dates will open up and could be de seeded easily. Roughly chop these or use a food processor but make sure to keep the dates chunkier. You can use green cardamom powder instead of whole pods. Add ¼ tsp of powder to the boiling milk and later add ¼ tsp when you add sugar. 3.5.3251 And as always here is a short video about the how to write ک in Arabic Sindhi.

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Maakhiya Waara Borinda|Honey And Sesame Seeds Balls

Alka Keswani — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 18:03:39 +0000

Each year on 13th January, Sindhis celebrate Laal Loi, or Lohri, as known in Punjabi, also famous as a ‘Festival of Bonfire’ ! Laal Loi is celebrated to express the feeling of gratitude to the natural and supernatural forces for the bounty of Rabi (Winter) crops.So it is a harvest festival of Hindus and is celebrated with fun and folklore, while gathering around a bonfire, singing, dancing, performing rituals and gearing up for the upcoming harvest of Rabi crops. Sindhis celebrate Lal loi in the same way as Punjabis do! Young folks gather loads of dry wood/ logs/ sticks/old furniture and place these inside a circle marked by the boundary of bricks. In the evening all the members of families staying around, gather around the bonfire, doing the parikramas (circling around the bonfire) and offer Ber (Zizyphus jujuba), red carrots (Delhi carrots), sesame seeds, revdi (crunchy sugar based sesame candy), basically the fruits/vegetables/seeds that are locally available in winters. The bon fire remain lit till past midnight and friends and neighbors catch up with each other lives while enjoying the warmth provided by the bonfire, on one of the coldest night of the year, the 13th of January! The most common Prasad (Religious offering) distributed during Laal Loi are Borinda~ The sugar syrup/ Jaggery /Honey based sesame balls, similar to that of Maharashtrian ‘ Til gud ladoo‘. Sesame seeds could be easily nicknamed as wonder seeds, because of the nutritional and medicinal quality of these oil seeds. The nutty seeds when roasted, turn crunchy and could be used in variety of dishes; to make sweets, snacks, salad dressings, Tahini, hummus etc. Sesame seeds are great sources of vitamins, minerals, Folic acid, Oleic acid (reduces ‘bad cholesterol’) , Sesamol (anti-oxidant), Niacin ( B complex vitamin ), calcium, iron, magnesium etc etc. These amazingly healthy seeds when combined with jaggery or honey provides warmth to the body during winters, and raise the immunity levels of our body ! The famous Til gud ladoo (Til = sesame seeds, gud= jaggery, ladoo=balls ) vary in their avatars, flavors and textures depending upon the base sweet used and the degree of caramelization of the sugar/jaggery/honey. Read more about rules of caramelization here ! The following recipe is of Honey based sesame balls and as the name suggests, I have used honey to make these Greek Style Sesame Honey Pasteli, known as ‘ Maakhiya Waara Borinda‘ (Maakhi= Honey in Sindhi, Borinda= balls in general, made using either puffed rice or sesame seeds) or Honey and sesame seeds balls. The sugar syrup based Sesame balls are rocky hard in general, the jaggery based are softer, while honey based ones are most chewy. But then, it all depends upon the degree of caramelization. The darker the caramel (which means the more you cook/boil the sugar , honey or jaggery) the chewier shall be our Borinda. The colour of borinda varies from pale white to amber coloured ones, and so does the texture! Print Maakhiya Waara Borinda|Honey And Sesame Seeds Balls Rating 5.0 from 1 reviews Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 15 mins Total time: 20 mins Lal loi or Lohri special, roasted sesame seeds with caramelized honey ! Ingredients Makes 20 portions Sesame seeds 1 cup Honey 1cup (The seeds to honey proportion should be 1:1) Salt, less than ¼ tsp Dried nuts like unsalted pistachios or dried Tutti frutti- the assorted candied fruits (Optional) Method In a small pan, pour 1 cup of honey and heat the pan. Within 2 minutes the consistency of honey will turn thinner. Put off the flame and set aside. In a thick bottomed and preferably a wide pan, dry roast (toast) sesame seeds on low flame, tossing frequently with a spatula. Soon the seeds will turn bit crisp.(Nicely toasted seeds when crushed between fingers will easily turn into powder).Be careful as not to burn the seeds or else the end product will be bitter in taste. If using pistachios, slightly toast them separately and set aside. Now in the toasted seeds, carefully add the warm honey, some salt and give it a gentle stir, so as to mix the ingredients. Now let the mixture cook till the honey changes the colour, to few shades darker and is almost completely absorbed by the seeds. Do not mix the ingredients or else the sheen (shine) might be lost. Towards the end, you can add roasted pistachios or tutti frutti by sprinkling these over the mixture, without stirring in with spatula. Switch off the flame and pour this hot mixture on either a greased plate or on parchment paper- laced plate. Let the mixture stand for a while, and then roll a spoonful of this mixture in between your greased palms to make a small rolled Borinda (ball). If the mixture is too hot, it will scald your palms and if cold, it will harden and you wont be able to roll these. In such case, just let the mixture cool down and just cut into rectangles/ squares or uneven shaped brittle. Pack these in airtight containers after letting these cool down till the core. 3.1.09

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