Pineapple Sheera

Pineapple sheera is a South Indian sweet dish made of semolina. Traditionally, this contains a lot of dairy, but I have modified the recipe so I can eat it. It’s not too sweet, so it’s the perfect dish for all times of the day. I first ate it at one of the best South Indian restaurants in Mumbai called Ramashraya. This was the first time I made it though. Now, this isn’t the most traditional way to make it, but it’s very easy and foolproof.

Servings: 4 Prep time: 5 minutes Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

Fine semolina flour 1/2 cup
Granulated sugar 1/2 cup
Boiling water 1 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp to dissolve saffron
Chopped pineapple 1/2 cup
Cashews 15 whole
Clarified butter or coconut oil 4 tbsp
Cardamom powder 1/4 tsp (optional)
Saffron 2-3 strands (optional)

Instructions

Cut the cashews into smaller pieces, preferably not more than 3 from one cashew
Heat 2 tbsp clarified butter in a non stick pan on medium low heat. Add the cashew pieces and sauté till they turn a light gold. Remove to a plate with a slotted spoon
Boil water on the stove or in a kettle while the cashews roast. Once boiled, soak the saffron strands in 2 tbsp water in a small bowl. Set aside till needed. Using saffron is optional, and you can totally skip it. I haven’t used it in the picture!
In the same pan, add the semolina and cook constantly stirring till it smells roasted and turns a dark yellow (about 10-12 minutes)
Slowly add 1 1/2 cups of boiling water, while stirring constantly to make sure no lumps are formed. I’ve found that a silicon spatula works best here.
Once the water has been absorbed, add the sugar and stir to dissolve it. The mixture will loosen as the sugar dissolves, then it will start sticking to the sides of the pan
Once the mixture is homogeneous, add the remaining 2 tbsp clarified butter and mix well. The mixture will come together in the pan and stop sticking to the sides
Add the pineapple, saffron strands with soaking water, cashews and cardamom powder. Mix well and serve hot!

Tips

I like buying a whole pineapple and chopping it up myself since it’s cheaper. You can use pre diced pineapple as well
If you’re okay with dairy, use an equal mix of water and milk instead of just water here for better texture and richer taste
Any type of nut can be used in the recipe if cashews are not the available. I also use 1/4 cup cashew pieces sometimes due to the fact that they’re cheaper. Nuts can also be eliminated entirely if needed
Clarified butter or ghee has negligible amounts of lactose and most people are able to digest it (myself included). However, you can use coconut oil to make the recipe vegan!
Please make sure to use a non stick pan and a silicone spatula to make this for the perfect texture and avoid a sticky mess on your pan
You can increase the amount of fat if you’re not counting calories. The more the fat, the better it will taste

The savory version of this recipe, upma, is also one of my favorites. I’m glad my grandmother was able to pass on the the technique to make it and the recipe before she passed away. It’s thanks to her technique that all my semolina recipes turn out perfect, including this one. I hope you give this one a try soon and as always, please let me know how it goes!

Meal Prep Part Two: Freezing Indian Food

This post is majorly about freezing Indian food, but a quick general note first. When I started meal prepping, the first thing I did was research what can be frozen and what cannot be frozen. I found a guide by Lauren Greutman (her handle: @iamthatlady) that is amazingly detailed. Here’s the link: https://www.laurengreutman.com/83-foods-to-freeze-or-foods-not-to-freeze/

I love having Indian home food every other night. Finding complete guides to freezing Indian foods is quite hard. It took some experimentation, but here’s a list!

Chutneys:

Most chutneys freeze pretty well. I always make big batches and use them when needed. Coconut based chutneys are the only exception. I found the texture changes on thawing and it isn’t very appetizing. While not a chutney, a mix for pani puri water freezes very well. Just blend it like you normally would and freeze it. When needed, you can dilute it with water and add salt, cumin powder and chat masala. Sometimes when I’m running low on herbs, I just add some chutney I froze. So, that’s another advantage of freezing these.

Gravies:

This recipe contains a lot of dairy and will need to be eaten in two weeks. The portion is single serve!

My cousin freezes large batches of cooked gravies and adds vegetables or paneer to it at the time of eating. I prefer adding everything in and freezing single serve portions.

One thing you should never freeze in gravies is seafood. When I froze a batch of Shrimp Vindaloo, the shrimp turned leathery after thawing. The same seems to be true for all seafood, according to the internet.

There are many opinions on whether we should freeze dairy. I find freezing gravies with dairy in it is fine as long as the food is eaten in two to three weeks. The same holds true for gravies with paneer in them. The other gravies can be frozen for three months.

Bread

Indian breads are another thing that freeze well. They can be frozen uncooked, half cooked or completely cooked. The last time my mom visited, she froze around a 100 phulkas for me. I just microwaved them when needed. I will be adding a post about freezing phulkas, parathas etc. and a quick way to roll them as well soon. Till then, you can follow this link: (add link). I would not recommend freezing raw dough. It does not thaw well and the resultant bread will not be as soft as the ones made with fresh dough.

Dessert

Indian desserts come in a large variety. Some of these can be frozen very well. The best desserts to freeze are all kinds of halwas like carrot, moong etc. Other desserts which can be frozen includes barfis (except coconut based), ladoos etc. Basically, any dessert without a dairy base can be frozen. Just remember to eat them within the month. Needless to say, these guidelines do not apply to traditionally frozen desserts like kulfis.

Dry curries

While these can be frozen, I do not recommend it. The texture is too watery to qualify as a dry curry. This is especially true for potato. Never freeze potatoes, boiled or otherwise. Many guides recommend it, but my experience has been quite bad. When I prep for dry curries, I make sure to eat them within the first three days. They can stay fresh in the fridge for that long.

Lentils

All lentils freeze well. I freeze large batches of my favorites like dal makhana, rajma, moong, dal khichdi, moong etc. They can stay good for three to four months. You can freeze lentils cooked with salt and finish the dish later as well. I prefer to freeze mine in single serve portions so I don’t have to do anything before eating except chuck it in the microwave.

Fried Stuff

Homemade kachoris. Who wouldn’t want to freeze these?

I have frozen kachoris, samosas etc. multiple times. I usually do this when I get packages from India. They do not thaw well or reheat well. They become quite soft and lose the crispiness. However, if it means I can eat kachoris over an extended period of time without the effort, I will do it.

Batters and mixes

This last section is my favorite. Even before I started meal prepping, I used to freeze dosa and idli batters. It is extremely easy to make them and they are delicious any time of the day. Here’s my mother’s recipe for the batter https://everything-nothing.home.blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/dosa_idli-batter.docx. The batter can be defrosted in the microwave. The recipe is for idli batter, but can be converted into dosa batter on adding more water. Hebbars kitchen has a good video about this (https://youtu.be/iT4YJV2tx1w). This recipe has other additions. You can use my recipe and watch the video for guidance!

I also freeze mixes for things like dhokla, biryani masala, samosa masala etc. They last longer this way and you can use them whenever you want. They do not need to be thawed as well! This last month we got a huge shipment of white dhokla flour and it is in our freezer now. I am not sure how long they last, but the samosa masala my mom made in May 2018 is still good.

I will keep adding to this list as I explore more. I have some tips and recipes for freezing other cuisines as well. Keep an eye out for my next post!!

Conversation with Shirley

This post is about a lady I met last week. Let’s call her Shirley. I started a conversation with Shirley that I never finished. I wish I had given her my side of the story.

The first time I noticed Shirley, we were sitting at the reception and she was telling a woman that people don’t come to the US to live the dream and that they should not be here in the first place. She glanced at the Hispanic couple who had just entered and me as she said this. We soon moved to the main waiting room. This next room had one other person in it. Let’s call her Samara (I’m watching Rings as I write this). There is one thing you should know about Samara: she was Hispanic. I tell you this because it is extremely relevant to what happened next.

Shirley was asked to take a seat next to Samara. Samara shifted a seat, probably since Shirley had a walker and would need space for it. Shirley laughed and said she wasn’t going to sit in Samara’s lap. She went on to thank Samara and we all settled down to wait. A few minutes later, Samara’s daughter got done with her appointment and they left. Now it was just Shirley and me.

Shirley looked over and said that she thought we were all together. I assumed she meant Samara, her daughter and me. I smiled and said we weren’t. I was a little offended by this because I thought this assumption was based on our skin color. She confirmed this when she asked me if I was Mexican or Indian. I told her I was Indian. She then asked me how long I’d been in the US and if I knew English when I got here. I said two years and told her that I was surprised people were ignorant about the use of English in other countries. Shirley brushed this aside and told me that she liked Indians. She thought we were hard working people, well educated and polite. She specifically admired the fact that we do not go on welfare. I was offended by this too, but I said thanks. She seemed to think she was paying me a compliment, but her opinions were quite racist.

Shirley went on to say that she welcomed Indians to the US and that the others didn’t belong here. I assumed she meant other immigrants. I pushed back on that. I told her I wouldn’t assume that others did not belong. She said when I’ve been here long enough, I’ll know she’s right. I was starting to get annoyed, but I still smiled.

She then started talking about the importance of standing on your own two feet. When I pointed out that this was important anywhere in the world, she explained that US was different. There were people from all nationalities here and there was law and due process. I was starting to get angry now. She was not only racist, but probably thought that other countries were lawless. Before I could say anything, Shirley was called in for her appointment and I was called in soon after. I did not see Shirley after that.

This unfinished conversation is all I can think of since then. I had so many questions. Did Shirley think that other countries did not have due process or laws? Did she not know that immigrants contribute more to the welfare programs than they used? Did she really like Indians or was that because I turned out to be Indian? Would she have said I don’t belong here to my face if I had been Mexican? Why was she so friendly to Samara when she didn’t think Mexican people belong here? I was also very curious about her background, her life story and her ways of getting information. I was curious if her views were based on her experiences and if not, then why would she have such views? Did she think the same about white people who immigrate to US or were they not a part of the “others” she mentioned?

I was also questioning my own responses during the conversation. I said thanks and smiled when I would have started a debate with another person. It took me longer to become angry since Shirley was quite old. I couldn’t bring myself to argue with her or express my opinions freely. It seemed disrespectful to do that. Now I realize that I have been doing that all my life. I do not regret this since I do believe that old people are from a different generation and are set in their opinions. This time though, I should have gotten my point across. I could have done it politely given more time.

These things are why I wish I had finished that conversation and why I am writing this. Maybe I’ll find another Shirley who wants to have a conversation. Maybe I’ll find someone who has had such a conversation. If nothing else, I know that it will definitely help me move on and be better prepared when I do find another Shirley.