APRICOT HALWA

The memory of those fresh, juicy apricot hanging from the trees grown everywhere in Turkey is still fresh on my mind... Once back, I did get fresh packs of apricot here in the island... but the supply is  irregular... else I wished to redo it because I felt the amount of Apricot used in the dish had to be more... What happened was that I was overjoyed snacking on the fresh, juicy fruits, ate a lot.... packed along with their lunch boxes too.... then all of a sudden Cristine reminded her ma'am that she wished to prepare a dessert APRICOT HALWA with those apricots. Of the 10-12 number of apricots left, I went ahead with the dessert recipe. I had to take more amount of semolina / suji because few guests were due.... so the ratio of semolina and fresh apricot was somehow unmatched.... hence I used boiled milk a little! Otherwise, I avoid using milk while preparing something with fresh fruit. I do not know why I do this, a primitive Bengali's favourite snack meal is .... "dudh-muri-kola"... "dudh-aam- kathal-muri ba chirey ba khoi".... The father loved.... the daughter still loves, has without adding sugar but the brother will not touch if served as a combination. I am no innocent, as a college goer too I insisted the mother to prepare "ruti-porota" everyday for the daughter! Anyway, the mother basks in her own glory.... "you know mamoni... your bhai's colleagues are appreciative of the food I send ".... I never ask her to stop for I know she will get mentally sick otherwise .... She tries to tell me that she does not find life interesting anymore.... I just stop her, scold her saying "consider yourself lucky to get such a son and daughter-in-law... not many are this privileged".... However, I can never tell her "mani, I cannot blame you, at 48, I feel the same!"I have no reason to though... if I tell it to the mother, she will start all over again with a lot of anticipation .... "is T nice towards you?".... haha... even if he does not wish to  he cannot be otherwise.... a divorce suit will cost him a big hole in the pocket, he is not a dumbo! If you are lucky enough to have your parents... single or both... do not talk to them much... they are not in the position to handle everything that is going around, they do not need to know anything except for the news that their kids are doing fine! The upheavals in our lives should not touch their's... they have come past all the hassles.... they need to rest now!

"Yaar depression kis baat ki?"... "Arey bahot hai... saal ke iss time pe bar jati hai... yeh log jo kaddu ko leke senti ho jate hai iss time pe.... arey kaddu se ketchup banao woh bhi thik hai ... par mithai?".... " aur woh kaddu se bana hua bhoot wale mask?".... We have a Bengali family living just below ours... a couple much younger than us... I do not know how the soft spoken husband got bald at such an young age... may be it is the result of getting an engineering degree at age 21-22... haha... This guy's wife who cooks well complained to me... "didi... every morning around 5 am... someone in your bedroom does skipping".... how much I say it is impossible sister... I wake up around that time it is true but look at me... do you think I can be this sincere with workouts? You now know my heart condition... with a husband beside who does not believe in "bhoot-bhobishyot".... According to the buzz around, he does not treat me as a wife but as his ignorant daughter.... The nocturnal him loves his television set more than me... he forces me to sleep amidst those unearthly beings if any... alone! So, the under eye bags you see are not age related, I somehow spend 3-4 hours till 4am and again run to the living room... I cannot get wild towards that young couple either... ask me why? The couple still smell so much of "Howrah"... in a way I like it... the way the husband called me "didi" on our first meet, with so much of respect .... aww a Sanak Chottopadhay surely got a competitor in town... I will tell my readers about her food page once she gets a little more sincere with her food photographs.... Nope, I am not that good as my blogger friends have been to me till date.... 

Anyway, I wish to tell you exactly the date of my doom's day! Arey, the day when Nabin Chandra or K.C. Das or Bancharam will make "kumror sandesh".... you will know S died a not so peaceful death. APRICOT HALWA is the call of the day.... I will not go spicy anyway.... people are praising their T dada a lot... ok he is as composed, wise and intelligent as them.... but forces the wife to do what she is scared of... he did not find out what the cause of his wife's sleepless nights... Look at the good wife... she prepares all kinds of halwa.... for the husband loves them with luchi.... I too love but the mumma fed her boy so much of "sujir payesh" at one point in time that he does not fancy normal halwa anymore... he will have a bowl only if there is a good amount of fresh fruit extract in it! 

Doing an  APRICOT HALWA for the family and friends actually served 2-3 purposes at a time. I am chatting with you but I have many things on my head... I have a coffee date coming Sunday... I do not visit anyone empty handed or with a big packet of Haldiram's.... no point saying that I love cooking then, I have pujor mishti to be made, my nails are to be done.... I have no time for people whose intentions are nasty... who lack depth of mind .... who does not have words like integrity, intensity, sanity, sanctity, in their dictionary... they are even idler and lazier than me..... At age 48, I prefer to distance myself from any such thing that does not attract me... I am definitely not in the league who treat everyone with equal amount of warmth!

Some of my readers may have remembered this share of mine!

                                                                                              

INGREDIENTS :

Fresh Apricot : 10-12 [for dried apricot I think we need to soak them in hot water, before we prepare a paste]
Semolina : 1small cup
Boiled Milk : 1coffee mug
Condensed Milk : 1/2small cup
Sugar : 1/2small cup
Green Cardamom : 2-3
Freshly Ground Green Cardamom : 2-3pinch
Bayleaf : 1
Ghee / Clarified Butter : 1/2small cup +1tbsp
Toasted Pistachio, Wal Nut, Cashew Nut, Saffron to garnish!!

PROCEDURE :

Wash the apricots, break and throw away the stones. Take them in a blender and blend to a paste.

Heat 1/2 the amount of ghee in a wok and temper with the bay leaf and the green cardamoms. Bengalis have a mental block in using half and half ghee & semolina like the rest of India may be... so our halwa is on the drier side a little! Never mind, they are tasty.

Add the semolina, roast till it is brown. Take off, transfer to a bowl.

Heat the other half of the ghee and add the apricot paste. Stir for 1/2 a minute. Add the sugar and condensed milk. Add 1 medium cup of water and add the roasted semolina. Fold in well.

Add the milk little by little and keep stirring, keep the heat at low. We can use little more milk until it is done. When it is almost done, add 1tbsp ghee and 2-3 pinches of cardamom powder. Fold in well and we are done!

Garnish with the dry fruits and have it warm!