Inspired by WINTER MELON PANNA COTTA

Hello fellow bloggers, foodies and my long lost buddies J Finally I found some inspiration to bring my blog back to life.….Winter melon panna cotta garnished with candied rose petals and caramelized sugar.

I know lot has been happening in the F-world….foodbuzz is gone….daily buzz has replaced it….seems like I have lost track of lot of friends on foodbuzz…all good things come to an end for better things to replace them J

Life’s been kind to us this year….so many good things happening(Thank God!!). One being that we shifted into a new apartment…It’s a lovely place but I am still unable to find a snug spot to do my food photos L which is giving me a lot of trouble. Sunlight is like magic to good food photos…sigh!

Been ages since I came down and gave some love to my blog….but the love for food would never part me…days went by trying and creating new recipes but I did not find anything that inspired me stupendously to pull me here. I’ll still share a few pictures of recipes that I tried but did not get inspired by…to justify my claims J Ohh…n btw if any of you get inspired by the pictures, do ask for recipes, I’ll send you those J

strawberry n nutella smoothie

upside down cookies 

fresh fruit n caramel cake 

baked chicken pasta with bell pepper sauce  

Banana muffins with molten choclate core

Molten Lava Mug Cake (with minimal changes recipe courtesy: Nash@plateful)

So you see, none of these were daringly inspiring to jump start blogging….if it weren’t for the winter melon who was taking away too much space in my fridge, I wouldn’t be here even now.

We know this veggie by many names….ash gourd, winter melon, white gourd…in hindi its called petta kadhu and in malayalam we call it kumbalanga. It’s a frequent veggie in south Indian cooking usually for curries with coconut. In north India, it’s used to make an extremely famous sweet called Agra ka Petta (आगरे का पेठा) ….basically pieces of melon cooked in sugar syrup till they are almost translucent. It taste super awesome only if you have a sweet tooth J

Coming to our recipe……I have to say that this is not your usual panna cotta…..its smooth milk pana cotta with tender cooked pieces of winter melon and almond flakes. So its not just creamy smooth stuff, you have some bites in there. The candied dry rose petals gives the dish a great lift in terms of flavor to a different level. I have been wanting to make candied dry rose petals ever since I saw them on Toni’s blog loooooooog back. So you want to know how to make them, go on and visit Boulder Locavore’s “Rose vanilla ice cream with candied rose petals” for step-by-step instructions with pictures and don’t forget to thank Toni J.

Winter melon Panacotta is an absolutely amazing way to re-invent your panna cotta….trust me….I know you do J Leaving you with the recipe…and don’t forget to read the Tips n tricks for a perfect recipe!!

Ingredients: (serves - 8)

Winter melon -2 cups diced pieces (remove skin and seeds)

Almond flakes – 3 tbsp (can increase or decrease or omit to your choice)

Water – 2½ cups to cook melon

Milk powder – 4 tbsp

Cream - 160g

Condensed milk – 4 tbsp

Sugar- ½ cup(adjust to your taste)

Gelatine – 8 grams

Method:

1.     Toss the diced melon pieces and water in a heavy bottom vessel. Cook at medium heat with lid on till the melon is tender and translucent.

2.     When the water content has reduced to very little (just at the bottom of the pan) lower the heat to minimum. Add the almond flakes, sugar and milk powder mixed with one a cup of warm water.

3.     Keep stirring on very low flame till almond flake are cooked through (around 20mins). Add the condensed milk.

4.     Switch off and remove from stove when the consistency of milk thickens a little. Stir in the cream till evenly mixed.

5.     Prepare gelatine as per instructions on the pack.

6.     Add the gelatine while mixture is warm whisking rigorously.

7.     Pour into moulds and refrigerate till the mixture sets.

8.     De-mould, garnish with candied rose petals, some love J and caramelized sugar pieces.

9.     Serve cold!!

Tips n Tricks:

·       Dice the melon into not very small pieces - around ½ inch.

·       You can pressure cook the melon pieces in little water to quicken things up.

·       Trying to cook the almond flakes with raw melon pieces will make them taste weird, so don’t even think of doing that J

·       If you feel water content is too little while cooking almond flakes, add a few tablespoons as per requirement.

·       I used milk powder (my brand: fat free Régilait milk powder) to reduce the time required to evaporate milk and thicken it. You can use milk. Quantity will be around 2½ cups. Cook till milk quantity reduces to half.

·       You got to be really careful not to let the milk burn or split. So the key words are stir on a low flame.

·       Too much gelatine spoils the dish.

Cheers!!

MJ

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