POM, PEAR, PUDDING:AN AFGHAN DESSERT

Thanksgiving is a special holiday for my family, we are one of many political refugees who immigrated to the US from Afghanistan after the Russian invasion of 1979.

My family usually gathers at my sister Nabila's house for several days of family bonding over many delicious meals. I find myself taking advantage of my second to last birth order by letting others do the cooking and planning. However, this year I created a simple and easy pudding recipe to contribute a dish to our Thanksgiving meal.  

To justify sharing this Pom, Pear, Pudding on my Afghan Cooking blog, I created the recipe with ingredients commonly used in Afghan cuisine; chia seeds, olive oil, pomegranate, condensed milk and rosewater.

Since most Afghan desserts call for oil (mostly vegetable) instead of butter, I decided to join the food trend of San Francisco and use olive oil in this dessert dish.

Chia seeds come in black and white color

After tasting the creamy pudding offset by the crunchy, flavorful chia seeds and graham cracker crust, I now understand why the Greeks, Italians and Spaniards use olive oil in their desserts. The pudding does not taste like olive oil but is enhanced by the fruity, nutty, sweet and tropical notes of the oil.

I hope you will add this pudding to your Thanksgiving menu. It can be made a day or two ahead of serving. I’ve also provided links to older posts that include Afghan side dishes and deserts that go well with turkey.

THANKSGIVING SIDE DISHES—AFGHAN STYLE

AFGHAN FLAVORS AT YOUR THANKSGIVING TABLE

ROSEWATER CARDAMOM CARROT PUDDING—HALWA E ZARDAK

POM, PEAR. PUDDING

An Afghan Desert

12 whole graham crackers, broken
1/3 cup chia seeds
1/2 cup delicate, extra-virgin olive oil
15-ounce ricotta cheese
14-ounce sweetened condensed milk
1 ripe Bosc or Bartlett pear, cut in small pieces
1 ½ tablespoons rosewater (adjust to taste)
large pomegranate, seeded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine graham crackers and chia seeds in a food processor. Drizzle the olive oil into the processor as you pulse the ingredients in the processor. Blend until crumbs begin to stick together. Press crumbs evenly onto bottom of a approximately 9x9 baking dish.

In a bowl, mix the ricotta cheese, condensed milk, pears and rosewater. Whisk until creamy. Pour the contents into the baking dish, bake for 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, sprinkle 1/3 cup of pomegranate seeds on top of the pudding. Save the remaining pomegranate seeds. Let the pudding cool to room temperature or if making a day before, refrigerate.

Distribute the remaining pomegranates evenly among serving bowls, add pudding on top.

Serves 8

Olive oil production has returned to Afghanistan with the help of Italians

FIFTEEN BENEFITS OF CARDAMOM

I grew up with cardamom as a staple in Jeja's, my mom, pantry.  She uses green cardamom to add an aroma and special flavor to in tea and desserts. On occasion, she uses the pungent black cardamom in savory dishes. I keep a small jar of ground cardamom in my fridge for the infrequent occasion when I want to Afghanify a non-Afghan food such as vanilla ice cream, coffee and on occasion oatmeal.

My recipes with cardamom:

Qabili Palau, Afghanistan's National Dish

Halwa with Saffron, Orange and Cardamom, Halwa-e-Naranj

Afghan Baklava with Cardamom

Afghan Creamy Tea, Qaymaq Chai

Afghan Oatmeal with Chicken and Cardamom, Haleem

Almond Cardamom Meringue, Kulcha-e-Badamee

Cardamom Almond Brittle

Rosewater Cardamom Fudge, Sheer Pera

Semolina Halwa, Sojee Halwa

Afghan Cutter Cookies, Kulch-e- Birinjee

Quince and Yogurt Trifle

Creamy Cardamom Rice Pudding, Sheer Birinj

Afghan Sundae, Falooda

Carrot Pudding, Halwa-e-Zardak

Article edited and reprinted from Sunwarrior.com 

Cardamom is native to India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan. This spice is commonly used in Indian, Central Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine. It has also made its way into Ayurvedic medicine as a treatment for mouth ulcers, digestive problems, and even depression. Some of the health benefits of this peppery, citrusy spice are now making their way into modern studies. It’s well worth adding cardamom to your food for the flavor alone, but these health benefits are also something to consider whenever you break out the spices.

Digestion – Cardamom is related to ginger and can be used in much the same way to counteract digestive problems. Use it to combat nausea, acidity, bloating, gas, heartburn, loss of appetite, constipation, and much more.

Detoxify – This spice helps the body eliminate waste through the kidneys.

Halitosis – In India they chew cardamom after meals or whenever they need to freshen their breath.

Diuretic – Part of the reason cardamom is such a good detoxifier is thanks to the diuretic properties. It helps clean out the urinary tract, bladder, and kidneys, removing waste, salt, excess water, toxins, and combating infections too.

Depression – The science behind the antidepressant qualities of cardamom hasn’t been studied yet, but Ayurvedic medicine swears by the tea as a means to fight depression.

Oral Health – Apart from helping with bad breath, cardamom is used for mouth ulcers and infections of the mouth and throat.

Cold and Flu – This pungent spice may help prevent and relieve cold and flu symptoms. It’s also used for bronchitis and coughs.

Cancer – Animal studies are showing promise that cardamom protects against, inhibits growth, and even kills some cancers.

Blood Pressure – As a diuretic and fiber rich spice, cardamom significantly lowers blood pressure.

Blood Clots – Cardamom prevents dangerous blood clots by preventing platelet aggregation and the sticking to the artery walls.

Antioxidant – Many of the vitamins, phytonutrients, and essential oils in cardamom act as antioxidants, cleaning up free radicals and resisting cellular aging.

Pathogens – The volatile essential oils in cardamom inhibit the growth of viruses, bacteria, fungus, and mold.

Anti-inflammatory – Like ginger and turmeric, its relatives, cardamom has some anti-inflammatory properties that limit pain and swelling, especially in mucus membranes, the mouth, and throat.

Hiccups – Cardamom is an anti-spasmodic that can help get rid of hiccups. This also applies to other involuntary muscle spasms, like stomach and intestinal cramps.

Aphrodisiac – Traditional medicine lists cardamom as a powerful aphrodisiac that can help with erectile dysfunction and impotence.

AFGHAN RICH MILK AND ALMOND PUDDING-KAJKOOL-E-FUQARA

                                                         

By Humaira

Today's recipe is an edited excerpt from Helen Saberi's cookbook, Afghan Food and Cookery. When I first started blogging, Helen's book was the guiding light to balanced spicing and naming of dishes. Two years ago, I was very honored when Helen reached out with a generous compliment about my work. Since then, she has kindly contributed several recipes to this blog - Qaymaq Chai, Tea and Hospitably in Afghanistan, Quince and Yogurt Trifle, and Afghan Fish Stew. Today's recipe is a sweet dessert pudding, kajkool-e-fuqara, a perfect addition to your Nowroz celebration.

Excerpt from Afghan Food and Cookery:

The name of this rich milk and almond pudding, which is flavored with rosewater, ironically means "beggar’s bowl". There are many variations of the same dessert found in Iran and the Middle East, usually known as keshkul-e-fuqara.  The recipe below is an Afghan version.

Kajkool, is the word for an oval bowl made either of wood, metal or a coconut.  These bowls were carried suspended by a chain from the shoulder by fuqara or beggars.

Fuqara, who call themselves “the paupers of God”, are like dervishes who devote their lives to seeking God and are not interested in ownership of property or worldly goods. They travel from house to house begging for food. Donations of food (and sometimes money) are placed in the kajkool that is eventually filled with different kinds of food. 

A faqir or beggar is considered to be a holy man with special healing powers and in exchange for the food he prays for the people, often sprinkling them with rosewater from a gul-ab-pash, a type of glass or metal bottle with a sprinkler.

The name of this rich milk dessert is derived from it being sprinkled and decorated with a variety of nuts and coconut, symbolizing the kajkool being filled with a variety of food.

Kajkool-e-Fuqara

Rich Milk and Almond Pudding  

1 cup plus 1 ounce blanched almonds (135 grams)

1 ounce  blanched pistachio (25 grams)

1/2 fresh coconut or 1/2 cup dry chopped coconut

3 heaped tablespoons cornflour/cornstarch

3 1/2 cups milk (1 liter)

1 1/4 cups sugar (275 grams)

1/4 cup rosewater (55 milliliter)

1/2 teaspoon cardamom 

Pour 8-ounces of boiling water over the one cup of blanched almonds in a bowl and leave to soak for about 15 minutes. Blend the mixture in a blender and puree.  Strain the almond milk through a double layer of cheesecloth or muslin into a bowl, squeezing the cloth to extract as much milk as possible. Set aside.

Meanwhile flake or roughly chop the other almonds and the pistachio and simmer them in a little water for a few minutes to soften. If using coconut, remove the flesh and grate.  Set the almonds, pistachios and coconut aside.

Mix the cornstarch with a little of the cold milk into a smooth paste. Bring the remaining milk to boil with the sugar, adding the paste gradually. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon to avoid sticking. Bring to boil, then turn down the heat and simmer gently until the mixture thickens. It is very important not to have the heat too high and to stir constantly as this mixture easily sticks and burns.  If it does stick, do not scrape the bottom of the pan—this would impart a burnt taste to the dish.

Add the rosewater, milk of almonds and cardamom­–simmer gently for two minutes. Leave to cool a little and then pour on to a large flat serving dish and decorate with the blanched and shredded almonds and pistachios and the grated coconut, if used.