Agar agar ; Ramadan Sweet

We call it sanja and the packets says it’s agar agar and now gelatine bars.
Whatever it’s called it tastes so good and looks colorful. It cooks very fast and sets with no refrigeration.
Here is how you do it basically.

Ingredients
1 pack agar agar
4 cups water
Sugar as required
Preferred color

Directions

1. Boil water in a pan.
2. Add agar agar and cook over a medium flame.
3  Add sugar when the mixture starts thickening slightly.
4. Once the mixture thickens add preferred color and pour on a flat tray.
5. Keep it covered and away from insects until it sets.
6. Once it sets cut into squares and serve.

Refrigeration is required when keeping more than a day.
Store different colors separately in different boxes.

Thats my sanja 🙂

Thats the raw sanja or agar agar.

Here are a few Ideas to make them look more beautiful and fun –

1. Add nuts and fruits to uncoloured sanja or agar agar. The will look yummy and lovely.

2. Add some sweetened condensed milk instead of sugar for a heavy texture and more enhanced sweetness.

3. Cut into different shapes to serve for kids parties.

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Mango Achcharu #flipagram made with @flipagram
Music: Pharrell Williams – Happy (From “Despicable Me 2”)
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Strawberries

Experimenting with fruits

 

 

 

 

storing fresh strawberries are tough for me and we hardly buy them as they rotten fast before  i find some time to make them into a dessert. i decided to puree them with no water and just 2 teaspoons of sugar.

i stored them in my fridge so i can use it when ever i want. as an experiment i stored 3 strawberries i the freezer to see how long they stay fresh.

today is the 2nd day and they are still fine. i guess the best way to store strawberries is freeze them. yes they will not rotten when frozen. or puree them and refrigerate for a week.

do not add water to the puree and to make it into a fresh strawberry jam add some extra sugar.

i drizzled some strawberry puree over my fruit salad with some whipped cream and it was delicious.

A slice of my left over homemade bread was eaten with some whipped cream and strawberry puree. it was low sugar but delicious and fresh. use up the strawberry puree with anything you want or add them to your cakes to make strawberry cupcakes.

just puree them and leave in the fridge until you use them up.

am glad to have discovered a way on my own to store them without any internet search.

hope you enjoyed this tip.

Recipe

strawberry puree

ingredients

15 strawberrries

2 teaspoon sugar

method

1. add both the ingredients onto a blender and blend till well pureed.
2. refrigerate in a plastic or glass bottle.

so far keeps well for upto 4 days.

 

• add more sugar if need a sweeter version.
• use as a topping for ice cream, cakes, fruit salads or even milk shakes

 

Food Story : My Home Garden

Wandering around in a 3 by 4 metre garden with a mango tree and some plants which I barely can name except the rose plant and the lime plant which now happens to be a mandarin plant.
I have never seen raw mandarins and assumed that the plant that we have in our garden is a lime plant. Well they are in small pots which is 12 inches in diameter and has a two feet height with the plant. Many mandarins have appeared yet none of us bothered to pluck it nor taste it until this day due to the busy life.  Ofcourse my sisters do take some time to water the plants and yea they are not my plants literally as my mum bought them. I love plants that provide fruits and flowers. I remember the days when I was around 12 I used to water the large mango tree that later provided us with mangoes. I used to pull the hose and water all trees that were big and small those thoughts make me think how childish I’ve been to water a fully grown mango tree.
The mango tree which started bearing mango provided us with many buckets of mango which were so delicious. 
We ate it raw as an achcharu or ripe as a fruit.  I probably have a post planned with mango in 3 ways.
Getting back to the mandarin plant I touched the tiny mandarin which had a shade of light yellow in it’s skin. I felt the soft and juicy flesh from the outside of it’s hard skin and decided to pluck it. The lemony strong and sour aroma was so similar to that of a lime or lemon that I asked my grandma and cousin if its lime that has got rotten. I soon started peeling the skin which came off easily and revealed the ingredient. It was a mandarin.  Light yellow flesh over layed beneath the thin white pip that had a spider web design protecting the pulp of the mandarin from getting sqeezed and preserving the shape of the fruit. Discovering that mandarins grow in my garden I was all smiles with happiness and ideas overflowing in my head while the first idea was to blog about the discovery.
I separated the mandarins into 6 pieces and served it with a few crystals of salt. Tasting my own home grown mandarin which was very sour and made my 5 and a half month old give a funny facial expression which is priceless while I was so enjoying the mandarin.

Above the mandarin plant
Below the mandarin peeled half.

It’s the new year and am so excited to discover more food and travel all around sri lanka before my vacation comes to a conclusion amidst my busy schedule I’ve got some exciting stuff planned keep up with my blog to learn more.
Follow me on instagram or twitter if you find difficulty to follow my blog.
Welcome 2014 🙂

mafaza

Achcharu, A craving for something salt and spicy

The first time I heard of the achcharu kadey I was so excited and happy as I can enjoy my favourite snack and fruit with peace. Wondering what am talking about? Yes, achcharu is available all over in Sri Lanka for a very nominal price and its so delicious.  The only reason for me to be happy is that now I can eat my favourite achcharu without any confusion.  The achcharu sold in ordinary stalls doesn’t guarantee cleanliness but the achcharu kadey is a part of the good market and sells all items prepared in a clean way and follows the health ministry standards.
All items are served with gloves on and kept closed that’s what makes me enjoy my achcharu peacefully.
Ok now are you impatiently screaming whats achcharu???
It’s just fruits served with some salt and chillie powder. Sometimes a bit of pepper powder makes it more spicy. Mangoes, wood apple, star fruit, gooseberry, nelli and pomelo are some fruits used to make achcharu.
It has been a favourite amongst Sri Lanka’s and I remember the joy of having an achcharu day in school and the days we enjoyed achcharu after school and during the interval at our school canteen.

I was waiting for several weeks since I heard of the achcharu kadey with anxiety to try the different fruits available at their store. It was at the British school in Colombo Christmas fair that I bought the achcharu. It was packed in beautiful cups with a lid and served with a spoon. I was so mesmerised on the fruits they had and how they served. Very pleased to have spent at the achcharu kadey stall and is awaiting to revisit very soon.
Keep up the good work achcharu kadey.

mafaza

How many times do you wash your fruits, vegetables and meat???

Palm Tree – Dates Palm

Its been a year since i moved in to dubai and for the first time in my life i saw palm trees filled with dates and was really fascinated when i got a closer glimpse.
All that came to my mind was to take some pictures and share.
There were many fallen under the tree which was ripe and trampled by the cars passing by,in many areas they have covered the bunches of dates with a bag similar to which you find onions at many stores,so that air could pass through and at the same time to prevent them from falling around and being trampled.

there are two kinds of palm trees- date palm and coconut palm. The pictures show the date palm trees which is very commanly found in Dubai.