Sweet Apam

This is one of the nicest things my mother used to make for tea-time, when we had emptied the contents of her tins and she needed a quick sweet at tea-time!
I love the blend of jaggery and now I use whole wheat flour, as the kind we get in the Indian grocery stores are as fine as the maida (all purpose flour) we used in India.
The whole wheat flour is more nutritious, the jaggery does not send my blood sugar soaring as long as I eat one apam only, so this is an all around winner for a diabetic.


1 cup whole wheat flour.
1/2 cup jaggery, broken into small pieces or shaved off the jaggery 'block' with a knife.
(Brown sugar might work here too but I haven't tried it with brown sugar yet).
1/4 cup water.
1/2 tsp cardamom powder.
1 Tbsp raw cashewnuts (quartered if they are whole, halved if they are in two pieces)
1 Tbsp golden raisins (soaked in water for 5 mins to plump them up, and strained).

Melt jaggery in water and strain through a fine strainer. (I always do this with any dish I'm using jaggery for as there are always some impurities in the jaggery).
Watch carefully so jaggery just melts and does not harden...if needed add little more warm water to dilute quickly.
Cool and then add to flour with all other ingredients.
Mix like dosa pouring consistency...for those of you who do not make dosas mix like pancake batter, adding more water if necessary.
Spray a non-stick pan, heat on medium high, pour one spoon of batter to make a 2-4 inch circle...my mother painstakingly did 3 inch circles...with me size depends on how quickly I want the job finished.
Flip apam over and brown other side.
Eat hot, eat cold...delicious both ways.

Tips: If your jaggery is very hard, soften it in the microwave for a minute but be very careful handling it as it starts to melt from the inside out.
Do not make batter too watery.
Do not pour too thick as inside will not cook well...1/4 cm comes out great.
Do not cook crisp.
Apam should be golden reddish brown and soft.
Outer edge just get a little crisp but the rest should be soft.

Blancmange and blueberries

BLANCMANGE (pronounced bluhmaange)
This is my entry for CLICK: Yellow for Bri hosted by Jugalbandi.

According to the American Heritage Dictionary: old Middle English had the word blankmanger: a dish made with almond milk, and from Old French blanc mangier : blanc, white + mangier, to eat.

In simple words it is a custard made with cornstarch, milk and sugar.
The end result is no longer white, thanks to the advent of food coloring.
Blancmange was a dessert that graced the Sunday table in my mother's house, set in an aluminum rabbit mold. When unmolded, my mother would decorate it with fresh cream that she got from boiling the morning milk. The light dessert was the perfect end to her rich Sunday lunch.
What I'm doing here is recording an old recipe...I know the younger generation in the kitchen prefer the shortcut of instant puddings, but there are some who are curious about, "How were things done back then?" This is for them.
Also, no matter what, the childhood taste and memory of blancmange is revived by this recipe...so much love attached to those memories.
This dessert is the mother of all the instant puddings on the market these days.
Growing up, we used the British Brown and Polson's flavored cornflour, that came in packets of 5 different colors and flavors to a box, so do experiment with those. Now in lieu of the B&P packets, later replaced by Weikfield's, I use cornstarch and follow this recipe:

2 cups non-fat milk, 2 rounded dessert spoons cornstarch, 2 level dessert spoons sugar (I use Splenda), and 1 tsp vanilla. Food coloring.
Add 1/2 to 1 Tbsp more sugar if you have a sweet tooth.

In a saucepan bring 1 1/2 cups milk to a boil.
In half a cup cold milk mix cornstarch till smooth. (If using Splenda increase cornstarch by 1/3 dessert spoon)
Add food coloring of choice.
Pour mix into boiling milk stirring constantly for 2 minutes till milk thickens to custard consistency.
Remove from stove top and add vanilla.
Mix and pour into mold. Refrigerate, but it also sets without refrigeration.
I used a small mold today, as I made this only for two people and HD (Hubby Dearest) does not like desserts. (More for me, I say)

Unmold and decorate with fresh cream made at home by boiling milk, Crema Fresca, or fruit, or eat as is. I used blueberries as that's what was on hand.
A perfect diabetic dessert, and also great for children/anyone who dislikes drinking milk. It is a fat-free dessert too as I ignore some manufacturer's instructions to add a Tbsp of margarine to the pudding.
Now, Brown and Polson's custard powder is available in some US grocery stores in a tin.
Do not use Splenda if serving this to children or expectant mothers.