Today is Valentines day. I'm not sure how much Indians celebrate this holiday of romance but the advertisers of India use it to sell everything from jewelry to health club memberships.
I attempted to celebrate by making "French Breakfast Muffins" for breakfast. This is a long time favorite of Donna and I have made them many times before. Like most of my attempts at western cooking in India the results we close but not exactly.
For one thing vegetable shortening does not seem to be available in Bangalore. (If you know where to get it please leave a comment and tell me.) I substituted ghee. I'm not sure exactly what ghee is but it appears to be butter which was not churned quite long enough to become butter.
Another subtle difference is sugar. You can get nice white sugar in any supermarket and most days even in the tiny market a block from our apartment. The difference is in the size of the crystals. Sugar naturally forms crystals. In the US white sugar comes as roughly cubic crystals a fraction of a millimeter in each dimension. In India it's the same except the crystals are about 2 mm in each dimension. This means the crystals do not fully dissolve in your baked goods. There's also the issue of baking powder here not being quite as effective as what you buy in the US but I compensated by adding extra (yes Donna I actually measured it.)
When made with US ingredients these muffins raise high above the rim of the muffin tin and form a conical peak. They are very light and a bit crumbly. This morning they arose quite well but either because of the ghee or the undissolved sugar rather than forming a peak they flowed out over the surface of the muffin tin forming a flat cap on the muffin. When I attempted remove them from the tin (I have not found paper muffin liners over here either) the caps broke off, then broke into pieces. I tried turning the muffin tin up-side-down to no avail. By standing the muffin tin on edge, carefully prying under the edge of the cap and wiggling the muffin I did get three of the dozen out in one piece.
Then there was the issue of dipping them in melted butter and then cinnamon sugar. I thought the sugar as it was would be too crunchy so I put sugar and cinnamon in the blender and voila, powdered sugar, also not exactly the texture I wanted. Anyway they were too crumbly to dip in anything so I brushed on some melted butter, sprinkled with powder sugar and invited Donna to come have some nice warm crumbs with me.
She insisted that they were delicious. It's the thought that counts. Anyway, what can I give to the woman who literally traveled to the end of the earth to be with me. I love you Donna, happy Valentines Day.
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4 comments:
Josef,
There's no where else I'd rather be. Being with you is being home.
Home just got more interesting.
All my love,
Donna
You can get vegetable shortening. Please ask for "Dalda" which is a brand name synonymous with the veg. shortening, much like Xerox. Ghee is clarified butter. That is it made by heating butter and allowing all the water in the butter to evaporate. Ghee is culturally of great significance in India. The main reason ghee is widely used instead of butter is because, butter will not keep in a tropical country like ours. But ghee can stay for a couple of months at room temperature.
Great post! I loved it! Joe, you remain and incurable romantic which I absolutely love about you. Have Donna tell you about the barbershop quartet that sang to me on my birthday. Phil must be trying to live up to your high standards:) You two are blessed to have one another and we are blessed to have you as friends. Happy Belated Valentines.
Karen
Great Blog! Joe, you are still an incurable romantic and it is what I love about you. Happy Valentines Day to you both, though I know that it was a tough time with Luna. Ask Donna about the barbershop quartet that showed up for my birthday. Phil is obviously trying to keep up with you! Love to you both, Karen
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