An unorthodox dessert

When the weather is cold and you are home, not completely bored but just a little hungry what do you do? I am not sure what normal people would do but I opted to do something other than having a piece of cake and tea in front of telly. Not that there is anything wrong with doing just that, in fact I might take such a day as a topic for my next post.

Anyway, I was roaming the kitchen to find something sweet but I wanted something moist and ideally hot or at least warm. As usual, I did not know what I wanted until I saw a can of chick peas in the cabinet. Oh I can hear you say "What chickpea and dessert in the same sentence!?" Relax, but yes basically that`s what I am saying. In fact, I decided to make a dessert without sugar. If you read the rest of the post you might as well do it too.

The unorthodox ingredients for this dessert:
A can of chickpeas
A can of haricot beans
half a cup of rice (one cup if you are not going to use cracked wheat)
optional : a cup of cracked wheat (this is optional because it needs overnight soaking or pre cooking for an hour before use, but worth it if you have time)
All the dried fruits in the house (dried apricots, dates, sultana, raisin etc) please remember these are the only source of sugar in this dessert so do be generous and soak them in warm water :)
Nuts, (no not me, this recipe will make perfect sense once I tell you the history) hazelnuts, walnuts, cajun etc. Be easy on these if you are watching the calories.
The holy 3C cinnamon, cloves and cardamom for spice and scent,
Lemon zest or orange zest or both
pomegranate seeds, sesames and pistachio for decoration.

So this unorthodox dessert has a thousands year old history. It is said that when Noah and his family finally found land after the flood they made a festive dessert with whatever food they have left. So it is natural that this recipe has so many pulses and dried fruit etc. Noah`s pudding or more traditionally known as Ashure. Please click this link for more information Ashure

You need a large pan to boil them all. Start with cracked wheat and rice and add dried fruits into the water/ do not make it very runny, you need it to come to a pudding like texture.
Add the 3C spices add the canned beans and chickpeas after rinsing. add the nuts and stir gently. you can add boiling water or dried fruits to arrange the taste and texture to your liking.
Add the lemon zest last and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes.
Transfer to cups and decorate with pomegranate, sesames and pistachio when it cools down a little.

it should look like this 


 I love it and hope you enjoy this vegan recipe as well.

Red and Pink Romantic Red Bean Pilaf

I am very fond of rice.Yes I know about the carbs and calories but who cares??? Well, if you do check it here :)
Anyway although there are few different ways of cooking it, pilaf is my hearts contender. The basic technique for making pilaf is very straightforward: Fry the rice in medium oil, then simmers in water or stock 1;1.5 ratio is crucial and finally rest it off the heat for min 5 minutes.

Ok, since I have given the basic information, now I can proceed to the setting of this post:
I was hungry and mulling overt what to eat. I do not have a great appetite or a great love of cooking so whatever I cook must be quick and simple. Not your average food blogger huh?

I glanced at the kitchen and saw the red onions. I love their colour as well as the taste. I remembered having a can of red beans and bingo!!!
I hope you are ready for  Red and Pink Romantic Red Bean Pilaf 
Ingredients:
1 cup medium white rice- washed before use
1.5 cup warm water
1 red onion, medium size
1 can red bean
3 tablespoon of oil or 2 tablespoon butter. I always go for oil :)
salt as required

Fry the rice and roughly chopped red onions in the oil for couple of minutes. You want the onion to get pink and rice to turn white. 
Add the warm water to cover the rice. You can use  stock or veggie cubes as you like. Let it simmer for 10 minutes
Add the red beans for last 3 minutes. Rinse them in a sieve before using.

Congratulations! You are done in 15 minutes. Let the pilaf settle for five minutes while you decide what you want for dessert.

That is not the best photo but should give you an idea. Enjoy

 PS: Increase the amount of onions if you desire a more vivid pink in the rice.