Boston Cream Pie Pie

• 1/2 recipe easy pie dough, shaped and chilled in a pie plate

• 1 quart whole milk

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

• 10 ounces (about 1 1/2 cups) granulated sugar, divided

• Pinch of salt

• 1 egg

• 7 egg yolks

• 2 ounces (about 1/2 cup) cornstarch

• 5 ounces dark chocolate, chopped (about 1 cup)

• 4 ounces heavy cream (about 1/2 cup)

• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). When oven is ready, line chilled pie shell with foil or parchment paper and fill with weights (I reuse dried beans for this), and bake on lowest rack of oven for 15 minutes. Remove weights and liner, turn pie, and bake until bottom crust is a light golden brown, about 10 minutes more. Remove pie shell from oven and allow to cool completely.

2. In a large saucepan, stir together milk, vanilla, half of sugar, and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together egg and egg yolks. Add starch and remaining sugar and whisk until very pale yellow in color, about 2 minutes. Set aside. Place saucepan with milk mixture over low heat and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. When it starts to bubble, remove from heat. Temper eggs with the hot liquid in small amounts, whisking constantly with each addition. Once all of the liquid has been poured into eggs, pour the mixture back into pot and whisk constantly over low heat until mixture begins to thicken and bubble. From the point you see the first bubble, whisk for 2 additional minutes, then pour the custard into pie shell and press plastic wrap against the top. Allow custard to cool at room temperature, then chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

3. When you are ready to serve, place chopped chocolate in a bowl. In a medium saucepan, combine cream and corn syrup and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Once cream begins to simmer, pour cream over chocolate and allow to sit for 2 minutes. Stir mixture until chocolate is smooth. Pour the chocolate glaze over the top of the chilled pie and smooth with an offset spatula, and serve immediately.

Kadala Curry

For cooking chickpeas

• ▢ 1 cup (172 grams) black chickpeas (kala chana or desi chana or whole bengal gram or kadala)

• ▢ 2 cups water – for soaking black chickpeas

• ▢ 2.5 cups water – for pressure cooking

For kerala garam masala

• ▢ ½ teaspoon fennel seeds

• ▢ 2 to 3 thin strands of mace

• ▢ 1 inch cinnamon

• ▢ 3 cloves

• ▢ 3 pinches grated nutmeg or ground nutmeg powder

For coconut paste

• ▢ ½ cup fresh grated coconut – tightly packed

• ▢ ¼ to ⅓ cup water – for grinding or blending coconut

Other ingredients

• ▢ ⅓ cup shallots – chopped, can use pearl onions (sambar onions)

• ▢ 1 inch ginger – chopped, about 1 teaspoon chopped

• ▢ 1 or 2 green chilies – chopped, about 1 teaspoon chopped green chilies or serrano pepper

• ▢ 10 to 12 curry leaves

• ▢ ½ teaspoon mustard seeds

• ▢ ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder (ground turmeric)

• ▢ 1 teaspoon Red Chili Powder – for less spicy taste add ½ teaspoon red chili powder or cayenne pepper

• ▢ 1 teaspoon Coriander Powder (ground coriander)

• ▢ ¼ teaspoon black pepper powder (ground black pepper)

• ▢ 2 tablespoons coconut oil

• ▢ 1 to 1.25 cups water or stock in which the black chickpeas are cooked

• ▢ salt as required

INSTRUCTIONS

Pressure cooking chickpeas: (Check notes below on cooking chickpeas in a pot/pan)

• First rinse and then soak the black chickpeas in 2 cups water for 8 to 9 hours or overnight. You can also use white chickpeas instead of black chickpeas.

• Take the black chickpeas in a 3 litre stovetop pressure cooker. Add fresh water and salt.

• Stir and pressure cook the chickpeas for 9 to 10 whistles or till they are tender and cooked through on medium heat.

Preparing coconut paste

• Meanwhile when the chickpeas are cooking, take the grated coconut in a grinder or blender jar. Add water and grind or blend to a smooth paste.

• Keep the ground coconut paste aside.

Preparing kerala garam masala

• In a small pan, dry roast the following spices till aromatic – fennel seeds, mace strands, cinnamon, cloves and grated nutmeg or nutmeg powder. Just a light roasting. Don't over do.

• In a small grinder or coffee grinder or a mortar pestle, grind or pound these five spices to a semi fine or fine powder. Keep aside.

Making kadala curry

• Heat coconut oil in a pan.

• Add mustard seeds and let them crackle.

• Add chopped shallots. Stir and saute for a minute.

• Then add ginger, chopped green chilies, curry leaves and saute till the shallots turn translucent or a light brown.

• Then add red chili powder, coriander powder, black pepper powder and the ground kerala garam masala.

  If you already have kerala garam masala, then just add 1 teaspoon of it.

  Note that 1 teaspoon of red chili powder, makes this curry spicy. So reduce to ½ teaspoon for a less spicy curry.

• Stir the ground spices very well and saute for a minute on low heat.

• Then add the ground coconut paste.

• Stir and mix very well.

• Saute for 4 to 5 minutes on a low heat.

• Then add the cooked black chickpeas or kadala. Stir very well.

• Then add 1 to 1.25 cups water or according to the consistency you prefer. Again stir and mix very well.

• Season with the required amount of salt and stir kadala curry again.

• Let the curry come to a boil on medium heat and the gravy reduces a bit. The flavors and chickpeas should also be well blended.

  When the curry is done and cooked well, you will see some oil specks on the top layer of the curry.

• Serve Kadala Curry hot with puttu or appams or steamed rice. While serving, you can garnish with some chopped coriander leaves if you like.

NOTES

1. Instead of black chickpeas, you can use dried white chickpeas, black eyed beans or kidney beans. However, don’t use the water in which the beans or white chickpeas are soaked and cooked, but use fresh water while cooking them. You can also use drained, rinsed canned white chickpeas.

2. You could use frozen coconut and unsweetened desiccated coconut, instead of fresh coconut.

3. To add some tang in the curry, you can add 1 medium chopped tomato.

4. If you do not like the flavor of coconut oil, then use a neutral flavored oil instead.

5. You can vary the consistency of the curry as per your preferences, by adding less or more water.

6. This recipe can easily be reduced or scaled to make a small or a bigger batch as per your requirements.

7. Cooking black chickpeas in a pot: Add the soaked chickpeas, 2.5 to 3 cups water and salt in a pot. Cover and bring the water to a boil. Later, on a medium to high heat, cook the chickpeas until tender.

Masal Dosai

Oil - 2 tbsp.

Mustard - 1 tsp

Urad Dhal - 1 tsp

Channa Dhal - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves

Turmeric - 1 tsp

Asafetida - 1/4 tsp

Onion - 2, sliced

Green Chilli - 4, slit

Ginger - a small pc, grated

Potato - 3, cubed

Besan - 1 tsp

Salt

Dosa Batter - 4 cup

Heat Oil in a medium pan. Temper Mustard, Urad Dhal, Channa Dhal, Curry Leaves, Asafetida and Turmeric. Saute Onion, Green Chilli and Ginger until the Onion turns translucent. Add the Potatoes along with 2 cup Water and required Salt. Mix thoroughly and cook closed until the Potatoes are completely done and begins to crumble. Dilute the Besan in 1/4 cup Water without any lumps and add to the prepared Gravy. Cook closed on low flame for 5 mins. Turn of heat and keep closed until ready to serve.

Heat a tawa and grease it with oil.

Blend the Batter to a smooth consistency. Pour a big ladle of Batter in the hot tawa and spread it into a circle in circular motion. Drizzle with Oil on top the Dosai. When the edges begin to brown flip the Dosai and and cook the other side also. Flip the Dosa again and spread 3 tbsp. of prepared masala in the middle of the Dosai and fold in half. Remove from heat.

Serve warm with Chutney/Sambhar.