To rose and cardamom

I am happy to be finally doing this. I grew up in south of India in a house full of great cooks. I was inundated with tasting notes, flavor profiles, cooking techniques and lots and lots of good food.

Spices and coconut were always in abundance! The combination of spices for each and every recipe is well established, treasured and is treated as family heirloom. Over the years, I have been recipe testing without the spices and adding them slowly to bring in each of the missing flavors and balance. The king of all spices is cardamom.

Cardamom is the smell of celebration if you are ever in the south. Crushed green cardamom floating in milk & rice pudding, black cardamom pods popping out in very orange kesari, small pods floating in gulab jamun's syrup, or the happy accidental bite of cardamom in a ladoo. It's delicate earthy sweet flavor is intoxicating. But what I have here elevates cardamom even more with its beautiful floral subtleness: rose with cardamom. Easiest way to use this in dishes is to make a syrup.

Rose-cardamom syrup

⅓ cup sugar

⅓ cup water

10 pods cardamom cracked open and crushed (leave the husks out)

10 dried roses

Heat the sugar and water until melted. Add the cardamom pods, rose buds and heat on medium for 2 min. Remove from heat. Place a storage jar until hot running water for 2 min. This is to ensure the jar and the contents are at the same temperature, so it can be preserved for 1-2 months. Pour the hot mixture in to the jar and leave it in room temperature until it cools down completely. Store with an airtight lid. This will last 60 days in the fridge.This syrup opens up so many possibilities. Here are a few delectable ways to enjoy this:

1. Mix 2 tsp to mango milkshake. The combination of mangoes and cardamom is well known in south of India, but the addition of rose makes it blissfully satisfying. I would drink this for every meal if I could. 
2. Pour a tsp on a scoop of strawberry ice cream. Strawberries and rose, another great combination, with the cardamom, even better!
3. Coat a biscuit with the syrup for a tasty treat. 

Rose Mango Milkshake

1 very ripe mango
2 tsp rose-cardamom syrup
4 blanched almonds
1 cup full fat milk

Blend all of this together until velvety smooth. Add more milk if the mango is fibrous.

Coconut Cardamom Panna Cotta

250ml full fat coconut cream
1.5 sheets of platinum leaf gelatin
40g sugar
5 dried rose buds
5 cardamom pods crushed

Soak the gelatin sheets in ice cold water for 10 min until it softens. Heat the coconut cream in a saucepan until it comes to a boil. Add the rose buds, cardamom pods and sugar and mix well until the sugar is fully melted. Remove from heat. Mix the gelatin sheets and cover it and keep it aside for 30 min. The rose and cardamom flavors should be fully incorporated. Pass this through a strainer and place it in ramekins coated with coconut oil. Let it set in the refrigerator for 3 - 5 hours. It can stay up to a week.

When removing, place the ramekin in a container with hot water. the coconut oil coating the ramekin will melt and loosen the panna cotta. Use a butter knife to help release it on to a plate. Serve it with coconut flakes.

Enjoy your weekend. I am going to make another batch of this delicate syrup before it runs out.