Kheer ~ Indian rice pudding with Date compote and Lékué microwave rice and grain cooker giveaway

Rich and creamy rice pudding with fragrant cardamom and a delicious date and nut topping.

60 g short grain rice
250 ml water
400 ml  full cream milk
60 g sugar
1 teaspoon cardamom powder
few strands saffron
4 almonds for garnishing
6 pistachio nuts  for garnishing
6 medjool dates
60 ml boiling water

Method:

1.Wash the rice in cold water and soak it for 30 minutes.
2.After thirty minutes drain the rice and place it in the Lékué  microwave rice and grain cooker together with 250 ml water and cook on high for 20 minutes until rice is mushy and all the water is absorbed (alternatively you can cook the rice on the stove top.) (The rice needs to be overcooked and very soft)
3.While the rice is cooking , take a heavy bottom pan and pour the milk in it and bring it to a gentle simmer, continue simmering the milk to thicken and reduce it  for 20 minutes.
4.  Once the rice is cooked transfer all the cooked rice to the hot milk, add the sugar and simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring the rice pudding every couple of minutes as not to scorch it.
5. Once rice pudding has thickened add the cardamom powder and saffron and mix it in.
6. Take the pan off the heat and transfer the rice pudding to a bowl. Keep stirring it every few minutes until it cools this will stop any skin forming on it.
7.To make the date compote chop up the dates finely and place them in a small bowl. Add boiling water to the dates and leave for 30 minutes.
8.After 30 minutes mash up the dates in the liquid using the back of a spoon until thick and pulpy.
9.Slice the almonds and pistachio nuts in to thin slivers and keep aside.
10. To serve spoon the rice pudding in serving glasses .Add a spoonful of date compote on the top and garnish with the almond and pistachio slivers.

I precooked my rice in the  Lékué  microwave rice and grain cooker, it is very useful to have as it cooks rice without any fuss and the container is stylish so you can cook and serve the rice straight from the microwave to the table.

The  Lékué  microwave rice and grain cooker is a neat little cooker, a white microwaveable pot with a green silicon lid with holes in it to let the steam escape. Since it has a unique lid water doesn't overflow and the microwave stays clean. The rice and grain cooker can be used to cook a wide variety of other grains such as couscous, wheat, barley, oats and buckwheat . It is dishwasher safe and made from plastic and 100% platinum silicone. The Lékué microwave rice cooker retails at  £ 27.50 and is available to purchase from many high street retailers and also on line from Lékué.

I have been very fortunate and have had the opportunity to try out some wonderful  products from the Lékué range of kitchen ware such  the microwave kit pasta the pasta cooker, which  is elegant in design and you can cook and serve the pasta straight from the microwave to the table.

I also tried the cutting board which is neat and very handy  and is very durable since its  made from pp plastic and trp rubber. The cutting board stores easily in any kitchen drawer and is double sided.

Finally one of my favourite items that I have tried is the kit decomat. This is a lovely kit perfect for those cake decorating fans. It comes with laminated design templates and a special chocolate piping pot that allows you to trace the patterns with the chocolate to make beautiful chocolate decorations.

I would like to thank Lékué  for sending me all these wonderful items to review.All the opinions and views expressed in this post are my own.

Lékué have been very kind and they have agreed to send one lucky simplyfood reader a microwave rice and grain cooker as a prize so that they can cook perfect rice every time.

How To Enter:

• Simply complete the Rafflecopter widget below to verify your entries
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• Closing date - 5th May 2014

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

Submitting to:
Lets cook sweet treats for Easter event by simply.food

Taste of Tropics ~ Dates Event by Chef Mireille guest hosted by citrusspice

Colori Cucina Green frying pan from Kuhn Rikon review

I was recently sent the new 28 cm Colori Cucina Green frying pan from KuhnRikon is the perfect frying pan for a modern kitchen. It is sturdy, easy and handy to use, it is very well suited for everyday cooking. This is an everyday durable non-stick frying pan. It is suitable for omelettes and the braising of vegetables. It can also be used for frying fish and meat. The pan is suitable for use on all types of cooking devices such as radiant ring, solid plate, ceramic, halogen, gas. Although the pan is not dishwasher safe it can be easily cleaned by hand and any stubborn deposits can be removed by soaking prior to washing.

The pan comes in 5 lovely colours in red, fuchsia, blue, yellow, green and also three sizes 20cm, 24cm, 28cm. 

The Prices are as follows:

20cm in all colours: £29.95

24cm in all colours: £34.95

28cm in all colours: £39.95

The pans are available to purchase on line from Cookability  and also on the high street from many cook ware shops.

 I found the pan was sturdy with a strong handle and it was very stable on my gas cooker.I also liked the fact that the pan was fairly deep. I cooked pancakes in it and they glided off perfectly. I also sautéed some mushrooms and vegetables in the pan and they cooked extremely well using very little oil. I love the vibrant colour of the pan its fun and very eye catching. The 28 cm size pan was perfect in size to cook for a family of four. I would give the pan a score of  4/5. I only wish it was dishwasher safe.

Thankyou to Kuhn Rikon for sending me this pan to try out in my kitchen. All the views and opinions expressed in this post are my own.

Event Round up ~Lets Cook with Seeds

Thankyou to everyone who took part in this event, all the yummy dishes can be found here in the round up.

Date and Nut Barfi

A healthy and delicious treat perfect to serve as a snack or after dinner treat.

Ingredients:

8  ripe soft medjool dates
60 ml hot water
30 g pistachio nuts
30 g cashew nuts
30 g almonds
30 g dessicated coconut
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder
Pinch of saffron

Method:

1. Remove the stones from the dates and chop finely. Place the dates in a bowl and add 60 ml boiling water and the saffron strands and leave from 1 hour.
2. In a coffee grinder coarsely grind the pistachio nuts, cashew nuts and almonds.
3. In a large bowl mix together the coarsely ground nuts, dessicated coconut, sugar, cardamom powder.
4. Using the back of a spoon mash together the soaked dates. Add the soaked dates to the nut mixture a little at a time until all the ingredients are combined. Mixture should not be too wet and if made into balls should retain shape.
5. Pinch small walnut sized balls of the mixture and push them into silicon chocolate moulds to shape them.
6. Once all the mixture is shaped in the moulds place the tray in the fridge to chill for 1 hour.
7. De mould the barfi  and keep refrigerated .

Submitting to:
Lets cook sweet treats for Easter event by simply.food

Taste of Tropics ~ Dates Event by Chef Mireille guest hosted by citrusspice

Javelin Warrior Cookin/with luv

Announcing Event~Lets Cook Sweet Treats for Easter

The Month of March is nearly over and we have already started the celebrations for spring. April brings us the celebration of Easter . In this event I am inviting all foodies to cook sweet treats for Easter and link them to this Event.

To Participate:

1. Prepare any sweet treat suitable for vegetarians (eggs allowed),  please link your dish using the linky below by entering your Dish Name and Post URL
2. Please link this event announcement with your entry, this is mandatory. (Any entries sent with out the mandatory link will be disqualified.)
3.Use of logo is  not mandatory but it helps to spread the word if you can use it.

4. Multiple entries are allowed, archived are only allowed if reposted and updated with this event link.

4. In the event of problem using linky you can email me the entry at simplysensationalfood@gmail.com

Please use this format:

Your Name: Recipe
Name Recipe URL
Image no larger than 300 pixels.
Event Ends 30th  April 2014