CHOCOLATE FUDGE & SPICY NUTS…TRYING TO BE A DOMESTIC GODDESS !!

Deeba @ PAB

16 years ago

“Ring the bells that still can ring, Forget your perfect offering.

There is a crack in everything,That’s how the light gets in.”

Leonard Cohen

It’s Diwali, the Indian ‘Festival of Lights’, & I’m racing against time. Don’t know how Nigella does it; I mean, how does she get her act together! Every time I try a calm, glam & unperturbed attempt at Nigella’s recipes, ‘Express’ or otherwise, pandemonium is the only memory I’m left with. Nigella Lawson’s fudge is quite a winner; I’ve made the pistachio chocolate fudge earlier, & decided to make the walnut variant for Diwali.

There’s a virtual flood of Indian sweets at home, so I always opt to make a chocolate fudge or truffles at this time of the year. The kids have a week off, so the boy drives me to distraction. Oooooh fudge mama, he exclaims! Can I taste the chocolate? It’s yummy; may I have just a little bit more, please? And then, every 10 minutes, Is it set yet Mama? While I’m warding him off my precious chocolate which is fast falling below the required weight, the daughter chooses this very moment to make candles! She’s pulled out all my favourite pressed flowers & has me on tenterhooks with hot candle wax all over the kitchen counters! I’m racing to line the counters with newspaper, while slapping the lads hand away from my future fudge! Pandemonium reigns supreme because he now sees his future in making candles but is terrified of getting burnt. Ye gads, I’m tearing my hair out by the end of the day & am SO relieved when he dozes off to sleep at night.

Up with first light, you can imagine the first question…”Is your fudge made Mama?”. I think he even dreams in sweet…talk about sweet dreams!!! He is funny most of the time, difficult sometimes, though has the potential to drive me to tears too!! !The fudge, on the other hand, is easy-peasy & very delicious. Here we go…

Chocolate Pistachio Fudge (Originally published by Nigella Lawson)
Ingredients:
Dark chocolate / roughly broken up – 350gms
Condensed Milk – 1 can (4 oz)
Butter -2 tbsps
Salt – 1 pinch
Chopped walnuts – 1 cup

Method:

Melt the chopped chocolate, condensed milk, butter, and salt in a heavy based pan on a low heat.
Add the nuts to the melted chocolate and condensed milk and stir well to mix.
Pour this mixture into a 9-inch square foil tray, smoothing the top. Let the fudge cool and then refrigerate until set.
Cut into small pieces approximately 3/4 by 1 3/4 inches or cut 8 by 8 lines in the tin to give 64 pieces.
Freeze a portion if you like. You can chomp it right out of there!

If there is sweet on my list, then savoury can’t be far behind. Made these spicy nuts on a sudden whim which overtook me, after the sight of ‘sugar overdose’!. These are delicious too, with mild flavours like garlic & Worcestershire Sauce. I made these more like a Goddess coz the boy couldn’t figure out whether he liked the saucy aromas or not! Once done, both kids gobbled up a few happily indeed. Spice them as as you like; this is an easy recipe, great for gifting! Increase or decrease the spices/garlic. I eyeballed them.

Spicy Nuts

Ingredients:

Whole almonds (unsalted) – 500gms

Butter – 1/4 cup

Garlic – 2 cloves; minced fine

Worcestershire Sauce – 2 tbsps

Sea salt to taste

Freshly ground pepper

Paprika as desired

Method:

Melt butter in a heavy bottom pan on low heat with all ingredients except almonds. Stir to mix well.
Put off heat, mix in the almonds, stir well to coat. Bake in preheated oven at 250 degrees C for 30-45 minutes, stirring every 15-20 minutes. Keep an eye out so they don’t get burnt.
Cool & store in an airtight container.

Wishing you all a Happy, Peaceful & Joyous Diwali…

Deepavali, or Diwali is a major Indian holiday, and a significant festival in Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Many legends are associated with Diwali. Today it is celebrated by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs across the globe as the “Festival of Lights“, where the lights or lamps signify victory of good over the evil within every human being. Diwali is celebrated on the first day of the lunar Kartika month, which comes in the month of October or November.

A few pictures of the kids on Diwali over the past few years…