If you are in heaven – and I am (check it out www.swasara.com) – it seems only right that you put in a little time praising the gods for the benefice they have shown you. So it was that I found myself in the weekly ‘community yoga’ session held here rocking along to the praises being sung to Ganesha, Paravati, Lakshmi, Shiva (major gods in the Hindu pantheon). Then came Krishna’s turn – Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare, Hare. My mind immediately turned to Europeans dressed up in (shabby) Indian gear, foreheads decorated with coloured powder, shaking tambourines and chanting this same mantra on the streets of Melbourne. They slightly scared me as a child; as an adult they looked lost and now that I know that you cannot ‘convert’ to Hinduism (you have to be born into it) I wonder what they are trying to escape from.

Krishna’s not a bad choice for worship though. He was a fetching shade of blue (which works well with lotus pink and touch of leopard print), cohabited with his aunt (in the biblical sense); frolicked on the side with over 1000 milk maids (the aunt didn’t seem to mind this so no harm done) and generally had a jolly time.

Despite my aversion to Krishna’s chanting and swaying sidewalk disciples I have to admit that I have on occasion eaten at their restaurant in Melbourne (on Swanston Street) and I have to thank them for introducing me to sooji ka halwa (semolina sweet).

There are many variations of sooji ka halwa. A version that uses wheat flour, instead of the coarser semolina, does service as prasad (consecrated food/offering to the gods) at Sikh temples When you depart the Gurdwara on Chandi Chowk in Old Delhi you are always given a portion of it.

Sooji ka halwa is a very easy to make but make sure you have everything ready to go as it all happens pretty quickly. You can adjust the amount of syrup that you use to create different consistencies. If you add more syrup you can make it more like a porridge: wonderful for winter breakfast with a little milk drizzled over the top. I sometimes cook it out for little longer so that it is a little drier in consistency. I then press it into a rectangular tin to about 1 cm thickness; when it is cool I cut it into diamonds or use aspic/biscuit cutters to cut it into shapes. This recipe should result in the finished product having a consistency somewhere in between these two: serve it in this form as a dessert with custard or ice cream.  The figs and walnuts are my addition but you can leave these out if you prefer or add other types of dried fruit or nuts (slithers of roasted almonds are good) …no one will mind!

Sooji ka halva

Serves 8

Ingredients

6 green cardamoms

1 litre water

2½ cups sugar

1¼ cups ghee

1½ cups semolina

2 tbsp chopped dried figs

2 tbsp chopped walnuts

Method

Put the cardamoms, water and sugar into a saucepan and stir over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. Strain and keep aside

Heat the ghee in a cast-iron wok or heavy based pan over a medium high heat. When the ghee has melted add the semolina; cook and stir over moderate heat until the semolina is a pale gold colour. Stir in the figs and walnuts and cook for 1 minute.

Start to pour the sugar syrup onto the semolina (be careful as it may spit a little). Stir and cook until all the liquid is absorbed and the mixture starts to come away from the side of the pan.

Serve hot.

It is most delicious in its hot state but if you want to serve it cold make it a bit ‘wetter’ as it will firm up and get a bit ‘crumbly’ as it cools.

This morning a cow with one horn festooned with bright tinsel wandered dazedly by. It reminded me of someone waking up with a hangover on a strange couch after a New Years Eve party still sporting a party hat and a garland of paper streamers. Actually this is not a bad analogy for today is the day that cows are worshipped as part of the Diwali festival. As the day wore on I saw more cows decorated in various ways: their hides patterned with coloured hand prints, circles or more elaborate patterns; bright ribbons swathed between horns; pretty garlands slung across their chests.

Diwali is India’s biggest festival – it is like Christmas and New year rolled into one – and it is celebrated across the country in varying degrees (most other festivals are regional and/or religious and are celebrated in some states/areas and not in others). It is traditional to give sweets on Diwali so as my festive offering I am giving you one of my original recipes for a lovely sweet treat.

I have called this a chocolate ‘samosa’ and while technically it shares some larger similarities with a true samosa, i.e., it is pastry stuffed with a filling, my use of  samosa as a descriptor for this dish is fairly liberal. I use filo pastry in this recipe whereas the real mccoy has a more substantial pastry and the filling is savoury not sweet. Now that I have confessed the differences (and hopefully pacified purists)  let me point out the Indian qualifications of this recipe.

1. use of coconut – this is used extensively in the south of India and in coastal areas ( where I am currently located).

1. use of ghee – the purifier of all food in Hindu culture making it fit for the gods.

1. caramel sauce – ‘caramel custard’ (essentially crème caramel) was a very popular raj/colonial era dessert still commonly served in homes and restaurants, particularly if western style dishes are being served.

I chose to use ‘samosa’ as I wanted to create a dessert that was  Indian in spirit but more appealing to the western palate than most Indian sweets are (the erudite, intrepid and very funny American food writer Jeffery Steingarten includes Indian sweets on the very short list of things that he tried to eat but just cannot bear). It is a mix of my European knowledge/skills and Indian food knowledge/skill; I call it modern Indian but perhaps it should be Ausdian or Euridan!

Happy Diwali.

Chocolate Samosa with caramel sauce

4 tbsp ghee

1 cup dessicated coconut

1 small tin condensed milk

3 – 4 tbsp brown sugar

200gm dark chocolate

1 pkt filo pastry

¾ cup melted ghee

Melt the ghee in a heavy based saucepan. Add the coconut and stir until golden. Mix in the condensed milk and sugar and when well melded add the chocolate.

Stir until the chocolate had melted and the mixture comes away from the side of the pan (the mixture needs to be the consistency of soft putty). Remove from the heat and set aside.

Pre-heat the oven to 200°c.

Place a sheet of filo pastry on a board and brush with melted ghee. Repeat the process with another two sheets of filo (so that you have a stack of three sheets).

Cut the layered filo sheets into three or four strips lengthwise (depending on how large you want the samosa; if you want ‘cocktail’ size ones then do four strips).

Place a generous dessertspoon (less if making smaller samosa) of the mixture on the end corner of the one of the strips and old it into a triangle and repeat (this is a ‘side to side process: one fold will bring a the triangle to one side the next fold to the other) until you get to the end of the strip.

Place the samosa on a tray and bake until golden approximately 8-10 minutes.

Caramel Cream

250 ml plain cream

1 cup white sugar

Slightly warm the cream (don’t overheat it just needs to have the cold taken off it to help it assimilate with the very hot sugar).

Put the sugar in a heavy based pan (essential – a lightweight vessel will cause the sugar to burn) over a medium high heat and leave it until it melts and turns a caramel colour (if you are not used to doing this you might like to add a little water to dissolve the sugar before you start to heat it). Do not stir the melting sugar as this can cause it to crystallize: rather agitate the pan to move the sugar around to assist it to melt.

Take the caramel off the heat and blend in the cream . Be very careful this will spit and splutter quite lot. Stir to blend well.

You can serve the sauce hot or chill it and serve cold. .