Kirukeyo

Kiru keyo I heard when one of my cousin requested me to find it’s recipe. I asked my mum about it and she said my late aunt cooks the best Kiru keyo. She said Kiru keyo is a dessert little thicker then kandhi . It was mostly enjoyed while having dinner or with afternoon hedika (Maldivian shorteats). Even in Ramadan after tharaaveese (Dinner) people use to drink it. My mum said Kiru keyo was a dessert cooked in Male’ (Capital island of Maldives) because she never heard or tasted it from any other island. Kiru keyo taste is very similer to kandi just the difference is banana is cut in a different way and it’s thicker and creamier. Traditional way of thickening Kiru keyo or Kandhi is with rice paste. My mum is a person who cooks these kinds of desserts very often it's kind of comforting food for her, so she showed me an easy and delicious way to thicken these desserts using corn flour. I have never seen my mum or our older generation cook food with measurements, that's why when ever I ask my mum to cook a recipe with measurement she won't like it, She cooks food without measuring and the great thing about it is no matter what she cooks everything tastes yummilicious. I guess our older generation have a magic hand. So here I bring you my mum’s way of cooking Kiru Keyo.

Ingredients:

6 cups water

6 cardamom pods

2 inch 3 piece cinnamon

2 inch 4 piece pandan leaf

3 cups sugar

3 unripe Saba Bananas ( dhon nuvaa maalhas keyo) + enough water to boil bananas

1 cup corn flour

2 cups thin coconut milk

1/2cup jasmine water (maafen)

1 cup thick coconut milk

Method:

1_ Peel skin off bananas and boil until soft but not mushy, cut each banana vertically, cut each half vertically, now cut bananas diagonally keeping thickness of half centimeter. Keep aside.

2_ Mix corn flour and 2 cups of thin coconut milk well, set aside.

3_ In a big pan add water, cardamom, cinnamon and pandan leaf cook until fragrant, now add sugar and mix until all sugar is dissolved.

4_ when all sugar is dissolved in water add boiled bananas and boil for 7 minutes. This will allow sugar syrup to soak the bananas.

5_ Add corn flour mixture into the sugar & banana syrup stirring constantly, cook until “Kirukeyo” thicken enough, that’s when back of a spoon is touched on the surface of Kirukeyo, it will coat a thick layer, than it’s cooked.

6_  Now add thick coconut milk & jasmine water cook two more minutes. Take out from stove cool and serve with hedikaa(short eats) ..... enjoy!

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Ala kandhi (Yam dessert drink)

Today is 12th day of Rabi-al-Awwal, our Prophet Muhammad  Sal Allahu Alayhi Wasalam birthday. It is regarded as an auspicious day and on this day we used to cook special food and try to celebrate as much we can at our home. So today for dessert my mum cooked “Ala kandhi” yam sweet thick drink. While she was cooking I helped her to measure the ingredients and while she was preparing I took these pictures. Below is the recipe.

  Cubed yam or ala

Ingredients:

11/2cup boiled or steamed yam or ala (chopped in to small cubes)

7cups water

4cups sugar

5tbs corn flour

2cups thick coconut milk

1/2cup thin coconut milk

7piece 3inch pandan leaves (raanbaa fai)

3 cinnamon sticks

12cardomom pods

maafen (Jasmine flower infused water) Rahalaavarah 

Method:

Boil water, pandan leaves, cinnamon & cardamom until sweet smell of aroma is released.

Add about 3cups of sugar boil until sugar dissolve, while the water and sugar are cooking dissolve corn flour in thin milk set aside.

When all the sugar is dissolved add the yam or ala give a stir, now add the corn flour mixture slowly stirring constantly.

Cook this mixture until corn flour is cooked (turns white to translucent). Now taste and adjust the sweetness with rest of sugar, add coconut milk & jasmine water give a good stir and serve hot or cold……………………………………..enjoy.

Naashigandu Kandhi ( A kind of thick sweet drink )

Kandhi is a thick sweet drink, which is made adding rice/screw pine/cassava/sweet potatoes/tapioca/ green banana, etc, to a mixture of cinnamon, cardamom, pandan leaf infused boiling water, sugar, coconut milk, jasmine water and corn flour or corn starch. Kandhi is mostly made in special occasions like Eid days and Ramadan. But my mum cooks on rainy days or whenever her sweet tooth craves. This is the first time I heard of Naashigandu kandi, which a soft dough made from glutinous powdered rice flour is used.

I was sitting at ADK hospital enjoying the greenery seen from the window some seven days back because my mum got admitted there. My mum told me she was craving for a mug of Naashigandu kandi. My mum is a great cook and she has so many comforting food varieties. In the coming days I will be posting in my blog all these comfort food of hers. She told me my late aunt use to cook the best Naashigandu kandhi she has ever tasted.

 ( This is a pic I took from my phone while I was sitting at ADK hospital room 401)

So just to make my mum happy I thought I will give a try to cook Naashigandu kandhi for her the next day. But I was too busy at home and at hospital that I did not get time, yesterday afternoon she was discharged and today when I went to her apartment she was gathering ingredients to cook this Naashigandu kandhi. I knew she wants to have Naashigandu kadi very much so I did not stop her, I helped her in cooking Naashigandu kandhi, while the water was cooking I ran to my apartment and grabbed my camera to take pictures. Naashigandu kandhi is one of the best kandhi I have also tasted and want to have more and more, but I had a small cup just to taste because I am trying to loose some weight.

Ingredients:

91/2 cups water

15 whole cardamom pods

3inch 2pc cinnamon

2inch 8pc pandan leaf

41/2cup coconut milk

3 cups sugar

11/2cups rice flour

2tbs corn flour

1/2cup jasmine water (Jasmine flower infused water)

Why is this kandhi called "Naashigandu Kandhi"? As naashi in Maldivian language is coconut shell. So I asked my mum. She told in the olden days to put the rice flour dough in pieces like small rods into the aromatic infused water a coconut shell was used by making small holes around it. This is how the name comes. For some recipes names comes not only from the ingredients used but also from what is used to make it.

Method:

In a big pan boil 9cups of water, cardamom, cinnamon, pandan leaves.

While the water is cooking in a bowl add rice flour and half cup of water to make a soft dough, more water may be needed. Leave it aside. When the spices releases the aromas take cardamom, cinnamon and pandan leaves out from water. Bring spice infused water to a boil. Using a big spoon having small holes or using a spaghetti strainer above the cooking aromatic water press half of the rice dough on the strainer so that about 1inch small rods like pieces of rice dough will fall into the aromatic water.

 (My mum is pressing the dough on the holed spoon)

Continue this until all the dough is finished. This is a two person job. Be careful the hot steam will hurt. Boil until the rice flour pieces are cooked (it will get hard).

Add sugar cook until all the sugar dissolves. Add coconut milk and mix, bring the stove to lowest. Mix corn flour with jasmine water until no lumps. Add corn flour mixture slowly stirring constantly.