Kulhi Faaroshi Pudding (Savory Faaroshi Pudding)

Faaroshi is a hard, thick not so sweet biscuit sold at almost all local shops, bakeries and stores in Maldives. It is used mostly in sweet dishes and very few savory dishes, we eat this biscuit dipped in tea or milk too. It gets soaked very easily. I love to eat this biscuit mixed with curry. I can remember the good old times when I return from school my mum use to keep faaroshi and dhal curry for me.

Puddings are usually sweet, but it can be made savory too. This version, brimming with faaroshi, canned tuna, dried tomatoes and sharp cheddar, is deeply flavored with a crisp, golden crust and tender, creamy interior. We loved it, tastes like eating a kind of lasagna. For this recipe I used canned tuna as a meat but chicken or minced beef also can be used, just it has to be cooked little longer.  

Ingredients

5 tbs vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 chilly, chopped (githeyomirus)

2 garlic cloves, chopped

5 curry leaves, chopped

1 tin tuna chunks (in oil) or 200 grms boneless chicken, chopped to bite size pieces

222 grms faaroshi

1 cup cheddar cheese (grated)

1/3 cup chopped dried tomatoes (optional)

6 large eggs

2 cups milk

½ tsp salt

½ tsp ground pepper

1 tsp paprika

Method:

1_Grease a 9 x 9-inch baking dish or pan with oil. Put faaroshi into a zip lock bag and using a rolling pin crush until some are chunks, some crumbs, put in to a bowl and leave aside.

2_In a sauce pan over medium-high heat, add oil. Add the onion, chilly, garlic and curry leaves stirring constantly until soft, about 10 minutes. Add tuna and mix everything and cook 2 minutes or if using chicken continue stirring and cooking add extra oil if needed, cook until chicken is cooked.

3_Add the meat mixture to a mixing bowl with faaroshi chunks and crumbs, grated cheese and dried tomatoes. Toss well, then spread the mixture evenly into the prepared baking pan.

4_In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, ground pepper and paprika.

5_Pour the egg mixture evenly over the faaroshi mixture, cover tightly with plastic wrap and leave in fridge for 2 hour’s so that all the faaroshi will get nicely soaked.

6_Preheat the oven to 200 C. Bake for about one hour, until puffed and golden brown. Serve immediately.... enjoy!

Orange Marie Biscuit Pudding

This is a wonderful effortless supper simple pudding, except that it will bowl over your friends and family. The key ingredient is orange juice and Marie Biscuits which is a common find in the pantry at most of our homes. So, just go ahead and try this delicious very orange biscuit pudding which has  a delicious scent of orange in each bite.

Ingredients:

1 can condensed milk

1 can Nestle cream

1 cup fresh orange juice

1 ½ packets of Marie biscuit

2 tbs orange zest

Method:

1_ Place condensed milk, Nestle cream, one table spoon orange zest and orange juice in blender. Blend until smooth and thick. It will be like runny custard.

2_ In a 6 inch round baking pan, place a thin layer of orange custard to barely cover the bottom of the pan. Take a biscuit and dip it in the custard. Place biscuit on top of the thin layer of custard. Repeat with as many biscuits as you need to create a layer of dipped biscuits. Cover the biscuit layer with a bit of custard so that all the biscuits are fully covered. Create another layer of dipped biscuits followed by another layer of custard and so on. Keep forming layers until you have used up all of the custard. The last layer should be a custard layer. Sprinkle rest of orange zest on top.

3_ Cover and chill overnight so that all the biscuits will absorb the custard and to allow it to set, cut and serve… enjoy!

Note: If the color of custard is too pale you can add 1 drop of orange food coloring. 6 servings can be taken from this dessert.