MASALA CHAI SPICE POACHED INDIAN PEARS with sour curd
It is always better to eat whole fruits as they are.. but sometimes you get bored of doing so. It would seem like you are living inside a matrix and in dire need of creativity.
Generally fruits like apples, pears or peaches are poached in alcohol (often times in red wine) until they can be scooped with spoons.
Now I cannot do that for hours as I am ‘cooking gas’ conscious. I will allow it to be poached for 20 to 25 minutes and that’s it. It cannot argue with me that it needs to be intoxicated more.
The art of food photography is also lost in me. I’m finding it hard to get a grip at it after four long years of break. I don’t know why this happens to me everytime. I try to do something new, life throws at me boatful of lemons. If I was in Amalfi coast then its fine but I am not. Life needs to understand.
I love watching The Positano diaries and how motivated the couple(Nicki and Carlo) is motivated to get their new house renovated (Also loved their Positano renos). Positano is a village and comune on the Amalfi Coast (Province of Salerno), in Campania, Italy, mainly in an enclave in the hills leading down to the coast.
Sometimes I wonder how they are not afraid of the rain; in one of the videos I saw a small waterfall near their backyard or something. Vague memory. When it is so scary to live in the ground now, I wonder how they championed through living on the hills (is that what it’s called?)
Life hasn’t thrown me lemons yet, it is pears for now. So, I am poaching it in the spice I know well.
How to make poached pears with Indian variety of Pears
Here I come, clove, don’t you worry!
All you have to do is peel some Indian variety pear, add all of the spices of a masala chai into it and simmer away. I have used dry ginger (Sukku in tamil language) because I didn’t have fresh ginger at home. Also, I wasn’t using the dry ginger much and it seemed like a good idea to use now.
If you have fresh ginger by the time you decide to make this recipe, use an inch of a freshly
grated ginger.
How to devour this Poached Indian Pears
You can slice and eat this poached pear or have some cream or fresh yogurt or curd or sour curd
with it. Sesame brittle is optional; it served as prop for me. Cameo!
Indian Pears are hard and has a grainy texture. It might take longer than 40 minutes to poach it
if you want that spoon scoop texture… or not.
Since I am going in the direction of limiting sugar (any) intake, I added only a little amount to the liquid tea but dissolved some jaggery in the finished liquid and topped it off on the pear. Similarly, you can use a small bowl and dip the slices of poached pear in the sweetened liquid and devour.
MASALA CHAI SPICE POACHED INDIAN PEARS
INGREDIENTS
Indian Pears – 81g (one small pear measured whole)
Water – 360g (Varies upon the size of the pear. Ideally, the pears should sink in the water for it
to cook)
Dry Ginger powder (Sukku) – ½ teaspoon
Cinnamon stick – small – 1 (refer pic)
Cardamom – 1 small pod
Cloves – 2 small (refer pic)
Star anise – A bit (or one arm of an star anise)
Black peppercorns – 10
Tea powder (Strong Assam tea was used) – ¼ teaspoon
Pounded Jaggery – ½ teaspoon + ½ teaspoon
Optional: Hung sour curd – 53g
RECIPE INSTRUCTION
Step 1: Prepare the pear for poaching by washing and peeling the skin.
Step 2: In a heavy bottom saucepan, add the water, listed spices and jaggery. Turn on the stove, let the solution come to a rolling boil, reduce the heat to low, add the pear and simmer for about 20 minutes on open flame. Turn the pears occasionally.
Step 3: After 20 minutes, carefully take out the pear and rest it on a heat safe plate to cool down. Strain the tea solution through a metal strainer.
Step 4: Dissolve ½ teaspoon of tightly packed pounded jaggery in 1 Tablespoon of the strained tea and pour it into a small bowl. This was my preferred quantity. You can up the sweetened liquid quantity according to the number of pears you use.
Step 5: Slice the pears, dunk it in the jaggery sweetened tea and enjoy! Don’t eat the middle part of the slice, though.
NOTES
Optionally you can also eat the poached with fresh curd/sour curd/yogurt.
Pears can also be poached for upto an hour in the masala chai spice.
Pears can also be split in half, seed coat removed and poached with the same recipe instructions.
Desired quantity of jaggery can be added as per your taste.
Masala Chai can be made from the finished liquid. I have not tried making it.
That’s all for now.
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