of pudding

This afternoon I tried to make a sort of Indian pudding called badam phirni, which seemed quite simple. First, I mixed up a small package of ground almond powder with 4 tablespoons of rice flour and 1/2 cup of milk. In a saucepan, I brought 2 more cups of milk to a boil, and when it was boiling, added 5 tablespoons of sugar. I took out some of the milk to mix with 10 strands of saffron. Then I added the almond-rice paste and the saffron mixture to the simmering milk and stirred for several minutes, until it thickened to a pudding-like consistency. Then I sprinkled in a teaspoon of cardamom and took it off the heat.

Only problem was, the pudding was lumpy.

Should I have dissolved some of the hot milk in the almond-rice mixture before adding it all to the simmering saucepan? Or is it just luck whether or not your pudding turns out smooth?

I don't mind lumpy pudding, myself. It reminds me of one time my dad took some of us canoeing in Canada, and we made instant chocolate pudding over the campstove with powdered milk. It was delicious, especially the lumps. (This was perhaps the third or fourth day of camping.) Absolutely tasty.

But most other people despise lumpy pudding, so I need to figure out how to make this properly.

home again, home again

I'm back in my regular digs!

I was lucky enough to meet two wonderful bloggers up in the big city, Catholic in Japan and Sue from Living and Learning. I must add that Sue makes the most delicious cranberry-chocolate cookies I've ever tasted (was there oatmeal in there, too?), and it is partly to them that I attribute my recovery. (Had a run-in with a stomach bug, food poisoning, or who-knows-what over the weekend, but it cleared up by Tuesday.)

Oddly enough, the trip to Tokyo seems to have taken a terrific chomp out of my energy reserves, and I'm absolutely exhausted. Today, time seemed to flow around me in eddying streams. This is rather worrying, since I need to lead an aerobics class on Saturday morning, and what with one thing and another, I haven't yet been able to nail down the details.

However, perseverance is a virtue! And I picked up some medicine from the drugstore; I hope it works.