I have two lovely things for you. One is this excellent recipe for halva jelly by Sumayya Usmani from Mountain Berries and Desert Spice (published by Frances Lincoln, an imprint of The Quarto Group). The other thing I have is a copy of this delightful book to giveaway. For details on how to get your mitts on the book scroll to the bottom of the post.
Here’s what Sumayya has to say about the jelly:
This is more of a jelly-like dessert than a traditional halva, but it is inspired by the flourishing pomegranate trees that grow in areas of Pakistan – those lush green leaves that hide away a shiny fruit heavy with jewel-like seeds. This dish is best served in small pretty glasses, decorated with gold leaf, either as a light finish to a heavy meal, or a palate cleanser between courses.
Preparation 40 minutes + chilling | Cooking 10 minutes | Serves 4–6
Ingredients:
- 5 pomegranates, seeds only
- 250ml water
- 2 cardamom pods, seeds removed and finely ground
- 120g caster sugar
- 1 tsp agar agar powder
- 1 tsp rose water or kewra (screwpine extract)
To decorate:
- gold leaf
- pomegranate seeds
Blitz the pomegranate seeds in a blender or juicer, then pour it through a sieve to remove the seeds. Pour the juice into a bowl, allow to settle, then add the water, finely ground cardamom and sugar. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and heat gently. Do not let the juice come to the boil, keep it on a simmer, and slowly add the agar agar, stirring until dissolved. Add the rose water or kewra and turn off the heat. Allow to cool for 2 minutes so it doesn’t crack the serving glasses. (Agar-based jelly can set without refrigeration so don’t leave it any longer.) Pour the jelly into glasses and chill in the fridge for around 30 minutes, until set. To serve, decorate with gold leaf and pomegranate seeds.
Yield: 4 - 6
- 5 pomegranates, seeds only
- 250ml water
- 2 cardamom pods, seeds removed and finely ground
- 120g caster(superfine) sugar
- 1 tsp agar agar powder
- 1 tsp rose water or kewra (screwpine extract)
Blitz the pomegranate seeds in a blender or juicer, then pour it through a sieve to remove the seeds. Pour the juice into a bowl, allow to settle, then add the water, finely ground cardamom and sugar. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and heat gently. Do not let the juice come to the boil, keep it on a simmer, and slowly add the agar agar, stirring until dissolved. Add the rose water or kewra and turn off the heat. Allow to cool for 2 minutes so it doesn’t crack the serving glasses. (Agar-based jelly can set without refrigeration so don’t leave it any longer.) Pour the jelly into glasses and chill in the fridge for around 30 minutes, until set. To serve, decorate with gold leaf and pomegranate seeds.
Mountain Berries and Desert Spice is the most gorgeous book. The cover, all pinks and oranges, draws you in. The recipes are often flowery, spiced and sweet with milk and honey. Nestling amongst the 70 recipes are gems like spiced apple samosas, spiced and floral truffles, peshawari pistachio ice cream and a mulberry and blackberry stew. And the photography, oh the photography! By Joanna Yee, it’s warm and textured and dare I saw it, kind of heady and sexy. Yes I did say it.
If you would like to win a copy of this lovely recipe book, worth £20 then there are lots of ways to enter the giveaway – see the Rafflecopter form below. The first way is just to leave a comment on this post. Easy peasy. Closing date 7th July 2017. How to enter:
- Complete the Rafflecopter form below to confirm your entries made via blog comments, Twitter, Facebook etc.
- This giveaway will close on 7th July 2017.
- Please read the rules below.
- Winners are announced on the Rafflecopter form after the prize has been claimed by the winner.
- First timers: Please watch how Rafflecopter works (video)! It is 46 seconds long. It explains everything.
- If no form is showing, hit refresh and it should appear.
- Complete the form – or your beloved entries will not go into the draw. And that would be such a waste of time.
- Mandatory entries need to be completed first – so leave a blog comment before you try and complete any of the other methods of entry.
- Want more chances to win? Come back daily after tweeting about the giveaway and fill the form in again.
- If you are viewing this by email you will need to click through to enter.
Rules and things:
- Open to anyone over the age of 18, UK. Sorry to anyone younger or further afield.
- There’s 1 x copy of Mountain Berries and Desert Spice to giveaway worth £20 (RRP) to giveaway to one person. There’s no cash alternative to the prize and the prize is not transferable. No part or parts of the prize may be substituted for other benefits, items or additions.
- Instructions form part of the terms and conditions. Entries using any software or automated process to make bulk entries will obviously be disqualified. The winner will be picked at random using software and then contacted by email. If you win and then don’t respond to this email within 7 days then another winner will be picked so check your emails and your spam! The goodies will be delivered to the winner as soon as possible after you have sent me your delivery address.
- I am running this giveaway on behalf of Quarto who will be responsible for sending the prize to you by post should you win. Their decision is final and binding and no correspondence will be entered into.
- This is where I get all stern – please don’t say you have liked the post and followed me on Twitter and Tweeted away like a Tweety thing if you haven’t as guess what? If you win I will check you did do the things you said you did. It’s only fair after all. And I do like fairness.
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