[Sca-cooks] Fwd: Re: your indian cheese dish

[Ginny Claphan]

Stefan wrote:
> >
> > > and wow! a fresh cheese coated in a flavored sugar syrup,
> >
> > Interesting. Sounds like a rather unusual combination. What kind
> > of cheese was this done with? A recently made cream? or farmers
> > type cheese? A rather mild cheese so that it didn't conflict with
> > the sugar syrup, I guess. Did this form a hard shell? Or did it
> > mostly just soak into the cheese? Or was it more like a coating of
> > sugarpaste? Do we have any evidence of this treatment for cheese
> > being period?
This is information is from Aibhilinn Kennari fra Skye, OL, of Ealdormere, who
prepared the dish.

Cheers!
Gwyneth

--- leslie watson <leslie.watson at sympatico.ca> wrote:
> From: "leslie watson" <leslie.watson at sympatico.ca>
> To: "Ginny Claphan" <mizginny at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: your indian cheese dish
> Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2001 22:07:00 -0500
>
> The name of the preperation is called Ghrtapura - the cheese I used in
> period is called Ksiraprakara, similar to paneer which is what I used, I
> usually make my own but I was lazy.  Anyway the description is as follows:
> "In preparation of Ksiraprakara, sour curds were mixed with boiled milk and
> the solid part fo the curd seperated from the liquid one.  the solid curds
> where  mixed with rice flour and sweets and prepared in different shapes.
> These where placed into a syrup."  He also liken this to Rasgallas, a modern
> dish I have recepies for.  This is from OM Prakash food and drinks in
> Ancient India, published by Munshi Ram Manohar lal, in Delhi, with forward
> by Dr. B. Chhabra joint director general of archaelolgy in India.   He
> references, the Vilasavatikatha for the cheese and Manasollasa III
> 1408-1411(line numbers the above is a poem) for the sweets.
>
> Manasollasa (maa-nus-O-llaa-sa, from Sanskrit, Happy State of Mind) is an
> ancient treatise written by King Sovadeva III, son of  the Chalukyan emperor
> Vikramaditya. Manasollasa, also known as Abhilashitartha Chintamani is a
> Sanskrit encyclopaedia, which is divided into five books (Vimsati), each one
> further divided into 20 sections. The Kalyana Chalukya king, Somadeva III
> (1127-1138 A.D.) has taken all the pains to collect up data information on
> art, architecture, dance, music, ornaments, food and drinks, love and lust,
> and presents them in a logical and methodical way.
>
>
> I mixed the syrup with Rose water and Cardomon, as they where very popular
> during that time period.  I did not mix them into the cheese as I had not
> made the cheese and all ready pressed cheese is harder to work with.
>
> Sugar cane was mentioned or called by the greeks and romans, indian salt, so
> lots of evidence they had it. Cardomon was mentioned in the Charaka Samhita
> which is a primary Ayurvedic text.  Charaka Samhita ,which has been dated to
> 400BC,  is the oldest existing description of the complete Ayurvedic medical
> system.
> Rose water is mentioned as something to feed and annount Lord Ganesh
> (theHindi god with the Elephant head)  The most beautiful woman of India,
> the goddess Lakshmi, is supposed to have been born from a rose composed of
> 108 large and 1,008 small petals.
>
> as for her specific questions, a farmers cheese, The literature does speak
> of both a sour curd and a curd, I am assuming the later is not sour, or why
> mention in other cases.  No sugar past coating.  I have not evidence that
> they did that pre 1200.  although they may have later, but I don't know.
>
> I also do not know if there is any evidence of anyone else doing this to
> cheese.  The bit of a crust was because I purchased paneer, and did not make
> it fresh, so the cheese was pressed into a block.
>
> When I make cheese I take whole milk, a little lemon juice, heat milk till
> just boiling, add lemon juice stir until curdles and let it sit off the
> stove for about 20 minutes, put into cheese bag, hand ad let it drain, for
> an hour for soft cheese longer if you want to press it.  I then mix the
> cheese with rice of masa flour, add what ever else I wish to.  form little
> balls and drop into sugar syprup
>


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