Kesar Mani

Mum is here visiting and she carries a treasure of recipes with her all stored in her memory. Once again I get transported back in time, watching her mixing and stirring, pouring and blending and with lovely aromas filling the kitchen and colourful and very tasty food on the table within, what seems like, just minutes.
I know we are in the middle of a heat wave and it is unbearably hot, the last thing anyone would want to be would be the kitchen cooking by the hot stove, but not mum, she loves cooking and nothing seems an effort to her. It is very easy to just sit back and enjoy her food but it would be silly if I didn’t take full advantage of her being here by not learning at least a few recipes.
Today I ask her to make Kesar Mani which simply means ‘Saffron Treasure’ and it is a sweet-dish made with nuts and vermicelli

In this recipe Gund/goond/gum is used. Gund is normally found in either Indian or Arabic grocery stores or some health shops also stock it.

Gund is natural gum made of hardened sap taken from two species of the acacia tree. It is edible gum that is used as an emulsifier. It also gives a slightly crunchy taste.

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Ingredients
Makes 60 small 4cm rounds

1 bowl ground almonds
1 bowl ground cashew nuts
1 bowl ground pistachio nuts
1/2 bowl thin vermicelli
1 bowl milk powder
1 bowl gram flour (besan flour)
1 bowls icing sugar
1 bowl ghee
1 tablespoon cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg powder
1 tsp cardamom seeds coarsely grounded
1 tbl spoons gund/goond/gum
1 tbl spoon saffron (rubbed so it is small and powdery)

Method

Kesar Mani is made by adding all the ingredients one after the other whilst stirring constantly on fairly high heat so that everything gets roasted evenly.
We start of by heating ghee in a large heavy based wok or kadai.

Once ghee is melted add gram flour while stirring for 4-5 minutes until the gram flour lets out a slight aroma.
Sprinkle the gund/gum while stirring and it will bubble while it gets cooked.

After 3-4 minutes add ground almonds and stir for a few seconds now add ground cashew nuts and after a few seconds of stirring, add the ground pistachios.

Stir and let it all roast for couple of minutes
Add the vermicelli and for 5 minutes just stir, stir, stir.

Mix in the milk powder and after a couple of minutes stirring, we used 2 long-handled spoons for stirring and mixing so that nothing gets stuck at the bottom of the pan and over cooks or gets burnt as the it is on high heat.

Add the cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder, cardamom seeds (coarsely grounded) and saffron and after a few minutes of stirring take it off the heat.

Now add the icing sugar. Mix everything well and keep turning it over and stirring vigorously (It is easier and less tiring if 2 spoons are used) for another few minutes so all the spices gets cooked in the hot mixture.

The mixture will be brown and give out sweet spicy aroma.

Total stirring time is approximately 15 minutes.
The mixture should look brown.
Let it cool slightly and make them into shapes. If it gets cold then it will not hold the shape.

We made the shapes using a round bottle lid approximately 4cm in diameter.
Cut open a plastic food bag, lay it over the lid and fill it up with enough mixture and press down.
Turn the lid over and pull the plastic out. It makes a perfect round shape which can be decorated with either colourful cake sprinkles or any cake decorating sweets.

Kesar Mani is packed with all the goodness of nuts and saffron. It tastes great as a dessert with fresh cream or vanilla ice cream.
To get the full taste of all the roasted nuts mixed with just the right amount of sweetened spices and enjoy the crunchiness of vermicelli, have it on its own.
Hmmmmm….. yummy!!!!