#ValentinesDay: How about cooking with roses?

It’s Valentine’s Day today and we are sure that flowers, especially roses, are sure to be on the mind. But this time do more than just take a deep breath of the pretty bouquet. Take roses into the kitchen and get cooking with them. The petals, fresh and dried, make for a delightful addition to the kitchen. Go ahead and prepare a romantic meal with these ideas...

Rose and Quinoa PuddingChef Reetu Uday Kugaji shares how to prepare this sweet delight.

Rose quinoa pudding

Ingredients

• Quinoa, coarsely ground – ¼ cup
• Rose petals, dried and edible – ¼ tbsp
• Dried rose petal powder, edible – 2 tsp
• Coconut milk, unsweetened – 6 cups
• Cinnamon powder – ½ tsp
• Jaggery, organic, grated – 1 tbsp
• Salt – a pinch
• Muslin cloth – ¼ meter

MethodBoil and simmer ½ cup of water with grated jaggery. Strain, keep aside. Boil coconut milk, add the drained quinoa, cinnamon powder. Simmer and stir occasionally. Add rose petals and rose petal powder and salt. Simmer again and switch off the flame. Ensure that the pudding is thick. Cool and add jaggery syrup. Mix well. Pour the pudding into bowls, cool them completely and refrigerate for an hour. Garnished with rose petals, slivered almonds and pistachio nuts.

Aloo Aur Gulab Ka Halwa
This halwa has potatoes, gulkand, gulab (edible rose petals) and khoya, flavoured with green cardamom powder. It’s drizzled with rose water garnished with dried edible rose petals and slivered nuts. Chef Reetu Uday Kugaji shares her recipe.

Aloo Gulab Halwa

Ingredients

• Potatoes, parboiled and peeled – 1 large
• Clarified butter – 1 ½ tbsp
• Sugar – ½ cup
• Mawa (khoya) – 150 g
• Full cream milk – ¾ cup
• Gulkand – ½ tbsp
• Rose petals, edible, dried, finely chopped – 1 ½ tbsp
• Rose powder, edible – 2 tsp
• Rose water – 10 ml
• Green cardamom powder – ¼ tsp
• Almonds blanched, peeled, slivered – 10 g
• Pistachio nuts blanched, peeled and slivered – 5 g

MethodGrate the potatoes, keep aside. Heat the clarified butter, add the potatoes, sauté for a few minutes, stirring continuously. Add the sugar, grated mawa and sauté till it mixes. Add milk, rose powder and cook till the milk is absorbed. Add the gulkand and chopped dried rose petals. Sprinkle rose water. Add the almonds, pistachio nuts and green cardamom powder and mix well. Garnish with the dried rose petals slivered almonds, pistachio nuts and green cardamom powder.
Chef Tips- Do not overcook the halwa.
- Parboiling helps in preventing enzymatic browning that occurs in raw peeled potatoes.

Almond and rose kheerA traditional fave, Chef Manish Mehrotra show how to make this dessert.

Almond and rose kheer

Ingredients

• Full fat milk – 2 litres
• Rice – 120 g
• Grain sugar – 40 g
• Rose water – 3 to 4 drops
• Dried rose petals – 10 g
• Almonds – 100 g
• Almond slivers – 25 g

Method Soak rice. Boil milk till it’s reduced to half the volume. Add the soaked rice and cook till it thickens. Add chopped almonds and cook for 15 minutes on low heat till the kheer is thick. Add sugar. Cool, add rose water. Refrigerate till serving. Roast almonds and use as a garnish along with dried rose petals.

Almond and rose kulfiTry this sweet meal-ender by Chef Manish Mehrotra

Ingredients

• Milk, full cream – 4 cups
• Sugar – ½ cup
• Saffron – ¼ tsp
• Almond meal – ½ cup
• Dried rose petals – ¼ cup

Method:Heat and reduce milk. Add almond meal and sugar. Mix and strain. Add dried rose petals and saffron strands. Cool and pour into kulfi moulds. Demould and garnish with roasted almond flakes.

Cool down with rose lassi

How about cooling rose lassi?

Rose lassi is prepared with fresh yoghurt rose petals and rose syrup. It makes for a cooling beverage. Says dietician Rima Shah, “This drink can be had every day. One may also add rose water to it.”

Sip on rose tea

Rose tea has a mood-enhancing effect

Says food scientist Nagendranath Chiluvuru, “We know that roses have a cooling effect on the skin. Similarly, rose petals have healing powers and are good for the gut. You can also prepare rose tea. It is an aromatic drink, best had without flavouring. It enhances the mood and makes an apt mid-morning cup. Add dried rose petals to hot water and steep it to make a tisane or herbal infusion.”

Benefits of roses

Dietician Mansi Padechia lists why you ought to be surrounded by roses as much as you can, “Not many know this but roses have a lot of water. That is why ancient Chinese medicine used roses to treat digestive disorders, painful injuries and pre-menstrual irregularities. It contains a good amount of vitamin C, which helps skin cells fight free radicals, battle acne and give you a glow.”
She shares a few ways to use roses:
- Add 10-15 fresh rose petals to a glass of boiling water. It will turn pink, sip on this to improve your metabolism. You can also add a pinch of cinnamon powder to it.
- Prepare rose lassi for a cooling beverage add sabza to it.
- Sprinkle petals in your bath to relax the body.