Benaami Kheer (Nameless pudding)

“What’s in a name?” Said William Shakespeare in his play Romeo and Juliet indicating that names are used to differentiate things and people but themselves do not have any worth or meaning. Not sure how far it holds good, but looks like the legendary “Awadhi” khansamas (Royal Cooks) of India totally agreed with Shakespeare and decided to not name this rich creamy delicacy because they didn’t want to reveal the main ingredient in it and didn’t have a name worthy of the dish maybe? That’s how this dessert got its name “Benami” which is a Hindi word that translates to “Nameless”. The rich kababs and creamy kormas that grace most lavish Indian cuisine spreads mostly find their source back to the Awadhi Khansamas cookbook. These royal khansamas or cooks were very secretive about their recipes and while passing it over they would conceal or add an ingredient or two to avoid duplication and generalization. Coming back to our Kheer(pudding), history has it that the main ingredient in this pudding was “garlic” and the key to this sumptuous delicacy is the skillful technique followed in removing the pungency from the garlic slivers which if done rightly the garlic masks itself and pretends to be almond slivers instead. There you go now we have a rich, aromatic and creamy Kheer or rabdi( as it taste so) full of almond slivers! This pudding was a hit on the set of reality cooking contest/ show “Foodshala season-11”, where I was a participant. (and apparently winner of the season too!) This dessert totally fit the bill when the theme given was”Things that used to be”, where we had to revive a forgotten dessert from the past.

So to start prepping for this dessert we will need to first slice the garlic cloves into thin slivers and soak it in water for an hour. Next, throw the water and boil it with fresh water along with 1/3 rd of alum for 10 mins. Drain the water and repeat this step two more times. You can find alum easily in a flour mill or at Asian supermarkets. While you are at it, on the other hand boil milk in a saucepan and allow it to reduce to half. Soak the blanched garlic in water for 5 mins, then scrub and rinse it in running water one last time. Now add the garlic slices into the reduced creamy milk along with cardamom powder, saffron, rosewater(you can add a tsp of gulkand for extra richness). Simmer for few minutes and serve with garnish of rose petals. Slivered almonds, saffron and pistachios.

Here is what Alum or Fitkari(in Hindi) looks like.