‘The fragrance always stays in the hand that gives a rose”
This is another beautiful recipe from Divya Alters book, ‘how to eat for how you feel’. It is full of fragrant and calming rose and cardamom and grounding agar and almond. It is meant to serve as a cooling dessert in the summer and early fall.
Rose water has been used for centuries to promote radiance and youth from the inside and outside. It can be a mood lifter when you are feeling depressed or tired and used topically to hydrate and tone skin.
Agar is a seaweed used as a vegan gelatine substitute and is rich in minerals and soothing to the stomach.
The almonds will keep you satiated and nourished, and the cardamom will settle your nervous system.
Even Mr B, who doesn’t like cardamom or rose, liked this refreshing take on dessert. He noted it as an Ayurvedic panna cotta.
Ingredients
Serving: 8-10 pieces
- 3 tbsp. agar agar flakes
- ¾ cup raw almonds, soaked overnight, rinsed, drained
- ¾ cup raw cane sugar (optional)
- ¼ tsp. cardamom powder
- 2 tbsp. rose water (food grade)
- 1 tsp. dried rose petals (for decoration)
Method
- In a small pot, soak the agar flakes in 1 cup of filtered water for 20 minutes
- In the meantime, place the almonds in a heatproof bowl and cover them with 1.5 cups of hot water for 10 seconds, drain immediately and rinse. Meditate while taking the skins off, the ‘jackets’ should come off quite easily
- Place the peeled almonds in a blender with 1.25 cups of filtered water and blend till smooth
- Bring the soaked agar flakes to a boil, stir constantly for 5-7 minutes until the flakes have dissolved completely and turned into a gelatinous liquid. Add the sugar, if using and stir to dissolve. Turn off the heat and set aside for a minute
- Add the blended almonds, cardamom and rose water to the hot agar-sugar mixture and mix well
- Pour out into individual ramekins or an 8-inch dish (1-inch high). Refrigerate for at least an hour
- Cut into 2-inch pieces to serve and top with rose petals
*Notes: I halved the sugar from the original recipe. My grandma also made a version of this with no sugar and pistachios instead of almonds
