Eggless Ricotta Cheesecake

I’ve been searching for some eggless cake recipes for my Mother-in-law’s birthday. Since she doesn’t eat eggs, I thought it would be a good idea to make her a special homemade cake. I wanted some simple recipe that doesn’t use any egg substitutes or special ingredients that are hard to find. While not having much luck or time with finding one that I would like to make, an image of a very beautiful cake popped in my head. I remember seeing a cake recipe in ‘Great Vegetarian Dishes’ by Kurma Dasa but never really thought of making it. Since the occasion calls for it, I thought I’ll give it a try and see how it turns out.

It is a basic cheesecake with Ricotta Cheese addition which makes the cake little crumbly but still tastes pretty rich. Topping it up with whipped cream and fresh fruits makes it extra special. I made crust using Graham crackers instead of following the recipe and also made glaze to go on top of the fruits. I’ve also changed the ratio of ingredients used in the filling. This is mainly because original recipe was in Grams and when I convert it into Ounces; I was not able to get exact measurements in standard supermarket packages. Since I didn’t want to buy extra ingredients or have any leftovers, I decided to tweak it a bit. It did turn out quite beautiful and tasty.  I do have to admit though that I’m really not crazy about Cheesecakes but Birthday Girl seemed to love it.

Eggless Ricotta Cheesecake

Makes: one 9 inch Cheesecake
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Baking Time: 1 hour 15 minutes or more
Chilling Time: 24 hours

Ingredients:

Crust	Filling
1 1/2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs 1/4 cup Butter - Melted Topping 2/3 cup Heavy Whipping Cream 1 tablespoon Granulated White Sugar 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Essence Fresh Fruits of your choice Fruit Glaze (optional) – recipe follows	16 ounces Cream Cheese – room temperature 15 ounces Ricotta Cheese 1 1/3 cups Granulated White Sugar 1 Lemon Zest 1/3 cup freshly squeezed Lemon Juice 1 tablespoon Corn Flour 1 1/3 cup Heavy Whipping Cream 1 1/2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Essence

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Spray with oil or butter a 9 inch round springform pan and keep aside.

Crust

1. In a bowl, combine Graham cracker crumbs, butter and mix with a fork or hand until well combined.
2. Spread the crumbs evenly over the prepared pan and press it well to form a crust. Keep this refrigerated while preparing filling.

Filling

1. Place all filling ingredients in a large bowl and beat until light and fluffy without over mixing it.
2. Pour this over the prepared pan with crust.
3. Bake in the middle rack of the preheated oven for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown on top. (It took me about 1 hour 40 minutes)The cake is done when the entire surface is golden brown.
4. Remove from oven and let the pan cool over wire rack. Once completely cool, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 to 24 hours before serving.

Topping

1. Place heavy whipping cream along with sugar & vanilla essence in a well chilled large bowl and beat with whisk attachment until soft peak forms. Add more sugar if desired and continue beating just until stiff peak forms. Use this right away.
2. Run a thin knife alongside the pan of chilled cheesecake before releasing the spring. Top it up with whipped cream, fresh fruits and brush the fruits with glaze, if desired.

Fruit Glaze – recipe adapted from bakingproject.com
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon Light Brown Sugar
3 tablespoons Light Corn Syrup
1 tablespoon Water

Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a small sauce pan and heat over medium heat for few minutes stirring frequently until slightly thicken. Remove from heat and let it cool completely.

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Steamed Buns with Coconut Filling

Chinese steamed buns are very popular in Burma and we call them Pausi. There are different varieties of fillings that you can get but most common ones that I grew up eating were curry chicken with boiled egg, red bean paste and coconut. I've been craving for these buns for a while now but haven't really found a recipe that uses only basic ingredients for the dough until I saw this recipe on Maangchi's website. I've been planning to make this for some time now but never actually got a chance to try it out. I wanted to make the savory version with curry chicken but I don't remember it enough to come up with something close to what I used to eat. At last, I decided to give it a shot with coconut filling while waiting for my sister to give me recipe for curry version.

The dough recipe is quiet easy to follow and the filling used here is very simple. Dough can be filled with variety of vegetable, meat or sweet fillings. This coconut filling is also very versatile and can be used to fill puff pastries or even spring roll sheets to form spring rolls or samosas. Combinations are endless and sky is the limit :). I'll post more in future when I make them. Below is half of original recipe.

Steamed Buns with Coconut Filling

Makes: 8 buns
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Dough Resting Time:  1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients:
For Dough:
1/2 cup Luke Warm Water (between 105 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit)
1 teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
1/2 teaspoon Sugar
1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
1/4 teaspoon Salt
Oil Spray

For Filling:
6 ounces Fresh Coconut – shredded (about 1/2 coconut or 2 1/2 cups shredded)
2 tablespoons Sugar (Adjust to taste)
Pinch of Salt

Other:
8 Standard Cupcake Liners or Parchment Paper cut into 4 inch squares

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine water, yeast, oil and sugar. Mix with a spoon until well combined.
2. Sift in flour and salt into the liquid mixture and stir with a wooden spatula to combine. When it becomes hard to stir, start kneading dough with hands until smooth for about 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Lightly coat the bowl with oil spray, put dough, turn once to coat with oil, cover and leave it in warm area for about 40 minutes or until doubled in size. (For faster rising, place the bowl in a larger bowl filled with warm water)
4. Knead the dough for about a minute to remove air, cover and leave it again for another 30 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, in a medium size pan combine coconut, sugar, salt and cook over medium low heat stirring frequently until sugar is melted for about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let it cool completely.
6. Place cupcake liners 1 inch apart on the rack of a steamer and keep aside.
7. Take dough and divide into 8 equal portions. (Keep unused dough covered to prevent from drying out.)
8. On lightly floured surface, roll each portion into approximately 4 inch circles leaving center thicker than edges.
9. Take a heap tablespoon (or 1/8) of filling and place in middle of the circle. Gather the edges of the dough and conceal the filling by pinching and sealing the edges while forming pleats. Twist ends off to seal and close; and place it in prepared steamer rack.
10. Continue rolling and filling rest of the dough, cover and let it rise for 20 minutes.
11. Steam the buns for 20 minutes, covered and undisturbed.
12. Turn off the heat, remove buns from steamer and serve.

Note: Steamed buns can be kept at room temperature for a day or two. Keep them in fridge for few more days after that. Before serving, wrap it with damped paper towel and microwave for 10 to 15 seconds.

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Crème Brulee

Crème Brulee is probably one of the tastiest deserts I’ve had. It is creamy, rich and melts in your mouth with a crunch on top. The very first time I’ve had this desert was while visiting a dear friend in Portland, OR. She made Crème Brulee for us and we’ve been hooked ever since. This is also one of my baby sister’s favorite deserts. It is always fun to watch my 11 years old sister and my husband quarrelling, who gets the last custard.

This recipe came with the Rodelle Vanilla Beans that I bought from Costco. Original recipe uses 1/2 cup of sugar, but I reduced it by 2 tablespoons. It is pretty easy to make and quite delicious.

Crème Brulee

Serves: 6 to 8
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Baking Time: 40 to 45 minutes
Inactive Cooling and Chilling Time: 3 hours or more

Ingredients:
8 large egg yolks
1/2 cup minus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 vanilla bean
2 cups heavy whipping cream
Hot water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. With a sharp knife, split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Scrape the seeds out of the pod, using the backside of the knife. Keep this aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar until smooth. Add seeds of the vanilla bean and beat to combine.
4. In a heavy bottom pot, over medium high heat, heat whipping cream until almost simmering, and do not let it boil.
5. In a very slow stream, gradually add whipping cream to the egg yolks mixture while whisking vigorously. This is called tempering the eggs. The key is to whisk continuously while adding cream slowly so that the eggs do not curdle.
6. Divide the mixture equally into 6 to 8 ramekins, depending on the size of the ramekins.
7. Place the ramekins in a baking pan and fill it with enough hot water to come halfway up the sides.
8. Bake for about 40 to 45 minutes, just until the custard is set but still jiggles in the center.
9. Remove the ramekins from the pan, let cool completely and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.
10. Remove the custard from the fridge, 30 minutes before serving. Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of sugar on top of each of the custard.
11. Torch method: With a torch, melt the sugar until golden color to form a crispy top. Let this sit for 2 to 3 minutes before serving.
12. Broiler method: If you don’t have a torch, place the custards under broiler checking every 15 to 20 seconds until the sugar is melted and golden in color. Let cool for few minutes before serving.

Note: I sometimes add the vanilla bean pod while heating the whipping cream to get every bit out of the beans and remove it before adding the cream to the eggs. If not, the pod can be added to your sugar jar to flavor your sugar.

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Vanilla Bean Ice-Cream

Vanilla bean ice-cream is something that I wanted to make ever since I bought the beans online at Amazon.com. I found Alton Brown’s recipe which has great reviews, so decided to try it out. It is so creamy, smooth, rich and fragrant. Probably, one of the best vanilla ice-creams I’ve had (that coming from a person that doesn’t like vanilla ice-cream). It would be a good base to start for any flavored ice-creams, although I have yet to try other flavors. It needs to be made ahead of time but it is pretty easy recipe.

Vanilla Bean Ice-Cream

Serves: 8
Preparation Time: 15 to 20 minutes
Inactive Time: 10 hours

Ingredients:
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup heaving whipping cream
1 vanilla bean
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch of salt

Directions:

1. With a sharp knife, split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Scrape the seeds out of the pod, using the backside of the knife.
2. In a heavy bottom pot, combine, half-and-half, whipping cream, vanilla bean (both the pod and the seeds), and place it over medium high heat. Bring the mixture just barely to a simmer but do not let it boil.
3. Remove from heat and add sugar, pinch of salt and stir to combine. Taste at this point and adjust sweetness level to your desire taste.
4. Let the mixture cool completely, transfer to a lidded container and refrigerate overnight.
5. The next day, make ice-cream by following the ice-cream maker unit’s instructions. My ice-cream machine took about 25 to 30 minutes.
6. Once the volume has increased by 1/2 to 3/4 time and it has reached a soft serving consistency, transfer it back into the lidded container and freeze for at least 1 hour before serving.

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Black Forest Cake

Every year, Black Forest cake is the only cake that my husband, Yogesh request as his Birthday cake. This cake reminds him of the cake he used to eat back in Bangalore. It is very light, airy and can be very chocolaty delicious, if topped with chocolate shavings. First, I start out with a chocolate sponge cake from Joyofbaking.com, then, fill it up with some whipped cream and Morello cherries and top it up with more whip cream.  I got my cherries from Trader Joe’s.

I usually put a lot of chocolate shavings on top and side of the cake but this year, I wanted to try something new. I have always wanted to make a little forest decoration for this cake for a very long time now but couldn’t really think of what to use to make the forest trees. I was surfing around and found the technique of piping melted chocolate to create shapes and writing words. The three dimensional trees that I was planning to make didn’t exactly turn out well on the day of baking, and since I was short with time, I just piped some two dimensional trees that I found while surfing.

I usually make one batch, 2 layers cake but this year, I made two batches and created a 4 layer cake. Of course working in different batches is a little more time consuming but if you’re going to make it only once a year, it is worth every minute.

Black Forest Cake

Makes: One 2 layer cake
Preparation Time: 2 hours
Baking Time: 15 to 18 minutes

Ingredients:
Cherries:
8 ounces of Morello Cherries in syrup (1/3 of the 24 ounce bottle)
1 tablespoon Kirsch or Cherry Brandy - optional
1 teaspoon granulated white sugar

Cake:
6 large eggs – yolks and whites separated while still cold
4 ounces Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate – chopped
1/4 cup minus 1 tablespoon granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
Oil spray or butter for cake pans
Flour for dusting cake pans

Whipped Cream:
1 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup Mascarpone cheese
1/3 cup powdered sugar

Directions:
For Cherries:

1. Drain the cherries in a bowl, reserving the liquid. Cut the cherries in half or quarters and keep aside.
2. Add the reserved liquid along with Kirsch and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil on medium heat.
3. Once boil, reduce heat to low and let simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes. The liquid will still be runny but it is ok since we will be brushing it on the sponge cake. Turn off the heat and pour this liquid over the cherries and let cool.

For Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. While the eggs are still cold, separate the egg whites from egg yolks in two separate bowls. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and keep at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, cut 2 circles of parchment paper to fit the bottom of a 9” round cake pan. Cut 2 additional long strips to cover the sides of the pan.
4. Take two 9” round cake pans and spray them with Pam or butter them. Line them with the precut parchment papers on bottom and sides of the pan. Spray with more Pam oil or butter them and dust with some flour. Set these aside.
5. Place chopped chocolate in a stainless steel bowl and place this over a pot of simmering water. Stir continuously until the chocolate melts and keep this aside.
6. With stand mixer or hand mixer, beat the egg yolks with 1/4 cup less 1 tablespoon sugar until light and fluffy, for about 5 minutes.  Add vanilla extract and melted chocolate and beat to combine. Keep this aside.
7. In a separate stainless steel bowl, with whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until foamy on medium low speed.
8. Add cream of tartar and beat until soft peak forms on medium high speed.
9. While continuing to beat, gradually add 2 tablespoon of sugar and beat until stiff peak forms.
10. Take small amount of egg whites and fold it into the egg yolk mixture using a rubber spatula to lighten up the batter.
11. Fold the remaining egg whites in two batches to the egg yolk mixture and fold just until incorporated. Do not over mix or the batter will deflate.
12. Divide the batter equally into the prepared cake pans. Spread evenly with the spatula.
13. Bake for about 15 to 18 minutes until the cake is puffed and lost its shine.
14. Remove from oven and place it on a wire rack to cool. Loosely cover it with a clean damp paper towel.

For Whipped Cream:

1. In a large bowl, with whisk attachment beat the heavy whipping cream and mascarpone cheese until soft peak forms.
2. Gradually add powdered sugar and continue to beat just until stiff peak forms. Be careful not to overbeat the cream. Use the cream right away.

Assembly:

1. Place a layer of cake on a platter. Brush it lightly with the liquid from the cherries. Use about 1 to 2 tablespoons of the liquid.
2. Spread some whipped cream on the cake and sprinkle the cherries.
3. Place another layer of the cake on top and brush lightly with the liquid from the cherries.
4. Spread whipped cream on top and sides of the cake, to cover the whole cake.
5. Decorate with some whole cherries and shaved dark chocolate or shapes made out of piped chocolate.

Note:

• This recipe is for 2 layer cake. For a four layer cake, double the recipe.
• To pipe chocolate, follow this method 1 for tempering chocolate. Place melted chocolate in a Ziploc bag, cut a small hole on one corner and pipe desired shapes on parchment paper. Chill in fridge for 10 to 15 minutes for chocolate to harden and is ready to use.

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Mini Cheesecakes

I was never interested in making cheesecakes in the past because it is not one of the desserts I like to eat. However, many people around me love cheesecakes. I made these mini cheesecakes for a get-together party from work and everyone seemed to love it.

I’m still new to baking cakes and desserts but I have found one very good website that I often refer to. I’ve tried few recipes and all of them have turned out pretty well so far. The only change I make to the original recipes is reducing the amount of sugar used since I do not like my deserts to be very sweet.

These mini cheesecakes are fun and easy to make and they are very adorable. I’ve made 2 batches with few different toppings but if you just choose one same topping for the whole batch, it wouldn’t be too much of work.

Mini Cheesecakes

Makes: 12
Preparation Time: 15 to 20 minutes
Baking Time: 18 to 22 minutes

Ingredients:
Crust:
1 cup (100 grams) graham cracker, original or chocolate flavor – grind into coarse crumbs
1 tablespoon granulated white sugar
4 - 5 tablespoons butter – melted

Filling:
2 - 8 ounce packages of full fat cream cheese – room temperature
2/3 cup minus 2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs – room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 cup sour cream – room temperature

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners and set aside.
3. In a bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Divide this among the 12 muffin cups. Using the back of a cup or a glass, press the crumbs down so that they stick together and form a crust. Cover and refrigerate while preparing the filling.
4. With stand mixer or handheld mixer, beat the cream mixture on slow speed until smooth. Add sugar and salt and beat to combine, scrape down the sides as necessary.
5. Add eggs, one at a time and continue to beat until well blended. Add vanilla extract, lemon zest and sour cream and beat till combined.
6. Divide the filling equally among the prepared muffin cups.
7. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until firm. The center of the cheesecakes should still be a little wobbly.
8. Remove from oven and place the tray on a wire rack to cool. One cool, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for few hours or overnight.
9. Remove the paper liners before serving and top it up with fresh berries, dusting of cocoa powder, drizzling with berry sauce or melted chocolate. Store covered in fridge for several days.

Topping Ideas:

Dark and white chocolate topping:
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
3 ounces Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate
1 teaspoon granulated white sugar (optional)
2 ounces white chocolate

Directions:

1. In a heavy bottom pot over low heat, combine cream, chocolate and sugar (if using), and stir until chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth and uniform in color. Keep it aside to cool a little.
2. In a microwave safe bowl, melt white chocolate in few seconds interval stirring at every interval. Place this in a small Ziploc bag and cut off the bottom corner of the bag to create a small opening so that the chocolate can be piped onto the cheesecakes.
3. Pour a spoonful of dark chocolate mixture over the cheesecake, and pipe patterns with white chocolate. Dark chocolate mixture can also be piped to create patterns.
4. Refrigerate cheesecakes for few hours before serving. 

  

Lemon curd topping: (Adapted from JoyofBaking.com)
1 1/2 large egg
1/3 cup granulated white sugar
1/6 cup fresh lemon juice- about juice from one lemon
1 tablespoon unsalted butter –cut into small pieces and at room temperature
Zest of 1 lemon

Directions:

1. In a stainless steel bowl whisk together the egg, sugar and lemon juice until blended. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water and cook whisking constantly until the mixture becomes thick (160 degrees F), for about 5 minutes. It will thicken more when cooled.
2. Remove from heat and strain through a fine strainer to remove any lumps. Add butter and mix till melted. Add lemon zest and mix well.
3. Cover with plastic wrap directly on the lemon curd to prevent the skin formation and let cool. Once cool, refrigerate for few hours until ready to use. The lemon curd can be refrigerated for up to a week.

 Note: I left out lemon zest in the cheesecake filling to be used with this topping.

Raspberry sauce topping
A handful of fresh raspberries
Sugar to taste

Directions:

1. Cook raspberries and sugar in a small pot over medium heat until raspberries are broken down. Cook until desire consistency. Strain through a strainer to remove seeds. Let cool before using.
2. Spoon over or pipe the sauce over the cheesecakes.

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Ras Malai

Ras Malai is my all time favorite desert. While growing up, we didn’t get to eat this as often, since there are not many places back in Burma that sells this desert during those days. I always thought it would be very difficult to make until I found these two recipes from Vah Chef and Manjula’s Kitchen and came up with below recipe.

Ras Malai

Makes: 12 pieces
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour
Inactive Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:
For milk patties:
4 cups whole milk
1/4 cup white vinegar or lime juice
8 to 12 ice cubes
1 1/2 cups sugar
9 cups water

For milk mixture:
4 cups whole milk
2 1/2 tablespoons of sugar (adjust to your taste)
4 cardamom pods
1 teaspoon Rose water (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped almonds and pistachios to garnish

Directions:
Paneer Patties:

1. In a heavy bottom pot over medium high heat, boil 4 cups of milk stirring frequently to prevent scorching at the bottom of the pot.
2. Once it comes to a boil, reduce heat to low and add vinegar or lime slowly, stirring gently and within few seconds, the milk solids will start to separate from whey.  Once the whey is clear, turn of the heat, remove from stove and add ice cubes.  This will create soft paneer (milk solids).
3. Once the ice melts, drain the whey using a strainer lined with cheesecloth or muslin cloth.
4. Run this under cold tab water to wash out the sourness. Gather all sides of the cloth to form a little bundle and squeeze excess water out. Hang this bundle for about an hour.  
5. After an hour, in a large pot, bring 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 9 cups of water to a boil over high heat. Make sure the pot is large enough to accommodate the finished patties, as they will expand to about double in size.
6. While the sugar water is boiling, place paneer on a dry clean surface and knead for 3 to 4 minutes until the hands get little greasy and it comes together as soft smooth dough.
7. Divide the dough into 12 equal parts and roll by applying some pressure initially and releasing the pressure to create round smooth balls. Press the ball slightly to flatten just a bit. Use very little pressure; you don’t want to shape them into flat disk.
8. Drop the paneer balls into the boiling sugar water, cover and cook for 12 to 15 minutes on high heat.
9. Transfer the patties along with some syrup to a large bowl and let it cool. Take out the patties from the syrup and squeeze them lightly, and keep aside.

Milk Mixture:

1. While sugar water is boiling, in a separate heavy bottom pot, bring the remaining milk along with cardamom pods to a boil on medium heat. Once it comes to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes stirring frequently to prevent scorching.
2. Add sugar to taste and add Rose water, if using and mix well.
3. Add the patties in milk and cook for 1 minute or so.
4. Turn off the heat and transfer the patties along with milk mixture to a bowl or container, and garnish with chopped almonds and pistachios. Let cool completely and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight before serving.  Serve chill.

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Falooda

Falooda is one of the favorite drinks we grew up with. There are different versions in different countries but below is the version we make back home in Burma. Although we don’t use rose syrup (mostly because we don’t get it there) I’m using it here because it is easier to make and I like the taste of it. In USA, you can easily get rose syrup in Indian or Pakistani stores. Back home, we use liquid rose essence, sugar and red food coloring instead of the rose syrup.

This is a fun drink for kids because while serving, they can add any ingredients they like, as much as they like making it to their taste. It is served chilled so prepare ahead of time.



Falooda

Makes: 2 very tall glasses or 4 regular glasses
Cooking Time: 40 minutes
Preparation Time: 5 to 10 minutes
Chill for 2 to 4 hours

Ingredients:
4 cups whole milk
6 tablespoons rose syrup (if not available, Rose essence, red food color and sugar can be used to replace this)
Half of 7 gram packet of red or green Agar Agar powder (I use Swallow Globe brand from Asian Market)
1/4 cup small sago or tapioca pearls – colored or white
3 teaspoon basil seeds
Vanilla or strawberry ice cream

Directions:
Milk
In a heavy bottom pot, bring milk to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes stirring often to make sure that milk is not scorching at the bottom.  At this point, if using rose syrup, add little at a time and adjust according to taste.  If you don’t have rose syrup, add rose essence, sugar to taste and red food coloring for milk to be light pink.  Prepare milk a little sweeter than your taste since other ingredients are sugarless.  Turn of the heat, let the milk cool and chill in fridge.
Agar Agar
While the milk is boiling, in a separate pot, combine 450 ml of water and 1/2 packet of Agar Agar powder. Bring this to a boil over medium heat and pour the mixture into a bowl or a container, let it cool and chill in fridge to set. Before serving, cut it into match stick size pieces.
Sago
In a pot, bring about 6 cups of water to a boil and add sago pearls. Stir and reduce heat to medium low and cook for 5 to 6 minutes on half covered pot, stirring occasionally. Sago will turn transparent when cooked.  Drain and rinse with cold water and keep aside.
Basil Seeds
In a bowl, combine basil seeds with about 2 cups of water and keep aside till ready to serve.  It will take about 10 minutes to fully expend.  Drain water before using.

How to Serve:
Individual serving: Take a tall glass and add prepared agar agar, sago, basil seeds and pour milk 3/4 full. Add some ice and top it up with a scoop of ice cream.

Serving to a crowd: In a pot, mix all prepared ingredients with milk except for ice cream. Pour the milk mixture in serving glasses, add some ice and top it up with a scoop of ice cream.

Note: Lod Chong (Tapioca noodles) can also be added. Most of the Asian grocery stores have ready to use Lod Chong. If using dried version, boil per packet instructions. This is not a traditional ingredient but some people like to add this to Falooda.

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