Pakistani Milky Sweets

I bought a box of Pakistani sweets from a confectionery shop in Balti Triangle.

I asked a guy in the shop to mix a bit of everything for £5. Actually he put more than that (about £5.20). I was about to pay that sum, but the guy told me not to worry about it and charged me only £5. I remember this, not because I was happy to save 20p, but from the way he did it, I sensed that he was proud of the products, and genuinely wanted us to try them.

And in fact, they were so good that surpassed greatly my expectation for this kind of sweets. Most of them are milk, bean-flour, or semolina based, and soaked in syrup. But different from the norm (to me), the taste of sugar did not overwhelm the taste of the other ingredients.





I am so happy with my new discovery!

Falooda

Yesterday I tried falooda for the first time. I have been wanting to try it for a long time, but never had the chance. Then, finally, I made up my mind.

(For those who doesn't have a clue about falooda, try wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falooda )

This is where I bought it: Yaardgar in Indoor Market. This is a sister outlet of the Yaardgar at the beginning of the Ladypool Road in Balti Triangle.

When I order one falooda, the guy at the counter put into a plastic cup a scoop of white noodles (in the container to the left), a couple of scoops of beige mass (to the right), and some basil seeds (not in the photo, but in the container to the right end) on top. Then some swirls of red colouring, maybe with some fruits flavour, and then mixed it with a spoon.





He closed the cup and put a thick straw through the cover. Then gave it to me.

I gave him £2, and he did not give me back 1p of rest. So the price is more £2 than £1.99 as is advertised.

I removed the cover and took this photo.




It is not appetising, is it?

Now the taste. The main component is the beige mass. It is something made of milk, but not exactly yogurt. It is creamier and heavier. More like sour cream, but it also has fresh cheese like quality. I think it contained also some cinnamon. It is quite sweet, but not more than Mac Shake. I did not like so much the texture of noodles; I would have preferred smoother stuff. Basil seeds did not contribute much, although they were visibly there.

I would have appreciated more if it were cold or chilled, but it was just lukewarm. Very sweet, fatty drink does not go a long way, if not chilled.





However, I managed to finish 90% of the content, and then I felt really fed up and threw the cup away.

Do you know some place where I can find better falooda? I would try again, if you know anything better.

Very Berry Swirl!

I don't like so much Starbuck's coffee, not to mention sugar-infested, artificially scented milky coffee-like drinks, but from time to time, we go to the brunch in Martineau Square, because we can enjoy coffee on the first floor terrace in the open air without being annoyed by street dust and noise.

The other day, we had also this sweet bread called Very Berry Swirl.



It, in fact, was pretty good! It was tangy because of the berry and sweet and rich because of the egg and butter (or whatever fat) in the bread.

Section. You see how yellow the bread is? Mmmmmmmh.



I was supposed to share this with Husband, but I ate at least 3/4 of it. Try it out, if you like this kind of stuff!

Coconut & Sago Drink @ Chinatown Noodle Bar

With alternating rain and sunshine, we decided not to go out at lunch time yesterday giving up idea of enjoying usual Chinese meal in Birmingham Chinatown.

We went out in the afternoon instead, and went to Chinatown all the same to buy this.



This is Sago (=tapioca) and coconut drink. Some Cantonese cafes of this area sell it, and this one is from Chinatown Noodle Bar. £1.50 for a small cup (the one in the photo) and £3 for a large cup. You can either eat in or take out for the same price.

The girl at the counter said there was only L size as they ran out of small cups, but I was not confident to be able to finish a large cupful. The girl, seeing me almost leaving, decided to look for a small cup, and rather predictably, she found one. I don't think she was trying to cheat, but they were rather busy at that moment and she did not want to lose time in searching for small cups.



Unfortunately, the small cup is not transparent, so you cannot see tapioca. There are small opaque tapioca mixed with thick and sweet coconut drink. It is a very popular dessert/drink in South East Asia (pudding version contains more tapioca and less coconut liquid).

It was as good as I expected, and filling as well; I would not have finished, if I had bought a large cup.

If you like sweet, coconuty stuff, and have never tried this, I recommend you to look our for one, when you happen to be in Chinatown.

Polish Donut

When I went to buy the usual Polish bread from my local Polish grocer, I bought also a donut.

Although it was pretty obvious from the appearance, I asked the guy in the shop what it was. He said "It is Polish. There is marmalade inside". So I asked for one.

I don't know if you see it from the photo, it is larger than usual jam donuts.



This is how it looks inside.



The bread part isn't too oily, and tastes lighter than how it looks. The sugar coating is only on the upper surface, and it gives a right amount of sweetness.

The filling was jam, and not marmalade. Is it maybe bacause the jam is called marmalade in Polish, as well as in Italian? Anyway, the strawberry jam is not very sugarly, and very fruity. I thought that I have to try Polish jam, next time I go there.

For 60p a pop, it is more expensive than at Baker's Oven (larger, though), but cheaper than at Krispy Kreme. Having eaten it, I thought it was reasonable.

The Polish shop sells other types of sweet breads, and I want to try them, too. :)

Cakes from a Chinese bakery

The other day, I bought some cakes from the China Court Bakery in Birmingham Chinatown, as there was something to celebrate. I had bought bread from them but this is the first time I bought sweets.

They sell cakes by slices as well as whole. There were about 10 types to choose from, and I got a cheese cake (left) and a mango cake (right)



This is how it looks like from the side.




There are layers of mango mousse and slices sponge cake. They tasted fresh and were very light. For £1.80 a slice it does not come cheap, but not too steep either.

I saw also blue cream cakes. Interesting.

I bought also these pies. £3 for 4 pieces, they are rather expensive.



The label said it contained "custard", but it actually contained something we would call egg york paste.



There was also another version with lotus seed paste for the same price. They were also fine, and I thought they would keep a good company to green tea.

And I bought also Chinese egg tarts. 6 pieces for £3, they were bargain.



I gave them all to other people and they said that they enjoyed them. I need to try them by myself.

Sweet Buns from Birmingham Chinatown

When I went to have dim sum lunch in China Court, I bought also some Chinese sweet buns. I am not sure if I call them "Chinese", purely because I bought from a Chinese bakery, not because they are particularly Chinese in taste.

These are the buns. I paid £2 for three (buy 2 get 1 free).



This is a custard cream bun.



The custard cream was not of the highest quality in a patisserie way, but sufficiently enjoyable.

Then, this is sweet red bean bun.



Sweet red bean paste is made of azuki beans and sugar, which is hugely popular in China and in Japan (and also elsewhere, but I don't know). Some European people find the mixture of beans and sugar disgusting, but some, including my Greek husband, like it.

Lastly, chesnut paste bun.



I expected the chesnut paste to be yellow, as it is usually yellow in Japan, but it was brown, meaning that the paste is made also with brown skin (not to confuse with the brown shell) of chesnut. It was different from what I expected, but was also enjoyable.

In all these three buns, the quantity of filling was not as generous as it is in Japan, but as the bread was so moreish, it was fine nevertheless.

If you have never tried, I recommend you to do so.

I bought these from
China Court Bakery (just below the China Court restaurant)
中華閣麺包
24 Ladywell Walk, Birmingham, B6 4ST
Tel. 0121-666 7031
Fax. 0121-622 1860

The Chinese bakery next to Day-In Supermarket, and in front of Cafe Soya in Arcadian makes the same kind of things, and just as good.