The Recipe Room

The word ‘tiffin’ is a 19^th century word inherited from the colonial days of the Raj. It’s a loosely Indian term meaning a light snack or lunch, or referring to any light meal. It also has some relation to an old English term, ‘tiffing’, which meant ‘to take a sip’. Tiffin as we now know it today, came about when with the typical light British ‘afternoon tea’, merged with the Indian custom of taking a slightly more filling snack between meals. In some parts of India and Nepal it still means an in-between-meals snack. In Mumbai it means a packed lunch, and there are even dedicated people (sometimes called ‘tiffin wallahs’) whose job it is to deliver tiffin in boxes to workers and schoolchildren during the day.

My favourite kind of tiffin is my Grandma’s recipe – a rich, chocolate, biscuit and fruit crunch.  Grandma’s Chocolate Tiffin is one of those comfort foods that take me back to all those ‘feel-good’, happy childhood memories that I never want to lose. It’s great fun to make with, and for, children, and it’s so simple.

Ingredients:

• 115g butter or margarine
• 60g sugar
• 60g golden syrup
• 60g shredded or desiccated coconut
• 60g raisins
• 60g of white chocolate broken into small pieces
• 20g drinking chocolate or cocoa powder
• 150g good quality milk chocolate (or dark chocolate if you prefer)
• 225g rich tea biscuits

Preparation Guidelines

1. Grease a shallow tin (medium sized, 8” x 10” approx).
2. Break biscuits into small pieces.
3. Melt the butter or margarine in a saucepan with the sugar and syrup.
4. Add the drinking chocolate, coconut and raisins. NB – you could substitute chopped walnuts or other nuts for the coconut if you prefer, or leave out altogether. It’s just the same with the raisins if you find them too sweet.  Whatever you choose, it will be de-licious – the chocolate will make sure of that – so play around!
5. Bring just to the boil then remove from heat and stir in the biscuit pieces and white chocolate.
6. Spread the mix in the shallow pre-greased tin and leave to cool.
7. Melt the chocolate in a separate bowl. NB – it’s best to melt the chocolate either in a bowl over a pan of hot water, or in a small microwave-proof bowl in the microwave for a just few seconds; it melts very quickly so keep a close eye on it.
8. Spread the melted chocolate over the biscuit mix and refrigerate for 2 hours.
9. Cut when cold.

Time:    15-20 mins

Cocoa Treats:    around 20 pieces

In my opinion, Christopher Columbus’ most important discovery was chocolate. OK, he had to discover the Americas to find it, and that was great too, but chocolate was the best thing he ever did. Before then, it was the dark and secretive preserve of the Central Americans and one of their gods in particular, Quetzalcoatl, who is usually represented as a serpent-like figure with plumes. The ancient guardians of chocolate (or ‘xocolatl’, as it was known) revered it as a source of strength and wealth – and how right they were! It is both energy-giving and worth masses on the stock market! It has evolved into a vastly more sophisticated and varied product than Columbus could have dreamed, especially while he was drinking the bitter watery concoction that passed for drinking chocolate in those days! Columbus is known to have drunk chocolate, but it was his compatriot, Hernan Cortez who brought it back to Europe in the early 16^th century. I bet they would have loved to have sampled my Mocha Slushy Punch.

Try this as a dessert idea after a filling dinner when you think there won’t be much room for heavy pudding – it goes down a treat!  I use Baileys, but you could just as easily use whisky or rum for a delicious alternative. You could also create some great non-alcoholic versions or use a similar recipe for a cool iced mocha.

Ingredients

• 1L of freshly brewed coffee, well chilled
• 1 small pot whipping cream (200ml)
• 1L tub choc ice cream
• 60ml Baileys
• Chocolate syrup to drizzle on top

Preparation guidelines:

1. Make the coffee in advance and put in the fridge to chill.
2. Whip the cream until really firm.
3. Put the chilled coffee into a big bowl.
4. Add around half of the ice cream and mix in until slushy.
5. Add your Baileys or other drink/flavouring.
6. Mix in the rest of the ice cream, pour into tall glasses, add the whipped cream and sprinkle with the chocolate flakes.
7. Serve immediately.

Note:  Serve immediately in tall glasses with long spoons. Keep super-chilled if it’s going to be more than 5 mins before you serve, to preserve the slushy texture.

Time:    10 mins plus a couple of hours to chill the fresh coffee

Cocoa Treats:    4 generous servings