Three Easy Dishes for a Sweet Tooth

My mother's cooking was very straightforward and, for most of my conscious life with her, restrained by economic concerns. Yet she never failed to produce a sweet or savoury snack for us. Of these, three sweet dishes made by her continue to cheer my days: French toast, pancakes and caramel custard. 

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My mother's recipe for French toast was very simple: one egg, a tablespoon of milk, sugar to taste, and slices of bread. It is claimed that stale bread is better but I use whatever's at home. As for the sugar, start with about a spoon - it depends on how sweet you want your toast. The milk is optional and I don't think the sky will fall on our heads if milk is not used.

Beat the egg and milk with the sugar till the sugar is mostly dissolved. 

Warm a skillet/tawa. Add some oil/butter to condition it. Dunk the slices of bread into the egg-milk-sugar mixture. If you soak the slices, they can turn too mushy to handle. 

When the oil bubbles a bit, gently slide in the slices. Watch out as the oil can splash on you. Keep the fire on low to medium and turn the slice over after a minute or so. The crisper the outside the tastier the French toast. 

A variation: instead of sugar, add a dash of salt and pepper.

Serve with ketchup in both cases, if you like ketchup.

Here is a video of another simple method - I'd go with the cinnamon or other spice powder but I refuse to add vanilla. At least as essence.

My mother's pancakes are neither like the French crepes nor like the fat American pancakes. Her recipe was: one egg, a glass of milk, and a cup of plain flour or maida.

Mix these up well to avoid lumps. Heat a skillet as we did for the toast above and pour a bit of the batter and swirl. It's something like a dosa and the batter is better when thin as for a rawa dosa.

I later learned to add a pinch of salt, a tablespoon of oil and a dash of some handy booze.

My mother served her pancakes with lime juice and sugar. You can use anything you fancy as filling.

This video might provide a different spin but it's basically the same thing:

And now for the best one: caramel pudding. As my Amma made it: one egg, a glass of milk and two tablespoons of sugar.

Mix the egg and milk with one tablespoon of sugar till the sugar dissolves.

Take a pan and put it to heat with a tablespoon of sugar. Keep the fire low and keep moving the pan around till the sugar dissolves and turns brown.

For the pan, I usually use something that has a tight lid. When the pan cools down, pour in the egg-milk mixture and steam with lid on for about fifteen minutes.

Let the container cool before opening it to serve.

This basic pudding can take on diversity - once you master the basics it's an easy dessert to serve and enjoy.

Here is a variation that I've tried:

With the monsoon, we Indians get cravings. And what is better than something sweet when it's drizzling outside?