Vanilla bean panna cotta(eggless)

I first came across panna cotta when I watched Joey Mathew’s show last year.It looked so yummy,I was very tempted to eat it,but the thought of gelatine put me off and was disappointed as agar agar or china grass wasn’t available at our place.Then one day surprisingly I got the china grass sheets at the Nilgiris super market when I had been for my regular grocery shopping.Followed by one more surprise, Pratibha’s post of eggless Vanilla bean panna cotta in her blog which I bookmarked it immediately,but wasn’t confident enough to try it… After many months saw many members from the  food groups trying it and adding it in the group, made me confident enough to try it…Panna cotta is an Italian dessert which is a type of pudding served with coulis.Same recipe may be prepared with other flavours like cardamom,chocolate,coconut,orange etc.

Recipe adapted from:The chef and her kitchen

Ingredients:
Fresh cream-1 cup(250 ml)
Milk-1 cup(250 ml)
Sugar-1/2 cup
Vanilla bean-1
China grass sheets-5 gms (or agar-agar -2 tsp or gelatine)
Water-1/2 cup

Method:

1. Slightly grease the moulds with oil or immerse them in cold water and keep the moulds ready which you would like to serve the pudding in.
2. If you are using china grass sheets,cut them into tiny pieces and soak them in 1/2 cup water for an hour.
3. If you are using gelatine or agar agar powder just mix the powder in 2 tbsp hot water.
4. In a thick pot add milk and cream together and bring the mixture to a boil on low flame.
5. Add sugar and the scraped vanilla pod to the mixture and mix well until the sugar dissolves.
6. Cut the scraped vanilla pod into 2-3 pieces and throw it into the pot.
7. Meanwhile if you are using china grass mixture,boil it until it melts completely and blends into the water.
8. Remove the vanilla cream mixture,strain it into a bowl and discard the vanilla beans.
9. Add strained melted china grass(agar-agar or gelatine) mixture and mix well immediately,or else it will form lumps.
10. Pour the mixture into the prepared moulds and let them come to room temperature.
11. Cover it with a cling film and keep it refrigerated for a minimum of 5-6 hours or overnight.
12. Serve them cold with any coulis of your choice or even chocolate sauce.