Caramel Pudding

Would you believe me if I told you that making caramel pudding is extremely easy? Well....IT IS!!!! I tried it a couple of days ago and it was just perfect :)

Sadly I din't have my digicam with me...so a picture from the internet will have to suffice. However...the point is, caramel pudding is simply delicious, an alltime favourite of many and you don't need any of those instant pudding mixes at all. All you need is:

For the pudding:

• 3 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 1 tsp custard powder
• 4 tbsp sugar
• vanilla essence - a drop

For the caramel:

• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp water, lukewarm

Beat all the ingredients together and strain it using a tea strainer. Pour the mixture into a double boiler. I used an idli cooker. You can use a normal pressure cooker as well, but without the whistle. Simply use a small vessel which will hold the pudding. Put 1/2 cup of water into the cooker and place a barrier, like an upside down container inside. Place the vessel containing the pudding.over this. Cook for 20 min. That's it!

Now, for the caramel. This might be the only tricky part. Take an aluminum vessel, and add sugar in it. Sprinkle some water in it and heat very patiently up to 10 minutes on low flame. When it reaches the melting point, the sugar will slowly turn an amber color and a texture like honey. As soon as this happens, wait till the sides of the pot are covered with this liquid and turn off the heat. Stay clear (it might sputter) and quickly add 2 tsp of water into this and stir to remove any lumps. Your caramel is ready.

Pour the caramel in a dish. Turn pudding upside down into this dish and serve cold.

P.S: Making caramel for the first time was the most exciting part of the whole process. It was simply thrilling to watch sugar crystals melt into this beautiful liquid.