Jelly — ummm. It conjures up the 70’s and the 80’s, large, lurid, wibble-wobbles brought out in triumph and placed next to the package-made caramel custard on the table after dinner. ‘Gourmet’ mummies in kaftans would not only unmould their jellies perfectly, the show-offs would even pipe starry swirls of cream icing around. Some would make those fabulous multi-coloured, layered monstrosities that screamed “I had nothing much to do yesterday!” And there’d be ice cream and fighting about who got to bust through the mould. And you had to eat it quickly and then slurp up the last soupy bits. Jelly is so retro.
It’s gone out of fashion completely, hasn’t it? Even Jello-shots are no longer served — not even in an ironic way. (Incidentally, satirist, singer and mathematician Tom Lehrer is credited with inventing the vodka-jelly shot. Apparently he did it, while working at the National Security Agency to get his dose of alcohol despite restrictions there. This however is a popular misconception — apparently there are recipes for vodka jelly shots from the late nineteenth century.)
Part of the reason jelly is no longer ‘it’ is because we’re totally insta-gratification and good jelly must be set overnight so that it can be lovely and jelly-like but also firm enough to unmould properly. Another reason is that now people know that jelly is not strictly vegetarian. And then there’s also the fact that good quality gelatin — as silly as it is — is not always available. The famous brand Jell-O is no longer available in the shops near our house. And the local brand creates a robust, gelled thing that is more akin to transparent rubber.
Still, experiment a little. Follow the instructions on your specific box of gelatin leaves or granules and while I always use a smidge ‘extra’ to be on the safe side, I aspire to be the sort who uses less to get a beautiful, firm but melt-in-the-mouth jelly. Yes, I’m ambitious like that. Now where’s my kaftan.

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Cucumber Salad Mould
Why not throw a themed party called ‘those old photos of our parents in the 70’s’? Then you can set up a barbeque, wear your hair really fluffy, get your Hipstamatic style photos taken. And of course, this salad will fit right in. Apparently it was the de rigeur thing to take to a party in them old days. There are lots of variations — you could try swapping the cream for feta, swap the parsley for thyme, throw in some chopped olives and do a ‘Greek Salad’ mould or a tzatziki mould. This is also a great way to serve a raita, yes? Or you could add grape, mint, a smidgen of sugar, skip the mayo and get a refreshing snack.

Ingredients:
3 large cucumbers
1 cup of water
1 packet of gelatin (approx 50 gms)
½ cup of cream
½ cup of mayonnaise
2 tbs onion very finely minced
2 tbs parsley chopped finely
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper

Method:
Cut the cucumbers along their lengths and slice away the ‘flesh’ from the seeds. Only retain the flesh — the seeds will make the salad weird. Puree the cucumbers until smooth. Add the cream, mayo, onion, parsley, salt and pepper and whisk briskly. Follow instructions on your jelly packet but otherwise, pour the gelatin over the water, let it ‘bloom’ and then warm the water until it is dissolved properly. (Do not boil the water or the gelatin will lose its ability to ‘gel’.) Pour the warm gelatin into the cucumber mix and gently stir. Lightly grease moulds with a little olive oil. Pour the mix into the moulds and refrigerate for upto 4 hours or overnight. Serve this with spicy kebabs or even a biryani.

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Green Tea Jelly and Gingered Lychees
Since one of the kids was diagnosed with asthma, we’ve cut out all manners of artificial flavouring and colouring in our kitchen. So this jelly is fabulous — it has lots of flavour, some colour and the lychees made it a super hit. Try cherries or mango (when in season): both fruits go well with the eastern accent here. I used a lovely organic Tulsi tea bag that is easily available but you can use flavoured ice-tea packets or ready-made liquid instead.

Ingredients:
4 – 6 green tea bags or
500 ml ice tea
4 tbs gelatin (or according to instructions)
2 inch piece of ginger
20 stalks of lemongrass
6 kaffir lime leaves
1 can lychees in syrup (about 400 gms)
1 cup hot water
1 large lemon
4 tbs sugar (or more or less)
Mint for garnish (optional)

Method:
(If not using ready-made ice tea) Put 500 ml water to boil and throw in the lemongrass, kaffir lime and stir in the sugar. Let it simmer until the sugar is dissolved, then throw in the tea bags and let it brew. (Do this with the ice as well, but don’t let the ice tea boil.) Zest and juice the lemon. Slice the ginger. Drain the lychees. Put the syrup on simmer with the ginger and lemon zest. When it has reduced to about ¾th, pour it into a glass bowl, put the lychees back in and let them sit, covered, in the fridge for a few hours to absorb the flavour. Line a shallow (about 2 inches high) glass dish with cling film, making sure the film is in a single layer and overhangs the rim of the dish. Remove the leaves and tea bags from the tea. Gently mix the gelatin into the warm tea until properly dissolved.
Then pour it into the lined dish carefully. Let it set in the fridge overnight. To serve, gently turn the dish upside down onto a clean table, unwrap and cut into cubes. (Or, if it breaks, just scoop it out into jewelly-chunks) and cover with lychees and syrup.

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Ice Cream Jelly Jewels
Warning: if your kids are not used to artificial flavouring, they may get pretty grossed out by this dish. However, it looks very pretty and served with ice-cream, it will make a colourful, quite tasty dessert. The ice-cream floats up and if you get the proportions right, you get ‘jewels’, half clear, half creamy.
Mine turned their noses up at it and dug into the green tea jelly instead.
(I ate some quietly in the kitchen when no one was looking. Tasted just like the 70’s to me.)
Ingredients:
1 packet of flavoured jelly (100 gms)
2 tbs unflavoured gelatin
2 cups boiling water
1 cup vanilla ice cream

Method:
Mix the flavoured jelly, unflavoured jelly and boiling water in a large bowl and whisk until the jelly crystals are properly dissolved. Now whisk in the ice cream as well. Keep whisking until it is properly amalgamated. You need a shallow dish to pour the jelly in. You may want to use the method mentioned earlier: lining the dish with cling film for easy unmoulding. Pour the mix into the dish and refrigerate overnight. When ready to serve, unmould it gently, cut it into cubes or diamonds and top bowls of vanilla ice cream with these. Yummy!

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Champagne Jelly
The idea is to infuse something bubbly into half-set jelly so that you can serve the sparkly bubbles that will reflect off your lava-lamp or something. You don’t have to use champagne. Soda-pop will do. Has anyone in the history of jelly-making actually managed to preserve the bubbles in the jelly? No one is telling. This is what my attempt looked like.
Ingredients:
1 package flavoured jelly
200 ml Seven-Up or Sprite or any soda-pop

Method:
Prepare the jelly
according to instructions using only half the water needed. When it is at room temperature, stir in the soda-pop. Cover and refrigerate until set.