Holiday Babka Wreath

Makes one extra large babka or 12 servings.

We love creating sweet and savoury recipes in equal measure. So, for our last recipe of the year, we’ve created a brioche-style babka* layered with a lightly spiced puree of winter fruits, and served it with a bacon-laced baked brie. Slathered onto the slices, the molten cheese enhances the richness of the bread’s buttery braids and brings out its fruity notes. Ideal for cosy gatherings, this edible holiday wreath is how we’re celebrating a year’s worth of sweet and savoury recipes.

At a glance

*Also known as Krantz Cake, babka (as it’s enjoyed today) is a kind of brioche, bread-cake hybrid with Jewish origins. Here’s a very interesting article on Babka and how it has evolved over time.

– This recipe comprises babka wreath + bacony baked brie
– You will need baking parchment and a baking tray or a 12-inch pizza pan.
– This recipe has been broken into 4 stages for ease and comprehension. Please read the entire recipe from start to finish before beginning.

Stage 1: mixing & fermentation

Ingredients
1. 500 gm bread flour
2. 200 ml UHT milk at 43OC or whole milk boiled and cooled to 43OC
3. 3 large eggs (57 gm in-shell weight/egg)
4. 7 gm (2 ¼ tsp) instant yeast
5. 1 tsp salt
6. 100 gm caster sugar
7. 120 gm unsalted butter, cubed and at room temperature
8. Neutral oil for greasing

Method
1 – Add the warm milk to a medium bowl and sprinkle the instant yeast onto the milk. Whisk to dissolve the yeast into the warm milk. Now add the eggs, and lightly whisk once again to combine. This is your wet mixture. 

2 – Add the bread flour to a large bowl. Make a well in the centre of the flour and add the wet mixture to it. 

3 – Using your hands, stir and fold the mixture until you no longer see any dry, floury bits. By the end of mixing, you should have a fairly stiff, slightly sticky, rough ball of dough that leaves a clean bowl. 

4 – Cover the bowl in cling wrap and leave the dough to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. This will allow the dough to fully hydrate and develop the gluten.

5 – After 30 minutes, tip the dough ball onto your work surface. Do not add any extra flour. Using your hands, shape the dough into a rough rectangle. 

6 – Sprinkle the sugar and salt onto the rectangle of dough. Fold the dough over a couple of times to incorporate. 

7 – Spread the dough out into a rectangle again and then place the cubes of room temperature butter on top. Grab your bench scraper and begin folding the butter into the dough. The dough will be a messy mass, interspersed with slippery butter, and gritty sugar.

8 – Using the heel of your hand, stretch and spread the dough outwards and away from you, and then gather it back towards you in a single mass with the bench scraper. This technique, known as ‘fraisage’ will fully blend the sugar, salt, and butter into the dough. Repeat this mashing and gathering motion for about 20-25 minutes, or until all the butter has been incorporated and the dough stays together as one sticky mass. If you grab a chunk and pull, it should stretch away but still stay connected to the mass. At this point the dough is ready to be kneaded. 

9 – To knead the dough, we’re going to use the slap and fold technique; Pick the dough up and slap it down on your counter so that it sticks. Then grab the dough and stretch/pull it towards you, and then fold it over itself and away from you. Now lift up the dough, give it a quarter turn in the air and slap it down on your counter again. Repeat this sequence until the dough is smooth, shiny, and very elastic. This can take anywhere from 20-30 minutes depending on your brand of flour and how humid it is. Don’t panic if it’s still slightly sticky after 30 minutes and don’t be tempted to add extra flour. Trust yourself and the process. Keep slapping and folding the dough until it is at the correct consistency. When it’s ready, it will no longer stick to your hands, and will come clean off the surface. To double-check if your dough is ready, do the “window pane test”. Cut off a cherry tomato sized portion of dough and stretch it between your fingers until it’s a thin sheet through which you can see light. If the dough tears without stretching, keep kneading.

10 – Form the dough into a smooth ball and place it in a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl with cling film and place it in the fridge to ferment for 12-24 hours. Depending on your fridge temperature, the dough may or not fully double, so don’t panic if it doesn’t look like it grew by more than 50%. It will still be just fine. Mine grew by just 50%.

all the ingredients for the dough
dissolving the yeast in the warm milk
adding the eggs to the yeast mixture
adding the wet mixture to the flour
mixing the dough
this is how the dough looks after mixing
adding salt and sugar to the dough
folding in the salt and sugar
adding butter to the dough
folding the butter into the dough
repeating the folding motion until the butter breaks down
this is what the dough looks like after the butter has been added
fraisage part 1 – pressing the dough with the heel of your hand to “squash” the butter into the dough
fraisage part 2 – gathering the dough back together so you can start the pressing action again
this is what the dough should look like after the butter has been fully incorporated into the dough
slap & fold part 1 – slapping the dough down on the table
slap & fold part 2 – grabbing the dough and stretching it towards yourself
slap & fold part 3 – folding the dough back onto itself
slap & fold part 4 – lifting the dough off the counter so you can slap it back down again
window pane test – this is what the dough should look like when a small portion is stretched
perfectly smooth and shiny dough
placing the dough in a greased bowl – ready to be covered and placed in the fridge to ferment for 12-24 hours

This is a brioche-style bread, which means it’s an enriched dough (containing a high amount of fat from eggs and butter). Such breads possess an intricate honeycomb crumb pattern that results in a very soft, fluffy texture. This is achieved when room temperature butter is kneaded into the dough *after* all the other ingredients have been incorporated. Kneading a brioche-style dough by hand is not for the fainthearted. It takes patience, time, and a fair bit of muscle. When you add the butter to your hydrated dough and begin the fraisage process, you will wonder if I tricked you! How could that greasy, sticky mess ever come together as a smooth, elastic ball of dough?! You will question all your life choices and doubt yourself (as I did) but I promise you, if you keep at it, your dough will get there. Having said that, if you have a stand mixer, please use it to significantly cut down on time and effort. The instructions will be different from my recipe, so please look up how to make enriched doughs with a stand mixer.

Stage 2: making the filling

Ingredients
1. 80 gm dried cranberries
2. 30 gm dried figs
3. 100 ml water
4. 80 gm orange marmalade
5. 80 gm plum jam
6. 40 gm cherry jam
7. 40 gm apricot preserve
8. ½ tsp red chilli flakes (add less or more to your taste)
9. ½ tsp Kashmiri red chili powder or any red chilli powder you like
10. ¼ tsp ground black pepper
11. 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves (or ½ tsp dried thyme)

Method
1 – Roughly chop your dried cranberries and dried figs.

2 – To a small saucepan, add the chopped cranberries and figs, and 100 ml water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook until all the water has been absorbed and the dried fruits have softened. Leave to cool.

3 – Add the cooled mixture to a food processor and blitz until you have a coarse paste.

4 – Transfer the paste back to the saucepan. Now add in the orange marmalade, plum jam, cherry jam, apricot preserve, red chilli flakes and red chilli powder. Mix to combine.

5 – Bring the mixture to a bubble over medium heat. Cook for 12-15 minutes, stirring frequently. The goal is to evaporate the extra moisture so that you have a very thick, sticky, spreadable mixture that doesn’t drip off the spoon. This is an absolutely essential step for two reasons. First, if your filling is too liquidy, it won’t stick to the dough properly. As you go to shape your babka, the slippery filling will slide around on the dough, causing your layers to open up. Secondly, if the filling is too wet, it will leak into the dough while baking, resulting in a dense crumb.

6 – Take the mixture off the heat and stir in the ground black pepper and fresh thyme leaves. This is your filling. Cool to room temperature and then store in an airtight container until ready to use.

all the ingredients for the filling
chopped dried cranberries and dried figs
rehydrating the chopped dried fruits on the stove
after fully absorbing the water
after mincing
adding red chilli flakes and red chilli powder to the mixture of assorted jams and minced fruits
this is what the filling should look like after it’s been reduced on the stove
adding the black pepper and thyme
thick and sticky filling ready

This spread is a mishmash of classic Christmas/winter/holiday flavours and textures and was made with whatever I had available in my pantry. If you don’t like a particular flavour, go ahead and make adjustments. Feel free to use just 1 type of readymade jam, make your own jam with fresh or frozen fruit, or make a fruit puree with your favourite dried fruits. If you want an orange-forward flavour, add freshly grated orange zest. If you don’t like figs, substitute them with raisins or any other dried fruit. You could even forgo the winter flavours and use strawberry (or any berry) jam. As long as you have about 350 gm of a mixture that is sweet, thick, sticky, and spreadable, it will work. Don’t omit the spices and herbs though—they add complex, savoury notes to fruit and give fruity desserts a lot of personality. 

Stage 3: shaping & baking

Because you need to roll out the dough to fairly large dimensions, you need a lot of bench room to successfully shape this bread. If you have limited counter space or only a small table to work on, you will struggle. For starters, find a large table/counter that’s open on at least 3 sides. This will let you move around as needed, without over-handling the dough. Additionally, because this is a soft dough that sticks to every surface and doesn’t like to be picked up, it is essential to use baking parchment throughout this stage. You will roll the dough on the parchment and shape the wreath on the same parchment. When you’re done, you will lift up the parchment with the wreath on it and place it in your baking pan. Cut out a large sheet of parchment, at least 26 inches long and 14 inches wide. Secure the parchment directly to your table to prevent it from sliding around the table. Electrical tape or medical tape (leucoplast) works well. 

Components
1. Chilled dough
2. Prepared filling
3. Bread flour for dusting

for the glaze:
1. 1 tbsp. jam (we used orange marmalade)
2. 1 tbsp. hot water

for sprinkling:
1. ¼ tsp coarse sea salt for sprinkling
2. 1 tsp fresh thyme for sprinkling

Method
1 – After the dough has proofed in the fridge for 12-24 hours, it’s ready to be rolled out into a rectangle. I like to transfer it to a rectangular/square dish to get it into the right shape. This process also punches out the air pockets. 

2 – Dust your parchment sheet lightly with bread flour and place your dough on it. If it’s too stiff to roll out, let it sit at room temperature until it’s ready. My dough was at the perfect consistency for rolling.

3 – Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a flattened rectangle, 24 inches long, 12 inches wide. Make sure that the rectangle is evenly thick throughout. If it’s too thick in the middle and thinner at the edges, take the time to even it out.

4 – Place dollops of filling all over the dough. This makes it easier to distribute and spread the very sticky filling. 

5 – Leaving ½ inch strip empty on all sides, slather the fruit spread on the dough in a thin, even layer. 

6 – Starting from the long side that’s closer to you, roll the dough into a tight log. Do not pull or stretch the dough as you’re rolling upwards. 

7 – Pinch the seam shut and then turn the log over so that it’s resting on the seam. 

8 – Using a very sharp knife or a metal bench scraper, cut the log in half lengthwise so that you have two 24-inch long strips. Let the strips lie parallel to each other with the exposed, cut-side facing upwards. 

9 – Lift one strip and cross it over the other strip at the midpoint (like an X). Making sure that the cut-side is facing upwards, first twist the bottom strips to form a braid, and then twist the top strips to complete the braid. Try to keep the braids tight, but don’t stretch or pull at them. 

10 – Finally, curl the two ends into a circle and overlap the ends to make a wreath. 

11 – Release your parchment from the tape/clips. Holding the parchment paper, transfer the wreath to a baking tray or pizza pan. Cut the parchment to size to fit your bakeware as needed. 

12 – Cover the wreath with some greased plastic wrap and let it rise for 45-120 minutes or until it is puffy and has almost doubled in size. I know this is a huge range, but rise-time is temperature dependent. In hot climates, it usually takes 45-60 mins. In cold climates it can take anywhere from 60-120 minutes. Once it’s visibly puffy, lightly press on the dough. If it slowly springs back, its ready. Mine took around 70 minutes.

13 – When your wreath has almost doubled in size, start pre-heating your oven to 180OC. This is also a good time to make your glaze by combining the jam with the hot water. 

14 – Bake the wreath in the lower middle rack of the oven at 180OC for 40 minutes or until the outside is golden brown. I like to place an empty baking tray on the lowest rack of my oven to stop the wreath from over-browning at the bottom. Check the wreath at 35 minutes. If the top is looking very brown, cover the wreath with a large piece of aluminium foil and continue to bake. To check for doneness, insert a skewer into the thickest part of the wreath. If it’s fully baked, the skewer should come out clean. 

15 – Remove the baked wreath from the oven and immediately brush the hot surface with the glaze. You will hear some sizzling!

16 – Sprinkle the wreath with ¼ teaspoon sea salt and 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves. I also adorned my wreath with some whole pink peppercorns and sprigs of thyme. Allow the wreath to cool on the baking tray until just warm or at room temperature. While it’s cooling, make your bacony baked brie.

chilled dough after 18 hours in the fridge – rose by little over 50%
punching the dough into a square container to give it a rough square shape
square dough ready to be rolled out on a lightly floured surface
rolling out the dough
fully rolled out dough – 24 inches long, 12 inches wide
placing dollops of filling all over the dough
evenly spreading the filling onto the dough
rolling up the dough into a log
pinching the seam to seal the log
log resting with the seam on the bottom
cutting the log in half
positioning the two haves so their cut-sides are facing upwards
crossing the two halves at their mid-point to form an X
twisting one side
twisting one side
twisting one side
twisting the other side
twisting the other side
twisting the other side
bringing the first side down into a curve
bringing the other side down to close the curve
joining both ends to make a wreath
fully shaped wreath, ready for its second rise
puffy wreath after 70 minutes of proofing – ready to be baked
making the glaze using orange marmalade
adding hot water to the marmalade
glaze ready
fully baked wreath ready for glazing
glaze being brushed onto the hot bread
sprinkling fresh thyme and salt onto the sticky glaze

Like cinnamon rolls, babka is best eaten an hour or so after baking. This Holiday Babka Wreath will stay fresh for 24 hours in an airtight container at room temperature. Do not place leftovers in the fridge. Instead, freeze individual slices for up to 2 months. To thaw, leave at room temperature for 2 hours, or overnight in the fridge. If desired, lightly warm slices in a pan before eating. 

Stage 4: bacony baked brie

Ingredients
1. 2 x 250 gm wheels of Brie like this or 500 gm equivalent
2. 150 gm streaky bacon rashers

Because this is such a large wreath, you will need 500 gm brie to serve along with it. That way, when you cut the wreath into slices, there will be a generous amount to spread on each serving. Like me, if you can only get 250 gm wheels of brie, evenly divide the ingredients between the two.

Prep
1 – Make bacon crumbs; Chop your bacon rashers into little chunks. Place them in a cold skillet and then begin heating it on low.

2 – Cook the bacon bits on low heat for 20-25 minutes until the fat completely renders and the meaty bits become crispy and brown.

3 – Using a slotted spoon, remove the crisped-up bacon and place it on paper towels to drain. Leave the bacon grease in the skillet. It will be used in the recipe.

chopping the bacon into small chunks
adding the bacon chunks to a cold pan
crisping up the bacon
draining the bacon crumbs on kitchen paper

Method
1 – Place a baking tray in the middle rack of your oven and begin preheating your oven to 180OC. 15 minutes should suffice.

2 – Remove any plastic or paper packaging and place the wheel of Brie into an individual baking pot, that is just a tiny bit bigger than the wheel itself. Don’t use a wide or flat container, else the cheese may flatten out while baking and you want it to hold its shape.
3 – Using a sharp knife, score a crosshatch pattern (think tic-tac-toe) on the top-side of the rind of cheese. 

4 – Add two tablespoons of bacon grease on top the crosshatch pattern and then top with all the bacon crumbs. If using two 250 gm wheels, evenly divide the grease and crumbs.

5 – Place the pot of Brie on the pre-heated tray inside the oven and bake for 20-22 minutes at 180OC. When it’s ready, the wheel of brie will puff up, feel soft under the rind, and jiggle like jelly when you jostle it. If baking two 250 gm wheels, bake for 12 minutes only.

6 – As soon it’s baked, take the pot out of the oven. It should be served right away while hot, molten, and oozy. Serve with your freshly baked Holiday Babka Wreath. Now eat!

scoring the brie (250 gm wheel pictured)
adding the bacon grease from the pan; I made my bacon crumbs the day before, so the fat had congealed
adding the bacon crumbs
gooey baked brie

Take care not to overbake your brie, as it goes from molten and creamy to hard and gritty, and there’s no returning from that. While we used our baked brie to slather onto slices of our babka wreath, it also pairs amazingly with so much more. Serve it hot with a variety of crudités, fruits, and breads.

Christmas Kransekake

Makes 18 rings

This Christmas, how about an Xmas tree you can make, decorate, and then eat! And since a Norwegian kransekake (pronounced kran-zay-kah-kuh) looks like a tree, it’s perfect! Meaning “wreathe-cake”, it is basically a tower built with ring-shaped cookies. Crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside, the cookies are similar to baked marzipan and are bursting with almond flavour. Standing 18 rings high, adorned with royal icing, and topped with a fondant star – this cookie-cake makes for one lofty and eye-catching Christmas centrepiece. We served ours with glasses of warm, homemade mulled wine. Perfect for dunking nutty morsels of kransekake. 


At a glance

– This recipe comprises kransekake rings + royal icing + fondant star + bonus recipe for mulled wine.
– You will need a hand mixer, a kransekake mould, baking paper, unrimmed baking trays, and a piping bag. You will also need a 2 litre non-reactive pot to make the mulled wine.
– This recipe has been broken into 5 stages for ease and comprehension.  Please read the entire recipe from start to finish before beginning.

Stage 1: mixing the kransekake dough

Ingredients
1. 300 gm almond flour (blanched and skinless ground almonds)
2. 300 gm almond meal (skin-on ground almonds)
3. 600 gm confectioner’s sugar
4. 165 gm egg whites (whites from roughly 5 large eggs where 1 large egg = 57 gm in-shell weight)
5. 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 
6. 1/8 tsp almond extract
7. ½ tsp salt

Prep
1 – Sift the confectioner’s sugar and set it aside in a very large bowl.

2 – Add both types of grounds almonds and the salt to a bowl and toss together to evenly combine.

3 – Add the almond mixture to the bowl of sifted confectioner’s sugar. Gently toss together with your hands to mix.

4 – Make a well in the centre of the mixture, and pour the egg whites into the well. Add the vanilla extract and almond extract on top of the eggs and whisk the wet ingredients together with a fork to evenly distribute the extracts. Continue whisking the egg mixture, pulling in bits of “flour” from the sides as you’re going (similar to when you’re making fresh pasta). Keep using the fork to mix the dough until there are no more liquid bits visible.

5 – Switch to a spatula. Stir and press the mixture until the dough clumps together in wet, sticky crumbs. This takes some time and a bit of elbow grease, but you will get there.

6 – Finally, use your hands to shape the dough into a ball that’s slightly sticky (think cookie dough). If the dough is still crumbling apart, knead it for a bit. The heat from your hands will bring it all together.

7 – Split the dough into two and pat into rectangles. Wrap individually in plastic wrap, and leave to chill in the fridge overnight. You could chill the dough as one big mass as well, but I find it easier to manage when it’s in 2 portions.

all the ingredients for the kransekake dough
combining the almond flour, the almond meal, and the salt
combining the ground almonds with the confectioner’s sugar
adding the egg whites
adding the flavourings to the egg whites
whisking the eggs whites into the flour by going in a circular motion and pulling in bits of dry flour
mixing the dough with a spatula to press the wet portions into the dry portions
the dough eventually comes together in wet clumps
shaping the dough into a ball
patting the dough into rectangles
dough, shaped and wrapped, ready for the fridge.

A traditional kransekake dough is made with equal parts almond flour and almond meal. Almond flour has a finer texture than ground almonds. The almond flour gives a smooth texture, and the almond meal adds flavour.  If you don’t feel like buying both, you could use just one, but the colour, texture, and taste of the dough will vary depending on which one you use. Almond skins impart both flavour and colour. A kransekake made exclusively with almond flour will look just fine, won’t be as tasty as one made with the addition of almond meal. Many recipes advise you to grind your almonds from scratch. In my experience, as long as store-bought ground almonds are not too powdery in texture, they will work just fine.

Stage 2: shaping and baking the kransekake 

To make a neat kransekake, you will need a set of kransekake moulds like this. Individual baking rings can also be used, but I haven’t seen these in India. Either way, the smallest cavity needs a 6-inch log, the second cavity needs a 7-inch log, the third cavity needs an 8-inch log…right up to the 18th cavity, which needs a 23-inch log. See the guide below for details. If you don’t have a mould, you can still make a kransekake using my printable template. First print the template without resizing it (the template is the size of a quarter-sheet pan, roughly 9×13 inches). Next, place the printed templates under parchment paper and form your rings on top of the parchment. Proceed with the rest of the recipe as directed. Please note, the greasing and dusting step is not needed if you’re forming and baking your rings on parchment.

click to enlarge

Components
1. Chilled kransekake dough
2. Butter or shortening for greasing
3. Semolina (fine sooji) for dusting

Method
1 – Grease your kransekake moulds with butter or shortening and then dust them with semolina, tapping out the excess. 

2 – Take out your rectangles of chilled dough. Cut each rectangle into 9 strips (total 18). Take 1 strip and keep the remaining 17 strips covered and chilled in the fridge. 

3 – Roll the strip into a ½-inch thick log (about the thickness of your middle finger). 

4 – Cut a 6-inch-long section from the rolled log, bring the two ends of the log together to make a circle, and then press the ends together to form a closed ring. Lift the ring and place it inside the smallest cavity of your kransekake mould.

5 – Repeat the rolling, cutting, shaping, and filling process with the remaining dough until all 18 cavities are filled. This amount of dough comfortably makes 18 rings, but I recommend filling your kransekake moulds going from the smallest to the largest cavity. That way, if you run out of dough because your logs are too thick, you’ll still have a stackable tower (albeit featuring fewer rings). If you’ve rolled your logs to the correct thickness, you will have a teeny bit of dough left over. Shape it into a ring, place it on some parchment and bake it with the others. That way you can treat yourself to a cookie before you build your tower!

6 – Place your filled moulds to chill in the fridge for 20-30 minutes. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 150°C.

7 – Transfer the filled kransekake moulds to a baking tray. If you have a modest, table-top oven like me, you’ll probably need to bake the rings in multiple batches. Just keep any unbaked rings in the fridge. Working with one tray at a time, place the tray in the middle rack of your preheated oven. Bake at 150OC until puffed and lightly golden brown, about 20-25 minutes, rotating halfway through if necessary. If baking on parchment, remove the rings at the 20-minute mark to prevent the bottoms from over-browning. 

8 – Take the tray out of the oven and set the moulds aside until cool enough to handle, roughly 15 minutes. The rings will crisp up as they cool. 

9 – To demould, gently twist each ring in its cavity until it rotates. Don’t try to dislodge the rings while they are hot, as they may break. Once fully cool, carefully lift out each ring and set aside. Rings baked on parchment should lift right off. Repeat the baking and demoulding process until you have all 18 rings.

10 – Let the rings “rest” for 24 hours to pick up some moisture before assembling. If you live in a humid location, leave the rings out in the open. If you live in a dry location, place the rings in an airtight container with an apple slice.

set of kransekake moulds
greasing the moulds with shortening
dusting the moulds with fine semolina
all the moulds prepped
portioning the chilled dough into strips for easy shaping
rolling the strips
strip rolled to 1/2 inch thick
first strip cut to 6 inches to fill the smallest cavity
filling the cavities starting from the smallest to the largest rings
placing a formed ring into a cavity
all the cavities filled
leftover dough can be formed into a ring and baked free-form on parchment (cook’s treat!)
baked rings; as you can see, the dough almost doubles when cooked

Traditionally comprising 18 layers, you can make a smaller tower by reducing the amount of dough. Here’s the deal – the rings are not at their best, straight out of the oven. Like macarons, kransekake gets better after absorbing a little moisture, whereby the cake’s unique soft-yet-chewy texture and almond flavour is improved. If you live in a very dry climate, I recommend storing the rings overnight in an airtight box with a slice of apple. Alternatively, you can freeze the rings for up to 3 months and then thaw them before assembly. This freezing and thawing process results in the ideal kransekake texture. Since I live in a very humid climate, I let the rings sit around uncovered at room temperature for a whole day before I proceeded with assembly. Either way, you can make the rings well in advance and assemble the tower later. 

Stage 3: fondant star

Fondant takes a day or so to harden, and will require another few hours of drying after it’s painted. If you would like to make this element, plan ahead so that it’s dry by the time you’re ready to serve your kransekake. I made my star while my rings were resting.

Components
1. 100 gm readymade white fondant or sugar paste
2. ½ tsp edible gold dust
3. ½ – 1 tsp vodka
4. Wooden coffee stirrer/bamboo skewer

Method
1 – Roll out about 100 gm readymade fondant to ½ inch thickness.

2 – Use a 2-inch star cookie cutter to cut out a star.

3 – Embed a coffee stirrer or bamboo skewer into the underside of the star. Leave the star to dry for at least 24 hours. I like to stick the skewer into a glass of dried beans for this purpose.

4 – Once it’s dry, mix half a teaspoon of edible gold dust with about a teaspoon of vodka to make a smooth paste. Use a small paintbrush to paint the star gold. Do a double coat if necessary and leave the star to dry for 2-3 hours or until no longer tacky. .

cutting out the fondant star
dried star, ready for painting
painting the star
drying the coat of paint; we had to keep ours covered because cats
fondant star, ready for topping

Stage 4: royal icing

This is an essential component of a kransekake, as it’s literally the glue that holds the tower together. Yes, I know. Royal icing can suck. It’s often sickly sweet, rock hard, and unpleasant to eat. Trust me, if you make your own batch, it tastes so much nicer. Not too sweet and with just a hint of vanilla, this royal icing is both functional and yummy. My husband will happily eat a bowlful of this royal icing, with or without a cookie! I recommend making your royal icing only when you’re ready to assemble your kransekake.

Ingredients
1. 240 gm icing sugar
2. 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
3. 35 gm egg whites (whites from 1 large egg where 1 large egg = 57 gm in-shell weight)
4. ½ tsp clear vanilla essence
5. 2 tsp fresh lemon juice + more as needed
6. Water as needed 

Method
1 – Sift your icing sugar with a fine-meshed strainer.

2 – Put the icing sugar in a bowl and add the cream of tartar. Whisk together to combine.

3 – Add the egg whites, vanilla essence and 2 teaspoon lemon juice to the bowl. Using a spatula, stir everything together to moisten the sugar. It will look like a wet paste.

4 – Using a handheld mixer, beat this mixture on low, to evenly mix everything. Thereafter, increase the speed to medium and beat for 1-2 minutes or until the mixture forms thick, stiff peaks and is bright white. Do not whip or whisk the royal icing from this stage onwards, as you don’t want to incorporate air bubbles.

5 – Your royal icing will be too thick to pipe at this point. Add lemon juice or water, 1/2 teaspoon at a time and mix with a spatula until you have the correct consistency (do not whisk). I added 2 more teaspoons of lemon juice and 3 ½ teaspoons of water. To check the consistency of your royal icing, drag a line down the middle of the icing with a table knife. Count the number of seconds it takes for the line to disappear fully. If the line evens out after 25 seconds, it’s perfect for piping. Alternately, when you dip a spoon into the icing and lift it out, the icing should take 2-3 seconds before slowly oozing off the spoon.

6 – Once you’re happy with the consistency, transfer the icing to a piping bag and proceed to construct your kransekake.

all the ingredients for the royal icing
adding the eggs whites to the confectioner’s sugar and cream of tartar
adding vanilla essence and lemon juice
thick, sticky paste after mixing
ready for beating
stiff peaks and bright white colour
after further addition of water and lemon juice, shiny royal icing is at perfect piping consistency

Feel free to use readymade royal icing for this recipe, although that never tastes as good as the homemade stuff. These quantities make roughly twice the amount you will need to decorate your cake, but it’s hard to make a successful batch with smaller quantities. Royal icing made with egg whites should be used immediately. Leftover royal icing must be stored in an airtight container in the fridge, and used up within a few days.

Stage 5: Finale; kransekake construction & assembly

Components
1. 18 kransekake rings
2. Royal icing
3. Silver edible pearls and gold edible pearls
4. Fondant star topper

Method
1 – To begin assembling the kransekake, sort the baked rings in order of size and keep the semolina-side facing downwards.

2 – Cut the tip of your piping bag 2 mm wide. Pipe 4 dots of icing onto the 4 corners of the base of the largest ring and adhere it to a large serving plate.

3 – Pipe zig-zag patterns of royal icing onto the largest ring. 

4 – Place the second-largest ring on top of the largest ring and repeat the icing and decorating process. Continue to stack rings in decreasing size to form a tower of 18 rings. 

5 – Pipe dots of icing all over the rings and attach some silver edible pearls and gold edible pearls to the dots.

6 – Allow the icing to set and fully harden, roughly 24 hours. This will adhere the rings to each other and make for a sturdy construction. 

7 – After your kransekake is good and set, top the tower with your fondant star. Now eat!

placing icing on the base of thelargest ring
adhering the largest ring to the cake base/platter
piping zig zags of royal icing
placing the next largest ring on top
repeating the decorating and stacking process
fully constructed kransekake
attaching the edible pearls with dots of royal icing
topping the kransekake with the fondant star

Kransekake is eaten by pulling off the rings and eating them like cookies. Ours was a Christmas-themed tower, but feel free to decorate your kransekake however you like. In Norway, they adorn kransekake with the national flag. You can also build the rings around a bottle of alcohol, or decorate the tower with any kind of edible goodies or food-safe ornaments.

Bonus recipe! Mulled wine

Served during winter and primarily around Christmas, Mulled Wine is a hot, spiced alcoholic beverage that is traditionally made with red wine. Popular across many parts of the world, every household has a unique recipe and this is simply how we have been enjoying it for years. Warming and punchy, our version pairs wonderfully with the almond-forward kransekake and I encourage you to get a-dunking!

Ingredients
1. 1 x 750 ml bottle merlot
2. 300 ml plain water
3. 2 tsp black tea leaves (or 2 tea bags)
4. 250 ml orange juice (freshly squeezed or packaged)
5. 1 tbsp freshly grated orange zest
6. 2 tbsp. honey
7. 3 x 2-inch cinnamon stick
8. 6 cloves
9. 1 star anise
10. ½ cup black raisins
11. Optional; 50-100 ml dark rum, depending on your taste

To garnish:
1. Fresh orange slices
2. Cinnamon quills

Method
1 – Place your tea leaves in a heat proof vessel. Bring 300 ml plain water to a boil, turn off the heat and then let the water sit for 1-2 minutes. Pour the hot water onto the tea leaves and let it steep for 5 minutes. Then immediately strain the tea and discard/compost the tea leaves. Set the brewed tea aside.

2 – Zest and juice your oranges.

3 – In a 2-litre pot, combine the freshly brewed tea, orange juice, the orange zest, the honey, and the whole spices. Give everything a quick stir.

4 – Heat the pot over medium-high heat until you reach a boil. Continue to boil until the contents are reduced by half, about 10-12 minutes 

5 – Reduce the heat to low, pour in the merlot and add the raisins. Heat the brew on low until it just starts to steam, indicating it is completely heated through (you don’t want it to ever bubble or you will boil off the alcohol). Switch off the stove.

6 – Using tongs, remove the whole spices.

7 – Taste the mulled wine and stir in your desired amount of rum. We added 60 ml. Also add in more honey if desired.

8 – Serve the mulled wine hot or warm, garnished with some fresh orange slices and cinnamon quills. 

all the ingredients for the mulled wine
brewed tea
adding freshly brewed tea, orange juice, orange zest, honey, and the whole spices to the pot
bringing the brew to the bubble
reducing the brew to intensify the flavours
adding the red wine
adding the black raisins
adding 60 ml dark rum

You don’t need an expensive red wine to make mulled wine, but always pick one that you would enjoy drinking on its own. We used Sula Satori. When selecting a wine, look for the terms “jammy” or “notes of vanilla”, on the label. A Merlot, Grenache or Zinfandel are all good options for mulled wine, as they are fruity and full-bodied and won’t lose their flavour to the spices. Avoid very light red wines like Pinot Noir, because they don’t offer enough body to carry the spices. If storing mulled wine, it should be refrigerated until the next use and consumed within three days. Reheat on the lowest stove setting until steaming.

Gajar ka Halwa

Makes 8-10 servings.

Gajar ka halwa (Indian carrot pudding) is to an Indian winter, what Pumpkin pie is to an American autumn. As soon as the weather cools down, the much-awaited, tender and sweet Delhi red carrot hits the market and the aroma of gajar ka halwa fills the air. My carrot pudding is a no-frills one, and uses just 5 ingredients. It’s wonderfully rich and extremely enjoyable solo—but paired with a creamy no-churn pistachio ice cream and crunchy cardamom lace tuile, this classic Diwali delight goes from popular festival fare to culinary haute couture.


At a glance

– This recipe comprises gajar ka halwa + pistachio ice cream + cardamom lace tuile.
– You will need a 3-litre heavy-bottomed cooking pot, a food processor, a hand mixer, an oven-safe silicon lace mould like this, baking parchment, and a baking tray.
– This recipe has been broken into 3 stages for ease and comprehension. Please read the entire recipe from start to finish before beginning.

Stage 1: gajar ka halwa 

Made with just 5 ingredients, this is a variation of my mother in law’s recipe. She doesn’t use an ounce of spice, and the result is a super concentrated carrot flavour, that completely heroes the produce. Forget the khoya (evaporated milk solids) or condensed milk. For this recipe, all you need is just a little patience. 

Ingredients
1. 800 gm (roughly 8) red Delhi carrots/desi gajar
2. 1 litre full fat milk
3. 100 gm ghee
4. 200 gm sugar
5. 30 gm (roughly ¼ cup) salted pistachios, roughly chopped

Since I made this dish at the end of October when red Delhi carrots had not hit the market yet, I used locally available orange carrots. If red Delhi carrots are not in season, feel free to use regular orange carrots to make this dish. You may have to add an extra tablespoon of sugar depending on the natural sweetness of the carrots. If you’re using unsalted pistachios, add 1/8 teaspoon salt to the recipe.


Prep
1 – Peel and then shred your carrots with a vegetable grater (small holes). Set aside.

Method
1 – Place a heavy bottom pot on your stove and add the grated carrots and the milk to the pot. 

2 – Begin heating it on medium to bring the mixture to a boil and then lower the heat to minimum to maintain a simmer.

3 – Simmer the carrots in the milk for the next 50-60 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the milk from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Over the course of the cook, the milk will reduce and thicken.

4 – When the milk has reduced by 90%, add the ghee and the sugar to the mixture. This will cause the mixture to become wet and loose once again. Stir well and continue to cook on low heat for the next 40-50 minutes, stirring frequently, until all the milk has reduced and the liquid content has evaporated. The mixture is very bubbly during this stage, so be careful.

5 – Once the milk has completely reduced, the fats will separate, and the mixture will stop bubbling and start sizzling. You could do one of two things at this stage. If you like a wet halwa, add the chopped pistachios, fry the halwa for another 1-2 minutes and turn the heat off. Alternately, if you prefer a drier, crumbly halwa, fry the mixture on low heat for 15-20 minutes to caramelize the sugars. Take care not to burn the carrots by stirring frequently. Once you’re happy with the caramelisation, throw in your chopped pistachios and give the halwa a mix. Fry for another 1-2 minutes and then turn the heat off. This results in a halwa with richer, more nutty notes (we like it this way). 

6 – Serve the gajar ka halwa hot, at room temperature or even cold. It’s delicious any which way! I spooned my gajar ka halwa into these silicon moulds and unmoulded them onto plates to get perfect rectangles of gajar ka halwa.

all the ingredients for the gajar ka halwa
milk and grated carrots into the pot
simmering the milk and carrots
90% milk reduction
adding the sugar and ghee
moist gajar ka halwa, ready (wet consistency)
dry gajar ka halwa, ready (crumbly consistency)
adding the chopped pistachios
ready gajar ka halwa
filled into moulds to serve perfect rectangles

Cook-time depends on the type of vessel you use. Non-stick cookware lengthens the cook time, while stainless steel or anodized cookware shortens it. I made mine in a non-stick pan, so all timings are based on that. You can add cashews, raisins, almonds, or whatever dried fruits and nuts you like. I kept it very simple by using pistachios to mirror the pistachios in the ice cream. Store leftover halwa in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. It can be reheated in the microwave or served cold. It’s really is a matter of how you like it. 

Stage 2: pistachio ice cream

While gajar ka halwa is normally served hot with vanilla ice cream, I’ve opted to make this easy no eggs, no-churn pistachio ice cream to enhance the nutty notes in the carrot pudding. Lusciously creamy and thick, and in the prettiest pastel green—this one’s lighter than a kulfi but denser than regular ice cream. 

Ingredients
1. 150 gm shelled pistachios
2. 400 gm sweetened condensed milk
3. 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
4. Optional; 1 drop green gel food colour like this
5. 1/8 tsp salt
6. 250 ml heavy whipping cream (chilled)

to blanch the pistachios:
1. 1 litre water for boiling
2. 1 litre ice water for rapid-cooling

Prep
1 – To start, bring 1 litre of plain water to a gentle boil. 

2 – Add all the pistachio kernels to the simmering water and boil them for 1 minute. 

3 – Remove the pistachios with a slotted spoon and immediately transfer them to a bowl of ice water. 

4 – Let the pistachios sit in the chilled water for 1 minute and then strain them through a colander. Discard the water. This process of blanching and rapidly cooling the nuts will loosen their skins. 

5 – To peel, pinch each nut and slip off the skin. See this for the technique.

6 – Spread the skinned pistachios on some kitchen paper to fully dry. Once they’re dry, store them in an airtight container in the fridge. Blanched pistachios ready, set aside.

blanched pistachios

Do not skip this step, because it makes a huge difference! Removing the skins intensifies the pure pistachio flavour and eliminates any unsavoury mustiness from the skins. Plus, that intense green colour of a skinless pistachio is inimitable.

Method
1 – To the jar of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, add the blanched pistachios. Process until a smooth paste forms. At first, the mixture will be crumbly, then it will begin to come together in wet clumps, then the oils will start to separate and you will get an oily paste. Keep processing until the oils re-emulsify and a you have a smooth paste (takes anywhere from 5-20 mins depending on how powerful your processor is). 150 gm or roughly 1 cup blanched pistachios yields about ¾ cup pistachio paste. You will need all of it to make the ice cream.

2 – In a large mixing bowl, combine the sweetened condensed milk, the pistachio paste, vanilla extract, and salt. You can add the green food colouring at this stage. I added 1 drop. Stir until evenly blended.

3 – Pour the chilled heavy whipping cream into a separate, pre-chilled mixing bowl. Using a hand-held mixer, whip the cream on high-speed until stiff peaks form. 

4 –Using a large spatula, gently and carefully fold the whipped cream into the pistachio mixture, until no streaks remain. 

5 – Gently transfer the mixture to a freezer-safe dish. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and place it in the freezer for 12 hours or overnight for best results.

6 – Serve a small scoop of pistachio ice cream with each helping of gajar ka halwa.

all the ingredients for the pistachio ice cream
crumbly texture stage
wet clumps stage
oil separation stage
smooth paste stage
pistachio paste ready
combining the pistachio paste, condensed milk, vanilla, salt, and green gel food colour
pistachio mixture ready
whipping cream at stiff peaks
combining the whipped cream and pistachio mixture
look at that gorgeous colour!
pistachio ice cream, ready to be frozen overnight

This delicious pistachio ice cream can be eaten all on its own or served with a range of Indian or Middle Eastern desserts from falooda and gulab jamun to my Turkish Baklava. Because it contains no eggs, it’s also suitable for vegetarians. Store leftover ice cream in the freezer for up to 6 months.

Stage 3: cardamom lace tuile

Melt-in-the-mouth delicate and speckled with spice, these crispy tuiles are a stunning addition to any festive dessert. A little finnicky to make, they require a gentle hand and some careful coaxing.

Ingredients
1. 30 gm unsalted butter, softened
2. 30 gm confectioner’s sugar
3. 30 gm all purpose flour
4. 30 gm egg whites
5. 1/8 tsp pure vanilla extract
6. 1/16 tsp cardamom powder
7. 1/16 tsp salt

Method
1 – Lightly whisk the egg whites and set aside. 

2 – Add butter to a medium bowl. Sift in the confectioner’s sugar and beat the butter and confectioner’s sugar together in a mixing bowl until pale, fluffy and smooth.

3 – Then add the whisked eggs whites, vanilla extract, cardamom, and salt. Give the mixture a stir to make it homogenous. Finally, gently fold in the flour. Stir together until you have a smooth, lump-free batter.

4 – Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill for one hour. This will thicken the batter.

5 – Once the tuile batter is chilled, begin preheating your oven to 160OC. 

6 – Lay your lace mould on a flat surface. Using a palette knife, spread some of the batter into the crevices of the mould in 8 cm-long stretches. Thereafter, scrape off the excess with a bench scraper.

7 – Place the filled mould onto a parchment-lined baking tray and bake the cardamom tuiles in the oven for 5 minutes, or until golden-brown at the edges. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 seconds in the mould before gently unmoulding with the help of tweezers. I highly recommend wearing gloves while handling the moulds as they will be hot. Store each tuile in an airtight box until you’re ready to serve.

8 – Repeat Steps 6 and 7 with the remaining tuile batter.

9 – Serve the cardamon tuiles with your gajar ka halwa and pistachio ice cream. Now eat!

all the ingredients for the cardamom lace tuiles
lightly whisked egg whites
butter and confectioner’s sugar, whipped
homogenous tuile batter ready to be chilled
lace moulds, ready for filling
spreading the tuile batter into the crevices with a palette knife
scraping off the excess tuile batter with a bench scraper
filled lace moulds, ready for baking
fully baked tuiles
gently easing out the lace tuiles by folding back the silicon mould
tweezers are useful to gently lift off the lace tuile
cardamom lace tuiles ready!

Tuiles pick up moisture very fast and won’t stay crispy for long. Store your tuiles in an airtight container for up to two days and use them up as quickly as possible.

Surmai en Papilotte

Makes 4 servings.

Despite any worry its elegant French name might induce, “en papilotte” or baking in paper packets is one of the easiest ways to cook surmai or seer fish. As the fish bakes in its packet, it steams in its own juices and absorbs any flavourings you’ve added. This results in an incredibly tender, moist, and perfectly cooked fillet. It also feels special because everyone gets their own little packet, which they can individually unwrap. Here’s the best part—since you can assemble the packets in advance and store them in the fridge, surmai en papilotte is a great make-ahead dinner for lazy weekends or busy weeknights.


At a glance

– This recipe comprises surmai en papilotte. 
– You will need baking parchment and baking trays.
– This recipe has been broken into 1 stage for ease and comprehension. Please read the entire recipe from start to finish before beginning.

Stage 1: surmai en papilotte

To make ahead, prepare the parchment packets as instructed below and store them in the fridge for up to 4 hours prior to baking.

Ingredients
1. 4 x 125 gm surmai fillets (boneless and skinless)
2. 1 small red onion (60 gm)
3. ½ medium green zucchini (80 gm)
4. ½ large carrot (75 gm)
5. 120 gm cherry tomatoes
6. 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
7. 1 tsp salt + extra for sprinkling
8. 1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper + extra for sprinkling
9. 60 ml white wine
10. 1 lemon
11. 4 sprigs fresh parsley for garnishing

For the butter:
12. 4 tbsp (50 gm) salted butter, softened
13. 4 small cloves of garlic
14. Leaves from 4 sprigs of fresh parsley
15. Zest from 1 lemon (about 2 tsp)

You needn’t use sumai or seer fish in this recipe. You could just as well use Rawas (Indian Salmon), Salmon, Sea Bass, Trout, or Red Snapper. Whichever fish you use, seek boneless, skinless fillets and avoid using river fish. 

Method
1 – Begin preheating your oven to 190OC. 

2 – Cut 4 squares of baking parchment, measuring 13 x 13 inches.

3 – Julienne your zucchini and carrot, cutting them to the size of matchsticks. Cut your onion lengthwise into 2 mm slices. Cut your cherry tomatoes in half. Mince your garlic. Zest your lemon and then finely slice it into 2 mm rounds, removing the seeds. Finely chop 4 sprigs of parsley. Set aside

4 – In a large bowl, mix together the julienned onion, zucchini, and carrot. Add the olive oil and toss everything together to combine. Set aside.

5 – In a small bowl, mix together the butter, minced garlic, lemon zest, and finely chopped parsley.

6 – Lay your fillets on some paper towel and pat them dry.

7 – Spread out your parchment sheets. Sprinkle ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper in the centre of each parchment sheet. 

8 – Place a surmai fillet on top of the seasoning.

9 – Spread ¼ of the butter mixture on top of each fillet. 

10 – Now arrange the julienned vegetables on top, dividing evenly among the 4 fillets. 

11 – Arrange 10-12 cherry tomato halves around the fillet. 

12 – Top each fillet with 2 lemon slices and 1 tablespoon (15 ml) white wine. 

13 – Finally Season with more salt and pepper if desired.

14 – Lift the right and left sides of the paper up and towards the center, directly above the fish. Touch the two sides together and tightly roll them, folding as you go, until you reach the fish. Holding the fold down, fold up the top and bottom ends of the packet and tuck both ends underneath the fish. The weight of the fish should hold the folded ends in place (you don’t want the packet to open as it bakes, otherwise steam will escape). Place the packet on a rimmed baking tray, Repeat with the remaining three packets. These paper packets are our papilotte. 

15 – Set the 4 papilotte on a baking tray and place it inside your preheated oven. Bake until the fillets are cooked through, about 12-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish. I baked mine for 15 minutes.

16 – To serve, place the papilotte directly on a plate and let everyone open their own packets. Once open, top each fish with fresh parsley and a spritz of lemon. Now eat!

all the ingredients for the cook
all the veg prepped
flavoured butter prepped
fillets patted dry
layering the papilotte
ready to be wrapped
lifting the right and left sides of the paper up and towards the center, directly above the fish, touch the two sides together
holding the two sides, tightly roll them downwards, folding as you go
continue folding until you reach the fish
press the fold down, and then fold up the bottom end
now fold up the top end
tuck both folded ends underneath the fish, using the weight of the fish to hold the folded ends in place
place the papilotte on a rimmed baking tray and bake at 190OC for 12-15 minutes
open the papilotte and enjoy hot!

Surmai en papillote is best served hot and fresh out of the oven. Place leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. If you’ve already opened your packets, reheat the fish in a nonstick skillet over medium heat, adding a spritz of lemon juice to freshen up the flavours. You can also reheat the unopened fish packets in the microwave until warm.

Bhog’er Khichuri

Makes 6 servings.

For our 50th recipe, we’re doing something very special to me—khuchuri—the Bong avatar of the ubiquitous desi ‘khichdi’. A savoury porridge of rice and lentils, khichuri can be made as plain or rich as the occasion warrants. Watery and mild for when you’re feeling poorly, moderately-spiced for regular days, and heavily-spiced and ghee-laden to serve as bhog (food offerings) during Durga Puja. Ours belongs to the third variety, fondly called Bhog’er Khichuri. We serve ours with a side of sweet tomato chutney and crunchy bitter gourd chips. Ohmmmm mmmm mmmm.


At a glance

– This recipe comprises bhog’er khichuri + tomato chutney + bitter gourd chips.
– You will need a 5 litre cooking pot, a 3-4 litre non-stick/enamel/stainless steel cooking pot, and a large, deep frying pan.
– This recipe has been broken into 3 stages for ease and comprehension. Please read the entire recipe from start to finish before beginning.

Stage 1: bhog’er khichuri

Made with roasted moong dal and fragrant Gobindobhog rice, this khichuri is a labour of love and requires a fair number of ingredients and time. Don’t be intimidated! The effort is 100% worth it.

Ingredients
1. 218 gm/1 cup moong daal (yellow split gram)
2. 215 gm /1 cup) Gobindhobhog rice
3. 2.5 litres/10 cups water for cooking + extra for soaking
4. 400 ml hot water for soaking
5. 80 gm/1 medium tomato, roughly chopped
6. 6 fresh green chillies
7. 3 tbsp. sugar
8. 5 tsp salt
9. 150 gm frozen peas


for the fried veg:
10. 3 tbsp. mustard oil like this
11. ½ tsp turmeric powder
12. ½ tsp salt
13. 3 medium potatoes (130 gm each) cut in half
14. 1 small cauliflower (250-270 gm) cut into 2-inch florets


for the whole spices:
15. 2 tbsp ghee like this
16. 1 inch cassia bark
17. 3 Indian bay leaves
18. 3 dried red chillies
19. 3 cardamom pods
20. 3 cloves
21. 1 tsp cumin seeds


for the spice paste:
22. 1 tsp turmeric powder
23. 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder 
24. 1 tsp cumin powder
25. 1 tsp coriander powder
26. 4 tbsp water


for the coconut tempering:
27. 2 tbsp. ghee
28. 2 inch piece ginger
29. 100 gm grated coconut
30. ¾ tsp Bengali garam masala like this


for serving:
31. 1 tsp ghee per serving

Prep
1 – Dry roast the moong daal on low heat until the colour changes from pale yellow to deep orange and it becomes very aromatic (roughly 10-12 minutes). Stir continuously for even colouring. 

2 – In the meantime, put the kettle on. As soon as the moong daal is done roasting, transfer it to another bowl and pour hot water onto it until it comes up 2 cm above the daal. Leave it aside to soak for 30 minutes.

3 – Wash the rice 3-4 times – don’t wash till the water runs clear, as you want some starch. After washing, leave the rice to soak for 30 mins. Thereafter strain it.

4 – Finely grate your ginger and keep it aside.

all the ingredients for the khichuri
pre-roasted moong daal
fully roasted moong daal
adding boiling water to the hot, roasted moong daal – it will bubble
soaked, roasted moong daal
rice, soaking
soaked and strained rice
grating the ginger

Method
1 – Peel the potatoes (I don’t) and then cut each potato in quarters. Cut the cauliflower into 2-inch florets. Then toss the cauliflower and potatoes in salt and turmeric powder. Set aside.

2 – Place a large heavy bottomed pot on the stove. Heat up 3 tablespoons mustard oil until smoking. Then lower the heat to medium. Fry the potato halves in the mustard oil until golden brown on all sides, roughly 3-4 minutes per side. Remove from the pot. Then fry the cauliflower florets in the same oil, until lightly golden brown on all sides, roughly 4-5 minutes per side. and. Remove from the pot and set aside.

3 – In the same pot, add 2 tablespoons ghee. Once it’s melted and hot, add the whole spices and fry until aromatic, roughly 30 seconds.

4 – Now add the chopped tomatoes and fry for 1-2 minutes or until lightly softened.

5 – Make the spice paste. Add the strained rice and the soaked daal to the pot and then add the spice paste to the pot. Fry together on medium until the grains absorb all the paste and begin sticking to the bottom and sides of the pot.

6 – Add the fried cauliflower florets and potato halves to the pot. 

7 – Add all the 2.5 litres of water to the pot, followed by 5 teaspoons salt. Give the pot a good stir and then throw in the 6 green chillies. Wait for the water to come to a simmer.

8 – Once at a simmer, lower the heat to minimum and cook the mixture covered for 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so. Cook until the starches release, the daal liquifies and thickens and the rice grain begin to break apart. The daal and rice will also start to stick to bottom of the pot.

9 – When you have 6-7 minutes remaining on the 40-minute cook, beging making your tempering; in another medium frying pan, add 2 tablespoons ghee and heat until hot. Add the grated ginger and fry for a minute until fragrant.  Then add the grated coconut and fry until lightly browned, roughly 6-7 minutes. Finally, add the Bengali garam masala and fry for another 30 seconds. Turn off the heat. This is our tempering. 

10 – After the khuchuri has had 40 minutes, add the frozen peas and 3 tablespoons sugar, and stir them into the mixture.

11 – Immediately add the just-made tempering to the pot of simmering khichuri. Simmer for an additional minute and then turn the heat off. Leave the khichuri to rest, covered for at least 30 minutes before serving. It will look a tad watery, but will continue to thicken to the perfect consistency while resting.

cauliflower and potato portioned out
cauliflower and potato tossed in salt and turmeric powder
lightly fried cauliflower and potatoes
tempering the whole spices in the ghee
adding the chopped tomatoes to the ghee
spice paste
adding the spice paste to the daal and rice
frying the mixture until the liquids dry up and it starts to stick
adding the lightly fried califlower and potatoes
adding the water, salt, and green chillies
bringing the pot to a simmer, then covering it to cook for 33-34 minutes
khichuri consistency after 33-34 minutes
all the ingredients for the tempering
sizzling grated ginger
grated fresh coconut
Bengali garam masala
khichuri after 40 minutes
adding the frozen peas and sugar
adding the tempering
cooking the khichuri for a final 1-2 minutes
bhog’er khichuri, ready!

This is a BIG batch of khichuri. However, think of it as a meal of rice, daal, and veg, served all in one. That’s 3 dished in one. Plus with 6 people (who will inevitably ask for seconds), it disappears surprisingly quickly. Khichuri tastes even better the day after it’s cooked, once all the flavours have truly settled. Feel free to make it in advance and store it in the fridge for up to 5 days. I do not recommend freezing khichuri as the texture of the potatoes becomes very strange. Gently reheat on the stove or microwave before eating.

Stage 2: tomato chutney

This is a modified version of my husband’s Dadima’s recipe. Of course, she never uses weight measurements while cooking, so I had to work the amounts out after some testing. After making this, my husband declared that it tastes exactly like his grandmother’s! I always make this large a batch and we savour it for months.

Ingredients
1. 1 tbsp. mustard oil like this
2. 1 tsp paanch phoron (equal volumetric measure of the following 5 spices; cumin seeds, brown mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, nigella seeds, and fennel seeds)
3. 550 gm ripe tomatoes
4. 1 fresh green chilli
5. 1 tsp salt
6. ¼ tsp turmeric powder
7. ½ tsp citric acid
8. 350-400 gm brown sugar (depending on how sweet your tomatoes are)
9. 30 gm whole or halved cashews
10. 40 gm golden raisins
11. 50 gm pitted dates
12. 90 gm aamshotto (aam papad/mango fruit leather)

Prep
1 – Roughly chop the tomatoes into 2 cm chunks and set aside. I had some wonderfully sweet cherry tomatoes in the fridge so I used those and simply cut them into quarters. 

2 – Cut the dates lengthwise into quarters. Set aside.

3 – Chop the aamshotto into 3 x 2 cm squares. Set aside.

all the ingredients for the tomato chutney
chopped aamshotto and chopped tomatoes

Method
1 – Add the mustard oil to a 3-litre cooking pot and begin heating in on medium. 

2 – Once the oil begins to smoke, lower the heat to minimum and add in the paanch phoron. Let it sizzle in the oil for about 30 seconds to release its aromas.

3 – Add the chopped tomatoes and one green chilli to the pot. Then add the salt and turmeric powder. Stir everything together and pop a lid on. Raise the heat to medium and cook covered for 5 minutes or until the tomatoes soften.

4 – After 5 minutes remove the lid and add the citric acid. Stir once again, pop a lid on and cook covered for 2 minutes or until the tomatoes become very mushy. 

5 – Add the brown sugar and the cashews to the pot. Stir together and wait for the mixture to begin bubbling, roughly 2-3 minutes. The mixture will also become dark and very runny.

6 – Once the mixture is bubbling, add the raisins, the dates, and the aamshotto. Stir and continue bubbling the mixture on medium heat for an additional 2-3 minutes or until you’re happy with the consistency. Do not over-reduce the mixture as it will get more viscous and stickier on cooling.

7 – Turn the heat off and let the mixture cool to room temperature completely. If not using up or serving immediately, store the tomato chutney in sterilised air tight jars in the fridge.

tempering the mustard oil with paanch phoron
adding the tomatoes and the green chilli
adding the salt
softening the tomatoes
adding the brown sugar and cashews
adding the raisins, chopped amshotto, and quarted pitted dates
tomato chutney, ready!

Tomato chutney is normally made in winter, when the tomato crop in India is perfectly ripe and at its sweetest. Pre-December tomatoes tend to be acidic and take ages to break down. Even then, they’re disappointing. The solution? Cherry tomatoes! I actualy discovered this by accident because I wanted to use up 400 gm of cherry tomatoes that were left over from another shoot. They made the sweetest, yummiest chutney I’ve ever made, and I am never waiting for winter to make chutney again! This makes about 3 cups of chutney can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 months. A word of unwarranted advice. Do not add fresh green chillies to hot oil. They will literally burst in the pan, and you will end up with oil burns on your face. True story.

Stage 3: bitter gourd chips

With all the mushy textures, you need an element with some real crunch for a textural disruption. If you’ve ever tried the ‘Karela chips’ from a Hot Chips franchise, this is what the homemade version is. You might think of bitter gourd and jump to health food; but as we’re going to remove some of the bitterness and then deep-fry it, there’s really nothing healthy about this. Does it matter? Nope! 

Ingredients
1. 500 gm bitter gourd (4-5 large bitter gourds)
2. 2 tsp salt
3. 2 litres canola oil or unflavoured vegetable oil for frying

for the batter:
4. 60 gm (8 tbsp.) corn flour
5. 80 gm (8 tbsp) rice flour
6. 2 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
7. 1 tsp turmeric powder
8. 1 tsp black pepper powder
9. ½ tsp salt
10. 1 tsp ginger paste
11. 1 tsp garlic paste
12. Optional; red food colouring
13. 150 ml (10 tbsp). plain water 

for sprinkling:
14. 1 tsp chaat masala like this
15. Extra salt if desired 

I find the Hot Chips Karela chips way too spicy, so I have used very little red chilli powder, and that too a very mild variety. Add as much red chilli powder as you like! Chaat masala has no Western equivalent. Available in South Asian stores, it is a tangy spice blend that contains a mixture of dry mango powder, black salt, cumin, coriander, black pepper, ginger, mint, bishop’s weed, and asafoetida (among others). It has a lot of complex flavours going on and there’s really no substitute for it, so do try and get your hands on it.

Prep
1 – Cut the bitter gourd into 2 mm slices, on the dais. Then sprinkle 2 teaspoons of salt on the slices and toss. Leave to macerate for 30 mins. This will draw out any excess moisture as well as well as some of the bitterness. 

2 – After 30 minutes, place the slices in a colander or strainer and shake off as much moisture as you can. Set aside.

all the ingredients for the bitter gourd chips
slicing the bitter gourd on the dais
macerating the bitter gourd slices in salt
draining the bitter gourd slices of extra moisture

Method
1 – Add the corn flour, rice flour, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, black pepper powder, and ginger-garlic paste to a large bowl. Whisk together with 5 tablespoons of plain water or until you have a thick batter that coats the back of a spoon. Add food colouring if desired. I added 10 drops of tomato red food colouring to make it look like store-bought hot chips.

2 – In the meantime, heat 2 litres of oil in a deep frying pan on medium, until the temperature of the oil is 175OC.

3 – While your oil is heating up, add the bitter gourd slices to the batter in batches and toss. Leave aside for 5 minutes. Don’t add all the slices to the batter at once, as they will sweat in the batter, causing it to become watery.

4 – Once the oil is at 175OC, add the first batch of the bitter gourd slices to the hot oil and immediately lower the heat to minimum. Fry on low heat for about 30 minutes. As the chips get crispy, they will rise to the surface of the oil. Continue frying until the chips are crispy and you can hear a knocking sound when you tap on them with a slotted spoon. At this point, raise the heat to medium and fry for an additional 4-5 minutes or until dark reddish-brown and ultra-crispy.

5 – Transfer the chips from the hot oil to a wire rack with some paper towels placed underneath it. While the chips are hot, season with chaat masala and extra salt if desired.

6 – Repeat steps 3-5 until you run out of bitter gourd slices. 

7 – Serve the bitter gourd chips along with your hot khichuri and tomato chutney. I also like to serve some papad on the side, followed by mishti doi, bhog’er payesh and ice-cream sondesh for dessert.

8 – When serving, top each plate of khichuri with a teaspoon of melted ghee. If you don’t have tomato chutney, drizzle some honey onto the khichuri. Now eat!

radioactive orange batter!
deep frying the battered-bitter gourd slices in batches
bitter gourd chips, ready!

After cooling the bitter gourd chips fully, stored them in an airtight container for up to 15 days (if they last that long). Because these take a while to make, I like to make them well in advance and keep them on hand for meals. If they lose some of their crunch, simply spread them out on a plate and microwave them for 30 seconds at a time until they’re crispy again.  

Ice-cream Sondesh

Makes 96 servings (32 servings of each type)

Ice-cream Sondesh. Just the name gives me happy chills. Made with fresh cottage cheese that is steamed and then refrigerated, this sweet treat from Bengal is addictively soothing. Fun story—there’s no ice cream in ice-cream sondesh—it owes its name to the simple fact that it is served cold. For this recipe, I have made my two favourite ice-cream sondesh flavours—rose, and saffron—as well as a Japanese inspired Matcha one. Impossibly soft and mildly sweet, they will melt in your mouth and have you reaching for seconds and thirds…and fourths.


At a glance

– This recipe comprises cottage cheese + rose-cashew ice-cream sondesh, saffron-almond ice-cream sondesh, & matcha-pista ice-cream sondesh.
– You will need a large cooking pot (4-5 litre), a stand blender, three 6-inch square cake pans and aluminium foil, a 4-5 litre steamer pot, and some trivets for steaming.
– This recipe has been broken into 2 stages for ease and comprehension. Please read the entire recipe from start to finish before beginning.

Stage 1: cottage cheese

Homemade cottage cheese is much softer than store-bought paneer and is an essential component of this dessert. Readymade paneer simply won’t yield as soft a sondesh – so do go the extra mile and make this component from scratch. 

Ingredients
1. 3 litres full fat, whole milk 
2. 15 ml ghee (roughly 1 tbsp.)
3. 250 ml vinegar + 250 ml water
4. 250 ml plain water

Do not use low fat milk, homogenised milk, or UHT milk in this recipe. You must use full-fat whole milk, as anything else won’t yield enough cottage cheese curds.

Method
1 – Place the milk in a large cooking pot and bring it to a rolling boil, stirring occasionally to reincorporate the cream and fats. While the milk is heating up, line a strainer with some cheesecloth and place the strainer over a bowl.

2 – Once it comes to a boil, add the ghee and boil for an additional 20 seconds, stirring constantly.

3 – Turn off the heat and let the milk rest for 5 minutes to bring down the temperature.

4 – Add 250 ml water to the milk, and stir. This will bring the temperature of the milk down further.

5 – Dilute 250 ml (1 cup) white vinegar with 250 ml (1 cup) plain water.

6 – Add this diluted mixture to the milk, 60 ml (1/4 cup) at a time in 3-4 batches, stirring well and waiting for the curds to gradually coagulate between each addition. Stop adding the solution when the whey is no longer milky and becomes a clear, yellowish-green liquid. Keep in mind that you may or may not need to use all the solution, depending on the fat content of your milk. The higher the fat content, the more solution you will need. Reserve leftover solution to make future batches of cottage cheese.

7 – As soon as the curds have completely separated from the whey, transfer the contents of the pot to the muslin-lined strainer. Do not discard the whey collected in the bowl! It can be re-used to curdle milk, added to flour to make flatbreads and doughs, or even used as a cooking liquid for daals and pilafs. I used my leftover whey to make chhola’r daal.

8 – Lift the strainer up and carry it to your sink. Pour 1 litre plain water over the curds to gently rinse them. This will get rid of the vinegar smell and taste. 

9 – Now lift the corners of the cheesecloth and twist to form a bundle. Do not squeeze the bundle, simply twist and allow the whey to strain out naturally.

10 – Suspend the bundle of cottage cheese from a height so that the whey can drip out naturally for 6 hours.

11 – After 6 hours, all of the whey will have dripped away, leaving you with a very soft textured and dry cottage cheese that is perfect for using to make Bengali cottage-cheese based desserts from rossogolla to sondesh. Simply untie the bundle and use in this recipe as directed. I got 600 gm from 3 litres milk. You might get more or less.

all the ingredients for the cottage cheese
milk coming to a boil
adding the ghee to the milk
adding water to the milk to bring the temperature down
loose curds after first dose of the vinegar-water solution
tighter curds after second dose of the vinegar-water solution
fully-formed curds after third dose of the vinegar-water solution
straining out the curds
getting ride of the extra whey
suspending the curds to let the whey drip away for 6 hours
dry, soft homemade cottage cheese
Chhola’r daal made with the leftover whey

There are multiple ways to make cottage cheese and each method has its pros and cons. You basically need an acidic agent that will gently curdle the milk. The higher the fat, the greater the amount of acid you will need to curdle the milk. When you make cottage cheese from whole milk, the exact fat percentage of the milk is unknown, so the amount of acid you have to add will vary with each batch of milk. Some recommend using freshly squeezed lemon juice or plain curd (dahi/tok doi) instead of white vinegar. Lemon juice yields softer curds than vinegar. But, if you use lemon juice, you have to squeeze and strain the juice. If your milk doesn’t sufficiently curdle, you’ll have to squeeze some more lemons. On the flip side, too much lemon juice can make the curds grainy and gritty, so it can be unpredictable to work with. Using plain curd is supposed to yield the softest cottage cheese, but once again, the amount you need to curdle your milk will vary depending on the amount of milk and the fat content of the milk. Plus, it’s a waste of perfectly good curd! I prefer using a vinegar-water solution because it’s a cheap and convenient acidic agent to have on hand. It allows for a very controlled, gentle curdling, which results in large, soft curds, every time. When using vinegar, keep the following things in mind. Do not add undiluted vinegar, as it is very acidic and results in tough curds. Do not use flavoured vinegar as its taste will infuse into the cottage cheese. Finally, let the milk cool down a little before you curdle it; if you add the vinegar solution while the milk is still boiling or it’s too hot, you will get a harder-textured cottage cheese which will compromise the softness of the final dish.

Stage 2: rose-cashew ice-cream sondesh, saffron-almond ice-cream sondesh, & matcha-pista ice-cream sondesh

I made these three flavours—because I remember the first two most fondly from my childhood, and the third is a personal experiment (and I love matcha). You could keep the sondesh plain, or even switch things around by adding cocoa powder, date palm jaggery (gur), strawberry syrup, or mango syrup. You do you!

Ingredients
for the rose-cashew sondesh:
1. 1/3 the cottage cheese (200 gm)
2. 15 gm raw cashews (8-10)
3. 125 ml heavy or whipping cream
4. 125 ml sweetened condensed milk
5. 30 ml rose syrup like this (roughly 2 tbsp)
6. Optional; 1 drop pink food colour like this
7. Optional; 8 Rose petals for topping or edible rose gold flakes like this

for the saffron-almond sondesh:
1. 1/3 the cottage cheese (200gm)
2. 15 gm blanched and skinned almonds (14-15)
3. 125 ml heavy or whipping cream
4. 125 ml sweetened condensed milk
5. 15 ml warm milk + 10 strands of saffron
6. 1/16 tsp cardamom powder
7. Optional; 5-6 drops saffron yellow food colour like this
8. Optional; 8-16 saffron strands and finely sliced almonds for topping, or edible gold flakes like this

for the matcha-pista sondesh:
1. 1/3 the cottage cheese (200 gm)
2. 15 gm blanched and skinned pistachios (30-32)
3. 125 ml heavy whipping cream
4. 125 ml sweetened condensed milk
5. 15 ml warm milk + 2 tsp matcha like this
6. Optional; matcha powder for dusting and finely chopped blanched pistachios for topping, or edible silver flakes like this

to steam the sondesh:
1. 1/4 tsp ghee per mould, for greasing
2. 1-2 litre plain water per pot, for steaming

If you don’t get 600 gm cottage cheese from 3 litres of milk, and you’re in a pinch, buy some soft fresh readymade cottage cheese (paneer) like this. Weigh out how much you need to make up 600 gm total, and then finely grate that portion with a cheese grater (small holes). Don’t have blanched almonds? Watch this video on how to blanch almonds at home. If you don’t know how to skin pistachios, check out this post.


Prep
1 – Line all your baking pans with two layers of aluminium foil. Then lightly grease each mould with ghee. Set aside.

all the moulds lined and greased

Method
for the rose-cashew sondesh:

1 – Add the cottage cheese, cashews, heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, rose syrup, and food colour to the jar of a blender. Blitz until very smooth and creamy, scraping down routinely and re-blitzing at least 3 times. You will end up with a thick, smooth, runny batter, tinted pastel pink.

2 – Pour the rose-cashew sondesh batter into the prepared cake pan. Lightly tap the pan on your counter to remove any air bubbles. Now cover the top of the cake pan with more aluminium foil, to fully seal it.

3 – Set a steamer pot on your stove. Add 1 litre of water and place a trivet or steamer basket inside. Once the water comes to a boil, lower your covered cake pan into the pot, making sure it’s not in contact with the water. Cover your steamer pot with its lid and lower the flame to minimum.

4 – Steam the rose-cashew sondesh on low heat for 20-25 minutes. To check for doneness, lift off the aluminium foil cover and gently touch the surface of the sondesh. If nothing transfers to your finger, it’s done.

5 – Remove the cake pan from the steamer basket, and immeditaly take off the aluminium foil cover. Cool to room temperature with the cover off.

6 – Once it’s cool to the touch, put the aluminium foil cover back on and place the pan inside the fridge to chill and set for 12 hours or overnight.

7 – After it’s fully set, take the pan out of the fridge and remove the aluminium foil cover. Now pull the aluminium mould out of the pan.

8 – Transfer your rectangle of rose-cashew sondesh to a plate or board, and peel back the aluminium mould from all sides. Using a very sharp knife, cut the rectangle into 8 equal pieces. Then each piece diagonally into 2 rectangles.

9 – Optional; decorate the tops of your rose-cashew sondesh with rose petals and/or edible rose gold flakes.

all the ingredients for the rose-cashew sondesh
rose-cashew sondesh batter
all 3 ice-cream sondesh batters ready
trivet placed inside the steamer pot with water. ready to bring to the boil (keep lid on)
steamed rose-cashew sondesh – 25 minute cook time (with lid on)
all 3 ice-cream sondesh ready
all 3 ice-cream sondesh ready
rose-cashew sondesh fully chilled for 12 hours
cutting into the rose-cashew sondesh
dividing the rose-cashew sondesh into 16 squares, measuring 1.5 x 1.5 inches each
edible rose-gold cupper flakes to decorate the rose-cashew sondesh
cashew nuts and rose petals to decorate the rose-cashew sondesh


for the saffron-almond sondesh:

1 – Heat the milk in the microwave for 30 seconds. Place 10 saffron strands in the hot milk and leave to steep for 10 minutes.

2 – Add the cottage cheese, blanced almonds, heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, the saffron infused milk, the cardamom powder, and the yellow food colour to the jar of a blender. Blitz until very smooth and creamy, scraping down routinely and re-blitzing at least 3 times. You will end up with a thick, smooth, runny batter, tinted pastel yellow. 

3 – Pour the saffron-almond sondesh batter into the prepared cake pan. 2 – Pour the rose-cashew sondesh batter into the prepared cake pan. Lightly tap the pan on your counter to remove any air bubbles. Now cover the top of the cake pan with more aluminium foil, to fully seal it. Now cover the top of the cake pan with more aluminium foil, to fully seal it.

4 – Set a steamer pot on your stove. Add 1 litre of water and place a trivet or steamer basket inside. Once the water comes to a boil, lower your covered cake pan into the pot, making sure it’s not in contact with the water. Cover your steamer pot with its lid and lower the flame to minimum.

5 – Steam the saffron-almond sondesh on low heat for 20-25 minutes. To check for doneness, lift off the aluminium foil cover and gently touch the surface of the sondesh. If nothing transfers to your finger, it’s done.

6 – Remove the cake pan from the steamer basket, and immediately take off the aluminium foil cover. Cool to room temperature with the cover off.

7 – Once it’s cool to the touch, put the aluminium foil cover back on and place the pan inside the fridge to chill and set for 12 hours or overnight.

8 – After it’s fully set, take the pan out of the fridge and remove the aluminium foil cover. Now pull the aluminium mould out of the pan.

9 – Transfer your rectangle of saffron-almond sondesh to a plate or board, and peel back the aluminium mould from all sides. Using a very sharp knife, cut the rectangle into 8 equal pieces. Then each piece diagonally into 2 rectangles.

10 – Optional; decorate the tops of your saffron-almond sondesh with more saffron strands, sliced almonds and/or edible gold flakes.

all the ingredients for the saffron-almond sondesh
saffron-almond sondesh batter
all 3 ice-cream sondesh batters ready
trivet placed inside the steamer pot with water. ready to bring to the boil (keep lid on)
steamed saffron-almond sondesh – 20 minute cook time (with lid on)
all 3 ice-cream sondesh ready
all 3 ice-cream sondesh ready
saffron-almond sondesh fully chilled for 12 hours
cutting into the saffron-almond sondesh
dividing the saffron-almond sondesh into 16 squares, measuring 1.5 x 1.5 inches each
blanched almond flakes and saffron strands to decorate the saffron-almond sondesh
edible gold flakes to decorate the saffron-almond sondesh


for the matcha-pista sondesh:

1 – Heat the milk in the microwave for 10 seconds. Mix the matcha powder with the milk and whisk to combine. It will become a thick paste. 

2 – Add the cottage cheese, the blanched skinned pistachios, the heavy cream, the sweetened condensed milk, and the matcha paste to the jar of a blender. Blitz until very smooth and creamy, scraping down routinely and re-blitzing at least 3 times. You will end up with a thick, smooth, runny batter, tinted pastel green.

3 – Pour the matcha-pista sondesh batter into the prepared cake pan. 2 – Pour the rose-cashew sondesh batter into the prepared cake pan. Lightly tap the pan on your counter to remove any air bubbles. Now cover the top of the cake pan with more aluminium foil, to fully seal it. Now cover the top of the cake pan with more aluminium foil, to fully seal it.

4 – Set a steamer pot on your stove. Add 1 litre of water and place a trivet or steamer basket inside. Once the water comes to a boil, lower your covered cake pan into the pot, making sure it’s not in contact with the water. Cover your steamer pot with its lid and lower the flame to minimum.

5 – Steam the matcha-pista sondesh on low heat for 20-25 minutes. To check for doneness, lift off the aluminium foil cover and gently touch the surface of the sondesh. If nothing transfers to your finger, it’s done.

6 – Remove the cake pan from the steamer basket and immediately take off the aluminium foil cover. Cool to room temperature with the cover off.

7 – Once it’s cool to the touch, put the aluminium foil cover back on and place the pan inside the fridge to chill and set for 12 hours or overnight.

8 – After it’s fully set, take the pan out of the fridge and remove the aluminium foil cover. Now pull the aluminium mould out of the pan.

9 – Transfer your rectangle of matcha-pista sondesh to a plate or board, and peel back the aluminium mould from all sides. Using a very sharp knife, cut the rectangle into 8 equal pieces. Then each piece diagonally into 2 rectangles.

10 – Optional; decorate the tops of your matcha-pista sondesh with a dusting of matcha powder and finely chopped blanched pistachio/or edible silver flakes.

all the ingredients for the matcha-pista sondesh
matcha-pista sondesh batter
all 3 icea-cream sondesh batters ready
trivet placed inside the steamer pot with water. ready to bring to the boil (keep lid on)
steamed match-pista sondesh – 20 minute cook time (with lid on)
all 3 ice-cream sondesh ready
all 3 ice-cream sondesh ready
match-pista sondesh fully chilled for 12 hours
cutting into the matcha-pista sondesh
dividing the matcha-pista sondesh into 16 squares, measuring 1.5 x 1.5 inches each
matcha powder to decorate the matcha-pista sondesh; I made a little leaf cutout with acetate to create a leaf design
edible silver flakes and blanched and skinned pistachios to decorate the matcha-pista sondesh

After the steaming step, refrigerate your sondesh only after it comes down to room temperature. Let it set in the fridge for at least 12 hours; do not attempt to unmould and cut it before that, else it will fall apart. If you would like to make only one type of sondesh, simply follow only that recipe. My rose-cashew sondesh took 25 minutes to steam, while the saffron-almond sondesh and the matcha-pista sondesh took only 20 minutes. I have no idea why! Check on your sondesh at the 20 minute mark and continue steaming only if needed.

Tips & Tricks

How to blanch almonds

Paturi & Pulao

Makes 6 servings.

I first sampled chhana’r paturi during our wedding celebrations, and wanted to marry it as well. To make it, soft cottage cheese is mixed with a mustard seed paste and patted into a rectangle to look like a fillet of fish. It is then wrapped and cooked in banana leaves. An homage to the flavours of Bengal, this fully vegetarian, Satvik meal comprising chhana’r paturi and fragrant, gondhoraj ghol pulao (lemony little millet pilaf) can be enjoyed even by those following Navratri diet norms—and is proof that you don’t need fish and rice to make a wholesome and delicious Bengali meal.

At a glance

– This recipe comprises chhanar paturi + gondhoraj ghol pulao.
– You will need banana leaves, cooking twine, a large iron skillet (9-10 inches), and a large cooking pot (4-5 litre).
– This recipe has been broken into 2 stages for ease and comprehension. Please read the entire recipe from start to finish before beginning.

Stage 1: chhana’r paturi

Ingredients wrapped and cooked in leaves are called “paturi” in Bengali. Usually made with barramundi (Bengali; bhetki) filets, this paturi is the vegetarian version. Once cooked, the cottage cheese should hold together as a ‘fillet’, but melt in your mouth. Although mustard seed is pungent and mustard oil is sharp, this is a mild mustard paste and won’t have your sinuses clearing with every bite!  

Ingredients
1. 400 gm fresh cottage cheese (chhana/paneer)
2. 2 tbsp. mustard oil like this
3. 3 green chillies
4. 6 lime leaves from Gondhoraj limes like this


for the mustard paste:
5. 3 tbsp yellow mustard seeds
6. 1 tbsp black mustard seeds
7. ¾ tsp turmeric powder
8. 1 tsp sugar
9. 3 tsp salt
10. 1 green chilli
11. Plain water for soaking

for the coconut paste:
12. 100 gm (roughly ¾ cup) freshly grated coconut
13. 1-2 green chillies

To wrap the paturi:
14. 3-4 banana leaves
15. 4 tsp mustard oil like this + extra for greasing and cooking
16. Cooking twine

If you plan to use readymade Bengali mustard powder like this, use 2-3 tablespoons of it and follow the package instructions when rehydrating it. The more you add, the more pungent your paturi will be.

Prep
1 – Grab your banana leaves. Remove the central midrib of each leaf while taking care to keep the rest of the leaf intact. Then cut the banana leaves to a manageable size (I did slightly smaller than 13×9 inches) to fit my 13×9 inch tray. 

2 – Fill a deep tray with hot water. Then submerge the portioned leaves in the hot water. After 5 minutes, remove them from the tray and lay them out on a kitchen towel. Thereafter wipe them dry, going along the grain. Watch this for a full demonstration on how to clean banana leaves.

3 – Cut the banana leaves into 6 equal sheets, 9 inches by 7 inches. Set aside.

fresh banana leaves from the market
midrib cut out and discarded
portioned sections for easier management
soaking the portioned sheets in hot water
wiping the sheets dry

Method
1 – Soak 3 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds and 1 tablespoon black mustard seeds in plain water for 30 minutes. 

2 – After 30 minutes, strain the water from the seeds and place the wet seeds, turmeric powder, salt, sugar, and 1 green chilli in the jar of a wet grinder. Grind to a coarse paste. Set aside. Hack alert! Since this is such a small amount, I used a textured cutting board and rolling pin to grind my mustard paste. It takes some time—and totally works—plus it’s more efficient than using a large blender wherein the blades can’t reach the mixture. 

3 – To the jar of a blender, add the grated coconut and 1 green chilli (or another if you like it hotter). Grind together until you get a coarse paste or a smooth paste. A smooth paste will make for a finer textured paturi. Set aside.

4 – Using a cheese or vegetable grater (small holes), grate the cottage cheese so that you get a fine, lump-free texture. Even if you’re using homemade cottage cheese, I highly recommend doing this step to get an even texture.

5 – To the grated cottage cheese, add all of the mustard paste, all of the coconut-chilli paste, and 2 tablespoons mustard oil and mix well. Knead the mixture for a minute or two. You will have about 600-610 gm of the mixture.

6 – Divide the mixture into 6 equal portions, weighing roughly 100 gm each.

7 – Heat the banana leaf sheets from one end to the other (dark side-down) over a low flame for a few seconds. This softens the leaves, making them pliable for easy folding. Take care not to burn or blacken the leaves. 

8 – Once they’re soft, grease the pale side of each of the leaf sheets with ½ a teaspoon of mustard oil.

9 – Now place each portion of the cottage cheese mixture carefully over the greased side of a banana leaf sheet. Using your fingers, gently shape the mixture into a rectangle, roughly 3 ½ inches by 2 ¾ inches.

10 – Slit 3 green chillies down the middle. Place 1 slit green chilli (slit-side down on top of the shaped rectangle of cottage cheese. Now place a Gondhoraj leaf alongside. Finally, drizzle a teaspoon of mustard oil on top of the rectangle.

11 – To wrap up the parcel, fold over the top and bottom sections of the banana leaf sheet. The fold in the left and right sides of the sheet. Tie up the parcel with some cotton cooking twine. Repeat steps 7-9 until you have all 6 parcels or 6 paturi. 

12 – Generously grease an iron tawa or a cast iron skillet with mustard oil and heat it on low. Once warm, place the paturi on the skillet. Cook covered for 15 minutes on low heat, flipping the paturi every 5 minutes. The paturi will swell up as they steam and fry. Remove the lid, flip the paturi one last time and cook for a further 5 minutes for a total cook time of 20 minutes. The colour of the paturi will go from green to dark brown over the course of the cook. 

13 – After 20 minutes, turn off the heat and remove the lid. Let the paturi rest for 5 minutes before serving and unwrapping.

all the ingredients for the mustard paste
getting ready for an arms workout. this is old-school grinding
rise and grind
mustard paste ready
coconut paste ready
grating the cottage cheese
all the ingredients for the paturi
portioned out paturi mixture
heating the banana leaves to make them pliable
mustard oil – make sure you use the pungent stuff
greasing the banana leaves with mustard oil
shaping of the paturi
all the paturi shaped
final drizzle of mustard oil
all wrapped up
and ready to be cooked
all the wrapped up paturi
searing the paturi
flipping the paturi – first flip
cooking the paturi covered – see how they’re puffed up
chhana’r paturi ready!

In this cooking method, the banana leaves slowly get toasted roasted, and the tea-like smokiness is transferred to the food. So, even though you do not eat the banana leaves themselves, they play a big role in the overall flavour profile of the dish. As such, the dish cannot be made with baking parchment or en papilotte methods of cooking. Although it tastes best right off the skillet, paturi can be reheated in the microwave (leaves and all) before serving. 

Stage 2: Gondhoraj ghol pulao

This very old, very traditional Bengali recipe has been made Navratri-friendly, by swapping out the Gobindhobhog rice for Little Millet (Samai Rice)—which tastes very similar to broken rice when cooked. Cooling against the pungency of the paturi, this refreshing pulao perfumed by Gondhoraj lime (Rangpur lime), is a true feast for the olfactory senses and pairs wonderfully with a range of vegetarian and non-vegetarian main dishes.

Ingredients
1. 400 gm (roughly 2 cups) Little Millet aka Samai rice
2. 250 cup plain yoghurt
3. 750 ml water
4. 1 tbsp zest from 2 medium Gondhoraj limes like this 
5. 2 tbsp juice from 1 ½ medium Gondhoraj limes like this
6. 4 tsp salt
7. 4 tbsp ghee like this
8. 20 raw cashews split
9. 20 golden raisins
10. 2 Indian bay leaves
11. 1 inch cinnamon
12. 6 cloves
13. 3 cardamom pods
14. 9 whole black pepper
15. 4 green chillies
16. 5 Gondhoraj lime leaves from a lime like this
17. 2 tbsp. sugar

Gondhoraj literally translates to “King of Aromas” in Bengali. If you cannot get gondhoraj limes or their leaves, kaffir limes may be used in a pinch, but regular limes or lemons just will not do. Much like its distant cousin—the kaffir lime—the gondhoraj is wonderfully versatile; where the zest, leaves, and juice are all serviceable in recipes. Hard to juice but packed with aroma, the gondhoraj is cut lengthwise to expose its pale insides, which, when squeezed, emits a tiny aerosol of perfume that’s powerful enough to permeate the entire house. They are hard to grow outside of Bengal, but are readily available to buy online from here and here. My husband’s grandmother couriers us a big stash from her garden in Kolkata. If you’re outside of India and want to follow Navratri norms but cannot source Little Millet, you could use quinoa. You may need to add more water and increase the length of cooking time accordingly.

Prep
1 – Wash the millet well until the water runs clear. Transfer it to a bowl and add water to fully submerge. Leave it to soak for 30 minutes.

2 – After 30 minutes, use a fine-meshed strainer to drain the millet and spread the grains out to air dry. You could also place the soaked and drained millet under a fan to speed things up. 

Method
1 – Once the millet is dry, transfer it to a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of ghee to the bowl and coat the grains with the ghee. Set aside. 

2 – Zest and juice your Gondhoraj lemons. I got 40 ml juice and 1 tablespoon zest from 2 average-sized limes. Set aside.

3 – Place the yoghurt in a bowl. To it, add 250 ml plain water, the salt, the lemon juice, and half of the lemon zest. Whisk well until you have a thin liquid with zero lumps. Now add another 750 ml water to thin it out further. This is our slurry or ‘ghol’, or. Set aside.

4 – Place a heavy bottom pot on your stove and begin heating it on medium. Add 2 tablespoons ghee to the pot.

5 – Once the ghee has melted, add the cashew halves and cook on medium heat until dark golden (roughly 2 minutes). Remove from the pot and set aside.

6 – Now add the golden raisins and fry in the ghee for about a minute or until they are plump and look like peanuts. Remove from the pot and set aside.

7 – To the same pot, add the bay leaves, cinnamon stick, cloves, and cardamom pods, and whole pepper. Temper in the hot ghee for about 30 seconds.

8 – Once the spices are aromatic, add the millet to the pot. Sauté the for 2-3 minutes or until lightly roasted and nutty.

9 – Give the ghol a final quick whisk and add it to the pot. 

10 – Using a knife, poke a slit into each green chilli and add them to the pot. Now add 4 Gondhoraj lemon leaves. Cut the 5th leaf into very fine ribbons (chiffonade).

11 – Wait for the liquid to come to a boil, and then cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid. I like to line my lid with aluminium foil to make it extra tight. Cook the millet on medium heat for 15 minutes or until 90% of the water has been absorbed.

12 – Remove the lid and sprinkle in the sugar. Using a spatula, gently fold the millet to incorporate the sugar. Cook covered for a further 15-20 minutes or until all the water is absorbed and the grains are fully cooked; taste a small spoonful – it should not be crunchy or gritty.

13 – Turn the heat off. Add a final tablespoon of ghee, the remaining lemon zest and the chiffonade lemon leaf. Put the lid back on and leave the millet to steam for 10 whole minutes before removing the lid. Thereafter, cover loosely with some tented foil.

14 – Before serving, remove the lid, fluff up and separate the grains with your fingers and then add the fried cashews and raisins. Toss together to combine. Gondhoraj Ghol Pulao ready.

15 – Serve your hot Chhana’r Paturi along with the Gondhoraj Ghol Pulao and loads of tomato chutney (recipe coming soon) on the side. Now eat!

ghondhoraj lime stash
gondhoraj lime vs regular Indian lime
all the ingredients for the pulao
little millet coated in ghee
frying of the cashews
frying of the raisins
tempering the oil with whole spices
frying the little millet
the gondhoraj ghol
adding the gondhoraj ghol to the little millet
fresh green chillies and gondhoraj leaves added
gondhoraj leaf chiffonade
90% of the water absorbed
100% of the water absorbed – adding ghee, gondhoraj leaf chiffonade and gondhoraj lime zest
gondhoraj ghol pulao ready!

Millets are coarse grains that belong to the grass family. A rich source of proteins, fibre, and antioxidants, they come in various sizes and varieties. Please keep in mind that while Little Millet tastes like rice, it does not cook into separate grains like long grained rice such as Basmati. In fact, the end cooked result is kind of like upma in terms of texture. You will get clumps, but these can be easily fluffed into separate grains with your hand or a fork. If you’re not following any Navratri diet norms, please feel free to swap out the little millet for actual rice—our grain of choice is Gobindhobog Rice. It’s not just perfectly suited to Bengal pilaf dishes, it also possesses a beautiful buttery fragrance that marries perfectly with the heady aroma of Gondhoraj limes. If you use rice in this recipe (including any kind of long grained variety like jasmine rice), the rice weight and cooking times will vary (rice cooks up faster).

Tips & Tricks
How to clean banana leaves:

Tomato Soup & Caprese Salad

Makes 4 servings.

We’re bidding goodbye to Summer with this fresh, fast, and fabulous meal. Featuring a refreshing tomato basil soup that comes together in less than half an hour, and a bright, spritely Caprese Salad that requires 5 minutes of assembly, it’s an ode to both seasonal produce and laid-back cooking. Served with store-bought sourdough, this is fast food with all the flavour of a slow-cooked meal. 


At a glance

– This recipe comprises + tomato soup + Caprese Salad.
– You will need a small pressure cooker, a medium cooking pot, a stand blender, and a small saucepan.
– This recipe has been broken into 2 stages for ease and comprehension. Please read the entire recipe from start to finish before beginning.

Stage 1: tomato soup

Deliciously fresh and summery, this flavour-packed tomato soup comes together really quickly and with just a handful of pantry staples. Perfect for dunking slices of sourdough, it has a creamy mouthfeel with zero addition of cream! Feel free to make this soup vegan by replacing the butter with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

Ingredients
for the butter beans:
1. 50 gm giant lima beans/butter beans (roughly 1/3 cup)
2. 250 ml water for soaking
3. 150 ml water for cooking

for the soup:
1. 800 gm canned San Marzano tomatoes (peeled and in tomato juice)
2. 250 ml vegetable stock (hot)
3. 1 tbsp. cooking olive oil
4. 1 tbsp. salted butter
5. 100 gm red onion (roughly 1 large), diced
6. 2 small cloves of garlic, minced
7. 1 tsp sugar
8. 2 tbsp tomato paste
9. Cooked butter beans + cooking liquid
10. ½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
11. 10-12 fresh basil leaves + 3-4 extra for garnish
12. ½ tsp celery salt
13. 4 tsp extra virgin olive oil


Prep
1 – Place the dried butter beans in a bowl and submerge them in water. Leave them to soak for at least 8 hours or overnight.

2 – The next day, strain out all the water and place the beans in a pressure cooker along with 150 ml water.

3 – Close the pressure cook and cook on medium-high heat. Once the cooker has reached full pressure, wait for 2 whistles and then turn off the heat (sometimes this will vary depending on how old your beans are. Fresh beans will take just 1 whistle, older beans may take 3. Mine took exactly 2 whistles to fully soften).

4 – Let the steam release naturally and then open the pressure cooker. Butter beans ready, set aside.

pressure-cooked butter beans, ready

Method
1 – Add the cooking olive oil and salted butter to a 3-litre cooking pot. Heat on medium until the oil begins to shimmer and the butter starts sizzling.

2 – Add the diced onion along with the sugar and sauté on medium heat until the onions are golden-brown, roughly 10-12 minutes.

3 – Add the minced garlic and sauté on medium heat until aromatic, roughly 1 minute.

4 – Add the tomato paste and continue sauteing for another minute.

5 – Now add the canned tomatoes and their juices, as well as the hot vegetable stock. (I used 5 gm of this vegetable bouillon broth + 250 ml boiling water to make my stock). You can use homemade vegetable or chicken stock if you have it.

6 – Raise the heat and bring the pot to a simmer. Once it’s bubbling, lower the heat and gently simmer the mixture for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

7 – After 10 minutes, turn off the stove and allow the mixture to cool completely.

8 – Strain the cooled mixture through a medium mesh sieve. Transfer only the stuff caught in the sieve to the jar of a stand blender. Now add the cooked butter beans as well their cooking liquid, 10-12 basil leaves, celery salt, and pepper. Blitz together until fully blended and totally smooth. Because of the fresh basil leaves, you’ll see gorgeous flecks of green speckled throughout the mixture.

9 – Pour the mixture back into the cooking pot and mix with the rest of the strained liquid. Taste the mixture and season it to taste, adding more celery salt, pepper, and sugar if desired.

10 – When you’re ready to serve, gently heat the mixture back up. Before serving, drizzle each cup of soup with 1 teaspoon of good quality extra virgin olive oil and top with some fresh basil leaves. Tomato basil soup, ready!

all the ingredients for the tomato soup
butter and cooking olive oil being heated
onions turning golden-brown
tomato paste being fried
canned tomatoes added to the pot
vegetable stock being added to the pot
straining the soup to catch the solids
getting ready to blitz the solids
tomato soup solids after blitzing
tomato soup, ready

I don’t recommend using fresh tomatoes to make this soup, as they can be notoriously unreliable when it comes to sweetness. Moreover, when they’re acidic, they take hours to break down. Packed with tomato flavour and possessing just the right amount of acid, canned San Marzano tomatoes are naturally sweet, vine-ripened, and harvested and canned at peak ripeness. This results in a soup that takes very little time and tinkering to whip up and is consistently tasty whenever you make it. If you want to add creaminess without heaviness, butterbeans are the way to go. Make a big batch of beans and freeze them to use whenever you want to make this delicious soup. This recipe makes 4 cups of soup and can be doubled or tripled to make a larger batch. Portion and store the soup in the freezer for 3-4 months and thaw and reheat as desired.

Stage 2: Caprese Salad

Bursting with clean flavours and fresh textures, Caprese Salad really brings out the taste of plain sourdough bread. Made by layering thick slices of fresh mozzarella and tomato with basil leaves—the resulting green, white, and red mirrors the Italian flag and makes for a simple but stunning visual effect. In my version, I use bocconcini and cherry tomatoes for easy transportation from platter to sourdough slice.

Ingredients
for the balsamic glaze:
1. 120 ml balsamic vinegar
2. 2 tbsp honey.

for the salad:
1. 400 gm Bocconcini Di Bufala (small, fresh buffalo mozzarella balls)
2. 250-300 gm cherry tomatoes
3. 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4. Balsamic glaze (you’ll have about 3 tbsp.)
5. 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
6. 1/4 tsp coarse sea salt
7. 66 fresh basil leaves (small)

Prep
1 – Add the balsamic vinegar to a small saucepan. Bring it to a boil and then simmer on low or until it is reduced by about 3/4th and thickly coats the back of a spoon (roughly 5-6 minutes). Thereafter, add the honey and whisk to combine. Balsamic glaze ready. Set aside.

all the ingredients for the balsamic glaze
simmering the glaze till it’s 1/4 its original volume
reduced glaze, thickly coating the back of a spoon
adding honey to the reduced glaze
balsamic glaze, ready

Method
1 – Cut your cherry tomatoes into 3 slices. Set aside.

2 – Cut each bocconcini into 3 slices. Set aside

3 – Pluck the basil leaves off their sprigs and set aside.

4 – Get your serving dish. Arrange the bocconcini and tomato slices in a spiral pattern going from the outside in, alternating between the white mozzarella and the red tomato so that you can see both (like you’re arranging slices for ratatouille).

5 – Tuck in a basil leaf before every slice of mozzarella, so you see green, white, and then red in a continuous sequence (like the Italian flag). Set aside while you heat up the other elements.

6 – Re-heat your tomato basil soup if desired (it’s good cold too), slice up a loaf of sourdough and quickly toast the slices on a grill. 

7 – Right before serving, sprinkle the salt and pepper over the arranged Caprese Salad. Finally, drizzle on the extra virgin olive oil and the balsamic glaze. Caprese salad ready! Now eat!

cutting the bocconcini into thirds
slicing the cherry tomatoes into thirds
Caprese salad after assembly

We love Caprese Salad so much, we make it nearly every week. It’s perfect as an appetizer before a meal, as a side dish with pasta, or even as a main. If you prefer a lighter taste, you needn’t reduce the balsamic – although it does amp up both the presentation and the flavour.  Remember to arrange all of your salad ingredients, and season and dress the salad only right before serving. Adding salt and vinegar too early will make your tomatoes sweat.

Bounty Hand Pies

Makes 16 x 4-inch pies

Come September, households across India begin planning festive menus. A usual suspect is a half-moon shaped, coconut-filled, fried hand pie called ‘karanji’ (gujiya/bhaja puli). It’s utterly delicious and available at every sweet shop, so why would we bother making it? Instead, we’re going to ring in the seasonal feasting with these babies. They look like karanji, are assembled like hand pies, but taste like Bounty, my favourite chocolate bar. Made with chocolate short-crust pastry, and stuffed with a sweet coconut filling—this is one dessert you’ll want to add to your faral platter this festive season.

At a glance

– These hand pies comprise chocolate short-crust pastry + “Bounty” coconut filling + dark chocolate dipping sauce.
– You will need a 4 inch scalloped cookie cutter or mini tart pan, baking parchment, and some baking trays.
– This recipe has been broken into 4 stages for ease and comprehension. Please read the entire recipe from start to finish before beginning.

Stage 1: chocolate short-crust pastry 

Ingredients
1. 315 gm all purpose flour, sifted + extra for dusting
2. 60 gm dutched or natural cocoa powder, sifted
3. 20 gm confectioner’s sugar, sifted
4. ¼ tsp salt
5. 200 gm cold unsalted butter
6. Yolks from 2 large eggs (58 gm in-shell weight per egg)
7. 60 ml milk
8. 1 tsp vanilla extract

The type and brand of cocoa powder you use will determine the colour of the dough. I used this extra dark natural cocoa powder, which is why my hand pies are such a dark shade of brown. If you prefer a lighter brown, choose a lighter-coloured cocoa powder

Prep
1 – Cut the butter into ½-inch cubes and keep chilled.
2 – Whisk together the egg yolks, vanilla extract and the milk and keep chilled. This is your wet mixture. Save the egg whites to use as glue in Stage 3.

3 – Cut 2 parchment sheets into 12×12 inch squares. Set aside.

4 – Line some fridge-safe trays/plates with parchment paper.


Method
1 – Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, confectioner’s sugar, and salt in a bowl and then whisk together well to combine.

2 – Add the cubed butter to the bowl. Using a pastry cutter or two butter knives, ‘cut’ the butter into the flour until you achieve a texture akin to coarse cornmeal, and pea-sized knobs of butter distributed throughout. 

3 – Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and use your hand like a claw to ‘swirl’ the mixture together, and cup it together. Within a minute or so, it will come together as a ball of dough. Do not knead it. 

4 – Transfer the dough to a sheet of parchment, fold over the sides of the parchment and press down to flatten until you have a thick square. Wrap the square in cling wrap and place it in the fridge for 1 hour, or in the freezer for 30 minutes.

5 – After it’s done chilling, remove the wrapped dough from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes (do not unwrap it yet). If you left it in the fridge to chill overnight, it will take up to an hour to become pliable. Once it’s soft enough to roll, cut the dough in half. It’s a lot easier to roll out a half portion at a time than the entire dough at once. Keep the second portion wrapped, while you work on the first.

6 – Lay down one 12-inch sheet of parchment and lightly flour it. Place your dough on top of it and then place the second 12-inch sheet of parchment on top. Roll your chilled dough between the two sheets until it’s roughly 1/8 inch thick. It doesn’t matter if it’s misshapen, as long as it’s evenly thick. When rolling out chilled short-crust pastry dough, start in the centre and work your way outwards, making tiny little rolls and rotating the parchment frequently until the dough becomes easier to roll. Go slow and steady. Rapidly rolling a cold dough will result in major crackage!

7 – Using your 4-inch scalloped cutter, cut out as many circles as you can. You may need to dip the cutter into some extra flour to prevent sticking. Remove the excess dough, gather it together and re-roll it until you run out of dough. Then repeat with your second portion of dough. I got exactly 16 circles from the entire portion of dough, but made only 15 circles and kept the 16th circle as a spare in case I needed to patch up any cracks.

8 – As you’re cutting out the circles, lay each chocolate circle in a parchment-lined tray without overlapping any. Cover the tray with cling wrap and place in the fridge for 10 minutes to chill before assembling your hand pies.

all the ingredients for the dough
cutting the butter into the dough
pea-sized dabs of butter spread throughout
adding the wet mixture to the dough
bring the dough together with the “claw”
mixed dough; sides of the bowl are clean
forming the dough into a square
flattened dough, ready to be chilled
chilled and rested dough, ready for rolling
rolling the dough between two parchment sheets
cutting out the fluted circles
cut out as many as will fit before removing the excess and re-rolling
one scalloped circle

Chocolate short-crust pastry dough is tough to handle in hot and humid climates. For that reason, this chocolate dough contains very little sugar—the more sugar you add, the stickier it gets, and the harder it becomes to handle. I make my pastry dough in an air-conditioned environment to prevent the butter from melting. Work quickly! If it’s warm, use disposable gloves to prevent the transfer of heat from your hands. Pop the dough back into the fridge if you see the butter melting or the dough getting too soft at any stage. You can make the dough well in advance and store it in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months. When freezing the dough, double wrap it and place it in a resealable plastic bag. You will need to thaw the dough before rolling.

Stage 2: “Bounty” coconut filling 

Ingredients
1. 75 gm desiccated coconut (fine flakes or shredded)
2. 150 gm sweetened condensed milk
3. 1/8 tsp salt 

Did you know that sweetened condensed milk that’s sitting in an unopened can will get darker and thicker with time? Mine was sitting in my pantry for 7 months, hence its caramel hue! As long as it’s within the expiration date, it’s absolutely fine to use.

Method
1 – Place the shredded coconut in a mixing bowl.

2 – Add the salt to the sweetened condensed milk and give it a stir. 

3 – Then pour the sweetened condensed milk onto the shredded coconut and stir with a spatula to combine. That’s it!

all the ingredients for the filling
salted condensed milk being added to the shredded coconut
coconut filling ready

If not assembling your hand pies immediately, store the filling in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Depending on your taste preferences and what you can source, feel free to use either desiccated coconut or freshly grated coconut (defrosted frozen-fresh coconut works too). Keep in mind that 75 gm of fresh coconut will be a smaller quantity than 75 gm desiccated coconut, so you may need to use more. If using fresh coconut, taste the mixture and add more coconut as required. You’re essentially looking to make a very sweet, sticky, wet mixture. Remember, because the chocolate short crust dough is high on bitter cocoa and low on sugar, the filling itself has to be quite sweet to balance the flavours out.

Stage 3: assembly and baking

Components
1. Chocolate hand pie dough circles
2. Prepared “Bounty” coconut filling
3. Optional; 1/2 tsp softened butter per hand pie
4. Leftover egg whites to use as glue
5. 1 egg yolk + ½ tsp water to make an egg wash

Method
1 – Take your trays of dough circles out of the fridge and let them rest for 10 minutes. They should be fully pliable before assembly; else they will crack while folding.

2 – Take 1 heaped teaspoon of coconut filling in your palm and shape it into a half moon. This is easy to do if your mixture is cold. Place the shaped coconut filling on one half of each circle of dough, with the curved side parallel to the curved side of the dough. If your filling is warm and on the runnier side, use a spoon to place a heaped teaspoon of filling on one half of each circle of dough and then nudge it into a half moon shape. Don’t add too much filling, as an over-stuffed pie is harder to seal and you risk them bursting while baking.

3 – If you desire a wetter/moister filling, scoop about half a teaspoon of butter on top of each portion of filling. I didn’t do this step.

4 – Brush the inside circumference with egg white (it will act as a glue). 

5 – Then fold over the other half of the circle and seal the scalloped edges by pressing down with your fingers while pushing out any air that might be inside. 

6 – Do a final seal by pressing the tines of a fork against the scalloped border. I do not recommend using a dumpling/empanada/karanji press to shape your hand pies, as the pastry is too short and delicate to be handled that much.

7 – Using a fork, pierce the surface of each hand pie just once. The holes will act as vents and let out any steam while baking. Take care not to poke all the way through.

8 – Cover your tray of assembled hand pies with cling wrap and place them in the fridge to chill for a minimum of 60 minutes or overnight for best results. I assembled mine the previous night as I wanted to bake them early in the morning.

9 – Preheat your oven at 190OC for 20 minutes. Keep the pies in the fridge.

10– Just before placing them in the oven, lightly brush the surface of each hand pie with egg wash. If the vent holes get blocked with egg wash, simply re-pierce the holes with a fork, taking care to insert the tines in the existing holes.

11 – Bake the hand pies at 190OC for 20-22 minutes. They will be ready once they are firm on top and the air smells deliciously chocolatey. Mine took exactly 20 minutes.

12 – Remove your tray of hand pies from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool. The filling will be piping hot, so please wait for the hand pies to become cool enough to handle. While they’re coming to temperature, move on to Stage 4 and make your dark chocolate dipping sauce. 

all the components ready for assembly
half-moon fillings , shaped and placed on the scalloped circles
brushing on the egg white “glue”
lifting over the pastry dough
folding over the pastry dough
sealing the hand pie
properly sealed hand pie
further sealing the scalloped edges with the tines of a fork – it also makes it pretty!
poking holes for the vents
hand pies ready for a final chill
brushing on the egg wash right before baking
here’s why you need those vent holes!
fully baked hand pies – those ‘bobbles’ of condensed milk are hollow and peel right off!

Once cooled to room temperature, these hand pies can be placed in an airtight container. Store them in the fridge for up to 3 days if they’re not inhaled within the day! You can cook these pies in an air fryer! Preheat your air fryer at 175OC for 5 minutes, then spray the air fryer basket with nonstick cooking spray. Place as many as will fit without touching each other into the air fryer basket and air fry at 175OC for 12-15 minutes or until the crust looks shiny and the air smells chocolatey. Carefully remove the pies and transfer them to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with the remaining pies. 

Stage 4: dark chocolate dipping sauce 

Ingredients
1. 75 gm high quality couverture dark chocolate (50-60% cocoa)
2. 150 ml full fat heavy cream

Chocolate ganache is a confection that consists of chocolate and cream, in varying ratios, depending on how it will be used. Read about ganache here. For a thick, pipeable ganache that’s perfect for truffles, the chocolate to cream ratio is 2:1. For fillings and frostings or thick glazes, you want a 1:1 ratio. Finally, for thin glazes or drips and dipping, a ratio of 1:2 is required. Because I live in a hot and humid location, I often toggle with the ratios, whereby I increase the amount of chocolate, for extra stability. In this recipe, I have used a 1:2 ratio. 

Method
1 – Chop the dark chocolate into small shards (not required if using chocolate calets), and then place them a heatproof bowl.

2 – In a medium saucepan, heat up the cream until bubbles form around the edges of the pan and the cream begins to steam. Do not bring to a simmer or boil.

3 – Remove the cream from the heat and pour it onto the chocolate shards. Let the mixture stand undisturbed for 5 minutes and then stir until you have a smooth and glossy ganache. 

4 – Serve your warm Bounty Hand Pies with the just made dipping sauce and any leftover coconut filling. Now eat!

pouringthe hot cream onto the chocolate calets
mixing the ingredients after 5 minutes
silky smooth chocolate dipping sauce, ready!

To give yourself the best chance at success, use fresh, high quality couverture chocolate, always. You’ll want to use couverture chocolate with at least 50% cocoa. Any less and it will be too sweet. Whatever you do, don’t use compound chocolate or candy melts, ever! Even when you source the best ingredients, things can still go wrong. A big enough difference in cream and chocolate temperatures, overheating your cream or stout, or even overmixing can result in a greasy, split mess. Err on the side of caution. Be mindful. Be vigilant. Be patient! If you run into trouble with your ganache, read this. 

Black Cake

Makes a 9-inch bundt cake

The first time my husband and I met, he was wearing an all-black suit (shirt as well). Back then, I didn’t realise just how black-obsessed he was (his wardrobe is basically 30 black t-shirts). To feed into his black fixation, I made an all-black cake for his birthday! Much like him, it is not too sweet, a tad bitter, and full of beer (haha). Painted black with ultra-dutched cacao powder, deepened with dark beer, and draped in dark chocolate ganache – this tall, dark, and handsome chocolate cake is not just deeply black, it’s deeply delicious.

At a glance

– This recipe comprises black chocolate stout cake + black stout ganache.
– You will need a 10 cup (2.36 litre) bundt pan like this.
– This recipe has been broken into 3 stages for ease and comprehension. Please read the entire recipe from start to finish before beginning.

Stage 1: black chocolate stout cake

Ingredients
1. 250 gm all purpose flour
2. 2 tsp baking soda
3. 2 tsp baking powder
4. 1 tsp salt
5. 50 gm black cocoa powder like this + extra for dusting
6. 40 gm natural cocoa powder like this
7. 400 gm dark muscovado sugar
8. 125 ml oil
9. 260 gm sour cream
10. 2 large eggs (60 gm/egg, in-shell weight) + 1 yolk at room temperature
11. 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
12. 250 ml stout like this
13. 5 ml (1 tsp) black gel food colour like this (optional)
14. Shortening for greasing

In this recipe, I use black cocoa for the colour and natural cocoa for the flavour. Natural cocoa powder is acidic and is leavened with baking soda. Being a variety of dutched cocoa, black cocoa powder will not react with baking soda, so the baking powder aids in leavening. Stout is a kind of dark beer, classified as an ale. It is sweet and full-bodied, possessing roasty caramel aromas and coffee-like flavours. For this reason, stout and chocolate make the perfect pair. Do not use white sugar or butter in this recipe! Because black cocoa powder has almost no fat, this cake needs all the moisture it can get from brown sugar, sour cream, and oil. Sorry, butter. Not today.


Method
1 – Begin preheating your oven to 180OC. 15-20 minutes should suffice.

2 – In a large mixing bowl add the eggs + egg yolk, dark muscovado sugar, oil, sour cream, and vanilla extract. Whisk together well to combine. This is your wet mixture. Set it aside for a moment.

3 – In another large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and both cocoa powders. Whisk together to combine. This is your dry mixture. Set it aside for a moment.

4 – Using a pastry brush, apply a thin coat of shortening to the insides of your bundt pan, making sure to get into every crevice. The pan shouldn’t be white with shortening, but you should clearly see the layer of grease. Then dust the inside of the pan with cocoa powder and tap out the extra.  Once again make sure that every spot is covered – this is essential for a bundt pan! Do not prepare your pan well before-hand, as any humidity in the air will muddle the layers of shortening and cocoa you’ve applied in order to prevent the cake from sticking.

5 – In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the stout to a simmer and then switch the heat off. Keep the stout hot.

6 – Sift the dry mixture into the bowl containing the wet mixture and gently whisk together until just combined and you have a smooth batter. Do not overmix. If you’re adding the black gel food colour, add it now and gently whisk to incorporate.

7 – Get the pan of hot stout and pour it into the batter. Whisk together until all the ingredients are fully blended. The batter will be runny.

8 – Immediately (and gently) pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Do not let the batter sit around at all, as the baking soda will have begun leavening the mixture.

9 – Place your bundt pan in the lower-middle rack of your preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes at 180OC, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Mine took exactly 30 minutes.

10 – Once your cake is cooked, remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack. Let the cake cool upright in the pan for 15 minutes. Then tap the pan firmly on your counter a few times, as well as gently tilt it in a swirling motion to help loosen the cake from the pan’s edges (remember to use oven gloves while holding a hot pan).

11 – Place a plate on top of the pan and invert the pan onto a plate. Then gently lift off the pan. Hopefully your bundt cake will be standing on the plate in one piece! Allow the cake to cool completely and then move on to

Stage 2.

all the ingredients for the dry mixture
all the ingredients for the wet mixture
local, Indian stout – delicious!
dry mixture and wet mixture ready
brushing the inside of the pan with shortening
dusting the inside of the pan with black cocoa powder
prepared bundt pan – fully greased and dusted
heating the stout
combining the wet and dry mixtures
and then adding the hot stout
adding the batter to the prepared bundt pan
this is a runny batter
full cooked black cake, resting in the pan for 15 minutes
inverted black cake – as you can see, I had some minor sticking where I hadn’t adequately greased the pan

If you’ve never heard of black cocoa powder, it’s the stuff that makes Oreo cookie shells black. So, what is it exactly? There are 2 kinds of cocoa powder; Natural and Dutched. Dutched or dutch process cocoa powder is natural cocoa powder that has been treated with an alkalizing agent to neutralize its acidic content. This process of ‘dutching’ reduces bitterness as well as darkens the cocoa powder. Black cocoa powder is therefore ultra-dutched, making it almost black! It’s awesome because it automatically dyes things black, greatly reducing the need for food colouring. While this makes for a dramatic look, black cocoa lacks the signature chocolatey flavour of natural cocoa—so always use it along with some natural cocoa. Bundt pans can be tricky. If every crevice is not greased and floured, or you use the wrong kind of grease (do not use flourless baking sprays), your cake will stick, and you will feel sad. After using the amount of stout you need in this recipe, do yourself a favour and drink the rest immediately. Do not attempt to seal the bottle and and place it in the fridge to drink later at leisure. It will pop inside like a volcano and you will have to spend 2 hours cleaning stout out of fridge crevices. True story.

Stage 2: black stout ganache 

Ingredients
1. 90 gm high quality couverture dark chocolate (50-60% cocoa)
2. 100 ml full fat heavy cream
3. 25 ml stout like this
4. 5 ml (1 tsp) black gel food colour like this

Chocolate ganache is a confection that consists of chocolate and cream, in varying ratios, depending on how it will be used. Read about ganache here. For a thick, pipeable ganache that’s perfect for truffles, the chocolate to cream ratio is 2:1. For fillings and frostings or thick glazes, you want a 1:1 ratio. Finally, for thin glazes or drips and dipping, a ratio of 1:2 is required. Because I live in a hot and humid location, I toggle with the ratios, whereby I increase the amount of chocolate, for extra stability. In this recipe, the ganache lands somewhere between the thick glaze ratio and thin glaze ratio. 

Method
1 – Chop the dark chocolate into small shards (not required if using chocolate calets), and then place them a heatproof bowl.

2 – In a medium saucepan, heat up the cream until bubbles form around the edges of the pan and the cream begins to steam. Do not bring to a simmer or boil.

3 – Remove the cream from the heat and pour it onto the chocolate shards. Let the mixture stand undisturbed for 5 minutes and then stir the mixture until you have a smooth and glossy ganache. 

4 – Heat the stout in the microwave until it is just hot. 20-30 seconds should suffice. Now pour the hot stout into the ganache and mix until smooth.

5 – Add a teaspoon of black gel food colour to the ganache and mix until fully blended and evenly black. Move on to Stage 3 immediately, as the ganache has to be used while still warm and at a pourable consistency.

all the ingredients for the black stout ganache
hot cream being added to dark chocolate calets
stirring the mixture after 5 minutes
adding the hot stout to the mixture
shiny stout ganache
adding the black food colouring (this is a black cake after all)
black stout ganache ready!

These quantities make just enough ganache to glaze the cake in a drip pattern. If you would like to fully coat the entire surface with a thick glaze, double the recipe. To give yourself the best chance at success, use fresh, high quality couverture chocolate, always. You’ll want to use couverture chocolate with 50-60% cocoa. Any less and it will be too sweet. Any more and it becomes unpleasantly bitter because of the stout. Whatever you do, don’t use compound chocolate or candy melts, ever! Even when you source the best ingredients, things can still go wrong. A big enough difference in cream and chocolate temperatures, overheating your cream or stout, or even overmixing can result in a greasy, split mess. Err on the side of caution. Be mindful. Be vigilant. Be patient! If you run into trouble with your ganache, read this. I reiterate; after using the amount of stout you need in this recipe, drink the rest immediately. Do not attempt to seal the bottle and and place it in the fridge to drink later at leisure. It will pop inside like a volcano and you will have to spend 2 hours cleaning stout out of fridge crevices. This is not fun!

Stage 3: assembly & decoration

Components
1. Black chocolate stout cake
2. Black stout ganache
3. 1/4 tsp black lava sea salt flakes like this (optional)
4. 8 fresh blackberries plus more to serve (optional)

Method
1 – While the ganache is still warm and at a pouring consistency, spoon it over the top of the cake to gently flow down the sides. As it cools, it will set as a glossy glaze.

2 – This bundt cake has an alternating pattern of 8 wide panels and 8 thin panels. Place one blackberry, lying down, on the crown of each of the wider panels of the cake.

3 – After the ganache has set for about an hour, sprinkle the top of the glaze with some black lava sea salt flakes, avoiding the blackberries. Black Cake ready. Now eat!

pouring the black stout ganache on the cake
topping the cake with blackberries
sprinkling on the black lava sea salt flakes

After it is glazed, this cake can stay out at room temperature for an entire day (since it is topped with fresh fruit, it should not be kept in the sun or hot environments). Thereafter, it’s best to store it in the fridge, in an airtight container. Even though it stays super moist in the fridge, chilled cake slices should be brought to room temperature to soften the ganache before eating. Fair warning! Owing to the black food colouring in the ganache, your tongue and teeth will get temporarily stained, but it’s totally worth it!