Daily Archives: November 26, 2018

Karanji

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Karanji (in Marathi or gujiya in Hindi) is a sweet or savory stuffed mostly deep fried pastry traditionally made on Diwali day in the state of Maharashtra.

Traditional karanji recipes call for a mix of all purpose flour and semolina flour and are deep fried. I really hate deep frying ! I used an empanada dough recipe for my karanjis and baked them. The empanada recipe gives me a wonderfully flaky and sturdy pastry shell.

Dough: Melt 7 tbsp of butter, add 1/2 cup of really hot water with 1 tsp of salt. Add butter and hot water to 3 cups all purpose flour. Knead. Add upto 1/4 -1/3 cup of additional hot water to make a smooth pliable dough. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for an hour.

Sweet filling: Melt 3 tbsp of ghee, add 1 cup of grated fresh coconut ( I use frozen). Roast till coconut dries out a little and just starts browning. Take off the heat. Add 1/4 cup of jaggery, 3 tbsp of sugar, 1 tbsp of sesame seeds, 1 tbsp of poppy seeds, 1/4 cup roasted cashews, 1/4 cup raisins, 1 tsp of ground cardamon powder.

Divide dough into  4s and then into 8s. Use a rolling pin or flatten each dough ball into a 3 inch diameter circle. Add 1 tbsp of filling and crimp into half moon shapes and make a slit on top for the steam to escape. Can be frozen at this stage (freeze flat on a baking sheet and add 5-6 minutes to bake time)

Bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes. Continue reading →

Ragi noodles – 2 ways

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I was introduced to Ragi vermicelli by a Tamilian friend of mine in the USA. Ragi is a millet, rich in calcium and gluten free (but don’t quote me on that). It is also easily available as flour and vermicelli in the Indian store and is delicious. It is important to prepare the ragi noodles according to the instructions on the packet to avoid the vermicelli clump from hell. This particular brand wanted me to soak the noodles for 3 minutes in salted water and steam for 5 minutes.

I prepare these 2 ways:

Coconut and ghee- For my American non-spice loving kid, I roast some frozen coconut in ghee and add some frozen corn and 1-2 tsp of sugar. Add the ragi noodles, cover and steam on low heat for 3-4 minutes. Serve.

Spiced ragi noodles: Start as you would with a poha recipe- for me that is 2 tbsp of oil, 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds- heat till they sputter, add a pinch of asafetida, 1/2 tsp of turmeric, 1 dried chilly, 3-4 chopped curry leaves, 1/2 a chopped preserved lemon (can be omitted) and 2-3 crushed stuffed dried chillies (also found in Indian store but can also be omitted). Add one onion finely chopped and cook till golden brown with some salt, pepper and a tsp of sugar. Add frozen corn, frozen coconut and the cooked ragi noodles. Cover and steam for 5-10 minutes till everything is heated through and the corn is cooked. Add chopped cilantro. Serve with a squeeze of lime.

Raspberry pie

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My post thanksgiving pie shenanigans. I had only 3 eggs and 2 and half sticks of butter and a bag of frozen raspberries and no whipped cream. It was almost a Chopped episode.

Crust: Shortcrust pastry dough: I used this David Tanis recipe. I cup flour (145 gm), 1 stick butter with 1 tsp salt- whiz in food processor and add 2-3 tbsp ice cold water, one tablespoon at a time till the dough just comes together. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Roll out to 1/8 inch thickness for a 8 inch pie pan- refrigerate again for 30 minutes or freeze for 10 minutes.

Add parchment paper and bean or pie weights and bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes till very pale brown (you may  need foil on the edges if they start browning too soon)

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/12884-basic-short-crust-pastry

Pastry Cream: After much research, I settled on this Mark Bittman easy recipe. It is slightly runny for pie though- it definitely needs at least 1 hour to set. I halved it.

In a saucepan- add 1/3 cup of sugar, 1 tbsp of flour, 1 tbsp of cornstarch and 1 cup of whole milk and 1 beaten egg. Whisk over low-moderate heat fairly continuously till the custard comes together (you know- when you can draw a line on the back of the spoon). Add a tsp of vanilla and a tbsp of butter. Resist the temptation to lick all of it. Refrigerate for 30 minutes with cling film over the top so it doesn’t form a skin

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015881-mark-bittmans-pastry-cream

Rasberries: Frozen raspberries, heat with sugar (3-4 tbsp) and 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar. Some grand marnier and some orange zest will be excellent in this too.

Cool everything and then assemble. Wait for at least 1-2 hours. We didn’t and it was delicious but slightly runny.