The Magic of a refilled Egg… Exquisite Egg Supremo

Hard boiled eggs deviled with Black Sesame, Red Onion, Coriander leaves, Tomato, Green chili, Egg yolk and Lime served on garlic bread- this is how snacks become more fun than main course

 So may it be afternoon, or evening or let’s say any time of the day, if you have the time to boil some eggs, this dish is almost there on your plate, and it screams healthy. There is such a need for recipes in our lives that is a balance of health n taste n this recipe exactly fits in there. Now according to me egg is the most versatile ingredient in the kitchen, thousand of things can be created out of it, starting from a simple omelette to a poached egg to French toast to a salad to a soufflé to cake n mousse to an ice cream…it’s a real long list. So when I say the magic of egg, it all starts with cracking an egg- before or after cooking.

Egg is a real wonder food, a powerhouse of nutrition- like if I have to compare it metaphorically it is the superman in the world of food or should I say superwomen! But you get it. Eggs have all the essential amino acids that we need which means it is bursting with protein n choline n vitamins n minerals….what more you can possibly ask for? Think about it.

I am in utter love with eggs right from the beginning, a simple omelette can make me feel all right in a bad day, it still thrills me…god knows why? Right from my childhood I have been eating eggs as egg curry- combined with tomatoes, potatoes, aubergine, onion and then fried egg with sunny side up and omelette, dumplings, egg rolls, egg-noodles, in ice creams and cakes and now after all these years I have eggs as scrambled eggs, soufflé, crème brulee, floating island, sauce hollandaise, pan cakes, soufflé omelette- I don’t think I can actually remember all of them now.

 I developed this recipe in the Foodush kitchen as part of our menu in Gurgaon, a wonderful kitchen and it was loved and wanted by everyone who tasted it. I bring together elements like roasted black sesame seed, lots of fresh coriander leaves, red onion, tomatoes, green chili in this recipe, the eggs are hard boiled, then separated, after that I mixed the egg yolk with pan fried red onion, green chilies, coriander leaves, roasted black sesame seed, finishing off with freshly tossed tomato chunks and freshly squeezed lime juice. After I devil the egg whites with this mixture I make them sit on a round piece of garlic bread topped with a crispy lettuce with a dollop of mayo mixed with mustard.

 If you want to make it very healthy skip the bread and the mayo, eat the eggs just like that or wrap each egg half with a crispy lettuce n eat up. Another option will be to mix a tbsp of extra virgin olive oil with the egg yolk mixture, it will boost them with the fresh olive flavor and make it more smooth n wet.

Now it is time for the recipe.

For The Recipe:  you will need

Eggs-3, hard boiled n yolk separated

Red onion-1 medium, chopped

Fresh coriander leaves n stalks- 7 tbsp, finely chopped

Black pepper- ½ tsp

Black sesame seed- 2 tbsp heaped

Green chili- 2 finely sliced

Butter- 1 tbsp+ ½ tbsp

Vegetable oil-1 tbsp

Tomato- 1 ripe, chopped into squares

Salt

Pink rock salt- 2 pinch

Lime- 1 medium

For serving on bread:

Garlic bread- 6 roundish slices, 1 bread for one half of egg

Lettuce (Green Leaf/ Iceberg) – 6 medium leafs, washed n kept in cold water for half an hour

Mayo- 6 tbsp mixed with 3 tbsp tomato ketchup

Mustard paste/sauce- 1 tbsp

Black pepper- to taste

1. Begin by placing the eggs in a small deep saucepan and cover them with water, then put them on low flame, let the water come to a boil which will take about 10 min on low heat, you can increase the flame after 4 minutes so that the water come to a quick boil, as the water comes to a boil, switch off the heat and leave the eggs in the water for 7 minutes. At the end of time drain them and cool them with new batches of cold water. When cold peel them, slice them lengthwise and carefully take out the yolks keeping the egg white shell intact.

2. Place a frying pan on medium low heat and add the black sesame seeds, shake the pan as you roast them on a low heat, they will take about 3-4 minutes, shake them every 30 sec, when done take them off the pan.

3. Place the same frying pan on medium heat and place 1 tbsp butter n 1 tsp oil in it, as the butter melts add the chopped red onion along with the green chili and chopped coriander stalks and half of the leaves, reduce the flame to low n soften them slowly over a time of 5-7 minutes, we just want to soften them, so don’t brown them, take the pan off the heat in between if heat is high in your hob, when the onions have softened, season with black pepper, salt, pinch of pink rock salt and add the chopped tomato n half of the remaining coriander leaves. Mix well and give it 2 minutes, after that put the flame off, add the remaining coriander leaves and remaining butter and mix.

4. Put the egg yolks and all the contents from the frying pan together onto a plate and add the roasted black sesame seed and begin smashing the egg yolks with the back of a fork, mix all of them until it is well mixed, now squeeze half of the lime juice in the mixture n mix, taste, if you feel you need more add the other half, I normally squeeze a whole lime into the mixture so that it is on the tangy side. Finally taste and adjust the salt. Then make small balls from the mixture by rolling onto your palm and place each ball onto each egg white shells to refill them.

5. Mix the mayo with the tomato ketchup and mustard sauce/paste and freshly ground black pepper, then shake off excess water from the lettuce leaves, pat dry, place a little dollop of mayo onto each bread slice, smear it over the surface, then place one lettuce leaf over each bread slice, place another dollop of mustard mayo on top of lettuce. Then carefully place each half of egg white shell onto each bread slice and we are ready to serve.

So there it is, egg-supremo is all ready for you, deviled eggs with the goodness of eggs, black sesame, coriander leaves n lime. Share them with everyone around you and see what a crowd pleaser it is, enjoy every bite of it slowly, so now I am gonna say Bon appétit.

2 Mousse madness, Nalen Gurr n Dark Chocolate Rum n other stories…

Two Amazing Egg less Mousse recipes, minimum ingredients, maximum flavor: Nalen Gurr Mousse, Dark Chocolate with Red Rum Mousse for the Valentine’s day n Saraswati Pujo

Winter days call for food that makes you warm, even if they are cold in temperature themselves and even if they are desert and sweet they will make you warm n cozy in the course of enjoying them. So when I think of winter I think of rum, especially the dark red rum, complex in flavor, almost like a candy with a lot of depth and its affinity with dark chocolate, yes that’s magical n sexy n yet subtle. So they come together in my mousse, hugging each other and dissolving into the whipped cream as I go beating the cream.

Yes the mousse is literally very simple, it is only made with whipping cream n dark chocolate n red rum and Nalen Gurr- Date-Palm Jaggery available in the eastern part of India, in the land of Bengal, only in the winter season and this is liquid gold in my food dictionary.

You can make a mousse with the combination of stiffly beaten egg-whites and whipping cream also, in that case the mousse becomes even lighter n airy as the beaten egg whites bring even more trapped air bubbles into the mousse, I decided to make them eggless this time because the people for whom I made preferred it without eggs. But let it not make you think that the eggless mousse will not melt you as you eat them-they will. They are not as light as it would be with eggs but still they are deliciously light n smooth, singing with the flavors of Nalen Gurr n Dark chocolate n rum.

A mousse literally describes the texture of a food, a food item that includes air bubbles trapped inside it to produce a light and airy texture is a mousse, they can be both sweet n savory. Now depending on the techniques of including the air bubbles into the mousse the final result can be light n fluffy while some can be thick n creamy n denser. The mousse I made is very creamy n thick, whereas if you add egg-whites to them they will be even more airy.

A savory mousse can be flavored with a vegetable or fish or eggs, cheese, herbs. We can attain the light texture by using egg-whites, beating them to get the light n fluffy or cream; sometimes gelatin can be used in stabilizing the foam.

The taste of the Nalen Gurr mousse is absolutely delish, the molten jaggery just dissolves in the cream n unifies itself; it has such a satisfactory sensation attached to it. Like I said Nalen Gurr is a jaggery which is made from the sap of the date-palm trees in the region of Bengal, when the simmering sap thickens at the end of preparing it, it has a flavor unmatched by anything, there is nothing quite like it, liquid gold I tell you.

For a good dark chocolate mousse you need a real good chocolate, the better the chocolate you have the better the mousse will be, I used the one with 50% cocoa content, you can use 70% for an intense dark chocolate experience.

There are so many whipping creams in the market, some are dairy-based while some are soy based, you can use whatever you love, it is only up to you, some of the creams are previously sweetened and flavored with vanilla, if you are using that cream remember that the gurr is sweet itself, so the resulting mousse can be too sweet, in that case adjust the proportion of the gurr in the recipe.

So now I will take you to a sweet n cozy n warm winter evening, I’ll give you the recipe.

For The Recipe:  You will need

For the Nalen-Gurr Mousse:

Nalen-Gurr- 100 gm, grated or broken into small chunks

Water- ½ cup

Salt- a pinch

Whipping cream- 250-300 ml

Lemon/lime juice- 3-4 drops

For the Dark chocolate Rum Mousse:

Dark Chocolate – 150 gm, grated or broken into small pieces

Red Rum- 3 tbsp

Salt- a pinch

Milk (full fat) or cream- 100 ml

Icing sugar-50 gm (if you whipping cream is pre-sweetened then skip sugar)

1. Begin by melting the gurr, for that place the broken or grated gurr in a wok or frying pan or saucepan and add the water, let the flame be on a medium, with a wooden spatula stir the mixture, the gurr will melt in 3-4 minutes, then the mixture will come to a simmer, let it simmer on a low heat now for 4/6 minutes and it will thicken slightly, you will see the whole mixture is filled with bubbles, put the flame off, add a pinch of salt and drops of lime n mix well,  let it come to room temperature.

2. Melt the dark chocolate in a bain-marie, make sure that the water is not touching the bowl of chocolate, stir the chocolate as it begins to melt, when all the chocolate has melted give it a good mix. Warm the cream or milk slightly, make sure that the milk/cream is not cold when you add it to the hot liquid chocolate , add the slightly warm milk/cream  and mix to a smooth consistency, then add the red rum and pinch of salt into it, mix again. Let it come to a room temperature.

3. For whipping the cream, if you are using a dairy based cream, then freeze the bowl into which the cream will be whipped along with the wire-whisk or pedal attachment of your stand mixer, in case you are gonna whip with your hands, open your hands from the elbow and freeze them too……NOOOO! Really! If you are using soy based whipping cream you might skip this part. One important thing is you are using a whipping cream which was frozen to a solid block in your freezer; you have to take it out n keep in your refrigerator for 12 -16hours at least, until it becomes liquid again. So now simply pour the cream in a big airy glass or metal bowl and whisk with either wire whisk, or electric hand whisk or like I did I whipped it all with my hands which took me 15 minutes of solid whisking, gosh I do believe in hard work!

If your cream is not previously sweetened, then you have to add icing sugar to the cream at the stage when the cream begins to transform from soft peaks to more stable peaks. You can always check by tasting if you want your whipped cream to be more sweet or not and you can adjust.

4. With a spatula draw a line over the whipping cream dividing it into two equal portions for the two mousse, then take one third from one portion and beat is vigorously into the chocolate rum mixture to lighten it up. Then add half of the remaining cream and fold it gently into the lightened chocolate mixture, do it by moving the spatula outwards and upwards beginning from the side of the bowl to the centre and rotate the bowl by one quarter with each fold. So in four fold you will rotate the bowl completely, work lightly and then add the remaining cream into the chocolate mixture and fold until combined.

5. Repeat the same process with the gurr. Now you can simply put them into beautiful small glasses or cups by spoon or you can put them in a piping bag and pipe them into small glasses, do whatever you feel like , then place them in the refrigerator to chill for a good 4 hours, yes they will taste better when cold.

So now take them out, sprinkle them with some grated chocolate for the chocolate mousse and for the Nalen Gurr mousse drizzle them with some liquid gurr, gosh look at them! Beautiful! Aren’t they? Delicious! Aren’t they? Now you must share them with everyone around, they keep well in the fridge, so save some for future good times, I know you will make them soon again, and guess what? Bon appétit.

The shade of the color purple in my plate in the sweetest way

Purple Carrot Rice Pudding: with the sweet flavor of the carrots n their wonderful color with Clove, Cardamom, Rice, Screw pine water n Milk with Almond Praline

Carrots n winter goes hand in hand, during the winter the carrots come out from down the earth as if it’s magic and what a beautiful surprise it is! Anyone who has grown carrots in his garden, he will cherish the moments when he/she pulls out the first carrot of the season-a wonderful sight. The seasonal carrots always taste different n better than those we get all year around, so this winter which is now, a week ago I was wandering in the local vegetable market and what a colorful sight it is: shades of red, yellow, green, purple, orange, crème yellow n then I found out the purple carrots! My very first ones!

Interestingly just that week before I had tasted black carrot ice cream by the great chef Gagan Anand , the ice cream was covered with carrot powder and pistachios, after that I was so keen to find the black or purple carrots n I got them where I was not even expecting them to be, life surprises you. When you get your hands on some purple carrot, grab them, their flavor is very similar to the red ones, but their color is what will influence you, inspire you like a beautiful landscape inspires an artist. Let it make you go all purple.

As I sat n thought what should I prepare with them, I had two things hanging in my mind,  Gajrela /Gajar ka Halwa which is a  concentrated carrot fudge and I thought of Kheer with chawal- a rice pudding n I realized I wanted  both of them and I wanted to lift them up with a touch of aromatic spice but only so much so that you can taste the wonderful carrot with all their glory n color.

So I grated the carrot and my chopping board was washed with a purple wave, I simmered the grated carrot with milk and I knew what was coming! But it overwhelmed me… just a wonderful lavender color appeared in the saucepan, so vivid n inspiring that I wanted to dip my hand in it, smell it, paint with it. So I simmered them on a slow heat until the carrots softened, then went inside the soaked rice-basmati in this case and cooked until the rice fluffed and drank all the lavender milk by themselves, then it was time for the spices to take them to a new height and I sweetened them with white sugar, so when the consistency was relatively thick I took it off the heat n add the screw pine water which is kewra water. Then once it cools a little, put them in a blender and blend them only to a coarse consistency, not completely smooth but at a stage before that when it is still slightly coarse, after that when it comes to a normal temperature you have to chill it for at least 4 hours, it will be well chilled n set in that time n it will taste so much better in that temperature.

I served them with an almond praline, you can just serve them with toasted almond flakes and pistachio and it will be wonderful, I always love praline so I will find a reason to make them.  So finally when it is chilled the flavors will be much settled and you can shape them with your spoon and present them beautifully or just don’t bother, sprinkle the praline pieces or toasted almond n pistachio or cashew nut. When you will taste them you will notice it will remind you of Phirni-a great Indian rice pudding where the rice is blended coarsely at the end of cooking, when I had my bite it reminded me of gajar ka halwa n phirni n kheer all at the same time. I think you should give them a try, so here is the recipe for you.

For The Recipe: You will need

For the Carrot Rice Pudding:

Purple carrot- 2 medium

Basmati Rice-1/2 cup

Milk (full fat) - 2 cups

Single cream /double cream- 1/2 cup

Ghee/clarified butter-1 tbsp

Sugar- about 4/5 tbsp, adjust with your taste

Salt-a pinch

Clove- 1

Green Cardamom-1 or 2

Kewra water/screw pine water-1 tsp

For the Praline:

Sugar- 5 tbsp

Water -5 tbsp

Almond- 7/8 sliced, chopped

1. Begin by soaking the rice in water for 30minutes, then start peeling the carrot, then grate them on the bigger side of the grater, then place them in a heavy bottom sauce pan with the ghee and on a low heat toss them for 2 minutes, then add the milk and keep it on a slow flame, add the cardamom n clove,  let the milk come to a simmering point like this and give it 7/10 minutes on a low flame until the carrots soften n cooked, stir in between. After that add the rice and stir them in, from now on give about 15 minutes on low flame until the rice is cooked, stir every 3 minutes so that nothing catches the bottom of the pan, if you are not using a heavy bottom saucepan you have to be more careful, stir every 2 minutes. When the rice is soft you will see the whole consistency has thickened because the rice has absorbed most of the milk, at this point add the sugar, adjust, add more if you like more sweet or less, add a pinch of salt, then add the cream and give it one more minute, then take it off the heat and add the kewra water, stir it in, let the whole thing cool down slightly so that we can blend it.

2. When the temperature has cooled down a bit, put the whole thing in a blender and blend to a almost smooth consistency but not completely smooth, a little coarse within smooth is what we want, semi coarse, semi smooth. Once that is achieved put them in little serving bowls or one big bowl and chill in the refrigerator for 4/5 hours until well chilled. One great option if you can place them into terracotta earthen pots and chill them, it will add another extraordinary flavor dimension.

3. Let’s make the praline; in a saucepan add the sugar and equal quantity of water, put it on high heat n shake the pan until the sugar melts but don’t stir with a spoon. So shake the pan at times and soon the whole bubbling syrup with start to get golden and then deep golden reaching dark brown, add the chopped almond and then pour the whole thing on a smooth marble top or smooth surface. As soon as it cools down it will set, it will take 3/5 minutes, then take them off the surface with a knife in chunks. 

4.  After 4 hours when it is well chilled, spoon the mixture onto a plate into beautiful shapes and place the praline pieces on top of them along with some toasted almond or just sprinkle the toasted almond on the bowl itself and get ready with your spoon.

So now it is ready, you know the thing about sweet things, they absolutely need to be shared, especially when you have made something so beautiful with such a beautiful lavender color, share it with your loved ones and let them love you a little more. Dig in and tell me, isn’t it so good! , the flavor of the carrot, the creaminess, the hint of clove n cardamom, in every spoon, yummy. Guess what! Bon appétit.

Phenomenal Pati-Saptas, a dream folded in three

 

Amazing Rice flour pancakes from the heart of Bengal, stuffed with kheer n Aam-satto/Aam-papad

 

When it comes to pati-spatas , everything becomes clear water, there is no conflict or confusion, it is delicious like a dream, soft like love n slightly crisp at times like reality itself. I have loved it all through my childhood, love it dearly now and as I make them I get dissolved in their being. We can call them sweet pancakes generally but trust me they are so much more than that.

 

The batter is made from rice flour mainly, sometimes semolina and flour is added to the rice flour and milk is added to get to the desired thin consistency. When it comes to the stuffing we have very beautiful choices, one is freshly grated coconut cooked with date jaggery which is the supremely delicious ‘Nalen Khejur Gurr’ or sugarcane jaggery which has its earthy sweet magic, another is kheer which is milk simmered until it almost solidifies n then mixed with a little sugar. In my version I have created a new flavor for the stuffing and it was inspired by a gift- some days ago my friend gave me a beautiful gift-home-made dry mango cakes-‘AAM-SATTO’, a box full of them. Aam-satto is made from fresh mango pulp mixed with water and a touch of spices, then the batter is spread thinly over plates and sun-dried until the water evaporates and the rest settles as a thick layer of cake-the flavor intensifies and changes under the sun light and we get aam-satto.

Back home I softened the aam-satto with milk, then mixed them with kheer until a beautiful rich mixture was obtained- sweet n with a slight touch of tang and filled with that mango flavor. When I stuffed them inside the soft pati-sapta they made me smile, they taste exclusively delish and my friend found them refreshingly different delicious.

 

Winter is a good time for pati-sapta, in fact every time is a good time for them but in the winter it gets special for a number of reasons, one is it feels great to bite into the warm pati-saptas in a cold afternoon, second in the winter the majestic nalen gurr which is a type of jaggery made from dates, becomes available and that takes everything to a whole different level.

 

Pati-sapta is a pithe, pithe is a term used for deserts made from mainly rice-flour or a combination of rice-flour n flour or semolina made during a certain season or festivals in Bengal.

 

So now since I cant wait any more for the recipe, here you go.

 

For The Recipe: you will need

For the Pati-Sapta

Rice-flour- 2 cups

Plain flour- ½ cup approximately

Semolina- ¼ cup approximately

Milk (full fat/skimmed)- 500 ml approximately

Salt- a pinch

Sugar- 2 tbsp

Vegetable oil/ghee- ½ cup

For the Kheer

Milk (full-fat)- 1 litre

Sugar – about 2 tbsp

 

For the Aam-Satto stuffing

Aam-satto/dry mango cake/aam-papad- 150 gm

Milk- a little to soak them

Kheer-Half the quantity of kheer made above

1. Begin by adding the rice flour to the milk at room temperature, the milk should not be cold, whisk in the rice flour with a wooden spatula or wire whisk until the batter is smooth, then add the semolina and whisk until smooth, then add the flour n whisk until the batter is smooth. The consistency of the batter should be thin n flow-y, like if you pour the batter from a ladle on a pan , you should be able to spread the batter relatively easily over the surface of the pan. If the batter is not thin with the given measurement above add some more milk to achieve that consistency, then add a pinch of salt to it, mix well, now let the batter rest for about 30 minutes.
2. Making the kheer is a complete new recipe, for that take full-fat milk in a wok/kadai with a large surface area and let the milk come to a boil, then reduce the heat to lowest and keep simmering until the milk reduces to a solid mass where all the water component from it has evaporated, this will take about 30 minutes. Keep scratching the sides every 4 minutes and incorporate that into the milk as it is getting done, don't leave the milk and go away when this is happening, if you are not using a heavy bottomed wok the milk can burn at the bottom and ruin all your effort, so if you can, use a heavy bottomed wok and stay near the milk and stir it well every 3 minutes. When the milk has been reduced to a solid mass almost, stir continuously until it becomes a solid mass, then add the sugar and let it melt completely, then remove it from the heat onto a plate, the kheer should be sweet but not too sweet.
3. For the aam-satto kheer, soak them in warm milk for half an hour until they soften, then smash them with a fork until uniformly mixed, after that add half of the kheer n a couple of teaspoon of milk to make a spreadable consistency mixture. When that is done, you have to do the same with the kheer, if the kheer is very solid , add some milk and lighten it up.
4. Time to make the pati-sapta finally, so take a flat frying pan or chatu or pancake pan, keep it on high heat and let it get hot, then take any flavorless vegetable oil like soya bean oil or ghee, smear it over the surface of the pan, pour 1 tbsp of oil and heat it in the pan then pour it over the batter n mix it well. Now make the flame go to minimum, smear the pan again with ghee or oil and take a ladle full of the batter and lift up the pan in one hand and pour the batter on the pan, then spread the batter in a round form, you can do it with a spatula too, just work with a light hand, push the batter lightly to create a round shape, then increase the heat the medium and give it about 1 minute, with a spoon lift the pancake slightly to see if the surface has caramelized, if not give it some more time, then take and place one tbsp of aam-satto kheer mixture and spread it in the middle of the pancake , then fold the pan cake in three parts, then take it off the pan.
5. So now smear the surface of the pan again with ghee or oil and lift the pan, mix the batter well and pour a ladle full of batter on the pan and do like before. Keep the initial temperature of the pan low so that when you pour the batter it doesn't settle immediately in the pan, when the initial temperature is low you have time to spread the batter easily either by rotating the pan or by gentle spreading the batter with the spatula, once the batter is spread increase the temperature to medium and let the caramelize, then fold it in three.
6. Similarly make all the pati-sapta, fill them with aam-satto kheer and kheer. And then we are done.

 

So here we are, we have successfully made all the pati-saptas and I am sure you have tasted them already while you were still making them, that's what I do all the time, now tell me, don't they just taste out-of-this world, soft succulent inside, crispy outside and so soft, so now share it with your loved ones, eat them warm or cold, they are delicious in every stage, so now you have one more great recipe in your collection. So you know what! Bon Appetit.

E for Elo-Jhelo

A crispy sweet bite for Diwali, a beautiful Indian Bengali sweet Pastry, crafted with love, a little Elo-Melo (Tangled) n a lot of Elo-Jhelo!

So as it turns out on this Durga Pooja, I was thousands of miles away from Bengal, I couldn’t absorb all the flavors, fragrance and sound that is all there in Bengal during the pooja, but perhaps so couldn’t some of you, who had to stay thousands of miles apart because life is like this or if you are someone who is not familiar with it-I will say get into it. For my dear reader who is reading me right now, I couldn’t give you something nice during the pooja, but now I can and Diwali/Deepawali is in the air and everywhere soon there are gonna lit a thousand lights, so I had to tell you about how to make Elo-Jhelo.

Think about this name ‘ELO-JHELO’, interesting name isn’t it? When I look at the word I feel as if it comes from the Aztecs, however it comes from Bengal, India. It is a sweet pastry, made out of all purpose flour, vegetable oil n ghee, sugar and some touch of aromatic spices. The dough is prepared, made into small balls, then they are rolled individually, cuts are splashed across the surface of the rolled thin dough, then folded over n over until it gets all tangled n overlapping, producing a beautiful spiral like shape which looks like flower petals or the shape of a flame from a lamp n the rest is on your imagination.

When I begin to wonder about the name, I try to connect the dots, like elo-melo in Bengali would suggest tangled, so on that line ‘Elo-jhelo’ may come from ‘Elo-melo’ because you see the dough strands are tangled in a way but never messy, they are beautifully elegant.

This pastry is deep-fried in flavorless vegetable oil, then a sugar syrup is prepared on the heat until it gets as thick like honey going towards one string consistency, the crispy fried pastry is dipped into the syrup to coat them, then taken out after 1-2 minutes and  they are ready. This is a kind of ‘Nimki’ which can be both sweet n savory, a nimki is a Bengali term for fried pastry.

Diwali or as we sometimes we say it Deepawali is just around this weekend, this is the time to prepare a lot of sweets- Gulab Jamun, Kaju katli, Motichur ke laddu n so many more, so make Elo-jhelo, the great thing about them is that they are not overly sweet, slightly sweet, they look great, they are versatile and it is so much fun making them with the whole family sitting around, the father making the dough, the mother rolling out, the little kids making the cuts- well it is a possibility…ha-ha. Most important is the bite-literally delicious n you always wanna have some more without eating a lot of sugar.

I flavored my elo-jhelo with white n black sesame seeds, and green cardamom n a touch of saffron, a traditional elo-jhelo is devoid of any such extra flavors and is still very delicious, so you can always go the traditional way or sometimes add flavors that you like. I incorporated the cardamom n saffron flavor in the sugar syrup itself. So this Deepawali I expect some Elo-jhelo in your home, have fun, share it with your friends, it is a labor of love.

So let me tell you now the secret, here we go.

For The Recipe: we will need

For the Dough

All purpose Flour-4 cups

Vegetable oil-1/2 cup (I used ½ tbsp of ghee n so I used less then ½ cup of oil)

Salt- a pinch

Water-slightly less than 1 cup

For the Syrup

Sugar-2 cups

Water 1 ½ cups

Green cardamom-2, crushed n slightly powdered

Saffron strands-2 pinches

For Frying

6-8 cups vegetable oil

1. Begin by adding the salt n the  ½ cup vegetable oil or a combination of ghee n vegetable oil like I did, if you are adding both like me then reduce the oil by the same amount so the total goes to ½ cup, rub the oil into the flour , do it well, make sure the fat is well distributed into the flour, rub the flour n oil together into your palm with a light hand, it will take 3 minutes, then start adding the water, add half the water at first, mix n then add half of the half, mix, see how the dough is coming, we will need slightly less than 1 cup water, so start to gather the dough as you add more water, when you feel the dough will come together you can stop adding the water, there will be around 2 tbsp of water left in the cup which you don’t need. So now knead the dough for about 5-6 minutes, the dough will become smooth, we want dough which is slightly firm, not on the softer side, so it will a little hard work kneading the firm dough. When the dough is smooth after 5-6 minutes, divide it in half, the roll each half into a cylindrical log, then with a knife cut the log at 1 ½ inch interval or tear off small portions from the log and make into balls of 1 ½ inch diameter. When all the balls are done, cover n rest for 20 minutes.

2. After 20 minutes pour a little vegetable oil into a bowl, take one ball and dip your finger into the oil and with that touch of oil roll the ball into a smooth ball again, oil the surface of the wooden board or marble slightly, oil the rolling pin, place the ball on the surface n with your palm press on it to make it into a flat uniform round disc. Start rolling the disc with the rolling pin into a uniform thin circle of about 4 inches in diameter, lift it up and sprinkle some white n black sesame seed on the surface, then place it lightly again on the surface, then with a sharp knife make a slit leaving about ½ inch space at the ends, after that make parallel cuts at about less then ½ inch gap. When the cuts are done start rolling the disc carefully at one end, hold the top n down portions of the disc and with light hands roll the disc onto itself, the slit strips will come overlapping and keep your hand at both the ends as you roll and with another finger help the dough to come up from the surface as you roll. At the end the strips will be overlapped and the top n down will be pointed holding the whole piece together.

3. Prepare all the balls like this, now place deep pot of kadai/wok on the heat, add the oil and let it become medium hot, we don’t want the oil to be very hot or the elo-jhelo will color quickly. When the oil is medium hot take one piece and dip is slightly into the oil, it should not start to bubble vigorously, if it is the oil is too hot, take it off the heat, let it cool slightly, now when you place the elo-jhelo it will start to bubble up a little or a moment after it goes in the oil, always keep the oil to low n medium low, add about 5-6 at one time, flip them every 2 minutes, when they attain a light brown to brown color you can take them off which will take about 5-6 minutes.

4. In another wok add the sugar n water on medium heat, let the sugar melt, then make the heat high and let it come to a boil,  give it around 10 minutes, check the syrup by dipping a spoon and place some drops on a plate and then touch it, when it begins to thick a little stay alert, add the crushed green cardamom n saffron strands, test the syrup again, when the syrup gets thick like honey or when you place a drop between your fingers and you can see one string forming between your fingers it is ready. Place the fried warm elo-jhelo into the syrup, coat it well , give them 1 minute in the syrup , then drip off the excess syrup and take them off. Prepare all the elo-jhelo like this.  Start making the syrup when you put the oil into the heat, this way when you first batch of elo-jhelo will be ready the syrup will also be ready and you can dip them right away.

Note: instead of placing the disc onto the sesame seeds, you can toast the sesame seeds on a pan and then coat the fried elo-jhelo as they just come out of the sugar syrup with the roasted sesame seeds, they will stick on the sugary elo-jhelo very well.

Hey, they are all ready now! They look amazing right, I told you n now bite into one and hear the sweet crunch n after that share the sweet crunch with all around you. Happy Diwali, Shubh Deepawali, Subho Kaali Pujo and guess what? Bon Appétit! May the light bless us.