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Discovering India

012

“Do not blame your food because you have no appetite.”
Rabindranath Tagore

022


Besan Laddu (Indian typical gram flour roasted cakes)

Makes 36 (12 g each):

125 g butter
5 g grated coconut
12 g hazelnuts, roasted and finely chopped
1 /2 tsp. cardamom, grated
137,5 g icing sugar
200 g gram flour

Melt the butter over low heat.
Add the gram flour and combine stirring constantly until roasted (15 minutes).
Add the coconut, the hazelnuts and the cardamom stirring well for a couple of minutes.
Remove from heat and add fold in the icing sugar.
If necessary help with a fork to make it smooth.
Let it cool down for a while.
With wet hand make small balls or cubes with the mixture.

Coconut topping (not part of the traditional recipe)
60 g coconut, grated
20 g cane sugar
10 g butter

Bring the sugar to medium heat until it completely melts, stirring constantly.
Add the butter and the coconut.
Spread the Besan Laddu with this topping.

031

May 12, 2009 | Filed under petit-fours | 2 Comments 

Salonika’s delights

011


Moussaka, Petalaki, Saragli and Baklava…
Today I had dinner like a greek…

021

Salonika’s delights:

1 Filo pastry packaging
125 g butter, melted (pode ser necessária mais manteiga)

Syrup:
500 g sugar
water (as needed)
¼ orange, diced
¼ lemon, diced
1 cinnamon stick

Bring all the ingredients to boil for some minutes until the sugar completely dissolves.
Set aside.

Baklava’s filling:
100 g walnuts, finely chopped
100 g almonds, finely chopped
10 g nutmeg
10 g cinnamon, powdered

Combine all the ingredients.
Roll out a filo pastry sheet and brush with melted butter.
Spread the filling on one end of the pastry and roll the filo sheet.
Repeat this process to make another roll.
Roll out a filo pastry dough and brush with melted butter.
Place the two rolls on one end of the filo sheet and roll tightly.
Slice the roll.

Petalaki’s filling:
50 g sesame seeds

Roll out a filo pastry sheet and brush with melted butter.
Sprinke with the sesame seeds and place another butter brushed filo sheet on top.
Fold the sheets in half and roll to make a cylinder.
Cut in pieces and fold in horseshoe’s shape.

Saragli’s filling:
100 g hazelnuts, finely chopped
100 g pinenuts, finely chopped
10 g nutmeg
10 g cinnamon, powdered

Roll out two filo pastry sheets overlapped in half and brush with melted butter.
Spread the filling on one end of the pastry and roll the filo sheet.
Slice the roll.

Place all the “delights” on a greased baking sheet.
Brush the top of each piece with melted butter.
Bake for 30 minutes at 180ºC.
Remove from oven and pour the syrup over the delights.
Let it cool down with the syrup for at least a couple of hours before serving.

03

May 5, 2009 | Filed under petit-fours | 6 Comments 

May, mother and macarrons…

01

Poem to Mother

In the deepest of you,
I know I have betrayed, mother!

All because I no longer am
The sleeping portrait
In the depth of your eyes!

All because you ignore
That there are beds where coldness doesn’t linger
And rustling nights of morning waters!

For that, sometimes, the words I tell you
Are hard, mother,
And our love is unhappy.

All because I’ve lost the white roses
You clenched to your heart
In the portrait with the frame!

If you knew how I still love the roses,
Maybe you wouldn’t fill your hours with nightmares…

But you have forgotten many things!
You have forgotten that my legs grew,
And that all of my body has grown,
And even my heart
Is now huge, mother!

Look – do you want to listen? -,
Sometimes I am still the little boy
That fell asleep in your eyes;

I still clench against my heart
Roses so white
As the ones you have in the frame;

I still hear your voice:
Once upon a time there was a princess
amidst the orange trees…

But – you know! – the night is enormous
And all my body has grown…
I left the frame,
I gave my eyes as water to the birds,

I shan’t forget, mother.
I keep your voice inside me.
And I leave you the roses…

Goodnight. I go with the birds!

Eugénio de Andrade

02

I’ve made this post for mother’s day but I couldn’t find any time to translate the recipe… Anyway I think it’s the least important thing today…

May 5, 2009 | Filed under meringues, petit-fours | 10 Comments 

Bananas & chocolate

01a

I’m having trouble in adapting myself to the “new” computer… the new versions of the software make me feel uncomfortable and once in a while I can’t help but curse this forced computer cleaning.
Nevertheless I’m very happy to be back to flagrantedelicia and I’ve made my return with bananas and chocolate…

02a

Chocolate and Banana cake

Serves 4:

80 g egg yolks
150 g butter, softened
160 g sugar
225 g wheat flour
15 g baking powder
30 g cocoa
100 g 50% dark chocolate, chopped
3 ripe bananas, sliced

Topping:
2 bananas, sliced
50 g sugar
30 g rum
zest of 1 lemon

Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.
Grease and flour a round pan.
Whisk the eggs with the sugar until creamy and white.
Add the butter and combine well.
Fold in the flour, the cocoa and the baking powder previously sieved.
Pour one layer of dough into the pan and then a layer of banana slices and the chopped chocolate.
Repeat this process as many times as needed and finishing with a dough layer.
Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Let it cool down in the mould at room temperature.

Topping:
Bring to boil the sugar to caramelize.
Add the banana slices.
Stop the cooking with the rum.
Place the banana over the top of the cake and sprinkle with the lemon zest.

Source: Jordi Roca

03a

May 1, 2009 | Filed under cakes, muffins and madeleines | 10 Comments 

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