I was looking at the ingredients the other day to see if it might be worth my while trying to make it myself (technically possible, but I still won't), and saw that it had a number of spices in common with your standard mixed spice for cakes and such, but the cumin and curry leaves take it in a more savoury direction. So I thought to myself, I thought, 'Are there any dishes where I normally use mixed spice where I could use this instead?'. What I'd need to make it work is something sweet enough to counteract the savoury element, and could also take a bit of heat. Now it just so happens I have a good stand-by recipe for gingerbread biscuits which I use for cutting novelty shapes (sometimes boobies, mainly penises) and giving as gifts. So I gave it a go.
This makes quite a small batch as I wasn't sure if I would like them. I also decided to stick with circular biscuits for now, but it is entirely possible to cut out rude shapes too. Or shapes that aren't rude, I suppose, if that's your thing.
You will need:
200g plain flour
50g butter or margarine
50g soft brown sugar
50g golden syrup
50g black treacle (use 100g golden syrup if you don't have treacle)
2 tsps garam masala
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
First, mix everything in a bowl to form a soft dough.
Roll out on a floured surface and cut into shapes. This is quite a delicate mix, so take care when lifting the shapes. I use a fishslice.
Put on a baking tray lined with baking parchment (you may need to do several batches) and bake in a pre-heated oven at GM 5 or 190 degrees for 7-10 minutes.
These turned out very nicely, and I think would work even better dipped in chocolate or with chocolate chips. They're certainly not too savoury, and if anything I might add a little ground pepper next time to make them even hotter. The cumin and the coriander give them an oddly citrusy quality, which I might try to amp up with some kaffir lime leaves or something.
Next time you have someone round for a cup of tea, put some of these on a plate for a proper 'wait, whut?' reaction.
So, say, I dunno, one were of the American persuasion. Say one had at one time owned scales but they were buried somewhere in the midst of one's spouse's childhood bedroom, in one's in-laws home in Reading... should they even still exist. Say one loved spice cookies, but had only cups and their fractions with which to measure. What would the ingredient proportions look like then? (In this particular instance, one should also say that one had to look up the correct spelling of 'ingredient'.)
ReplyDeleteAn interesting hypothetical question. Looking up measurement equivalents gives a lot of contradictory answers, so I can only assume someone's taking the mickey. I would say use 2 large tablespoons of the fat, the syrups and the sugar to a cup and a half of the flour. It's a fairly forgiving recipe so you shouldn't go too far wrong with that.
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