Cumin crisps; banana puri

With Diwali almost upon us, the gorgeous flavours of India – now more than ever – are alive and well and thriving in our city! Celebrity cook/author/Sunday Times columnist Asha Maharaj shares two simple but delicious recipes with us: one sweet, the other savoury.

Photos by Fresh Image Photography – All ingredients available from Pick n Pay supermarkets and hypermarkets KZN

CUMIN CRISPS
This crisp savoury snack, with the flavour of cumin seeds, can be made and stored in airtight containers or biscuit tins for up to three weeks. Great to serve when unexpected guests arrive.

1½ cups flour;  ¾ tsp salt, or to taste; 1 tsp cumin seeds; ½ tsp coarsely ground black  pepper; 4 dessert spoons oil; ± ½ cup chilled soda water; oil for deep frying

METHOD: Sift flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Stir in cumin and pepper. Rub in the oil, add the soda water and mix to form a firm dough. Knead well. Break off marble-sized pieces and roll on a lightly floured board into circles 5cm in diameter. With a sharp tipped knife make 5-6 slits on each circle, fold in half and twist both ends. Deep fry in moderately hot oil until lightly browned and crisp. Remove, and allow to cool before storing.

TIP: Herbal or seasoned salt may be used instead of plain salt.

BANANA PURI

2 cups cake flour; 1 cup cornflour ; 4 tsp baking powder; pinch bicarbonate of soda; 1 Tbs solid ghee or melted butter; mixture of milk and soured milk or plain yoghurt (about two cups); melted ghee as needed for basting; cornflour for sprinkling over; oil; castor sugar; tinted coconut for decoration.

METHOD: Sift dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Rub in the ghee, add milk mixture and make firm, pliable dough. Divide into 16 pieces, rolling each into a circle 20cm in diameter. Brush each with melted ghee, except one. Sift cornflour over basted pastry and place one over the other. Cover top one with unbasted pastry. Roll out the whole stack into a large circle, 35 to 40cm in diameter (roll the stack as for a jam roll), and seal the edge with water to prevent it opening out when frying. Cut into 2.5cm width. Roll out cut pieces into 10 to 12cm lengths. Fry one at a time in moderately hot oil until crisp and puffed to show layers of pastry. Drain well from oil.

Linefish with fresh tomato salsa

TO SERVE: Sprinkle castor sugar liberally on to banana puri, and decorate by sprinkling coconut, white or coloured, on top. And by the way, the name banana comes not from any fruit ingredient, but rather, from the shape of the puri!

Try these absolute winners for Diwali; you won’t be disappointed.

TIP: To make smaller banana puris: make two rolls of 8 rolled out pastry. To add flavour, add a few drops of rose essence to milk mixture

Now see “Fun, fab recipes”.

**All ingredients available from Pick n Pay supermarkets and hypermarkets in KZN