As the final course of our Ms Marvel menu, Jalebi seemed appropriate – it’s as stretchy and winding and polymorphous as her limbs, and a fun Pakistani street food besides. It’s basically a funnel cake, but after frying the dough is soaked in a cardamom rose syrup that takes it to the next level.
I’ve eaten it many times before, sometimes fresh and sometimes from a shop, but this was my first time making them. I didn’t get them nicely coiled, but they are delightfully tangled and the cardamom rose flavor is just lovely.
For the jalebi
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons corn flour
1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 cup water
pinch baking soda
food coloring (usually yellow or orange, but I used red)
oil for frying
Heat several inches oil in a pot or wok. Mix ingredients well and put in a pastry bag. When the oil is hot, pipe into the hot oil in circles, starting with the outside going in. Fry until golden, and remove into a pan of sugar syrup (below).
For the sugar syrup
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
seeds of 2 cardamom pods
2 teaspoons rosewater
In a wide pan, heat sugar and water until all sugar is melted, swirling occasionally to dissolve. Add cardamom pods and rosewater. Keep very warm but not boiling.
Once the dough is in the syrup, let it sit 30 seconds or so on each side and remove to a plate. Cool and serve warm or room temperature.
I saw and loved the Swedish vampire film Let the Right One In for the first time around the time it came out in 2008, but just recently read the book by John Ajvide Lindqvist. These are the August picks for Coffee and Casseroles’ Night Bleeds Book and Movie Club!
The movie is very good, but as is to be expected, the book adds layers to Eli and Oskar, both to their characters (Oskar is even more of a little shit in the book and Eli even more beautifully tragic) and to their dark friendship. There’s also interesting story around Virginia and Jocke; their plot points are hit in the movie, but there is a lot of detail in the book that is either very sweet or sickly fascinating.
In the book, Oskar’s mom is a single parent, lonely, relishing his misery and becoming resentful when he makes a friend. Often in the evenings they watch television together and have cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate, a ritual he falls out of when he starts spending more time with Eli. Although in the book these are the Cinnamon Rolls of Gross Codependency, in life these cinnamon rolls are delicious.
Swedish cinnamon rolls aren’t much different than American style, the key enhancement being lovely, fragrant cardamom in the dough – a favorite spice of Scandinavians dating back to 860AD when the Vikings ravaged Constantinople! Heating milk with vanilla bean and cardamom on the stove made the kitchen smell heavenly.
I adapted Marcus Samuelsson’s recipe — and when I say adapted, I mean I used whole cardamom instead of ground because that’s what I had, and I rolled them out to the wrong length and width because oops — but will actually make a few more tweaks when I make them again (which I will because they were delicious). The dough was actually a little stiffer than it was meant to be even though I added the least amount of flour, and the cinnamon mixture was way too thin and seeped out of the dough, so next time I’ll make it thicker. These kind of differences I usually chalk up to atmosphere or personal incompetence or whatever, so I’ll give you recommendations for humid American South, but you may also wish to check out the original recipe.
2-4 tablespoons warm or hot milk (original calls for 4, mine was too watery)
3 teaspoons cinnamon
For the topping
Reserved egg white
1/4 cup toasted almonds
In a small bowl, mix yeast, warm water, and sugar. Set aside until foamy, about 5 minutes.
Gently heat milk, butter, cardamom pods, and vanilla bean until very warm but not hot. Remove from heat and allow to steep until cool. Strain, and add to the yeast mixture. Whisk egg, egg yolk, sugar and salt until well combined, stir into yeast mixture.
Add flour until a slightly wet dough forms, and roll it into a ball. Grease a clean bowl with the vegetable oil, and turn the dough ball in it until coated. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 2 hours.
Combine the filling ingredients (butter, brown sugar, sugar, warm milk and cinnamon). Prepare two baking sheets with buttered parchment.
Divide the dough into two equal parts, and on a floured counter roll into 12 x 9 inch rectangles. Spread with the filling mixture and roll length-wise. Slice into 6 slices and place on baking sheets, slightly flattening with your palm (next time I’ll tuck in the ends to make them a little prettier). Cover and let rise 30 minutes.
Whisk together egg white with a couple tablespoons water and brush over the rolls. Sprinkle with toasted almonds. Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Cool on a rack.
Serve in front of the TV with guilt and hot chocolate.
Tis the season! I’ve decked the halls with pumpkins and cobwebs, and fall baking is in full swing. Here’s a deliciously fragrant witchy spice mix for all your fall treats, everything from gingerbread to roasted veggies to pumpkin spice lattes.
It’s nothing revolutionary, it’s like chai masala with different levels of spice (not that you couldn’t make a lovely chai with this), and like store-bought pumpkin pie spice only so much more lovely and piquant because the spices are fresh ground. I’ve made a nice batch which I’ve stored in a little jar in my spice cabinet, but it’s going so quickly I know I’ll need to make another batch before the holiday season is over – and this time make it a double!
Also, this wouldn’t be half as witchy without some magical correspondences, so if you’re curious:
Allspice: money, luck healing
Black pepper: protection, exorcism
Cardamom: lust, love (so you’ve got the sweet playful version with green cardamom and the smokey sexy one with black cardamom)
Cinnamon: spirituality, success, healing, power, psychic powers, lust, protection, love (so, pretty much everything)
Clove: protection, exorcism, love, money
Ginger: love, money, success, power
Star anise: psychic powers, luck
All the good stuff; if you’re looking for love, money, or just need a good old-fashioned exorcism, a batch of pumpkin bread may be just the thing. Happy baking!
Witchy Autumn Spice Mix
10 green cardamom pods
10 allspice berries
14 cloves
3 star anise
3 cinnamon sticks
1 tablespoon black pepper pods
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (about half a pod)
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
Lightly toast all spices except the ground nutmeg and ginger in a dry pan. Grind all spices in a spice grinder until very fine. You may need to crack the cinnamon sticks first, and then sift the spices once and grind the larger pieces again.
Stir in the ginger and nutmeg, and store in an airtight container. Will last indefinitely but spices will lose potency over time, so try to use within a month or two.
I am happy to participate in another month of Mena Cooking Club, this month Iraq hosted by Maryam of Maryam’s Culinary Wonders – (she has an impressive recipe index, I’ve bookmarked quite a few to try).
I jumped on this suggested recipe for two reasons, 1. I need more fish in my life and 2. POMEGRANATE, which I both love, and had some homemade pomegranate syrup (just reduced pomegranate juice, you can also buy it at Middle Eastern markets) leftover from Thanksgiving that I was looking to use. I was a little apprehensive of the sauce, which contains 1/2 cup of raisins along with the spicy and savory ingredients. I personally like raisins but was almost sure my husband would hate them, but to my surprise he really enjoyed the spicy sweet sauce and this dish was a hit.
I’d definitely make this again, although I would probably either pan-sear the salmon or get it closer to the broiler (it wasn’t hot enough where I had it and I missed that crispiness). Also I’d plate it on top of the sauce but that’s a minor thing. The sauce that I was scared about I’d keep exactly as is.
The rice was lovely and fragrant – cardamom is my most favorite spice.
3 1/2 cups hot water (note, my rice came just a little soggy, so I may reduce to 3 1/4)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Rinse the rice well and soak for at least half an hour. In a pot over medium heat, heat the oil until it shimmers. Add the turmeric, cardamom and cinnamon and stir for a few seconds until fragrant. Stir in the rice, hot water, and salt. Raise the heat to high and boil the rice until visible moisture is absorbed, about 5 minutes. Lower heat to low, and simmer rice, covered, for 20 minutes. Turn the rice gently with a wooden spoon 2 to 3 times while simmering to allow it to fluff.
For the Pomegranate Sultana Sauce
2 tablespoons oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 a poblano pepper, chopped
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon red chili
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon pomegranate syrup
1/2 cup sultanas/golden raisins
1/4 cup water
Heat oil in a pan (I used a nonstick wok), and saute onions with a pinch of salt until very soft and golden. Add garlic and chopped pepper and saute for a few minutes, then add spices (cumin, turmeric, red chili, ground coriander) and stir for a minute. Add tomatoes and another good pinch of salt and saute until tomatoes are completely broken down and almost jammy. Stir in pomegranate syrup, raisins, and 1/4 cup water, and cook for a few minutes until thick. Reserve warm.
For the Salmon
1 tablespoon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
2 pounds skinless fillet of salmon, divided into 4 portions
olive oil
Coarse salt, for sprinkling
1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds or chopped pistachios, for garnish
Turn on the broiler. Line a flat baking pan with aluminum foil, and grease with olive oil. Arrange the fish pieces on the pan, leaving space between them.
Combine mustard, honey, and a tablespoon of olive oil, and brush the fish with the mixture. Sprinkle with salt. Broil 3-5 minutes each side until fish is lightly cooked through and surface is crisp and golden (like I said, mine wasn’t close enough to broiler, so will make sure to do this next time).
Spread the warm sauce on a platter and arrange this fish on top. Garnish with almonds or pistachios, and serve with the yellow rice.
October treats are not complete without something for the Mexican Day of the Dead, a remembrance of those that have passed, when families visit the graves to tend to them and make offerings. Calabaza en tacha is candied pumpkin (or in this case butternut squash), cooked in a brown sugar syrup then served with the syrup reduction and evaporated milk.
I chose Spicie Foodies’ version of calabaza en tacha because of the lovely spices, but whereas she left her pumpkin in slices (which looks really pretty), my butternut squash wouldn’t have been uniform so I cut it up into chunks. I am not sure why this has brown sugar, sugar, and molasses…but it turned out delicious so who am I to ask questions?
1 medium butternut squash (about 2 pounds), peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks
2 cups water
2/3 cups brown sugar
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1 heaping tbsp molasses
pinch salt
zest of half an orange
2 cinnamon sticks
3 cardamom pods, bruised
3 cloves
3 allspice berries
evaporated milk for serving
Bring water, sugars, and all spices to a soft boil. Lower the heat and add the squash, and simmer until very fork-tender (45 minutes to an hour).
Strain out squash and spices with a slotted spoon, then turn up the heat and reduce the liquid to a syrup. Remove from heat. Serve squash drizzled with syrup and evaporated milk.
I saw recipes using piloncillo, which is Mexican brown sugar – I’d love to get some to try. I also think this would be really nice made with jaggery.
Though apple butter originated in the Middle Ages as a way to preserve the fruit, and is traditionally eaten all over Europe and North America, in my mind it’s about as Southern as it gets. That’s probably because I grew up eating it at Cracker Barrel and at mountain apple festivals. Making it in the crockpot is less romantic than outdoors in the traditional huge copper pots, but isn’t all life a tradeoff between romance and convenience? This still manages to perfume your entire house while you sleep, making for apple dreams and a delicious autumn scent to wake up to.
Things to eat apple butter on include: biscuits, French toast, bagels, latkes, pumpkin bread, pork chops, almond butter sandwiches, oatmeal, turkey and brie sandwiches, pancakes, yogurt, salad dressing, bbq sauce, sausage, pound cake, panfried salmon, sweet potato fries, ice cream, fingers, spoons.
Crockpot Apple Butter
5 large mixed apples
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 a cinnamon stick
seeds from 1 green cardamom pod
a couple slivers of fresh ginger
juice from half a lemon
1 cup apple cider or apple juice
Core apples and chop into large chunks. Combine all ingredients in crock pot and cook covered and bubbly on high for 1 hour (you will need to babysit it during this time and stir occasionally so it doesn’t burn.
Reduce heat to low and cook, uncovered slightly, for 8-10 hours until dark brown and thick. Remove the cinnamon stick and blend half in the blender if you want to keep some chunks (make sure to get the ginger in there), or blend the whole thing to make it smooth (my preference).
Return to crock pot and cook on high one more hour, stirring once in awhile to make sure it’s not burning. Cool.
If you’re into canning, you can double or triple this recipe for pretty holiday gifts and homemade apple butter all year round!
