Witchy Kitchen

Tag: rosewater

  • Jalebi

    Jalebi

    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.

    Check out the whole Ms Marvel Menu

    See more of the The Comic Vault’s Comic Kitchen

    Photo credit: Jonathan Hartzell

  • Rosy Lemon Cakes

    Rosy Lemon Cakes

    I had a very specific image of Sansa’s favorite treat in mind as I was reading Game of Thrones, so it took a couple of tries to get them right! I had a vision of small, almost bite-sized cakes on a platter, decorated prettily. I wanted them very dense, barely leavened, so I melted the butter and cooked them at a very low temperature. There are a million lemon cake recipes floating around, so I’ve tried what I imagined as regional variations. This one is inspired by Highgarden. I used rosewater in both the lemon curd and the lemon cakes; the Tyrell’s sigil is the Rose, which I thought was fitting as Marjorie was a decent ally for awhile to Sansa.

    As a variation, I also made a Queen in the North version: Rosemary Lemon Cakes with rosemary and candied lemon.

    Rosy Lemon Cakes

    For the rosy lemon curd
    Adapted from Ina Garten

    • 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) butter
    • 1 1/2 cups sugar
    • zest of 3 lemons
    • 4 eggs
    • juice of 2 lemons
    • 2 tbsp rose water
    • 1/8 tsp salt

    Cream the butter, then beat in the sugar and lemon zest. Add the eggs one by one, then the lemon juice, rosewater, and salt.

    Pour into a saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring, until thickened (10 minutes or so, mine took longer). Remove from heat and cool completely. Can save in the fridge.

    For the lemon cakes

    • 6 tablespoons butter, melted
    • 1/3 cup honey
    • 3 egg yolks
    • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
    • 2 tablespoons rosewater
    • pinch safflower for color (optional)
    • 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour (spoon very lightly into measuring cups to measure)
    • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • powdered sugar, rosy lemon curd, and optional rose petals to decorate

    Heat oven to 275°

    Whisk together well butter and honey, then whisk in egg yolks one at a time. Whisk in lemon juice, rosewater, and crumbled safflower.

    In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt, then stir into wet ingredients until just combined. Spoon into greased mini muffin cups, and bake for 15-17 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

    Cool for a few minutes in the pan, then overturn onto a plate to cool the rest of the way. Before serving, sprinkle with powdered sugar, dollop with lemon curd, and garnish with a few sprinkled rose petals.

    This is kind of an amalgam of these:
    Fine Cakes translated by Gode Cookery
    Medieval Lemon Cakes by Inn at the Crossroads
    Lemoncakes from Geeky Chef (this is my favorite presentation, I may try the ones above again with just little lemon slices in the muffin cups)

    This dish was first posted for Fiction Kitchen Episode 1: GAME OF THRONES in which Carrie and Diana discuss characters, regions and cuisines of Westeros and Essos, salt rite, food styling, and blood and boobs.