Mountain Berries & Desert Spice
May 12, 2017 by Jenny
Mountain Berries and Desert
Spice: Sweet Inspiration from the Hunza Valley to the Arabian
Sea by Sumayya Usmani is the eagerly awaited follow up to the
award winning Summers Under the Tamarind Tree which I reviewed in detail last year. The talented
food writer and cookery teacher takes a sweet detour while
continuing her journey of discovery through the exotic cuisine of
her native Pakistan.
This beautiful title introduces home cooks to Pakistani desserts
and explores their unique significance in the country’s culture and
traditions. The 70 authentic and family recipes travel from the
fruit-rich foothills of the Hindu Kush mountains in the north, via
the fertile Punjab known for its rice and grain based desserts to
the Arabian sea in the south, where saffron and cardamom flavored
sweet recipes are a favourite.
The Bakar khani (sweet puff pastry biscuits) can be whipped up in
20 minutes or spend a little more time making the Balushahi
(festive glazed curd doughnuts) – both of which look amazing. There
are Afghani Gosh-e-fil (elephant ear-shaped fried pastry with
ground pistachio and cardamom), Sweet Parathas filled with date,
walnut and milk fudge, and Memon Lappi (crunchy oats with jaggery,
cinnamon and fennel seeds marked to be tried in my treasured copy
along with the samosas we are sharing with you here today.
As with Summers Under the Tamarind Tree, Sumayya has
spirited me away to her beloved Pakistan with her words and
photographs and I am happy to experience this beautiful land
through her recipes and stories. Special thanks to Frances Lincoln,
for sharing the Spiced Apple Samosas with our members today. Be
sure you enter our giveaway for a chance to win a copy of
this book to delve into the sweetness that Pakistan has to
offer.
Spiced Apple Samosas
For the filling
6 Royal Gala apples, peeled, cored and cut into bite-sized pieces
150ml/5 fl oz/2⁄3 cup cream, whipped with 1 tsp rose water
Begin by making the pastry. Combine the flour, salt and semolina in a bowl, then slowly add enough water to bring all the ingredients together into a dough. Knead the dough on a clean floured work surface and form into a soft dough. Lightly grease your hands with oil, pat the dough down, cover with a damp cloth and allow to rest at room temperature.
Meanwhile, make the filling. Heat a saucepan, add the apples, sugar and spices and cook over a medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, or until the apples are soft, glistening and the sugar is dissolved and shiny. Take off the heat and allow to cool.
Knead the dough on a floured surface, then roll it out to 5mm/¼ inch thick. Using a 5-cm/2-inch diameter round pastry cutter, cut out 6-8 circles. To fill the samosas, place about 1 teaspoon of the filling for each samosa, on one half of the circle, then fold the dough into half moons and press the corners with a fork to close.
When all the samosas are made heat the oil for deep-frying in a large deep frying pan to 180°C/350°F, or until a cube of bread browns in 30 seconds.
Photograph by Joanna Yee.
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