Recipes

Nankhatai 

• 175g plain flour (or a mixture of rice flour and plain flour)
• 110g cold butter
• 75g icing sugar
• Podded and crushed seeds of 4 cardamom pods
• 1½ teaspoons rosewater

Method:

In a bowl, use your fingers to rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs (chop the butter into small pieces first to make it easier). Add the rose petals, cardamom and icing sugar, then combine with your hands until the dough starts to come together. Pour in the rosewater until a firm dough is formed, but avoid working it too much.

Flour a clean surface and roll out the pastry until around 2cm thick. Cut into regular shapes – either with a fluted circular cookie cutter, or if you don’t have one, the rim of a small mug or glass. Line a baking tray with parchment and place the cut cookies a few centimetres apart. Chill in the fridge for around 20 minutes, until nice and cold and firm. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 170C/340F/gas 3-4.

Once hot, bake the cookies for 20 minutes, or until golden. Remove from the oven and decorate with a few spare dried rose petals. Serve warm with a good old-fashioned cup of tea!

Shortbread                           

185gm butter

¾ C Icing sugar

½ C Rice four

1 ½ C Plain flour

1 tsp vanilla

2tbsp Caster sugar for topping

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla

Mix flours

Gradually add flours until dough is formed

Press into circle cake tin

Stab all over with a fork 

Bake at 160 for 20-25 minutes until golden halo forms on the outside 

Simple three ingredient Christmas cake 

1kg mixed dried fruit 

600ml iced coffee 

2 cups self-raising flour

Preheat oven to 180C. 

Tip the into a large bowl and add the fruit and Iced Coffee.

Leave to soak overnight. 

Stir in the flour. Pour the mixture into a greased cake tin and bake in a moderate oven for roughly an hour or until the cake springs back in the middle.

Lemon Cordial 

8 medium (or 6 large) lemons

1.5 kg sugar

1 tablespoon tartaric or citric acid

4 cups boiling water

This cordial is also very nice made with three tangelos substituted for three of the lemons or try using limes instead of lemons.

Finely grate the lemon rind. Squeeze the juice from the lemons.

Place the sugar, tartaric or citric acid, lemon rind, lemon juice and boiling water in a large bowl.

Stir until the sugar has dissolved.

Leave to stand until cool (overnight for preference), then strain through a sieve and pour into sterilised bottles.

Seal. Store in the fridge after opening.