I really enjoy the taste of fennel seeds (variali), it gives a wonderful fresh feel to the mouth, which is the reason why it is used as a after dinner mouth freshener in India. Also it retains its taste when mixed with other herbs and spices. When I was living in India for my placement year, I went on a little weekend break with my maternal uncle’s family and along the car journey we saw fields of variali and drying red chillies. When I asked my cousin what was growing in the fields he said variali, so we stopped the car and cheekily ran into the field and picked a bunch of variali, it is so refreshing and cool when eaten fresh and raw.

So when I saw the event of ‘Think Spice.. Think Twice‘ for this month which was for fennel, I thought I must take part and make these biscuits. This event is originally started off by Sunita of Sunita’s World, and I feel it is a wonderful event where we learn a lot about different spices, not to mention the vast array of recipes we get from it as everyone uses spices in different ways. This month the event is hosted by Ivy from Kopiaste, where she has given the option of two different spices, fennel and mastic gum.

I originally made these biscuits a couple of years back as one of my Diwali treats. I had them at one of my husband’s cousin sister’s place. She  makes lovely biscuits, so I asked her for the recipe and made them a year or so later. However the biscuits had spread while baking, as I had beaten the butter and sugar mixture too much. So when I saw this event I thought I would make these biscuits, remembering not to over beat the mixture. However this time I cannot explain why it happened but once I had added the milk, the butter, and sugar, the mixture curdled slightly. I still carried on and the biscuits turned out to be a success. They are quite refreshing and a good treat and go wonderfully well with afternoon tea.

Fennel (Variali) Biscuit

As I had made these biscuits before, I reduced the amount of sugar slightly to the original and added twice the amount of ground fennel. Perhaps next time I will be brave enough and try making them using wholemeal flour, to make them more healthy. You can use a biscuit machine with a moulding disc of your choice, or as I did (because I don’t have a biscuit machine) use a icing gun. Another way of making them is by creating small portions of the dough into oval shapes and then press with a fork to make a pattern, either straight lines or a grid pattern.

Ingredients

Preparation time:20 mins    Cooking time:10 to 15 mins    Makes: roughly 100

250g  plain flour

6 to 8 tbsp ground fennel

1/8 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

100g sugar

125g butter

1/2 cup warm milk

Method

1) Start to cream the butter and sugar together, once they start to look like they are binding together (like coarse sand) slowly start to add the warm milk to the mixture  and combine all three of the ingredients.

2) Fold in the remaining ingredients to form a soft dough. Let it rest for a while.

3) In the mean time line a baking tray with grease proof paper and pre heat the oven at 200′C.

4) Create the biscuits by filling the dough into the biscuit machines, or icing gun.

5) Bake in the oven until they are golden brown in colour. Cool completely on a wire rack before storing in a air tight container and enjoy at your leisure.

]]> http://radiancerecipes.com/fennel-variali-biscuit/feed/ 3 http://radiancerecipes.com/ginger-cookies/ http://radiancerecipes.com/ginger-cookies/#comments Tue, 10 Feb 2009 23:38:11 +0000 Kiran http://radiancerecipes.com/?p=561

This recipe was invented by my 3 year old son. A couple of weeks back, I asked him what he wanted to do. So he said “I want to make ginger cookies”. I said “you mean gingerbread men”, he said “NO, cookies…”. So as soon as he finished his breakfast he wanted to get into the kitchen and get cooking. To begin with I wasted a bit of time trying to find a ginger cookie recipe. Then because he was getting a bit upset that he hadn’t started, I said OK I will be brave and make it up as we go along. I asked him about each ingredient and that is how we created this recipe. Surprisingly he said he wanted wholemeal flour and no sugar. “So how are we going to make it sweet” I said, he said “Honey”. As he was mixing the dough he kept on saying easy peasy lemon squeezy

As I have previously mentioned since my ‘golden child’ started Montessori school, I have tried to do some form of cooking with him on Wednesdays, his day off. I was so proud and could not believe my little 3 year old was so grown up that, he was creating a recipe with me, a wonderful moment of being a mother

Ginger Cookies

I went with what my son felt like adding to the mix, however you can add raisins, oats, fresh ginger, candied citrus peel and chocolate. I just used the normal everyday chapatti flour to make the cookies. Its best to eat them within a few days as I found they started softening up.

Ingredients

Preparation time: 10 mins       Cooking time: 20 mins      Makes: approx 40

1 1/2 cups wholemeal flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

zest of one lemon

4 tbsp candied ginger, cut into small bit sized pieces

2 tbsp each of honey, black treacle and lemon juice

80 g butter

120 ml milk

Method

1) Place all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix, add the lemon zest and chopped candied ginger.

2) In a pan heat the butter, honey and black treacle, just enough to melt and mix all the ingredients. Cool slightly and pour into the dry mix of ingredients.

3) Squeeze the lemon juice and combine, now add the milk little at a time to form a soft dough. You may need a little extra or maybe even less.

4) Let the dough rest for a few minutes, while you prepare the baking tray by lining with a grease proof paper and preheat the oven to 200 ‘ C .

5) Roll out the dough on a slightly floured surface to 2 mm thickness, cut with a cookie cutter of your choice and place on the baking tray. Bake in the oven for roughly 10 mins or until they are golden brown. Remove from the tray and let them cool completely before storing them in an airtight container.

This is the perfect, healthy and wow biscuit, it only has a few ingredients and no sugar or butter.  I had learnt to make Arabian Flowers over the spring time when one of my husband’s cousins was getting married. Leading up to the wedding, a variety of food was made at their home for all the different events that took place. I was so glad and grateful for the opportunity when we were asked to help make these show stoppers!!  It is always good to learn and share new recipes. I was just so pleased that the humble puff pastry and dried dates can be made into such beautiful and pretty looking biscuits. The main ingredient is dried dates, and I don’t really enjoy dry dates very much, but love fresh dates, so for people like me and children it is a good way to get us to eat food that is good for us Dates are said to be rich in fibre, calcium, vitamins and minerals, and also said to have good medicinal properties.

Arabian Flowers

The original recipe had rose essence and just milk to soften the dates, but I have modified it slightly and  added cream as it gives it a much softer and better texture to the dates mix. Adding some spices, or even mixing the dates with figs will give these biscuits a whole new flavour twist but I have yet to try it myself. These are great served warm with some Greek yoghurt and honey or even vanilla ice-cream. You could make this and keep the flowers frozen to heat and eat when ever you want to impress your guests.

Ingredients

Preparation time: 2 hrs      Cooking time: 45mins       Makes: 30 to 35 biscuits

1 pack puff pastry

200g pack of pitted dried dates

1 tbsp cocoa powder

3/4 tbsp finely chopped almonds, cashews and pistachios

4 tbsp double cream or milk

Method

1) On a heavy base saucepan, over a medium heat, cook the dates, constantly mixing and breaking the dates down as you go. You will have to be very careful not to burn or over cook the dates.

2) Once they soften slightly, add the finely chopped nuts, cocoa powder, and cream or milk, mix well. Cook for just a few minutes to the consistency of a soft dough. You can reheat, adding some more milk or cream if you feel that it is too hard.

3) As soon as you can handle the dates mixture, on slightly greased palms roll the mixture to small balls about 2 cm diameter. Keep aside and let them cool while you roll out the pastry.

4) Roll the pastry to roughly 3 mm thickness and cut with a 5 cm round cookie cutter. It is very important that the pastry is kept at the correct temperature as it does not work well if kept at room temperature for too long, so you will have to keep it in the fridge or freezer for 20 to 30 mins.

5) Place a ball of the dates mixture in the middle of the circle of pastry. Pull the pastry over and completely cover the ball, trying to remove as many creases as possible to make a larger ball. You can remove any excess pastry if you feel there is too much. Flatten this pastry ball slightly using the palms of your hands.

6) Before cutting the filled balls, place in the freezer for a little while as the flower shape will not not form properly. Make six cuts into the flattened ball from the edge to just off the centre (as shown in the picture). Make sure you do not go right to the centre, otherwise you’ll get six separate wedges.

7) To create the flower, with your thumb and index or middle finger, pinch and twist each cut segment about 90 degrees in one direction and then flatten them slightly to create a petal shape. Practice makes perfect, you will get the hang of it after a few goes, just be patient The trouble is worth the effort! Once the flower is created place on a baking sheet, ready to go into the oven.

8.) Once all the flowers have been made bake in a preheated oven at 200′C for 20 mins or until golden brown. Let them cool slight and enjoy.

Click on an individual image below to see a larger version.

Since my son started going to his Montessori school, I have tried to make a routine of baking on Wednesday. Lately that has been a bit tricky but last week he told me he wanted to eat these. He had them originally over the summer and really enjoyed them so I decided to make some with him. My son enjoyed making them and felt they looked and tasted like Jammie dodgers.

I recently saw these cookies on this blog and this blog and it reminded me I had to try the recipe. I got the original recipe from a book published in Kenya for charity called, ‘The Ultimate Collection – A vegetarian cookbook’. I modified the recipe by adding the zest and juice of one lemon, and reducing the amount of sugar, this added flavour and changed the taste of the cookies and the combination of ingredients made them perfect.

Jam Filled Cookies

DO NOT over beat the butter and sugar as I did, otherwise they will spread while cooking! I filled them with jam after baking, however you can fill first and then bake. My recipe book did not suggest to chill the cookie dough, however other similar recipes that I have seen ask for that, and I think it is necessary to do that so as a result I am adding to the recipe.

Ingredients

Preparation time: 15 mins      Cooking time: 15 to 20 mins        Makes: about 35.

250g self raising flour

125g butter

110g sugar

1/4 cup warm milk

1 tsp baking powder

Juice & zest of one lemon

Strawberry jam and dessicated coconut for decorating.

Method

1) Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy – DO NOT over beat !

2) Add the remaining ingredients and start mixing together, pour the milk a little at a time. You need to make a soft dough. Chill for 2 hours or until ready to bake.

3) Make small round balls (around 35), about 2cm in size. Arrange on a tray covered with grease proof paper, about 2cm apart.

4) Press an indent into each ball, with the back of your finger or a utensil handle.

5) Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200′C for 15 or 20 mins until golden brown.

6) Place on a wire rack to cool and spoon on the strawberry jam and sprinkle the dessicated coconut. Leave to cool completely then store in an air tight container, if there are any left

I saw this recipe in a recipe book given recently to me that was written by a group of women in Kenya for charity.  I decided to make the biscuits as they seemed very different and I would never have thought to mix the two main ingredients – passion fruit and ginger.  I modified the recipe by adding more of the passion fruit than the recipe had suggested and you can still add a little more to make the taste more distinct.  I am glad I made them as they are different to the normal basic biscuits that we can either make or buy.  Have a go and let your taste buds go on a journey…

Passion Fruit and Candied Ginger Biscuits

You can use fresh passion fruit for this recipe or use a syrup. I used a concentrate syrup that is normally diluted to make passion fruit juice. You can also use the passion fruit syrup,  such as Easiyo, which is normally used to flavor yoghurt. If you are using fresh passion fruit you may need to sweeten them because the syrup mixture will already be seetened.

Ingredients

125g / 1 cup self-raising flour

80g / 2/3 cup plain flour

40g / 1/3 cup sugar

125g butter

2 tbsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp ginger powder

1 tsp grated lemon rind

1 tbsp lemon juice

4 tbsp finely chopped candied ginger

6 passion fruits pulp

a pinch of salt

Method

1) Mix the butter and sugar in a bowl until light and creamy.

2) Sieve the flours and ginger powder, add the remaining ingredients and knead to a soft dough.

3) Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until ready to bake.

4) Roll out on a floured surface to 6mm thickness and cut into shapes with a cookie cutter of your choice.

5) Place on to trays lined with grease proof paper and bake in a pre-heated oven at 200′C until light brown.

6) Cool on a wire rack and store in air tight containers.

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