This week, I am gifting you a recipe that, once again, gets polished off before you can say Jack, never mind Robinson, in my living room with drinks, but these nuts are actually even more delicious as an accompaniment to both blue cheese and foie gras, which is how I like to consume them when I am alone … there is a funny little story behind my relationship with this recipe, which I think you will enjoy …
Above: Jaggery & Chili Flake Caramelized Nuts
… A couple of years ago, I made a rather unique new friend, an inveterate recluse who enjoys the fine things in life all by and for himself, rather than an audience, a rare quality to find in a person during this era of exhibitionism; each and every day his menus change, and the table setting for one is given the same attention to detail as that of a formal sit down dinner party.
Anyhow to cut to the chase, I am one of very few who had the good fortune of being invited to dine with him on several occasions, and the very first time I did, amongst a whole bouquet of other delicacies, I discovered these nuts, which he calls a house speciality and keeps the recipe a closely guarded secret, not that I dared ever ask him for it; I didn’t need or want to, since I was invited over often enough, and these were my little pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
But one fine day, he disappeared from my life, leaving me feeling somewhat bereft without both his friendship and my weekly treat, and while the former could not be easily substituted, for the latter I pounced on the internet and lo and behold, found both a recipe and video on Youtube for jaggery spiced nuts; after all, my purpose is not only to enlighten you with my own creations, but also unearth the best existing recipes for you … and here is one below, albeit with a few subtractions from the original recipe, which I did not particularly care for, and limited to walnuts and pecans for I feel they work best.
Ingredients
YIELD : 1 cup
- ½ cup pecan halves
- ½ cup walnuts, broken into halves
- ¾ cup jaggery powder
- 2 teaspoons red chilli flakes
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
(* please note that I buy all of the above ingredients at Defence Store, 38, Defence Colony Main Market, New Delhi 110024)
Above: Ingredients
Method
First and foremost, take a large sheet of silver foil, as shown in the image above and brush lightly with oil. Then weigh out the nuts, break the walnuts in half, and gather together the rest of your ingredients.
Thereafter, Step 1 is to dry roast the nuts in a non-stick pan over low heat for 7 minutes. Then remove the nuts, reserve them on the side, and add the jaggery powder to the same pan. As it begins to melt down, stir up with a wooden spoon to get an even melt. (Steps 2 & 3)
What you are looking for is the consistency and colour of Image 4. Then turn off the heat, add the baking powder and chilli flakes (Step 5) and stir quickly to combine, (it should look like Image 6) then add the nuts and stir it all up vigorously so that each nut gets coated.
Then finally add the nuts, stir vigorously to combine, (STEPS 7 & 8) so that each nut is coated with the jaggery, and quickly empty onto the oiled silver foil sheet. (STEP 9)
While they are still warm, do separate the nuts from each other, (STEP 10) as they tend to crumble if one waits till they have cooled and hardened. Then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
