If you are an Indian, you are more likely to make a guess about the flavour intensity in these cookies with just the name. Kari Patta and jeera, are two of the most used and loved flavours of Indian culinary chronicles. They are bold and vibrant like us, full of aroma/full of life and make a best pal with our desi chai. These are Indian bakery-style biscuits, with an additional flavour of kadi Patta. Which makes them attract attention, almost like an inescapable temptation.
Jeera biscuits are engraved in our food memories. They are the legacy of old Indian bakeries. We carry them forward with pride and relish them with pleasure. Such bakes carry nostalgia. One of my vivid memories-There was this bakery right opposite my house, where I spent my childhood. The bakery radiated amazing aromas every morning. I was always drawn to those big glass jars, holding different types of biscuits and rusks. Jeera biscuits are my favourite of all. I still have the nous to those biscuits.
Bakery buys were occasional for us, we mostly ate at home, what mom cooked. In spite of all the temptations, I never created a crusade to buy from the bakery. But I was always curious about the process and aroma of the bakery. Especially the jeera biscuits, which according to me is a mastery of sweet and salty combination.
Roasted cumin with sautéed Kari Patta is finesse of flavours. Together they notched up the buttery salty sweet biscuits. You will love them too when you try them at home.
The recipe is easy to follow, and uncomplicated to accomplish. Even if you are new to baking, you can carry this forward by following instructions. However there are a few instructions, I recommend you read through, before baking these.
Baking can be quite notorious in nature. You need to understand the ingredients and their temperaments to arrive at success. A few points mentioned below will prove to be helpful for you, so just go through them.
Although there is a recipe video to help you, but I think a one-minute video, made for reels won’t be able to guide you completely. It is the lack of attention span in this generation, that we are missing the details in our approach to work. I agree and disagree with this scenario of working quick. I think, It is a browser’s knowledge, which doesn’t seek mastery in any subject. Most of the time, we scroll thoughtless and achieve zero from all that time spent on Instagram.
Anyways, I prefer to halt and share with you the details here, so it vouches for success. These are buttery biscuits, so don’t try to make them healthy by switching the ingredients.
Dry roast the cumin seeds(jeera) over a low flame. Don’t burn them, be mindful of the temperature. It will take less than 2 minutes on low to roast the cumin seeds. Don’t brown them, turn off the flame as the first scent kicks in. Remember that the hot pan will keep the process of heating and roasting continue. If you think jeera has reached its potential, remove it into a separate bowl.
The same theory applies to Kari Patta. We need to crisp it on a low flame, in little oil. And be mindful of not burning it.
Take room temperature butter, and whisk it well with sugar to cream them together. If the butter is from the fridge, keep it out for some time and don’t try to melt it in the microwave. We need soft butter, not melted butter.
The combination of half maida and half whole wheat brings the best taste to these biscuits. Pass them through a sieve for better results.
The moxie move of the recipe is to roll the dough and shape it. It can be tedious if you, try to hurry up the process.
First of all, don’t try to knead the dough. You just need to bring the ingredients together and form a ball of dough. You might require a few drops of milk to bring the dough together. If you see a lot of dry flour, in the bowl, which refuses to bind in with the rest of the dough, add a few drops of milk and gently work it out to form a dough ball.
I prefer rolling out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper. You will find many methods on google to shape the cookies, but according to me, this is the best way. The cleanest, fuss-free method.
After you roll out the sheet of dough and you are ready to cut it into circles using a cookie cutter. If you find the dough sheet very soft, and almost impossible to manage, keep it in the fridge for 5-7 minutes. It will depend on the weather and the temperature of the room you are working in, so be the best decision maker.
Use a cookie cutter to cut them, and use an offset spatula to lift the cut cookies and place them on a baking tray lined with a sheet of parchment paper. Gather the pieces of the dough left on the parchment paper and roll out again and shape again, till it is all shaped.
You might face this- as you cut into the biscuits with a cookie cutter, the roughly cut pieces of Kari Patta will peak out from several places, making it difficult for you to attain a neat round circle. The smart idea is to use a kitchen scissor to cut those naughty Kari leaves and save the shape.
Place the baking tray with the shaped cookies in the freezer and turn on the oven for preheating at 170*C for 15 minutes. This is an important step, you need to chill the shaped biscuits before putting them in the oven or they will spread out like a sheet. They will not hold the shape, leaving you in disappointment.
Only bake them for 15 minutes, or less. Depending on the size of your biscuits and the oven. Your indication of doneness is a slight golden hue on the edges of the biscuits. Don’t try to achieve crispness in the biscuits. Take them out of the oven and allow them to cool on a wire rack. They will attain the right buttery crunch as they cool down. Once done, enjoy them and keep them in an airtight container to avoid sogginess.
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