I like soups, dals and curries but occasionally I don’t fancy bread,
rice or potatoes. It’s however nice to have something crunchy to dip or
put into the dish.
The solutions are breadsticks or crackers. This is a recipe for
something between a breadstrick and cracker made using puff pastry
instead of bread dough.
We are going to use panch phoron to spice up the otherwise plain and
boring breadstricks but you can use any herbs or cheese that suites your
dish.
- a mix of 5 spices we already used in previous recipes, except fenegriek
- cumin, fenugreek, nigella, mustard and fennel seeds.
It’s an important part of Bengali cuisine.
The original Bengali version uses “Radhuni“ (Trachyspermum roxburghianum - Hindi Ajmud - English - Wild Celery) instead of mustard seeds.
I haven’t found Radhuni in a shop so I have to order it online asap. Radhuni is the berry, so not a seed, and should taste like parsley and celery.
An interesting fact about panch phoron is that it’s never roasted and ground, like for example garam massala or curry powder. The seeds are used whole and are often “tempered” in the beginning of the dish in hot oil or ghee.
We are going to use panch phoron in a potato, spring onion and tomato curry in October.
You can buy panch phoron in any indian shop or onine. It’s also easy to mix your own version. The recipe is equal parts of each herb. I reduce the fenugreek in my own version because it tends to be a bit too bitter.
I reduce the fenugreek in my own version because it tends to be a bit too bitter.
This recipe is a simplified version of the puff pastry cheesy breadstick
recipe in the first Ottolenghi book : Ottolenghi: The
Cookbook{width=“1”
height=“1”}.
If you like cooking and don’t mind having to go on a shopping spree for
fresh and dried herbs you really need to check out the other cookbooks
(Plenty{width=“1”
height=“1”}- Plenty
More{width=“1”
height=“1”} - I still have to order Plently More), his articles in The
Guardian and
the
restaurants
in Londen!
The original recipe uses strong cheddar and caraway seeds. The puff
pastry is slightly pulled and twisted to make a nice round thicker
breadstick.
My version is the clumsy bakker edition :-)
Get in touch and send pictures/recipes of your version! Enjoy!
[ultimate-recipe id=“19497” template=“default”]
[Other interesting panch phoron recipes
:]{style=“text-decoration: underline;“}
-Bombay-Bruxelles : Sauté de Drumsticks au Panch Phoron
-Chilli
and Mint : Red split lentil dal with panch phoron - bengali five spice
-Playful
Cooking : Panch Phoron – A must in almost every Bengali
kitchen (recept)
[wpurp-searchable-recipe]Puff pastry breadsticks with panch phoron - - puff pastry ((200-300 gr - real butter puff pastry recommended)), egg ((whisked)), panch phoron ((or other herbs/cheese/…)), Preheat your oven - 220 degrees C.; Cut the puff pastry into 2 cm wide ribbons or any shape you like.; Brush the egg wash on the puff pastry with a pastry brush and sprinkle with the panch phoron or your own herbs/cheese mix. Lightly press the herbs into the puff pastry. Try to do this as fast as possible to avoid that the butter in the puff pastry melts. Move this to the fridge in case your oven isn’t ready.; Bake for 15-20 minutes and cool. ; - [/wpurp-searchable-recipe]