Spicy Crisp Masala Cookies

I have been a fan of Daring Kitchen – Daring Bakers and Daring Chefs Challenges since a long time. Although currently with a baby and all his shenanigans, I find it difficult to make the challenge every month. But I sure bookmark them for whenever time permits.

These Indian Biscuits were hosted by Aprarna of My Diverse Kitchen somewhere back in August 2013. I had them written in a tiny little recipe book I maintain. And finally last week made these crisp yet flaky (and quite spicy) Masala cookies. The crisp crunch of the cookies as you bit into the them with the chillies is quite good.

When I made these biscuits the second time, I replaced the curry leaves and pepper with a generous amount of homemade garam masala and it tasted delicious.

Here is the adapted recipe from Daring Bakers . You can sure make your own variations.

Spicy Crisp Masala Cookies

What you will need:

• 1 and 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon rice flour
• 1 tablespoon corn flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3-4 tablespoon cold yoghurt
• 115 grams chilled butter, cut into cubes
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dry curry leaves powder
• 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon powder sugar
• 2 red chillies, very finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
• 2 tablespoon white sesame seeds
• Little oil

Method :

1. Mix together all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, rice flour and corn flour.
2. To that add diced cold butter cubes and mix it with a hand blender till the texture becomes like sand.
3. Now add pepper, curry leaves, chilli powder, sugar, ginger garlic paste and yoghurt. Mix well with the blender.
4. The dough should be moist, not wet.
5. Pat the dough into a thick disk and place it in a saran or plastic wrap and keep it in the fridge for atleast 3 hours. I kept it overnight.
6. Preheat oven to 160C and line a baking tray with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
7. Lightly dust your working surface with all purpose flour. Roll out disks of flour to 2-3 mm thickness.
8. Cut shapes with a cookie cutter.
9. Transfer to the parchment line baking tray. Spread on with some sesame seeds and press down.
10. Gently brush with some oil and bake for 20-25 minutes till the brown from the bottom.
11. Let them cool on the tray for 5 minutes and further on a wire rack. Once completely cool they should be crispy.

Notes:

1. Baking time will depend on the thickness and size of your cookies.
2. The first 8 ingredients form the base of the cookies. You can replace the next ingredients with spices of your choice. They will also taste good with Italian dried herbs and fresh basil.