Linzer cookies

Linzer cookies- two almond  flavoured cookies sandwiched  together with a filling of jam,top

 dusted with icing sugar and a cut out so you can see the colour of the jam!

The  same ingredients are used in making Linzer torte or cake.
Linzer torte is an Austrian torte with a lattice design on top of the pastry.
It is named after the city of Linz in Austria.

Linzer torte is often made like small tarts or cookies in North America!

Ingredients:
Whole Almonds-1 cup or 150 gms,
All purpose flour or maida- 2 cups or 260 gms,
Ground cinnamon-1/2 tsp,
Zest of 2 small lemons,
Salted butter- 200 gms - room temperature,
Granulated sugar ( powdered )-1/2 cup (100gms divided),
Vanilla essence- 1tsp,
Egg yolk-2.
Topping- icing sugar-1/4 cup,
Filling- Jam- you can fill  jam of your choice.

Note: These cookies are eaten during the christmas time,so the best time for baking these cookies is in winters. 
The weather is hot and humid now and the dough is fragile due to almond meal!
You can make the cookies few days ahead and keep in a container at room temperature or store in the fridge!
 Spread the jam when you plan to serve as the jam will soften the cookies a little,but if you like soft cookies then go ahead as it adds flavour when stored!

Method:You can half the recipe to make small amount.
Roast the almonds in the oven for ten minutes at 350 F or 180 C.
Leave it to cool in the tray.

Grind the almonds and 1/4 cup sugar in a grinder until finely ground.(sugar is added to prevent the almonds from turning to paste).

In a separate bowl whisk or sift together flour,cinnamon pwd and lemon zest.

In bowl of your mixer beat the butter and and the remaining sugar until light and fluffy(2 to 3 minutes).

Beat in the vanilla and egg yolks for a minute.

Add in the ground almond and beat for 20 seconds.

Then add the flour and beat until just combined.

Gather the dough into a ball and transfer to your counter.
Divide the dough into half.

Spread two sheets of cling film and on each sheet make a small disc of the dough and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Spread one sheet of wax paper or butter paper on your counter and put one disc of dough on it.
(since the dough is very fragile we need to roll it in between two sheets of butter paper)

Top it with another sheet of butter paper and roll the dough into 1/4 inch thickness.

Transfer the sheet to a baking tray and put in the fridge to harden for 10 minutes in the freezer or 30 to 60 minutes in the fridge.

Pre heat oven to 350 F or 180 C
Take out one tray from the fridge and using a 3 inch cutter cut out the shapes.
( you can use round,square or heart shape cutter - one big 3 inch size  and one small cutter)

You have to keep in mind that for each linzer cookie,you need 2 cookies-one for bottom and one for top.
Use a small cookie cutter to cut out the centers of half of the cookies.
In total 32 cookies are cut.
Place the cookies 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet.

Gather all the scraps and cut out the remaining cookies.
Repeat with the second dough.
If the cookies are soft ,place the unbaked cookies in the fridge for about 10 minutes.
This will prevent the cookies from spreading and losing their shape when baked.
Bake the cookies for 15 minutes or until light brown around the edges.

Remove from oven and cool on wire rack for 2 minutes.

Remove the butter paper and let the cookies cool completely on wire rack.

Assemble:
Lightly dust some icing sugar on the cut out cookies.

Spread a thin layer of jam on the bottom surface of the full cookies( top of the cookie will face out).

Place the cut out cookie on top and gently sandwich them together.
Using a small spoon,fill the cut out with a little more jam.

The cookies are pretty to look and the taste is amazing!

Makes 16 cookies.

Dum pukht gosht

This is a Awadhi cuisine !
Dum pukht means`slow oven' in Persian.
Dum pukht is the cuisine of Awadh! It is now commonly used in other cuisines!
Here for Dum means `breathe in'and for pukht it means  to cook.
It cooks on a very low flame in a sealed container allowing the meat to cook in their own juices!

Ingredients:
Mutton or gosht-1 kg,
Curd- 1/2 kg-beaten,
Onion-3 medium size- finely sliced and fried in 100 ml of canola oil,
Kashmiri red chilli pwd- 1and 1/2 tsp,
Coriander pwd- 3 tbsp heapful,
Cumin pwd-2 tbsp heapful,
Turmeric pwd-1tsp,
Ginger paste-1 tbsp,
Garlic paste-2 tbsp,
Whole spices-
Cloves -6,
Cinnamon stick-2 ( one inch each ),
Big cardamom-4,
Small cardamom-8,
Bay leaf-2,
Small cardamom pwd- 1/2 tsp,
Green chilli-4 to 6-whole,

Garam masala pwd-1/2 tbsp.
Salt- to taste- 
Ghee-1 tbsp-(optional),
Canola oil -ghee or any oil -100 ml or 1/2 cup-( for frying onions),
Some dough for sealing.

 

Note- This is a rich but an  easy recipe and only frying required, are the onions.
Few things to keep in mind are -
 Marinated chicken should be at room temperature before you start cooking.
The cooking pot should be a little wide for even cooking and the heat has to be low ( use the small burner for the dum).
Check from the top to see steam formation under your lid,then only the cooking process starts.
The first ten minutes on direct heat are important for the mutton to get the right temperature for dum.


Method-
Wash and keep the mutton in a sieve to drain out the excess water.
Transfer the mutton in large bowl.
Beat the curd with wire whisk to smooth.
Pour the curd on to the mutton and mix with a spoon.

Cover with cling film and put in the fridge for 6 hours or overnight.
Take out from the fridge and let it come to room temperature( 40 minutes to an hour )
Heat a kadhai and put 100 ml of canola oil in it.
As oil heats up add the sliced onions and fry till golden brown.

Meanwhile the onions are frying,you can assemble the marinated mutton with all the ingredients in your cooking pot.
Take your cooking pot and add the marinated mutton once it is room temperature.
Add all the ingredients- coriander pwd,cumin pwd, ginger garlic paste,red chilli pwd,turmeric pwd,whole garam masala,whole green chillies,garam masala pwd,cardamom pwd and salt.

Add the fried onions along with the oil to the pot.

Add 1 tbsp ghee for flavour-(optional)

Mix thoroughly all the spices and powder with a spatula or wide spoon.

Take dough and make into thin rope and stick it around the edge or rim of the lid or place it on the rim of your pot.Cover the small hole on top of the lid too.
Put the lid on the pot to seal all edges.

Transfer the pot on your stove and keep on low flame.

The mutton will start simmering and as it starts to get heat from below,you will see droplets inside the lid.
 Let it stay for 10 minutes for the mutton to get direct heat.
Heat tawa on a small size burner alongside the pot.
As the tawa heats up lower the heat.
 Transfer the cooking pot after 10 minutes on to the heated tawa.

Raise the heat for 2 minutes and then lower the heat again.
After few minutes you will see steam droplets inside the lid,it indicates that the mutton is cooking.
Let it cook on low heat for 1 hour.(As the steam pressure builds up, some steam will find its way out  from the sealed dough.Do not worry )

(There is enough water from the curd to cook the mutton and enough gravy to enjoy your dish)

After an hour,you will see the oil floating on top.
Close gas and remove the pot from the tawa.

Let the pot remain closed for 15 to 20 minutes.
Insert a knife to cut through the sealed dough.
Remove the lid.
Adjust salt and check the tenderness.

This is easy to cook dish and very delicious!
The mutton cooked in slow process makes it very tender, juicy and has a very nice flavour to it.
There is no comparison between dum pukht method of cooking and pressure cooked food!

Enjoy this awadhi dum pukht with naan,roti or paratha along with onion rings and raita.