Cumin, black pepper and ghee shortbread

When we arrived in Kuwait some seven years ago, most of my days were spent filling out forms or cooking up a storm with the Food Network playing in the background. I’d mimic Nigella Lawson while I stirred my pot of stew and practise my British accent every time Gordon Ramsay came on. Those years shaped my cooking style and opened up a whole new world of food to me. I cooked five meals a day, dessert included. When I recently watched an old episode of Jamie Oliver, I felt that same sense of inspiration to cook. So when the entire house had retired to bed, I tiptoed to the kitchen to make this shortbread. It had to be sweet and salty, like salted caramel. It had to melt in your mouth and yet have a crisp texture. And most important of it all, it had to be good with tea. Armed with inspiration and a tad bit more ghee than I would normally use, these cumin-studded biscuits were made. It’s essentially shortbread, but made with ghee instead of butter, which enhances the flavour of the spices. The recipe can easily be doubled. For best results, use good-quality, pure ghee.

• makes

  12

• prep

  25 minutes

• cook

  25 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 cup ghee 
• 300 g (2 cups) plain flour 
• 1 cup superfine semolina (see note) 
• 1 tsp salt 
• 110 g (½ cup) caster sugar 
• 2 tsp (heaped) cumin seeds 
• ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Resting time 15 minutes

Freezing time 30 minutes

Instructions

Line a 28 cm square cake tin with baking paper. Measure the ghee and tuck it in the freezer for at least 30 minutes to chill.

Meanwhile, whisk the flour, semolina and salt in a bowl to combine. In a separate bowl, place the sugar, cumin seeds and pepper. Rub the sugar and cumin seeds together in between your fingers for couple of minutes. This might be an extra step but it’s totally worth doing to get a cumin-y scent in your biscuits.

Add the chilled ghee to the sugar mixture. Using an electric mixer, whisk until smooth and fluffy. Whisk in the flour mixture in two batches. The dough will look like pebbles and that it won’t come together. Dump the mixture into the prepared tin and place a sheet of cling wrap on top. Using your hands, spread the mixture to about ½ cm thick.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.

Wrap the tin in cling wrap and freeze for at least 30 minutes or until firm. Alternatively, refrigerate for 4-5 hours or up to 2 days until ready to bake.

Remove the tin from the freezer and immediately bake for 25 minutes or until light golden. The shortbread will be very soft, but will harden as it cools. Using a sharp knife, cut into equal-size rectangles as soon as it comes out of the oven. Let it cool completely in the pan, then serve.

Note

• If you can’t find superfine semolina, blitz regular semolina in a grinder before using.

Recipe from Journey Kitchen by Kulsum Kunwa, with photographs by Kulsum Kunwa.

Read our Blog Appétit interview with Kulsum Kunwa and view more recipes by her.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.