Kaamaranga ( Balakh- e- shaam)

  Kaamaranga as its known here in Maldives has been around for some time. These star-shaped pieces of fried dough soaked in sugar syrup appeared somewhere in the 80s, and I remember seeing them at the numerous kid's parties I attended then. 

It was much later I was told that they were also known as Balakh e shaam. And much later I found out that it is something that is found in Egypt. So most probably it arrived here along with scholars who studied there or the Arabic expatriate teachers? 

So I attempted to make this a couple of times. I got a friend of mine who studied in Egypt to translate an Arabic recipe for me but it didn't quite work out as I would have liked. Then I tried another one.

Making the dough was fairly easy although it does require a bit of arm muscle and elbow grease. Unlike the regular choux pastry, after adding the flour into the oil and water mixture,

 the dough is spread in a bow to cool a little.

Don't let it cool completely. The eggs are beaten into the dough one at a time along with some cornflour. I used an electric beater to beat everything into a nice batter, but I found I needed to give a good stir with a spatula or wooden spoon. 

But the hardest part came when piping it. I  detest piping especially when it comes to using different nozzles. After bursting a few piping bags and a couple of cursing later I even attempted to try this kitchen hack of making a star nozzle with a plastic bottle. 

Attempt to make a star nozzle

It did work out well but the fried dough although very pretty to look at didn't have that crunchy exterior.

It didn't turn out as crispy, although taste was there

 So during my third and final attempts using two disposable piping bags and a large star nozzle, I was able to pipe some pretty kaamaranga. 

Now the secret to a crispy kaamaranga as I read was that it has to be piped into warm oil, not hot oil. Don't overcrowd the pan, as they tend to puff up as they cook.

Then it is fried over low heat, flip them halfway through so both sides are evenly dark golden brown. 

As soon as it's out of the fryer and oil is drained a little dip in cold sugar syrup and remove. Don't keep it in the syrup. Just dip and take out, the syrup has to be made earlier, so it's cooled or even cold. I made mine a day ahead and kept it in the fridge. Any leftover syrup can be stored to use again but use it within a week. 

Yield: 16 approximately

Author: Nammi

Print

Kaamaranga

Prep time: 1 hour cook time: 45 min total time: 1 H & 45 M

Ingredients:

Dough

• 1 cup plain flour, sifted
• ¾ cup water
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• Pinch salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• 3 large eggs
• ½ tbsp cornflour

Sugar syrup

• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 cup water
• Cinnamon stick
• 6 cardamon pods
• 1 tsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp rose water

Instructions:

Sugar syrup

1. Prepare syrup, place all the ingredients except the rose water and lime juice into a small sauce pan and place over medium heat and stir to dissolve the sugar. Boil for a few minutes, switch off add rose water and lime juice. Pour into a heatproof bowl and cool.

Dough

1. To make the kaamaranga, pour water, oil, and sugar into a saucepan and heat it up. Stir to dissolve the sugar, bring to a boil, lower heat to the lowest setting and add the flour and salt all at once and stir it quickly.
2. The mixture will form a smooth ball and comes off the sides. Switch and remove from the stove top and spread the mixture in a mixing bowl.
3. Once it's cool enough to touch, add cornflour and one egg. Beat with an electric beater till well mixed and add the next egg, beat again to incorporate, and finally the last egg. You should get a nice smooth batter. This can be done using a spatula or wooden spoon if you don’t have a beater or electric mixer but it does require quite a bit of arm muscle work out. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to give a final mix.
4. Once the dough is smooth, spoon into the prepared piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle.
5. Heat a large frying pan with oil for deep frying over low heat. Do not let it get hot!. Hold the piping bag over the pan and squeeze out the batter, cutting it after 2 inches of batter. Use an oiled knife or scissors. Increase the heat just a little and fry till dark golden. Flip them halfway through.
6. Drain for a few seconds on kitchen paper or colander. Then dip in cold syrup. Spoon the syrup around and remove it to a serving plate. Serve warm or chilled. 

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @chilliesandlime on instagram and hashtag it #chilliesandlimeblog

Created using The Recipes Generator