Kalakala Sweet Recipe / Diamond Biscuit / Maida Biscuit

When we used to live in CA, a couple of us friends would go for walking in the morning after dropping the children at school. After walking, I would spend at-least an hour with Thahira sipping tea and listening to her stories. She is an amazing story teller. Here is a sample. When she was really young may be in her first or second grade, she saw that everyone in school was really sad one day. She learnt that it was to do with her language teacher who was in a christian missionary. She came back home and told her mom that the teacher had become “Reddiar”. Reddiar is a community in Tamilnadu. Her mother was totally shocked and did not quite comprehend what Thahira was saying. Later on, her mother came to know that the teacher had actually “RETIRED”. I just could not stop laughing after hearing this. We still laugh so hard when we talk. There are very few people in life who can make you laugh till your stomach hurts. Hold them tight. நன்பேண்டா. OK. Back to the recipe. So one day Thahira had this Christmas party that was coming at school. She was to bring some Indian snack for the children. Her son was in Kindergarten then. She asked me what she could make that would be kindergarten friendly. We thought about a lot of snacks and sweets but were not convinced. Then she shouted “KALAKALA”. I dint know what kalakala was then. We just called it diamond biscuits. It was a huge hit at school among the little ones. Kalakala is crunchy and very slightly sweet. Its the perfect snack. This is also very traditional Christmas snack made in Tamilnadu. Here is how to do diamond biscuits.

Grind the sugar and the cardamom in a small mixie / grinder to a smooth powder. Set aside.

Mix in the Maida (All purpose flour), sugar mixture, a big pinch of salt and a big pinch of baking soda. Add in 2 teaspoon of ghee. Don’t add too much ghee. The biscuits will become too soft and soggy. Combine well with your fingers to make sure the ghee is evenly mixed.

Start adding water. Add very little at a time. Sugar is hygroscopic. So a little water will go a long way. Make a very stiff dough. Make 8 balls out of the dough. Set aside. Dust the dough ball in maida generously and roll each dough ball into a flat circle. Don’t roll it too thin. Roll it a little thicker than chapati.

Cut the circle into little diamonds with the help of a pie cutter or a knife. I like to use a knife as its super easy and the shape reminds me of my child hood memories. If you want to use a spiral cutter like the one in the picture below, go ahead. If you have a bench scraper, use it. I find it really helpful to transfer the cut diamonds to a plate. I transfer them directly to the oil for frying.

Heat oil in a pan in medium flame. Gently add in the diamond cuts to the oil. Do not fry the diamonds in very hot oil. As the dough contains sugar, it will caramelize and become really dark if fried in hot oil. Fry on low medium flame until golden.

Drain the biscuits on paper towels. Store in an airtight container for up-to 4 days.

• Measurements Used 1 Cup = 250 ml and 1 teaspoon = 5ml
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 Cardamom
• 2 Cups Maida / All Purpose Flour
• 2 teaspoon ghee
• a big pinch of salt
• a big pinch of baking soda (aapa soda)
• Little Flour for dusting
• Vegetable Oil for deep frying

1. Grind the sugar and the cardamom in a small mixie / grinder to a smooth powder. Set aside.
2. Mix in the Maida (All purpose flour), sugar mixture, a big pinch of salt and a big pinch of baking soda. Add in 2 teaspoon of ghee. Combine well with your fingers to make sure the ghee is evenly mixed.
3. Start adding water. Add very little at a time. Make a very stiff dough. Make 8 balls out of the dough. Set aside. Dust the dough ball in maida generously and roll each dough ball into a flat circle. Don’t roll it too thin. Roll it a little thicker than chapati.
4. Cut the circle into little diamonds with the help of a pie cutter or a knife.
5. Heat oil in a pan in medium flame. Gently add in the diamond cuts to the oil. Fry on low medium flame until golden.
6. Drain the biscuits on paper towels. Store in an airtight container for up-to 4 days.

• Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins
• Category: Snacks
• Cuisine: South Indian, Tamilnadu

• Measurements Used 1 Cup = 250 ml and 1 teaspoon = 5ml
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 Cardamom
• 2 Cups Maida / All Purpose Flour
• 2 teaspoon ghee
• a big pinch of salt
• a big pinch of baking soda (aapa soda)
• Little Flour for dusting
• Vegetable Oil for deep frying

1. Grind the sugar and the cardamom in a small mixie / grinder to a smooth powder. Set aside.
2. Mix in the Maida (All purpose flour), sugar mixture, a big pinch of salt and a big pinch of baking soda. Add in 2 teaspoon of ghee. Combine well with your fingers to make sure the ghee is evenly mixed.
3. Start adding water. Add very little at a time. Make a very stiff dough. Make 8 balls out of the dough. Set aside. Dust the dough ball in maida generously and roll each dough ball into a flat circle. Don’t roll it too thin. Roll it a little thicker than chapati.
4. Cut the circle into little diamonds with the help of a pie cutter or a knife.
5. Heat oil in a pan in medium flame. Gently add in the diamond cuts to the oil. Fry on low medium flame until golden.
6. Drain the biscuits on paper towels. Store in an airtight container for up-to 4 days.

• Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins
• Category: Snacks
• Cuisine: South Indian, Tamilnadu

Find it online : https://www.kannammacooks.com/kalakala-sweet-recipe-tamil-kalakala-biscuit/

During Christmas time, you will come across two kinds of people in this world. The fruit cake lovers and the fruit cake haters. I used to be a fruit cake hater for a very long time. Then it all changed one day. Long time back, our good friend Femila Cinthu bought us a yummy Gazillion kilo weighing fruit cake during Christmas time. My husband loves fruit cakes. We had planned to have the cake after dinner as dessert but Vinodh insisted that we have cake first. The ever smiling Cinthu could not say no. She cut a piece for him and gave one for me. I could not say no. I had a bite very unwillingly but I am so happy I had it that day. It was heavenly. Ever since I have been making the cake using Cinthu’s secret fruit cake spice mix. Sorry Cinthu – Its not a secret anymore. My husband loves loves loves fruit cake. It has even become our anniversary cake that I make it every year as a ritual. Here is Cinthu holding my Vedant and her Nitin. Vinodh and Manoj (Cinthu’s husband) were friends from their bachelor days. It so happened that we traveled to the US at the same time. Not only that. We even stayed next door sharing one common wall between us. Wonderful days. Wish we can live it back again. Stevens Creek Boulevard – I miss you. I still remember this picture so vividly. It was taken on Vedant’s first birthday. We had just moved to San Diego from San Jose and we did not know anyone yet there. So we drove to San Jose where Cinthu hosted a birthday party for him. Good food (Lots of biryani), good friends and some really memorable times. That’s what life is all about. Not to forget, Thomas the train engine that ruled our lives at that time. Nitin (Cinthu’s son) must have been the biggest Thomas fan ever to be born.

Here are the other Christmas fruit cake / Plum cake on the site. Kerala christmas cake, Xmas plum cake Whole Wheat Christmas Plum Cake

Here is the video of plum cake recipe

For detailed recipe and measurements, scroll to the bottom of the page. This fruit cake has black grapes (dark raisins), golden raisins (called as Kishmish locally), currants and dried apricots. The fruits you use are more of a personal choice. Use whatever you like.

Clean the dry fruits and get rid of any stems. The trick with fruit cakes is to chop the dried fruits. Take time to chop the apricots and rough chop the raisins and black grapes. I cut the grapes in half. Yes its time consuming work but its rewarding. I find that the fruits absorb more flavor of the spices if chopped and the end cake is even more tastier.

Now add the dark rum / brandy to the chopped fruits and leave it to rest in a draft free place in your kitchen. Rest it for a minimum of one day. You can leave it for even a month. Some people soak their fruits even an year ahead. Just give the container a good shake every day or every couple of days. If you do not want to use alcohol, just omit this step and proceed with the recipe. It still tastes good.

Now lets talk spices. A lot of the flavor of the cake will depend on what kind of spices you use. This is the best spice mix according to me and a lot of flavor develops during dry roasting of the spices. The spices may look too much. But trust me, fruit cake can take it all!

Dry roast all the ingredients listed under Spice Mix One . Dry roast on low flame until the spices are fragrant. Remove from heat and let it cool. Grind the spices in a small mixie jar / spice grinder to a very fine powder. Getting the spices to a fine powder is very important. Pulse several times until you reach the fine texture. Set aside.

If the powder is not fine after grinding, sieve the powder.

We will need another set of spices and lets call it Spice Mix Two. Get them ready. While zesting orange and lime, make sure to zest only the skin of the fruit which has flavorful essential oils. Don’t go deep till the pith or the white part of the fruit. The pith is very bitter.

Take a pan and add in the soaked dry fruits, finely ground Spice Mix One, all of the ingredients listed under Spice Mix Two, water, butter, salt and both the sugars. Bring the mixture to a boil. Once its boiling, reduce the flame to low and let the mixture simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Its important that the mixture is completely cool before proceeding. If you mix flour in hot liquid, you will end up with gum. Nah! So be patient and wait for the mixture to cool. It might take one hour to cool.

Preheat the oven to 325 F / 160 C.

Whisk the eggs in a cup. Add it to the cooled fruit mixture. Mix well.

Sift the dry ingredients together namely flour and baking soda. Add it to the cooled fruit mixture. Fold the flour with a wooden spatula and mix well to combine. Grease and flour “two 9 x 5 inch bread loaf pans” or “three 6 x 3 inch round cake pans”. Line the pan with parchment paper. Transfer the cake batter to the pan. Level the batter with the back of a spatula. Make sure that the batter is not more than 3/4th of the height of the pan. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

After 45 minutes, insert a tooth pick in the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is done. If the tooth pick has a little batter sticking, bake for 10-15 minutes more and check again. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in the pan until room temperature. Gently invert the pan and remove the cake from the pan and store it in an air tight container. The flavor of the cake improves the next day.

Have the cake with your friends and count your little blessings.

For Soaking Fruits

• Total Fruits Used – 700 grams
• 300 grams dried Black grapes / Dark Raisins – seedless
• 200 grams dried Apricots
• 100 grams Golden Raisins / Kishmish
• 100 grams Currants
• 1/2 Cup Dark Rum / brandy

Spice Mix One ( Dry roast and Grind to a fine powder)

• 6 Cloves
• 4 Cinnamon sticks (Cassia) ( 1 inch each)
• 1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
• 6 Cardamom
• 1 tablespoon Coriander Seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon Cumin Seeds

Spice Mix Two

• 1 teaspoon Instant Coffee Powder
• 1 teaspoon Dry Ginger powder
• Zest of one lime
• Zest of one orange

For the cake

• 200 grams brown sugar or demerara sugar
• 200 grams white regular granulated sugar
• 2 Cups ( 500 ml) Water
• 100 grams butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs
• 420 grams All purpose flour ( Maida)
• 2 teaspoon Baking Soda

1. Add the dark rum / brandy to the chopped fruits and leave it to rest in a draft free place in your kitchen. Rest it for a minimum of one day.
2. Dry roast all the ingredients listed under Spice Mix One. Dry roast on low flame until the spices are fragrant. Remove from heat and let it cool. Grind the spices in a small mixie jar / spice grinder to a very fine powder.
3. Take a pan and add in the soaked dry fruits, finely ground Spice Mix One, all of the ingredients listed under Spice Mix Two, water, butter , salt and both the sugars. Bring the mixture to a boil. Once its boiling, reduce the flame to low and let the mixture simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
4. Preheat the oven to 325 F / 160 C.
5. Whisk the eggs in a cup. Add it to the cooled fruit mixture. Mix well.
6. Sift the dry ingredients together namely flour and baking soda. Add it to the cooled fruit mixture. Fold the flour with a wooden spatula and mix well to combine. Grease and flour “two 9 x 5 bread loaf pans” or “three 6 x 3 inch round cake pans”. Line the pan with parchment paper. Transfer the cake batter to the pan. Level the batter with the back of a spatula.
7. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
8. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in the pan until room temperature. Gently invert the pan and remove the cake from the pan and store it in an air tight container.
9. The flavor of the cake improves the next day.

• Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
• Prep Time: 24 hours
• Cook Time: 2 hours
• Category: Dessert
• Cuisine: British / Indian