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In my interaction with Chef Sanjay of The Ashok, I learned that across North-East, people like their desserts to be very simple and non-fussy. It comes as little surprise then, that the most famous North-Eastern dessert I personally know of is the Black Rice Kheer. It is of beautiful, purple-black colour, and so much milkier than the kheer you find in North India. “So we decided to get Khapse in our dessert section of the North-Eastern Food Festival, people tend to look forward to elaborate desserts in these festivals and Khapse is supposed to be this gorgeous biscuit from the North-East". Gorgeous, it indeed was. Khapse is essentially a sweet biscuit that is incredibly popular in Tawang and West Kameng Districts of Arunachal Pradesh, Nepal and Tibet. They are known more for their pretty shapes over anything else you can braid them, shape them as ribbons, or coil them. Made of ghee, maida, sugar and milk, Khapse tastes like a light biscuit, and nothing like a dense or center-filled cookie. In fact, it is something rolled out so thin, it may appear like sweet chips. And since they are not baked but fried, they may pass off as chips.
Khapse is also known as Amjok is said to have Tibetan Origins, and there is a reason why they are made in so many different shapes and sizes. They have ritualistic importance in Tibetan New Year or Losar. New Years are celebrated with much aplomb across the world, and it is always interesting to learn about varied local traditions. In Tibet, people start making Khapse from days in advance. Once they are fried and cooled, they are relished by friends and family, as it is always a good idea to start a year with something sweet, right?
Chef Sanjay also shared his recipe of Khapse with our readers. They are so simple; you do not have any excuse not to try this. So, without any further ado, let’s get started.
Ingredients:
- Refined Flour - 500 gms
- Refined Oil / Ghee - 120 ml
- Sugar - 100 gms
- Milk - 200 ml
- Breakfast Sugar - 100 gms
- Oil / Ghee - for deep frying
Method:
1. Dissolve the sugar in warm milk
2. Combine flour, oil and milk. Mix everything together to make smooth dough, knead for about 10 minutes.
3. Roll out the dough to about ¼ inch thickness.
4. Cut the rolled-out dough into small rectangular strips.
5. In each rectangular strip make a slit in the middle and also make thin strips on both sides. Pull one strip at a time from each side and join in the middle continue for all the thin strips forming something like a shoelace pattern.
6. Now heat oil/ghee in a pan and deep fat fry.
7. Remove when golden brown and while hot sprinkle some breakfast sugar on top of each.
