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For some of us a cup of green tea is just not enough…
One of the most unusual recipes I have found using green tea is using ‘two and a bud’ to make Indian Bhajias. Two and a bud is the part of the tea bush - Camellia Sinensis - that is plucked from the bush to make both green and black teas. Of course hardly any of us have access to two and a bud but it makes for an interesting idea…and it tastes good!
‘Two and a Bud Bhajias’
For the Batter:
225g/8 oz/ 2 cups gram flour
half a tsp chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric
salt to taste
water
A handful of ‘two and a bud’ tea leaves (like in the above logo!)
Mix the gram flour, chilli powder, turmeric and salt with a little water until you have a batter.Coat the ‘two and a bud’ and deep fry until golden. Do not under cook or the batter will have a bitter taste.Enjoy as an unusual biting.
Here some more delicious and unusual recipes using green tea.
SALON DE THE MACAROONS
*Makes about 20 filled macaroons
MACAROONS
120g icing sugar
120g ground almonds
1tbsp green tea
2 medium egg whites
Pinch sea salt
30g caster sugar
Green food colouring
FILLING
140g unsalted butter
80g icing sugar sifted
Finely grated zest of ½ lime
- Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl, add the ground almonds and stir to blend. Grind the tea in a coffee grinder. Sift the green tea into the mixture and mix it in. Using a hand held electric whisk, whisk the egg whites with the salt in a large bowl until they appear foamy, then gradually sprinkle over the caster sugar, whisking with each addition until they form medium soft peaks (you don’t need stiff egg whites here)
- Stir the almond mixture into the egg whites in two goes, then colour the mixture to the very palest green using the food colour.
- Line two baking sheets with baking paper securing the corners with a little of the macaroon mixture. Drop level tea spoons of the mixture in circular mounds on the baking sheets; spaced slightly apart they will spread a little). Now set the trays aside for two hours, leaving the macaroons uncovered, during which time they will form a skin – this ensures they don’t crack when they cook.
- Pre heat the oven to 150C/130C fan/300F/ gas 2. Dust the macaroons with icing sugar using a tea strainer and bake for 20 minutes, swapping the trays around halfway through and, if necessary, turning them around. They should have a pale green glossy domed surface specked with icing sugar and a frilly edge around the bottom.
- Remove the paper with the macaroons from the baking tray, run the surface of the tray under cold water to wet it, and then return the paper to the tray. Leave the macaroons to cool, and then slip them off the paper using a spatula. You can leave them on a wire rack overnight if you like, in which case the shells may crack a little.
- To make the filling, whisk the butter in a food processor until soft and pale, and then add the icing sugar, the lime zest and the smallest drop of green food colouring.
- Pipe or spread a little of this over the base of half of the macaroons, sandwiching them with the other half.
The macaroons can be stored in an n airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days, bringing them back to room temperature before eating.
More to follow….
