Spicy Biscotti

So with a full sized oven and lot of time to spare, there is no surprise that I feel like baking every now and then. But unfortunately, it’s just the two of us here, and even if I send a portion of what I make to his office for his colleagues, the remaining part itself is too much for us! So as to make sure not to bloat up with all the calories that goes in, I consciously look for some low calories bakes, and also small sized portions. Got this apt recipe from Champa’s Versatile Kitchen, and adapted it so as to be in lines of our Khara biscuit, but with a lesser fat content.

The quantity of this batch is also small, makes about 10 small sized biscottis, perfect for my conditions! And it tasted good, as a tea time snack or simply to munch in between meals.

Spicy Biscotti

Preparation Time: 10 min

Baking Time: 30+20 min

Makes: 10 medium sized biscottis

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - ¾ cup (I used ½ APF + ¼ WWF)

Rice flour - 2 Tbsp (the original says corn flour; I replaced with rice flour)

Egg - 1

Olive oil - 2 Tbsp (Can use vegetable or canola oil)

Sugar - 1 Tbsp (I skimped on this but felt it’d have tasted better with 1 Tbsp)

Salt - ½ tsp, or to taste

Baking Powder - ½ tsp

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Green chilies - 2, or to taste

Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp

Curry leaves - 2-3 sprigs

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 160 deg C.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
• Run the cumin seeds, green chilies, coriander and curry leaves in a blender without water to get a coarse mixture
• Mix egg, oil and the ground spices in a bowl and whisk together.
• In a bigger bowl take all the dry ingredients. Whisk them to combine.
• Add the egg mixture to dry ingredients and mix with your hand, to get a dry dough.
• Shape into a log and press so that it is half an inch thick.
• Bake for 30-35 minutes, till the sides are slightly brown
• Let it cool for 10 - 15 minutes.
• When cool enough to slice the log, slice the log to ½" - ¾” thick pieces.
• Keep them on the cookie sheet, standing on their bottom edges and bake for 20 minutes at 140 deg C, till dry.
• Let them cool on wire rack.
• Store in an air tight container when completely cool.

Notes:

• These do stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for more than a week. Champa says these freeze well too.
• To make it eggless, use ¼ cup of yogurt in place of egg, as does she
• The same can be done with Italian herbs and chili flakes or ground pepper, in place of the Indian spices, to get a different flavor