Whether you love it or loathe it, the official day of all things heart-shaped, rosy and sugary sweet is on our doorstep. If you guys need a hand for any last-minute Valentine’s day treat, bake my super tasty and amazing shortbread and make this Valentine’s day extra sweet as the month of February is right here and heartfelt fare romance is in the air.
More Eggless Cookies/Biscuits Recipes:- Mango Passion Fruit Melting Moments | Orange, date, and ginger Oat Cookies | Hazelnut Butter, Buckwheat and Honey Cookies | Cappuccino Swirls
Sink your teeth into these melt in your mouth and delectable Shortbread with silky chocolate layer topped with salty peanuts, a perfect combination of sweet and salty with a little crunch. You may not miss cute and romantic cards or a romantic bouquet of red roses, the currency of love! More Valentine Recipe:- Pistachio Shortbread | Bombay Ice and Golden Halwa | Eggless, Butterless Cream Cheese Chocolate Brownies | Eggless Chilli Brownie with Passionfruit Cream
These are perfect for Valentine’s day treat or just gobble up whenever you have intense cravings for some delicious cookies or biscuits!
I baked a small batch of these yummy and satisfying cookies over the weekend for my family and we enjoyed it together.
I thought salted peanuts and chocolate would bring a little variation, as my daughter always prefer her popcorns sweet and salty together.
While I was dipping the cookies in melted chocolate and sprinkling crushed salted peanuts, my mind suddenly drifted into Valentine’s Day and this gave me the idea to use some dried rose petals and pistachio also as toppings.
These shortbread cookies are great as a gift too.
CHOCOLATE AND SALTED PEANUTS SHORTBREAD COOKIES
ingredients:
- 65g Icing Sugar
- 125 g plain flour
- 120g softened butter
- 65g cornflour -cornstarch
- 2 tbsp. smooth peanut butter
- 125 g dark chocolate
- 2-3 tbsp. salted peanuts lightly crushed
- 2 tbsp. pistachio lightly crushed
- 1 tsp. dried rose petals
instructions:
How to cook CHOCOLATE AND SALTED PEANUTS SHORTBREAD COOKIES
- Mix all the shortbread ingredients ( flour, butter, sugar, cornflour and peanut butter) in a big bowl until the mixture comes together.
- Knead lightly, cover with cling film and refrigerate for an hour.
- Pre-heat the oven to 180C/355F or Gas Mark 4.
- Knead briefly after removing it from the fridge.
- Roll flat to about 1/2 ” thickness cut the biscuits out.
- Layout them on a non-stick baking mat or baking parchment.
- Allow some space between them for expansion.
- Bake until golden brown around edges, about 12-15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before decorating.
- Once shortbreads are totally cooled melt the chocolate and dip half of the shortbread cookie into the melted chocolate and place back on the baking tray with parchment paper.
- Sprinkle with the crushed salted peanuts or pistachio and rose petals onto the chocolate cover side immediately.
- Repeat with all the remaining shortbreads and let the chocolate set for 20-30 minutes.
- Enjoy on its own or with a cuppa.
NOTES:
Did you make this recipe?
Nope, I have not been to Mauritius but it is definitely on my travel to-do list. A few years back I read somewhere that It was Mark Twain who wrote ‘ Mauritius was made first then heaven, heaven being copied after Mauritius ‘ with that recommendation… I’m off to book a flight!
I’ve had a plan to visit Mauritius for a while, meanwhile, I visited this Mauritius restaurant with my mum.
I love to eat and finding inspiration for authentic and new recipes from different cultures around the world. Cooking with various and different flavours is always the fun part and pretend to be in that culture or country for a while.
We tried their vegetarian dishes and drinks, one of them was Gateau Piment Curry , first, we thought that the fritters they used were so similar to our Gujarat Na Daal Vada , which are made with green moong lentils.
I would say, this curry is a close cousin of Indian style Kofta Curry or vada Curry, was not surprised as Mauritians are a fusion of French, Indian, Creole and Chinese people and their cuisine is blended of Chinese, European and Indian.
So as soon we had the first bite of this delicious Gateau Piment Curry, we looked at each other and nodded our approval. Since that day we had made this curry at home, but somehow one or the other reason could not appear on the blog. So now it is time to look at the recipe of Gateaux Piments Curry!
I am sure you want to know what is Gateaux Piments or Gato Pima? Gateaux translate Fritters or Vada and Piments translates Chilli Pepper, so these are Chilli Fritters. These crispy outsides and soft inside Chilli Fritters are made with Split Chickpea or Chana Daal, green and red chilies and a couple of basic Indian spices, yes resembles South Indian Masala Vada or Paruppu Vadai,. These fritters are popular dish amongst the Mauritians and you can find them every nook and corner of this island, yes just the way you can find samosa in India and Chips in England.
So how these fritters make their way into the curry? I guess when you have leftover Gateaux Piments so they just throw into a hot and spicy finger licking gravy or sauce that is prepared with tomato, coconut milk, and spices, and serve it with round and soft gujarati rotlis , ghee rice , poori or ajwain paratha . This dish is fit for any occasion, whenever you feel like having it or any get-together, In Mauritius, this curry is served on a wedding day or any big occasion too.
Notes:- Adjust spiciness according to your liking. Chilli Fritters are freezable. If you are preparing this curry for get together or for a crowd gravy can be made early. When ready to serve heat the gravy and toss the fritters into. If you can’t find fresh thyme, use 1/4 tsp. carom seeds ( ajwain) More Kofta Curry Recipes 1. Vegan Sweet Potato and Tofu Kofta Curry
Gateaux Piments Curry
ingredients:
250g chana daal or split chickpeas
4 red dry chillies broken into pieces
2 fresh green chillies broken
100g spring onion chopped
1/2 medium red onion chopped
2 tbsp. freshly chopped coriander -optional
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying
1 big onion finely chopped
1 tbsp. garlic, ginger puree
2 green chillies finely chopped
1 sprig fresh curry leaves
3-4 sprigs thyme
1 tsp. red chilli powder
1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tbsp. ground coriander and cumin
1 tbsp. ground cardamom, fennel, and fenugreek seeds or powder – Saunf, Elychi and Methi
1/4 tsp. cinnamon powder
1 tsp. Curry Powder
400ml coconut milk
2 tbsp. oil
Fresh coriander for garnishing the curry
75g tomato puree -optional
instructions:
How to cook Gateaux Piments Curry
- Clean, wash and soak chana daal for at least 4-5 hours or overnight.
- Drain the water from the daal, and grind in a grinder until you get the coarse paste. (You won’t need any water to make the paste, but if you really struggle to make a paste then add a couple of spoons)
- Now add all the other ingredients except oil and grind the mixture for 5 seconds.
- Remove the mixture into another bowl.
- Heat oil in a kadai or deep fryer, make small balls and gently drop them into the hot oil. (keep a couple of tablespoon of this paste to use in curry sauce)
- Fry these fritters on a medium to low heat until light golden brown and crispy.
- Remove it and leave on a kitchen paper.
- Enjoy hot with chai or chutney and leave some to make curry.
- To prepare gravy, heat oil in a pan or kadai.
- Add onion and fry until translucent, now add ginger and garlic puree.
- Fry this mixture for a couple of minutes then add curry leaves and thyme sprigs.
- Now add tomato puree and cook this mixture until oil separates from the mixture.
- Add all the ground masala and powders with salt and fritters paste.
- Cook the mixture until you get the really nice aroma of spices, then add coconut milk.
- Gently simmer the sauce or gravy for a few minutes.
- Now add fried chili fritters and let it simmer the curry for another five minutes.
- Turn off the heat and garnish it with fresh coriander.
- Serve hot.
- I served with mine with yellow rice and salad.
- Enjoy!
