Kalkals

Before you start

• Kalkals are rolled on the back of a fork, and it takes a few to get the knack. Make one, see how it curls, then adjust how hard you press.
• The dough must rest at least 2 hours, or overnight refrigerated. Unrested dough is slack and the curls unravel in the oil.
• Have everything ready before you start the sugar syrup at the end; it goes from clear to grainy in under a minute.

Method

1. Rub the melted ghee into the maida, rava, 3 tbsp sugar, cardamom and salt with your fingertips until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs.
2. Work in the beaten egg, then add the coconut milk a little at a time until you have a firm, smooth dough. You may not need all of it.Firm, like a stiff chapati dough. A soft dough will not hold the ridges.
3. Knead 5 minutes, cover and rest at least 2 hours.
4. Pinch off marble-sized pieces. Roll each into a tiny ball, press it flat on the back of a greased fork, then roll it away from you with your thumb so it curls into a shell.Press lightly. Bear down and the dough sticks to the fork instead of curling.
5. Spread the shaped kalkals on a tray in a single layer and leave them to dry, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
6. Heat the oil in a kadhai to a steady medium — a scrap of dough should rise slowly and sizzle, not brown in seconds.If they brown fast they will be raw inside. Low and slow gives an even, pale gold crisp.
7. Fry in batches for 4 to 5 minutes, turning, until pale gold and hard. Drain on paper and cool completely.
8. Boil the 250g sugar with the water to a thick syrup: it is ready when a drop cooled on a plate forms a soft ball between your fingers.
9. Take the syrup off the heat, tip in the cooled kalkals and stir constantly as the syrup crystallises into a white frosting, 2 to 3 minutes.Keep stirring right through the grainy stage or they will set in one solid lump.
10. Spread them out on a tray to dry and harden for an hour before storing.

Storage

Keep 3 weeks in an airtight tin at room temperature, which is how they survive the whole of Christmas. Do not refrigerate: the sugar frosting goes damp and sticky.