Fennel Tadka Biscotti with Pistachios and White Chocolate

It's cookie season!

Hey everyone!

Hope you’re well and warm. 🥶

I’m back in Brooklyn from a weeklong trip to London. It was my first time there and my first time traveling outside of the United States. It was such an amazing trip. I had the pleasure of meeting many of the friends i’ve made through instagram over the years as well as several new friends. I ate sooo many delicious pastries at some of London’s most exciting bakeries. And each meal I had was better than the last. I return more inspired than ever and I can’t wait to share more about it over the coming months.

While I was gone, the US food media landscape took a hairpin turn from Turkey Town to Cookie City. lol. I’m not complaining (I really love cookies) but it was fun to see the circus from outside the tent for once. Cookies have always been a huge part of celebrating the winter holidays here in the states but over the last 5 years or so, with the rise in popularity of food publications and media brands, cookie season seems to have exploded.

Cookies are probably the easiest baked good to share and they make the perfect gift. They can please a room, no forks or plates needed. Most cookies pack and travel well nestled in a decorative box or simple tin. I love the renewed interest in cookie boxes thanks to many beloved and talented bakers across the internet. It’s fun to see the curation of a cookie box, the combination of flavors, colors, and shapes. Here are some great sources of inspiration if you’re contemplating a having a go at one this year.

bens_onlypans

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easygayoven

A post shared by @easygayoven

sayanafewd

A post shared by @sayanafewd

Today’s cookie recipe borrows a classic cooking technique from the cuisines of India and South Asia. “Tadka” (or chaunk) is the name for the process of blooming fresh or dried spices in a hot fat. It is also the name for the flavorful oil created by this process. The key to unlocking the full flavor potential of most dried spices is through heat and/or fat. Heat breaks down the spices, releasing the potent oils within. The fat (usually neutral oil or ghee) helps to extract and carry the flavorful compounds.

If you’d like to read more,

Nik Sharma

has an excellent article over on Serious Eats all about tadka. He delves into the science behind how the technique works, why you would want to use it, and a thorough step by step “recipe” for how to get the best results.

I first learned about tadka from the books of Raghavan Iyer. His book 660 Curries was a blessing when I first started cooking Indian dishes in graduate school. Raghavan was one of the first cookbook authors I connected with on Instagram. He was always so helpful and encouraging while I was learning how to harvest fresh coconut or toast and grind large quantities of spices for one of his masala recipes.

When I wanted to create a fennel biscotti that really tasted like fennel, I knew I would need to use heat to amplify the flavor. Biscotti is an oil based cookie so heating the oil was the obvious choice. Walking through the likely recipe steps in my mind helped me to realize I was writing the instructions for something i’d already made many times to finish a curry or daal, like those found in Raghavan’s books.

I decided to lean into this connection and include some of the traditional ingredients you’d see in a tadka. The biscotti is what I would call fennel-forward but with the warmth of cinnamon and dried chili and the sharpness of curry leaves and fresh ginger. The cumin is a light touch that straddles the sweet/savory border just enough to ground the other flavors. I hope this cookie wins a spot in your cookie box this year!

A few notes…

• Make sure the tadka is fully cooled to room temperature! If the oil is even slightly warm, you’ll wind up with a very different cookie. The tadka can be stored overnight in a sealed container.

• The pistachio is best crushed in a food processor. Give it three to four long pulses and used a spatula to move the mixture around the blade if needed. There should be a mix of sandy and large pebbly pieces but no whole pistachios left in the processor bowl.

• If you’ve never made biscotti before, don’t fear - they’re really so easy. Don’t let the slicing scare you. Use a serrated knife and use your hand to support the dough as you slice with even but light pressure.

• The coconut oil in the drizzle helps the white chocolate to melt faster and it also helps the mixture to harden at room temperature. If left out, the white chocolate may initially struggle to melt and may remain a little softer once cooled.

• If you can’t find fresh curry leaves try bay leaves, a favorite fresh herb, or a few large strips of orange peel. Get creative!

Fennel Tadka Biscotti with Pistachios and White Chocolate

makes 18 to 22 cookies

Tadka

100g neutral oil (vegetable, canola, etc.)

1 tablespoon crushed fennel seeds

2 sticks cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 dried chili

3 slices fresh ginger, about the size of quarters

3-5 fresh or frozen curry leaves

Biscotti

Tadka (recipe above)

190g white sugar

2 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

312g all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

95g pistachios, finely chopped

150g white chocolate, chips or chopped from a bar

23g coconut oil (optional)

pinch of kosher salt

1 tablespoon crushed fennel seeds, for garnish

1 to 2 tablespoons crushed pistachios, for garnish

Make the tadka

1. In a small pot, warm the oil over medium low heat. When the oil appears to shimmer, place a few fennel seeds into the oil and watch to see if they sizzle. If they do, add the remaining fennel seeds, cinnamon sticks, and cumin seeds. Cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

2. Slowly add the dried chili, fresh ginger, and curry leaves to the oil. Be careful because the fresh ingredients might pop when they make contact with the oil. reduce the heat to low and cook for about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and pour the mixture into a small bowl.

3. Allow the tadka to cool completely to room temperature. Before using in the biscotti recipe, remove the cinnamon sticks, chili, ginger, and curry leaves.

Make the biscotti

1. Preheat the oven to 350F with a rack in the middle position. Line a sheet tray with parchment paper and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the room temperature tadka and the sugar and whisk together until the sugar is coated in the oil. Add the eggs and yolk and whisk until the mixture looks slightly lighter in color and the eggs are completely incorporated.

2. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and finely chopped pistachios to the bowl and switch to a rubber spatula to stir together. Be sure to scrape down to the bottom of the bowl to ensure all dry flour is incorporated. This dough will be very stiff.

3. Pour the dough onto the prepared pan and follow one of two options, using your hands dampened with water if the dough feels sticky:

   1. Shape into one 1/2 inch thick rectangle roughly 12 to 14 inches long and 7 to 9 inches wide.

   2. Shape into two 1/2 inch thick rectangles roughly 11 to 12 inches long and 3 inches wide.

4. Place the sheet tray in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes for one rectangle or 25 to 30 minutes for the two rectangles. When finished the dough will have a matte and slightly cracked surface and will be firm to the touch. remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes.

5. Slide an overset spatula under the length of each rectangle to unstick it from the parchment paper. Carefully lift the rectangle onto a cutting board and cut into 1/2 inch crosswise slices. Place the slices on their side back on the parchment lined sheet tray and bake for 6 to 7 minutes. Flip the biscotti over and bake for an additional 5 to 6 minutes. When the biscotti are finished they should be golden brown around the edges with a firm texture and dry appearance through the very middle.

6. Remove from the oven and carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. To make the white chocolate drizzle, melt the white chocolate, coconut oil (if using) and salt in a bowl over a pot of simmering water. Or melt together in a microwave at short 10 second bursts, stirring often. Drizzle each biscotti with the chocolate and finish with a pinch of crushed fennel and pistachios. Allow the chocolate to cool to room temperature before handling. Place biscotti in the fridge to speed the cooling time. Enjoy.