Ginger Pastries

Ginger pastries are an excellent source of heat during winter. The recipe comes from the western state of Maharashtra in India. The native name for the recipe is "aaley paak", where "aaley" means ginger and "paak" means "thick mixture". The preparation, cooking and post-cooking steps need to be carried out without break for best results.

• Ready In: 1 hr 10 mins
• Yields: 20 pieces

Ingredients

• 200  g  fresh gingerroot
• 300  g sugar
• 1⁄2 cup  whole milk
• 2  tablespoons poppy seeds
• 1  tablespoon  clarified butter (ghee)

Directions

1. Wash the gingerroot. Scrape and slice it into small pieces. Grind the pieces into a fine paste with some milk for smoother grinding.
2. Take a non-stick cooking pan. Combine the ground paste, sugar and remaining milk into it and simmer over medium to high flame. Stir and mix with a spatula. Meanwhile grease a tray or deep plate with clarified butter.
3. When the mixture slightly thickens, drop a small amount of mixture in a plate. Check with the thumb and index finger if it can turn into a hard ball. Do not heat more.
4. Remove the hot mixture and pour into greased plate. Spread evenly with the back of a spatula or flat bottomed bowl. To make the spreading easier, you may grease the spatula with clarified butter.
5. Once the flattened mixture cools, make square pieces of desired size.