This is going to be a long post because of the technical aspects of the recipe so let's go. I am posting Kurma today, and of course you all know that I'm not a sweet tooth, so my sister made this one. She just loves this snack for its crunchy and gingery taste. Kurma is a delicacy made by East Indians during Divali but it has gotten so popular that it sold as a snack year round. Strange that I did a search for kurma and found so many things not related to this delicacy, every Trinidadian has come to love, I saw that Kurma is an avatar of Lord Vishnu or even vegetarian Chef, Kurma Dasa.
Anyhow, Trini Kurma is simple to make but the technicality lies with the sugar, it has to have the right consistency or else the kurma would not come out properly. If it is poured before time, it will come out sticky and the sugar will take long to dry. So follow the steps and don't give up if you fail the first time. Since the steps are long I will stop now and go straight to the recipe.
KURMA
Ingredients:
1 pounds flour
¼ cup shortening
¼ cup butter
½ tsp. cinnamon powder
1 tsp. ginger powder
1 tsp. ginger
½ cup water to knead flour
1 cup sugar
Direction:
Sift the flour , add the cinnamon powder and ginger powder, and cut in the butter.
Add the water gradually and mix to form a firm, but hard enough dough. Cut the dough evenly.
And roll into balls. Dust the surface with a little flour and roll out each. Roll until the dough is about ¼” thick.
Cut the rolled dough into strips (about 3″ long strips).Drop the first batch of strips in hot oil. Stir to ensure strips are covered with oil. Fry first on a low flame until crispy. Then raise the fire. Fry until golden brown and remove…
…And place on napkins or brown paper to allow the paper to soak up most of the oil.
Drop the grated ginger in ½ cup of boiled water. Add the sugar (about 1 cup of sugar). Stir occasionally until a thick syrup is made.
The syrup is ready when it drips and form long threads from a spoon. Pour syrup over kurma and mix quickly to glaze the kurma.
Set aside the kurma to cool before serving.
That's it for another sweet post. Bye!
Kurma
Ingredients
- 1 lb. flour
- 1/4 cup shortening
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon powder
- 1 tsp. ginger powder
- 1/2 cup water to knead flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
Instructions
- Sift the flour, add the cinnamon powder and ginger powder, and cut in the butter. Add the water gradually and mix to form a firm, but hard enough dough.
- Cut the dough evenly. And roll into balls. Dust the surface with a little flour and roll out each. Roll until the dough is about 1/4″ thick. Cut the rolled dough into strips (about 3″ long strips).
- Drop the first batch of strips in hot oil. Stir to ensure strips are covered with oil. Fry first on a low flame until crispy. Then raise the fire. Fry until golden brown and remove and place on napkins or brown paper.
- Drop the grated ginger in 1/2 cup of boiled water. Add the sugar (about 1 cup of sugar). Stir ocassionally until a thick syrup is made. Pour syrup over kurma and mix quickly to glaze the kurma.
- Set aside the kurma to cool before serving.
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I am so glad you posted this,i really like kurma and can’t get it too often here in VA so i’m happy to finally get a tried and true recipe!!
ah, finally I can send people to a thin kurma recipe 🙂 My mother makes a good fat/soft kurma (in addition to the gulab jamoon) but I haven’t written down that recipe yet.
I really enjoyed posting this recipe because soon it will be Eid and Divali. I do hope I can do some more sweet meats by then.
The reason the kurma is soft is because of the fire being too hot so the outside surface cooks faster than the inside. We had that problem before truly mastering it. Next time try lowering the fire a little and allow the kurma to fry a bit.
thanks so much for the recipe for kurma.,..looking forward to the others..
Oh! OK.:)
no, I didn’t mean I had a problem with the thin crispy kurma, I meant the other type of kurma that is made fat and soft/fluffy inside, intentionally. It is usually cut into big cuboid/diamond like pieces and served at weddings and other functions in the bags with barfi etc.
Great post. Having the photos really help.The instructions from the books are sometimes not enough. I will ‘try meh han’ at it now and ah go leh yuh kno!
Will certainly check out the rest of your website.Thanks again.
Alicia FD (New York)
No problem. Ah waitin to hear how it taste 🙂
ah, my grandad used to bring these back to the UK for me every time he went back to Trinidad. So glad to have a recipe!
ugh you r suppose to use white sugar
Thanks so much, I have been looking for a good kurma recipe for years I finally got it.
First time I tried this recipe in preparation for Diwali in October. Not too hard, not soft. Just perfect. I halved the recipe to test it and it was amazing.The only thing I need to work on is the sugar. I never know when it’s just right. But still, thank you so much for this recipe.
@ ur_high_ness white or brown it doesn’t matter
this was very helpful I always have problems glazing the kurma with sugar, it never turns out right. But I’m going to try your technique! I have a feeling it’s going to turn out better!!! thanx much!!! 🙂
I was about 15 when me & my younger brother tried to make this by memory & boy was it a disaster. They were popping out the pot like stick-formed bullets; we had to shield ourselves with card-board just to turn the stove off. After picking them up off the floor to “glaze” them, they got stuck to the pot and I’m guessing it’s because we forgot 1 of the main glaze ingredient: water.
I have tried many of your recipes with great results. I love this site. Keep up the good job. It’s hard work but it’s worth it. Thank you for everything.
Thank you for acknowledging the hard work I’ve put in over the years. I feel honoured.
the recipes are easy to follow ,but only problem is you dont mention how much a recipe makes ,other than that good job.
You’re making me smile. Soon…very soon… you’ll find out why ….Still smiling 🙂
Awesome site! I am loving it!! Will come back again. I am also taking your feeds just to keep up to date.
The recipe says 1/2 cup of sugar in the ingredients but 1 cup in the method for the syrup please clarify thanks in advance! Keep up the good work, much appreciated!
I fixed it it’s 1 cup
Does the glaze have to be made twice for both batches?
No just place the kurma in a large bowl and then pour the “glaze” over it and mix very quickly.
Whats the larger one called thats like kurma but fatter and sweeter? It has condensed milk and evapoated milk in it.
Goolab jamoon
I just tried this recipe and it came out awesomeeeeee!!!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Hi Felix, Can you use milk instead of water to mix dough??
I don’t see much of a problem there.
Very helpful
you guys did not state how much it make
About 15 servings. Check this link http://www.simplytrinicooking.org/recipe/kurma/
loooove this recipe… made it two years in a row for divali…. its so simple and economical to make… no fancy milk and stuff and it cuts soooo easily no sticking…. ty
I tried this recipe and it’s came out horrible I felt it’s to much fat for the amount of flour it tasted and the texture was more like a cookie.
I’m sorry to hear that, but you probably mix the dough like you would for a cookie. I stand by my recipe. You cut the butter into the flour and mix the ingredients as you would a pastry. If you over mix you would definitely get a cookie dough.
I dont have any butter can I use oil?
I’ve never used oil for this recipe. Perhaps you can try a small amount and observe the results.
Best kurma recipe ever. I have tried others but some bloggers tend to be fancy and deviate from the traditional recipe. This recipe reminds me of the one my mom used to make. Thank you Felix!
You’re welcome Vani.
I always stick to the ingredients, but I have one tweak to the method- I roll out a rectangular portion and cook it on the tawa before cutting and frying, this gives it a more sturdier shape and it comes out more uniform. Great recipe, I make it all the time for my family, they love it.
On average. How much kurma does this recipe yield,?
I’ve never sat down and counted the kurma to find the yield.