Crispy Sweet Coconut Squares Infused with Saffron and Cardamon

Diwali is most well known for the enormous love of ‘mithai’ or sweetmeats. There are hundreds of varieties and speciality sweet stores spend hours upon hours preparing these handmade delicacies in the build up to the week of Diwali. These sweets, made of different flours, curds, nuts, dried fruits, butters and syrups make up offerings taken to the temples in celebration of the festival and also distributed amongst friends and family as gifts and tokens of love and appreciation. Try and pop in and sample some of these addictive little goodies this week and get a real taste of Indian sweet treats.

I’m opening my Diwali celebrations with a childhood recipe that works so beautifully as a dessert or a high tea sweet something. It is such an easy dish to prepare and can be rustled up in a jiffy when you have last minute guests. My children gobbled these up as soon as I had taken the photos, leaving only a crumbs of coconut, much to the disappointment of my husband who loves these!!! Enjoy to your hearts content!

Ingredients
Method

5 slices of fresh crusty white bread, crusts removed and cut into half and half again to give small squares.

½ cup of cane sugar or a light brown sugar

1 1/2 cups of water

1/2 tsp saffron strands

4 green cardamon pods, crushed to release the seeds

1 cup of unsweetened dessicated coconut

1 cup milk

Sunflower oil for deep frying

2 tbs icing sugar

Place the coconut in a large plate.

Place the sugar and water in pan and heat gently until the sugar has completely melted. Set aside.

Combine the saffron strands and the cardamon seeds with the milk.

Heat the sunflower oil till you drop a bread cube in and it sizzles up to the surface. (Not to smoking point as this will burn your bread)

Very briefly dip each square of bread, in the milk, taking care not to soak them for any longer than 10 seconds otherwise they will be too soggy.

Gently fry the bread pieces till a deep maple brown and until they are quite crispy. Place on a hand towel to drain off the excess oil.

Now, working quickly with a pair of wide tongs, dip the fried bread into the sugar syrup and soak for no longer than 10 seconds or so and place directly into the plate with the desiccated coconut. Repeat with all the pieces.