Sinfully Divine 'Lehiyam' Truffles (Spiced Ginger Truffles)
- lehiyam
- 1 tablespoon Coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 4-5 long pepper (piper longum)
- 4-5 black peppercorns
- 1/4 cup tender fresh ginger root, ground to a fine paste
- 1/3 cup jaggery or sticky muscovado sugar
- 1 tablespoon clarified butter (ghee)
- truffles
- 1 2 bars 64 % Guittard semisweet chocolate (100 gms)
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- crystals of sea salt for decorating
- 1/2 cup Guittard cocoa powder
- Notes: rn1. Since long pepper may not be such a well known spice, here's a link to the image http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_pepper. This spice tends to leave a 'zinging' sensation on the tongue, somewhat similar , but a much milder version of schezuan pepper.rnrn2. Its worth using the tender ginger root especially since the lehiyam will be enrobed in chocolate and needs to be as smooth as possible.
- Using a coffee grinder, make a fine powder of the coriander, cumin & the 2 varieties of pepper. Sift using a fine strainer to remove any gritty pieces of spice.
- Add to the fresh ginger root paste & combine well.
- Crush the Jaggery into a powder, or into really tiny bits. (if the jaggery is soft enough, you could even grate it using a box grater).rnIn a skillet, heat the jaggery or sugar over medium heat till it melts and forms a brown color syrup. Alternatively place in a pyrex measuring cup & 'nuke' in the microwave for ~ 30 s and then transfer into a pan.
- Add the spice paste & the ghee. mix well.
- Cook over low to medium heat till the moisture has evaporated & the mixture resembles a thick paste. ( the ghee begins to start oozing out of the paste). Just take care to ensure that the sugar or jaggery does not start caramelizing, which results in a toffee like consistency. Remove from stove & set aside to cool completely. Refrigerate till ready to use. (Of course ,you could just eat it all up at this point!). The 'lehiyam' keeps well for upto a month in a covered container.
- Using a 1/2 tsp measuring spoon, scoop out the lehiyam and roll into little marbles. Freeze to harden these.
- Melt the chocolate & heavy cream in a double boiler till it forms a smooth mixture.
- Keeping the chocolate mixture warm & flowing, dip the 'lehiyam' spheres into the chocolate to coat them evenly.
- Remove with a dry fork, making sure any excess chocolate drips out & place a sheet of parchment paper. Cover & leave in a cool dry place to set (preferably in the refrigerator.
- Once the chocolate coating has hardened,Pick each truffle and toss into the cocoa powder, lift out and place into paper cups. Top with a pinch of flavored finishing salts. (I used my own blend of buddhas hand citrus, and two varieties from provisions, the aleppo pepper and the sumac pepper salts).
lehiyam, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, long pepper, black peppercorns, ginger root, jaggery, butter, truffles, chocolate, heavy cream, crystals, cocoa powder
Taken from food52.com/recipes/11394-sinfully-divine-lehiyam-truffles-spiced-ginger-truffles (may not work)