Sweet & Crunchy Thin Trinidadian Kurma Recipe

It's that time of year again; Labor day. In New York every labor day we celebrate the West Indian Day Parade. A day celebrating every aspect of our culture. At this parade every single island of the Caribbean is represented and celebrated. We sing, dance, cook, eat, and most importantly create an environment of togetherness and love. While getting my mas costume ready today I had a hankering for Kurma. Kurma is a sweet and crunchy treat that my grandmother would make for me as a child; one of my favorite Trinidadian snacks. Fried mouthfuls of spiced dough in a sugary glaze, they can be found and purchased throughout most island school ‘tuck shops’and corner vendors. Kurma in Trinidad can take one of two forms. The hard and thin kurma is similar to large matchsticks and is very crunchy, while the soft or fat kurma  are much richer and pillowy in texture. Hard kurma is by far the most popular form of kurma in the Caribbean and this is the type of kurma I decided to make today. Here's what you'll need:

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. flour
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter
1/2 tsp. cinnamon powder
1 tsp. ginger powder
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 cup water to knead flour
1 cup sugar

DIRECTIONS

• 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 ball
• 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 that every strip is covered with oil

• Fry first on a low flame until crispy... then increase the heat 
• Fry until golden brown and remove…

• Place on paper towel in order to allow most of the oil to be absorbed by the paper towel

• Drop the grated ginger into 1/2 cup of boiled water

• Add about 1 cup of sugar 
• Stir occasionally until it forms into a thick syrup
• 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 to cool before serving.

See, it's easy to make and doesn't require much ingredients.So treat your friends and families to fresh home made kurma. Feel free to adjust the spices and flavors to your preference.

Enjoy =)