
Indo French fusion is something you dont hear about everyday. Chef Raji Jallapelli is one chef who specialises in this kind of fusion. And since the theme of Rasoi this month is Fusion, I decided to do this dessert by Raji. This recipe is from her cookbook Raji Cuisine : Indian Flavors, French Passion. Although the chef doesn’t necessarily agree with using the term ‘fusion’, I am using this recipe as it is a perfect match of an Indian spice with a French dessert. This creme brulee was made especially for My Rasoi event at Meena’s Hooked on Heat
The spiciness of the cardamom and the richness of the eggs and cream makes this a very luscious dessert. Creme brulee, to me, was a strictly restaurant dessert. I had no idea that my broiler could substitute for a hand held torch. Isn’t that cool?
Here is the recipe
Egg yolks 6
Sugar half cup
Heavy cream 2 cups
Freshly ground cardamom 1/2 teaspoon
Vanilla essence few drops
Light brown sugar – enough to cover the top of the creme brulee dishes
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter 4 brulee dishes or ramekins. Combine the eggs and sugar to form a smooth mixture. I use a hand held mixer to do this job.
Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan over medium heat. When small bubbles appear along the edges of the pan, remove from heat and gently stream it into the yolk mixture. Make sure you use a whisk to continously stir the mixture till all sugar dissolves. Finally add the cardamom powder and vanilla. Combine thoroughly.

Place the creme brulee dishes in a baking dish. Add warm water ( I used a kettle) to reach halfway up the sides of the dishes .
Place a strainer in each dish and pour the mixture equally among the dishes. The above mixture is enough to fill 4 dishes.

Bake for about 25min ot till they are set. If you leave it in for too long, it will turn grainy.Remove from the oven and cool. Keep in the fridge for atleast 3hrs or till ready to use.
When ready to serve:
Sprinkle the top of each custard evenly with brown sugar.

Place the dishes under the preheated broiler for about 2min, keeping a close eye on the custard. It needs to be kept close to the broiler)(2 to 3 inches for the tops to turn brown. I hard to place them on an inverted baking dish on the top rack of the oven to reach the ‘desired’ height. Broil until the sugar melts and caramelises. Turn the pan to make sure all parts gets evenly browned.

Remove without burning your fingers and serve immediately.

This is such a fantastic show stopper after any meal. This is so easy that it can spice up any weekday dinner with no effort! It is advisable to put only 2 cremebrulee dishes at a time when broiling them. If this is your first time, I would suggest broiling them one at a time.

Enjoying the fruits of our labor.
Posted by vineela krishna on March 31, 2006 at 2:54 pm
Hi Gini,
U r recipe is great.Nice Demonstration.
Thank u
vineela
Posted by Karthi Kannan on March 31, 2006 at 3:57 pm
Cool fusion indeed and never heard of it before
I like the way you present the process, so that it goes get into you.
Look yummy
Posted by betul on March 31, 2006 at 5:24 pm
Lovely Gini, I can’t wait to try..I adore cardamom..Ottomans used to use it a lot in their cooking, then forgot about it around 18th century. Now whole nation rediscovering this spice again..And thank you for your best wishes, the deep cut on my finger healed relly quickly : )
Posted by Sonali on March 31, 2006 at 5:57 pm
mm mm good …. looks so good !
Posted by shammi on March 31, 2006 at 5:59 pm
Gini, I love your new look blog! What gorgeous photos! And gosh, I wish I could enjoy the fruits of your labour too
Posted by Priya Balabhaskaran on April 1, 2006 at 1:18 am
Gini, your blog looks great now!! Nice pictures and the recipe looks yum yum
Posted by avlokana on April 1, 2006 at 10:51 am
The pictures are very nice. I will soon try this recipe.Thanks.
Posted by Faffer on April 1, 2006 at 12:16 pm
Gini,
Your creme brulee looks tres delicieux!!!
And your blog looks lovely – love the colors.
Faffer
Posted by RP on April 1, 2006 at 3:26 pm
Yummy!! I like fusion cooking. Placing under the broiler is a wise alternative to the torch those TV chefs use. I haven’t thought about that.
Posted by Easily Pleased on April 1, 2006 at 7:46 pm
oh, YUM! i love cardamom. this is mouth watering. thanks for all the great photos.
Posted by Arjuna on April 2, 2006 at 11:58 am
Gini,
Creme brulee looks great!
Posted by santhi on April 3, 2006 at 2:43 am
what AWESOME pictures
wish I cud taste that….
Posted by BDSN on April 3, 2006 at 9:43 am
Come to think of it..I think I have tasted something similar like this but not sure what it is…It’s also a French product and has the same custardy feeling to it but with espresso flavored topping….Urs look great…Can i use anything else in place of ramekins..
Posted by garam masala on April 3, 2006 at 11:13 am
Gini, that looks sinful !! I wish I could try it too!
Posted by Saffron Hut on April 3, 2006 at 12:06 pm
oooh! lovely fusion dish. The pictures are gorgeous. Great work!
cheers!
Posted by Lakshmi on April 3, 2006 at 1:24 pm
looks so yummy. nice presentation.
Posted by giniann on April 3, 2006 at 2:30 pm
Thanks everyone for the nice words.
BDSN..as for your question about using something instead of ramekins, I am not sure what else would give this shape and make individual servings. I used cremebrulee dishes..it is flatter than ramekins.
RP..I never tried this before as I though the torch was an absolute must. But yes..the broiler works just wonderful.
Posted by Gabriella True on May 12, 2006 at 11:26 pm
ooh. I adore cardamon. Thank you!