Cardamom Creme Brulee - Indo French Fusion

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.