Sunday, March 22, 2009

Puffed Rice Crunch

Inspiration:
The Amazing Race's pit stop in India
and
Food & Wine


Ingredients:
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 2 cups unsweetened puffed rice

Instructions:
  1. Set a 12-by-18-inch sheet of parchment on a large baking sheet and oil the paper. Have a kitchen towel ready.
  2. In a medium saucepan, cook the brown sugar with the lemon juice over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar melts, about 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring constantly, until richly browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Working quickly, stir in the puffed rice until coated, then immediately scrape the mixture onto 1 end of the baking sheet.
  3. Fold the paper over the rice, cover with the kitchen towel and roll into a tight 3-inch log. Unwrap and let cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes. Using a serrated knife, gently slice the log crosswise 1/2 inch thick and serve.

Recipe Notes: In India, the chicki wallah (sweets vendor) knows to set up shop near a school: Children find this crunch irresistible.

Click here for a photo of a chicki wallah!


Notes: I had a slight (actually big) problem trying to roll it into a log. I used a silpat instead of parchment paper, which could have been my problem. Taking photos of these wasn't easy either. I'll post a bad photo below this. I am glad I tried this-- many of the recipes I found were more Indian-American recipes, and I wanted to find something that people in India actually eat.
Tim's Rating: 7.5/10
Liz's Rating: 7/10


Next week on The Amazing Race: Thailand!

4 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Yum!!

weezermonkey said...

Only a 7? I thought the crunch was irresistible! ;)

Unknown said...

Thanks for the heads up about the Silpat - I would have totally used it, but now I'll be sure to use the parchment paper.

Deborah said...

What a great way to use puffed rice cereal!