Hamutaska

I had come very close to visiting Hungary when one of my clients was in middle of moving the manufacturing unit from Finland and Estonia to either Hungary or China. While moving to china would have helped me in longer run from a location proximity and cost perspective, we would have lost on business opportunity since we did not a strong business in China at that time..

So I had the opportunity to study the Hungarian culture and advantages to build my case for that country. Eventually nothing happened to that project as it got stalled for different reasons...but I ended up reading few things about this place...all through my colleagues kept telling how beautiful this little country is...like always has been the case when I study about culture, I got drawn to the eating habits of this place. I do not remember all of the details, but I have that info stacked up in my little travel diary which will some day make its way.


I landed upon this recipe through the notes I have noted almost more than a decade ago. When I searched the internet, I could not find much about the recipe so I concluded that like all things affected by globalisation, probably this one also lost its original name to a more meaningful and acceptable trade off - apparently these are known as Hungarian walnut rolls which is what it essentially is in terms of recipe


But I had good reasons to stick to its original name as you know we are doing A to Z baking from around the world this month.


Without much ado, the recipe is different from the regular stuffed biscuits or cookies because the pastry is made of soft and creamy cheese which lends a unique pleasureful taste when you bite into this. About the filling, a forewarning, that walnuts tend to go rancid after a while, hence stocking these rolls - ofcourse if they last , may not be a good idea. You may try replacing it with almonds or cashew filling as I am sure that would be a great filling too...I plan to make my next batch using


These rolls are going to be made many times coz I was categorically told that this is a great recipe by each and every person who tasted it...the magic lies with the pastry - I am sure of experimenting with the fillings for this one








Ingredients
for the pastry
1/2 cup Whole fat milk
1 tbsp fresh curd
1 cup All purpose flour 
salt to taste
for the filling
4 tbsp walnut meal (fine)
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp milk

Sugar for rolling 


Method 

1) Heat the milk and add the curd to it. Let it curdle and mix well. Strain out some water. Beat the rest to form a smooth paste.
2)BAdd flour to the above mixture gradually. Keep kneading the dough until you think it is good enough to manage. About 1 cup is good. The dough is very soft but not sticky. The more you knead the better is its texture. Let it rest 
3) In a bowl, mix the walnut meal with sugar
4) Melt the butter and add it to the meal.
5) Now add 1 tspn milk and mix the meal to make a paste 
6) Roll out the dough and cut 1.5 inch squares. Roll the dough as thin as possible, as it cooks very fast and the heat needs to touch the walnut filling.
7) Place the filling in the centre. Roll over the two ends diagonally to form a cylindrical roll
8) Preheat the oven to 160C.
9) Line a baking sheet.
10) Put the rolls in the sugar and lightly roll it to cover with sugar
11) Bake for 8-10 min , keep a watch on the base as it cooks very fast.
12) Serve with more sugar sprinkled on top

These disappear in no time

 

Comments

Sowmya :) said…
Firstly hats off! Picking up a recipe after a decade is fabulous. And love these rolls...curd and milk with flour would be a delight and that it is eggless is my blessing. Perfect to try on my family visiting next week!
Harini R said…
That is indeed a unique recipe, Pradnya.
Srivalli said…
The recipe name sounds magical and so does the dish..must have tasted yum..will have to bookmark for later..
The rolls sound delicious , a walnut filling would be interesting , a good change from those other fillings . Nice pick for the alphabet .
Absolutely yummy share...
Priya Suresh said…
Wow, this Hamutaska looks dangerously addictive, now i want to grab and have some rite now.
Srividhya said…
wow how do you remember all these names even after a decade. Awesome man.. and these rolls looks great and love the filling.
This is a great recipe and I am really tempted to make these. I am in love with the nut meals and I will definitely make any recipe that involves nuts.
Pavani said…
Very interesting cookies Pradnya. The crust sounds so rich and the filling sounds just so delicious. I can understand the 100% approval rating for this recipe.
I am always looking for nuts meal based baked goodies. They look real amazing.

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