Ingredients[]
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp caster sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup milk
- 4 tsp oil
- 2½ cups plain flour
- ¼ cup plain flour for kneading
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- oil for deep-frying
- 1 cup icing (confectioners') sugar
- ½ tsp ground cardamom (optional)
- ½ cup finely chopped pistachios
Directions[]
- Beat eggs until frothy, beat in sugar and salt.
- Stir in milk and oil.
- Sift flour, add half to egg mixture and blend in with wooden spoon.
- Gradually stir in remainder of flour, holding back about ½ cup.
- Turn onto floured board and dust with some of reserved flour.
- Knead for 10 minutes until smooth and glossy, using more flour as required.
- Dough will still be slightly sticky.
- Cover with plastic wrap and rest for 2 hours.
- Take a piece of dough about the size of a large hazelnut and roll out on a floured board to a circle about 8–10 cm (3-4 inches) in diameter.
- Gather up dough on one side and pinch, forming a shape resembling an elephant ear.
- Place on a cloth and cover.
- Repeat with remaining dough.
- Deep fry one at a time in oil, heated to 190 °C (375 °F) turning to cook evenly.
- Fry until golden, do not over-brown.
- As dough is rather elastic, the pastry tends to contract with handling, so just before dropping pastry into hot oil, pull out lightly with fingers to enlarge.
- Drain pastries on paper towels.
- Sift icing sugar with cardamom if used and dust pastries with mixture.
- Sprinkle with nuts and serve warm or cold.
- Store in a sealed container.
- Alternative topping: make a syrup with 1 cup sugar and ½ cup water.
- Bring to the boil when sugar is dissolved and boil for 5 minutes.
- Dribble syrup onto warm pastries and sprinkle with cardamom and nuts.