Flaky sweet banana puri

Ingredients:

■ 2 ½ cups plain flour

■ cornflour for sprinkling between layers of dough

■ 1 tbsp rose essence

■ 2 tbsp melted butter

■ sunflower oil for frying

■ 3 tsp baking powder

■ dessicated coconut for decorating

■ crushed dried rose petals for decorating For the syrup:

■ 2 ½ cups water

■ 2 ½ cups granulated sugar

■ large pinch of saffron

Method:

■ Make the syrup by heating the water and sugar together. Heat until it comes to a boil and let the sugar melt and the syrup thicken. Take off the heat and add the saffron. Give it a stir and let it cool down.

■ Meanwhile, place the flour into a mixing bowl and add the baking powder. Combine and then add one tablespoon of the melted butter into the mixture. Rub the flour and butter together until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Add the rose essence and a little water at a time to bring the flour together. You will end up with a pliable dough which is not wet. Knead the dough for three to four minutes until it becomes smooth and pliable.

■ Divide the dough into five equal pieces. On a lightly floured board, roll out each portion to about 20cm rounds. Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter and brush over one of the rounds, sprinkle generously with some cornflour and place a round on top. Repeat until all the rounds have been used up.

■ Do not brush the last round with butter, instead just roll out the stacked rounds until you get a rectangular shape. Brush any remaining butter over the surface and sprinkle with cornflour. Then dampen the edges with a little water and tightly roll up the rectangle like a Swiss roll.

■ Take a sharp knife and cut the rolled pastry into 2cm lengths. Take each piece and roll out lightly lengthways. This will give you a slight oval shape.

■ Heat the sunflower oil and once it is hot enough, fry a few of the rolled pastry pieces at a time. You will see the layers that are formed. Fry and turn them until they are evenly golden brown. Remove from the oil using a slotted spoon and place on absorbent kitchen paper to soak up any excess oil from the frying.

■ When all the pastries have been fried, dip them into the cooled syrup made earlier and place on a wire rack.

■ Sprinkle each with some dessicated coconut and dried crushed rose petals; they should stick onto the pastries easily because of the sticky syrup.