Drukyul Khabzay

4. Khabzay

 Bhutanese make khabzey especially during Losar(New Year) and it is considered especial for any celebration or occasion. These Khabzey can be  sweet or salty. 

Recipe

Need to be very careful when cooking khabzay. The hot oil is extremely dangerous and you don’t want it to splash on you. The utensils we use should be  free of water, as the water will pop in the hot oil.

•   4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sunflower oil (or any cooking oil. For softer khabzat, use a little more oil.)
• 1/3 cup sugar  (more sugar if you like ).Or,  can also make sugar-free khabzay by  leaving the sugar out.)
• 1 cup milk
• 1 quart of sunflower oil for deep frying 
  
  Preparing khabzay Dough
  Dissolve the sugar in 1 cup of warm water Combine flour, oil, sugar   Mix everything together to make a smooth ball of dough and Knead the dough for   several minutes. Roll out the dough to about a 1/4 inch thickness. (When you roll it out you can put a little flour down on the rolling surface so that  it won’t stick, but not much. If you put too much extra flour, it will make the dough suck up too much oil while cooking.)
   Cut the dough in strips (maybe about an inch or a little less), then cut those strips into diagonal pieces. Try to make the pieces the same size, so that it can cook at the same rate. Slice a slot in the middle of each piece of dough. Pull one corner of the piece of dough through the slot in the middle, creating a twist. You can make any shape from this.
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  Cooking Process
   Pour 1 quart of sunflower oil into a large, deep pot or pan and heat the oil on until it starts to smoke a tiny bit. The oil  will be hot enough when you can drop one piece of dough into the oil and it pops up to the surface right away. Carefully lower the khapse dough pieces into the oil. You will need to make multiple batches, and it is better if you don’t fill the pot or pan too full of dough pieces. Fewer khapses in one batch is better. Cook the khapse on high heat until golden brown, moving them around fairly often, and very gently, with a long-handled utensil. They cook pretty fast in  few minutes. Remove the khapse from the oil with a slotted spoon or large straining utensil, letting the oil drain over the pan. Cooked khapse can be kept on paper towels as to absorb as much as possible of the oil.