In this delicious apple crumble with an Indian twist, carom seeds give the traditional favourite dessert some added depth and flavour. Carom seeds also aid digestion; so will come in handy burning off the sugar and butter, too!

Serves: 4

What You’ll Need:

• 120g (4 oz) plain flour
• 60g (2 ½ oz) caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon carom seeds
• 60g (2 ½ oz) unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into pieces
• 300g (11 oz) cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into 2cm pieces
• 30g (1 oz) unsalted butter
• 30g (1 oz) demerara sugar
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 100g (4 oz) blackberries
• Vanilla ice cream or custard, to serve

What To Do:

• Preheat the oven to 190°C, Gas Mark 5.
• To make the crumble, tip the flour and sugar into a large bowl. Add the carom seeds and butter, and then rub into the flour using your fingertips to make a light breadcrumb texture
• Sprinkle the mixture evenly in a thin layer over a baking sheet and bake for 12–15 minutes or until lightly coloured.
• Meanwhile, for the compote, put the butter and sugar into a medium saucepan and melt together over a medium heat. Cook for 3 minutes until the mixture turns to a light caramel colour. Stir in the apples and cook for a further 3 minutes.
• Add the cinnamon, stir and cook for another 3 minutes.
• Cover the pan with a lid, remove from the heat, then leave for 2–3 minutes to continue cooking in the warmth of the pan.
• Sprinkle in the blackberries.
• Spoon the warm fruit into an ovenproof gratin dish and top with the crumble mix, then reheat in the oven for 5–10 minutes at 190ºC/Gas Mark 5.
• Serve with ice cream or homemade custard.

Spice at Home by Vivek Singh published by Absolute Press. Visit www.amazon.co.uk

Photography by Lara Holmes, 2014