One fine day, Anand of the Magic Marinade fame showed us (Sangeeta and me) how to eviscerate squids (to gut them and clean them) and then he made two amazing squid recipes and followed it with the most sinful lemon tarts. I did not get a chance to photograph the steps but Anand was kind enough to share the recipe. The crust was soft and biscuity and the filling was creamy and very tangy and not overly sweet. I am a big fan of lemons and with each bite I squinted my eyes in tangy delight.
INGREDIENTS
8 juicy lemons (should give you one cup of lemon juice)
½ cup sugar (or as per taste)
2 eggs
2 yolks (in addition to the eggs above)
175gms butter
For the crust
165gms digestive biscuits
¼ th cup fine powdered sugar
90gms butter
METHOD OF PREPARATION (In Anand's words)
- Crush the digestive biscuits or grind them down to grainy crumbs, not to a powder. Mix in the sugar evenly.
- Heat the (90gms) butter till it liquifies (preferably in a double boiler, I used a mug in a vessel of boiling water).
- Mix this in with the sugar-biscuit crumb mix, evenly, but letting it be lumpy, not smooth. Line the pie mould with this, evenly.
- In a large vessel, pour in the lemon juice and sugar. Add the eggs and egg yolk and transfer onto a vessel with water simmering.
- Boil the water first and bring it to simmer before placing the vessel on it. Using a whisk or electric mixer, whisk the mix for 10 minutes if using a metal vessel, 12-13 minutes for glass.
- The consistency should be smooth and bubbly at the end of the whisking. Take it off the boiler and drop in 175gms of butter, preferably cut into pieces so it dissolves quickly.
- Whisk continuously till the mixture is even and there is no liquid at the bottom.
- Pour into the mould and chill.
- There will be excess, so make extra moulds with the crust lining and keep ready.
I could hear Donna Summer while eating this yummy sinful baby- Oh ya- I feeeeel Loooovvveee....