Ghee rusk

Rusk is the twice-baked bread slice that Indian bakeries sell for dunking in tea and coffee; the ghee version is made the same way, only the fat is ghee and the flavour is cardamom. The first bake sets a dense, slightly sweet loaf; the second dries the slices to a deep, even crisp that holds in a jar. Eggless and made with whole wheat flour, this one is a home version of the bakery rusk.

The two bakes are what the recipe is about, and each has its own temperature. The loaf bakes at 180 °C until a skewer comes out clean; the slices then dry at 150 °C, turned halfway, until a tap gives a hard, hollow snap. A slice that still bends goes back into the oven for a few minutes. Cutting even slices matters as much as the temperature, because a thick slice dries on the outside and stays doughy in the middle.

Brown sugar gives the rusk a light caramel colour and keeps it from being one-note sweet; white sugar works the same way and bakes paler. The ghee is doing the flavour work, so a bilona ghee is worth reaching for. Slice the rusk thinner for a shorter, darker second bake, or leave the cardamom out for a plain rusk that lets the ghee speak on its own.