Brin Pirathapan’s ‘paratha de nata’ recipe

“It’s fair to say I’ve just taken two of my big culinary loves and combined them to create this recipe,” says chef Brin Pirathapan.

“[My wife] Anna and I head to Portugal fairly regularly and my pastel de nata count is usually embarrassingly high by the second afternoon. It’s not rare to find me sneaking off for secret PDNs while we’re out and about, or taking myself off to breakfast before anyone else so I can sneak in a couple without judgement.

“Naturally, I’m also a big fan of parathas – there’s always an industrial-sized pack in the freezer ready to mop up any curry I make. However, their buttery, flaky texture makes them perfect for this intercontinental fusion that none of us realised we needed.”

Paratha de nata

Time: 50 minutes plus cooling
Difficulty: 3/3

Ingredients
(Makes 6)

125g caster sugar
4 green cardamom pods, roughly bashed
3 egg yolks
25g cornflour
300ml whole milk
½ vanilla pod, seeds scraped out
3 frozen parathas, defrosted

Method

1. Add the sugar, 125ml of water and the cardamom pods to a saucepan and place over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. Then increase to a high heat and cook, without stirring, until the syrup reaches 115°C, which will take about 5–10 minutes. Keep checking the temperature as you don’t want it to go much higher than that.

2. While the sugar syrup comes up to temperature, combine the egg yolks, cornflour, milk and vanilla seeds in a heatproof mixing bowl. Whisk together until fully combined.

3. Once the sugar syrup gets to temperature, remove it from the heat and slowly drizzle it into the milk mixture, whisking continuously, until everything is dissolved and combined. Pass through a sieve into a clean saucepan to remove the cardamom pods.

4. Cook over a medium-high heat, stirring, until the mixture starts to thicken. This will take a few minutes but will go quickly once it starts – you want it to easily coat the back of a spoon. Decant it into a heatproof bowl and set aside to cool.

5. Preheat the oven to max – ideally 220°C fan/240°C/gas mark 9.

6. Cut each paratha into 2 rounds using a 10cm diameter biscuit cutter (or the rim of a suitable-sized bowl). Press the 6 paratha rounds into 6 cups of a non-stick muffin tray (press one into each cup). Use a knife to clean up the edges, then evenly fill with the custard to 1cm below the edge.

7. Bake in the oven for 15–20 minutes until the tops start to develop dark spots. Remove from the oven and let them cool completely in the tray before turning them out and tucking in!

Tip: Don’t waste the paratha trimmings! Fry them off as you normally would and dip them into leftover curries for a little mid-bake snack.

Elevate: Everyday Ingredients, Incredible Flavours by Brin Pirathapan is published in hardback by Pavilion, priced £22. Photography by Dan Jones. Available now.