A savoury sablé with the deep, rounded flavour of a south Indian kitchen — tomato, hill garlic, curry leaf — pressed into a buttery cheddar base and finished with a Kashmiri chilli garlic crust. A whole world in one bite. 

What makes it special
 Thokkus in the south are like sambals in Southeast Asia — every home cook has their own recipe, their own particular balance of sweet, tart, salt and heat. Mine I learned from Manju, my neighbour and now a very dear friend, who happens to be an exceptional cook. She adopted me into the rhythms of this little Nilgiris village when I first arrived. The tomatoes and curry leaves come from my garden. The hill garlic from the slopes around here. The chinna vengayam — sambar onions — among the first Tamil words I learned, shouted by the tiny village vegetable truck that comes past every Sunday at ten.
Before cutting into sablés, the dough is rolled in a crust of single-origin Kashmiri laal mirch and Manju’s garlic chutney. Entirely local. Entirely personal. Entirely delicious.