In a large bowl, put the butter, icing sugar and vanilla and beat till light and creamy. Beat in the egg and sift in the flour, mix well and then transfer the contents onto a lightly floured pan - the dough is going to be extremely soft and sticky/crumbly - keep dusting extra flour till you can work it into a dough ball. Cover the pan with cling wrap and place it in the fridge for about 25-30 minutes.

In a heavy bottomed pan, place all the ingredients mentioned under 'for the filling' and bring it to a boil. After a couple of minutes simmer until the figs have plumped up and the liquid is almost dry. Let some moisture remain. Remove from the flame and discard the cardamom pods. Once cooled, blitz (blend) the figs in a mixer grinder/food processor into a paste. Divide into three portions and keep aside.

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Celcius. Lightly grease a baking tray.

Divide the pastry dough into three parts and roll each into a smooth ball. On a well floured surface flatten & roll each ball of dough into a rectangle of approx 36x12cm as thinly as possible. Dust extra flour to avoid it from sticking. Take a third of the fig filling and place it along the centre of the pastry. Fold one side of the pastry over the filling and then the other side over it. Press gently to seal and turn the whole roll over so that the sealed side is at the bottom. Trim the ends and then cut the roll into pieces of approx 2" each.

Place each roll on the greased baking tray and bake for 25-30 minutes till the rolls are pale golden. Remove onto a wire rack, cool completely and then dust with icing sugar before serving.

Store in an airtight container - it keeps well for upto a 4-5 days at room temperature