Showing posts with label Breads and Rotis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Breads and Rotis. Show all posts
Throwback Swieback !
I am unearthing piles of pictures of food from days past ,it confirms my hazy memory of running for my camera soon as I finish cooking anything reasonably accountable. These rusks in the pictures here for example were made for my daughter when she was teething, and that was about six years ago. Now we are more excited when one of those precious milk teeth wiggles. The rusk did not help much with the process back then though, the child managed to teeth by biting on the headboard of our then brand new bed ! Now when I see those marks I can only smile, it takes a couple of years to attain that level of composure sweet people :)
This rusk recipe is adapted from a Zwieback recipe from King Arthur flour’s website, tweaked to get the Indian style rusk, tea’s best friend. My childhood breakfast, lunch and dinner whenever I spiked a fever, like it was for many other kids of that time. Indian style rusk is usually spiced with Caraway seeds or Ajwain seeds or a combination of both.
Indian Tea Rusk
Recipe
All purpose flour - 2 cups
Sugar- 4 tbsp.
Yeast - 1 ½ tsp.
Salt -½ tsp.
Shajeera ( Caraway seeds) ground - ¼ tsp.
Ajwain seeds ground- ¼ tsp.
Butter softened - 3 tbsp.
Egg - 1
Milk - ½ cup
Raisins ( optional) - ¼ cup
Mix all ingredients and make a soft and sticky dough, adding enough water if needed. Keep in a warm place for 1½ - 2 hours or till the dough doubles in size. Shape the dough into a 12 inch log, longer if you would like smaller rusks. Cover the dough and allow it to rise for another one and half hour. Towards the end of this rising time, preheat the oven to 350 C. Bake for 20 minutes , take the loaf out of the oven and leave it on the kitchen countertop loosely covered with an Aluminum foil till the next day. Heat the oven to 200 C. Slice the bread into half an inch thick pieces and arrange the cut slices on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn the rusk pieces over and bake for 10 more minutes. Turn the oven off. Leave the rusks inside the oven for 20 more minutes. Take it out and cool in the countertop for at least three hours. The recipe yields about two dozen rusks. Serve with black tea
Shajeera ( Caraway seeds) ground - ¼ tsp.
Ajwain seeds ground- ¼ tsp.
Butter softened - 3 tbsp.
Egg - 1
Milk - ½ cup
Raisins ( optional) - ¼ cup
Mix all ingredients and make a soft and sticky dough, adding enough water if needed. Keep in a warm place for 1½ - 2 hours or till the dough doubles in size. Shape the dough into a 12 inch log, longer if you would like smaller rusks. Cover the dough and allow it to rise for another one and half hour. Towards the end of this rising time, preheat the oven to 350 C. Bake for 20 minutes , take the loaf out of the oven and leave it on the kitchen countertop loosely covered with an Aluminum foil till the next day. Heat the oven to 200 C. Slice the bread into half an inch thick pieces and arrange the cut slices on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn the rusk pieces over and bake for 10 more minutes. Turn the oven off. Leave the rusks inside the oven for 20 more minutes. Take it out and cool in the countertop for at least three hours. The recipe yields about two dozen rusks. Serve with black tea
A very rustic flatbread
Some of the true gems of Indian cuisine are never to be found in restaurants, here is an example. This is akin to my child saying five times a day that “Amma you are the best ’. Has she made a study in comparison? No ! Do I doubt the genuineness of that statement for a split second,not a bit ! So all I am saying is, this rich in coconut, whole wheat flatbread made in a cast iron pan is a national treasure :). Just kidding, but it is really good.
This flatbread goes by the name “Roti” in my house, not overly helpful of a pointer I know. The whole wheat flour in the recipe is an absolute must and so is the requirement of a cast iron pan to make it. We used to get freshly ground wheat from the local flour mill back in the days, which was coarse, wholesome and just perfect for making this bread.
Recipe
Cast iron pan - You absolutely need it to make it
Whole wheat flour - 1 ½ cup
Grated coconut - 1 cup
Coarsely crushed cumin - 1/2 tsp.
Coconut oil - 2-3 tbsp.
Salt - ¼ tsp.
Water- to make the dough and also for shaping the bread
Mix whole wheat flour with salt,grated coconut and cumin. Make a soft and sticky dough by adding 1 to 1 1/4 cup water. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions. Spread some oil on the cast iron pan and heat. When the pan is ready ( sprinkle some water, it should sizzle),take one portion of the dough and place it right at the middle of the pan. Using your hand dipped in cold water, spread the dough to a 1/4 inch thick round. Cook at high heat till the edges of the bread looks cooked - the center will still look uncooked. At this point sprinkle about ½ tsp coconut oil on top of the bread, and turn over. Turn the heat to low, and cook the bread till it is is fully cooked through ( about 4 minutes). Quickly turn the bread and cook for 1 more minute in the other side. Serve immediately with any curry you happen to have in stock or as an over indulgence involving even more coconut, with a crushed coconut chutney. The chutney is made by pulsing ¼ cup grated coconut with one green chilly, 2 curry leaves, ⅓ tbsp chopped ginger, and a pinch of salt together in a food processor.
Ginger chicken wrap – Indian style
Life is keeping me busy this week; I will try my best to come up with an enormously boring drown-out post in a couple of days. Meanwhile just to keep you entertained, here is our favorite Indian style ginger chicken wrap recipe complete with chutney yogurt and a truck load of vegetables :)
Ginger chicken wrap
Flat bread (Naan/Chappathi/Lavash/Tortilla)
Baked spicy ginger chicken strips ( recipe follows)
Baked /grilled vegetables (Zucchini/egg plants/bell peppers etc.)
Onions thinly sliced
Tomatoes, sliced
Lettuce, chopped
Cilantro/Jalapeno /green onion, finely chopped (optional)
Chutney yogurt (recipe follows)
Lemon (Optional) - to taste
Layer vegetables and chicken pieces on the flat bread, sprinkle with chopped herbs, squeeze 1/4th of a lemon over if you wish, add a dollop of a chutney Mayo. Wrap it up and enjoy!
Baked ginger chicken strips
Boneless chicken strips (approximately 6x2 inch) 12 nos
Ginger chopped 3 tbsp
Jalapeno chilies (seeds removed) 2 nos
Cumin ¼ tsp
Salt ¼ tsp
Paprika (Optional) ½ tsp
Turmeric (Optional) ¼ tsp
Yogurt 1 tbsp
Grind all ingredients except chicken to make a fine paste. Rub the spice mix over chicken pieces, marinate for 20 minutes to over night. Preheat oven to 400oC. Arrange the chicken pieces on a wire rack kept on a baking tray. Bake for about 20 minutes or till the chicken pieces are cooked. Chicken pieces can be grilled too.
Chutney Yogurt
Green yogurt 1cup
Grated coconut (fresh/dry) 2 tbsp
Ginger paste ½ tsp
Crushed cumin ¼ tsp
Cilantro ¼ tsp
Salt To taste
Mix everything together in a bowl using a wire whisk, refrigerate till use, keeps well up to 1 day.
Pan Grilled Naan
Naan with Haryalli chickenThere are certain advantages for preparing naan at home, the main one being the fact that you will never feel over optimistic about it, as a result of which you are never too disappointed about the outcome. The following is a chronicle of a series of “naan making” related events took place in my kitchen over a period of approximately 3 years. I started off by baking naans on a cookie sheet (yes, inside an oven), and though it tasted all right, the texture was not entirely fascinating. Use of a pizza stone instead of the sheet, resulted in an almost Pita bread like situation (I liked it though!!!). Throwing a couple of ice cubes into the oven floor before keeping the naans in, and keeping the flattened dough over an ovenproof wire rack instead of a baking sheet, both substantially improved the texture of the naan. Inspired by a recipe for making this bread on an outdoor grill I decided to give it a try on my very indoor, stovetop, grill pan and this post is all about that experiment. You do get some grill marks on one side of the naan, but the other side unevenly puffs up, and you can add and control the brown spots on the top by selectively dabbing with some ghee, and turning it over for a short while. Nowadays I am making naan this way and I am eagerly looking around for other well working non-tandoor protocols. There are some known and proven methods which I have not tried so far. You can use this pan grilling method for your preferred recipe or follow the one posted here. Ease, convenience and a near naan like texture and taste for the end product are the advantages.
Tanuja's award winning, harialli chicken is a fabulous combination for this naan, we all just loved it , thank you Tanuja.
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon yeast (Dry)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons ghee or melted butter
2 tablespoons yoghurt
2/3 cup water
1 tbsp Sesame seeds
Mix water with the yeast and sugar until the yeast is dissolves. Sift flour and salt together into a bowl and add the yeast mixture, half of the ghee and the yogurt. Mix to forma soft dough, then knead on a floured surface for about 5 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a large greased bowl, cover and let stand in a warm place for 1 hour or until the dough doubles in size. Punch down the dough and knead for 5 minutes. Divide dough into lemon sized balls
Flatten the dough using a rolling pin, or by hand (I prefer the second method, for the very rustic look it provides). Top with sesame seeds or any other topping of your choice. Brush grill pan with oil, wipe it with a piece of clothe. Bring it to medium heat, and keep the flattened dough over it, wait till it unevenly puffs up (3-4 min).Brush some melted butter or ghee on 5 or 6 random spots. . Turn it over, cook for 2-3 more minutes, or till the spots are browned enough. Quickly transfer it to a clean kitchen towel and keep it wrapped. Serve hot brushed with ghee or melted butter.
Naan recipes from fellow bloggers- here, here and here
Tags bread grill naan curry homemade
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