Herbed Garlic Pull Apart Bread

What you need?

All purpose flour: 2 cups

Sugar: 1 tbsp

Salt: ½ tsp

Oil: 3 tbsp

Instant yeast: 2 tsp

Lukewarm milk or water (for kneading): ¾ cup or as needed

For the garlic herb spread:

Butter (salted): 3 tbsp

Chopped coriander: 1 tbsp

Chopped mint: 1 tsp

Pepper powder: 1 tsp

Chilli flakes: 1 tsp

Basil (fresh or dried): 1 tsp

Finely chopped garlic: 3-4 pods

How to create it?

The garlic herb spread:

Bring butter to room temperature. Once the butter is creamy in the room temperature add in all the other ingredients and mix. The spread is ready.

The bread:

Since I used the instant yeast here I added it directly to the flour without proofing but if you are using dry yeast you’ll have to proof it first.

For proofing the yeast: mix the sugar with 1/4^th of the lukewarm water/ milk in a bowl. Next add in the yeast to the sugar solution. Cover the bowl with a kitchen cloth and let it rest of 10-15 min. After 10 min your yeast mixture is proofed if you notice frothy bubbles. Now this is ready to go into the flour.

• For those using instant yeast like me, take a deep big bowl, add in the flour.
• Next add salt, sugar, oil and instant yeast. Mix them well.
• Now pour the milk or water, little by little and knead into dough.
• In the beginning the dough will feel sticky so don’t shy away from adding some more flour to ease your kneading.
• While making any bread dough, the more you stretch the better it is as the gluten strands get stretched which helps the bread to rise. That’s why I prefer kneading it in a flat surface on the kitchen counter as it gives me lot of space for stretching the dough. 
• After kneading for some good 15-20 min you’ll see the dough no more sticks to your hands. It means your dough is now ready to rise.
• Rub oil all over the dough and let it rest in a greased bowl for 1 ½ hour. Do cover the bowl with a kitchen towel.
• After 1 ½ hours your dough would rise to double.

• Now take the dough out of the bowl and punch it gently to take out the air.
• Lightly dust the surface with some flour and roll the dough into a square or rectangle shape of about 1mm thickness with a rolling pin.
• Spread the garlic herb mixture we made before on top of the rolled surface.
• Now with a sharp knife, cut the dough into ribbon like long stripes. Make sure all the stripes are of equal size.
• Suppose you have made 5 stripes- stripe 1, stipe 2, stripe 3, stripe 4 and stripe 5.
•  Now carefully pull out stripe 2 and place it on top of stripe 1, similarly pull out stripe 3 and place it on top of stripe 2, and likewise, stripe 4 goes on top of stripe 3 and stripe 5 will go on top of stripe 4.
• So now we have placed all the stripes on top of each other.
• Now cut the heap of stripes into equal square pieces and place horizontally into a greased loaf pan.
• Cover the loaf pan with a kitchen cloth and let it rise again for 1 ½ hours.
• Once the dough is double again, brush the top with milk and bake it in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for 25 minutes.
• After 25 minutes your bread top will turn golden brown. This is the time to take it out of the oven and de-mold immediately into a cooling rack.
• Unlike cakes, for breads de-molding should be done immediately or else the base will get soggy
• Let the bread cool for 20 minutes in the cooling rack so that air passes through all the sides.
•  Viola your bread is ready to be indulged!

[This bread tastes better when eaten fresh but you can store it in your fridge for 2 days. You can re-heat for 1 minute or so before eating]

P.S: Since I was running short of time so I couldn’t click step by step images. But soon I will update this post with the step by step pictures for better understanding of the recipe. Till then stay tuned! :) 

Eggless French Toast

(serves: 1)

I love French toasts. Though all these years i have been making the egg version  but today i thought of giving my vegetarian husband a taste of this awesome breakfast recipe. And trust me, it tasted better than the egg ones. So whether you’re a vegetarian or not, try this amazing recipe and give your mornings a welcome toast! 

What you need?

Milk: ½ cup

Corn flour: 1 tbsp

Rice flour (i used it for extra crispiness): 1 tsp

Sugar: 1 tbsp

Vanilla essence: 1 tsp

Bread: 2 slices

Oil for frying

How to create it?

Take milk in a bowl

Add corn flour and rice flour

Then add the sugar

Next goes the vanilla essence 

Cut the bread slices diagonally and dip in the milk 

Grease pan with little oil and fry on both sides till the crust turns crispy golden brown

Your eggless French toast is ready. You can tea it with honey, maple syrup or just plain with tea. Have a good morning! :) 

 

Lucknowi Baati Chokha

Baati is one dish with many versions. In Rajasthan it is savored as daal baati churma. In Bihar this rustic dish has found a delightful place in every heart as litti chokha. And in the nawabi town of Lucknow this   provincial cuisine transforms itself into Baati Chokha. On my recent visit to Lucknow I got to taste the lip smacking baati chokha that sells on the road side stalls like hot cakes...well no… like hot baati chokhas ;) After coming back I thought of giving this Lucknowi delicacy a try in my kitchen here in Chennai. This recipe is divided into three steps- first making the ‘Chokha’, then the sattu filling that goes inside the baati and finally making the baati. So here I go…

What you need?

For the chokha:

Tomatoes: 2

Brinjal (medium sized): 2

Boiled Potatoes: 2

Roasted dried red chillis: 2 (I used roasted red chilli as they give a nice smokey flavor to the dish, you can go for green chillis also if you like)

Onion: 1

Chopped coriander leaves: 2 tbsp

Mustard oil or extra virgin olive oil- 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Filling for the baati:

Sattu (roasted gram powder): 1 cup

Garlic & green chilli paste: 2 tbsp

Ginger paste: 1 tsp

Caron seeds: 1 tsp

Clarified butter (ghee): 1 tbsp

Pickle masala: 1 tsp

Salt: ½ tsp

For the Baati:

Wheat flour: 2 cups

Baking Soda: ¼ tsp

Clarified butter (ghee): 2 tbsp and some more for greasing

Carom seeds: 1 tsp

Salt: 1 tsp

How to create it?

The chokha:

Roast the tomato in your gas until the skin turns black

Similarly roast the brinjal

Once the tomatoes and brinjals are cool. Peel off and put them together in a big bowl along with the boiled potatoes.

Mash them with a fork or even better with your hands

Roast the red chillies in the gas oven and crush them into the mash. By now your kitchen would already flood with an awesome smokey aroma

Next add the chopped onion, coriander and salt.

Mix it all into a nice mash and your chokha is ready!

Filling for The baati:

Dry mix sattu, garlic- green chilli paste, caron seeds, ghee, ginger paste, salt and pickle masala in a bowl.

Now add little water to form a coarse powdery texture. Your baati filling is ready. Now lets get to making the baati.

Baati:

Mix  all the ingredients mentioned for the baati together in a bowl

Add water and make a dough just the way you do for chapatti

Now take a small portion of the down and make a cavity in the centre like you do while making aloo parathas.

Stuff the cavity with the filling and seal the edges properly.

Shape it into a ball.

Repeat the process for all.

Grease the over portion of the baati with ghee and bake in a pre-heated oven. The baking time varies from oven to oven. Mine is a convection microwave and it took me 15 min at 100 degrees. Serve the baati hot with the yummy chokha. Bon appétit! 

1

Spiced Home-made Paneer

Bored of the boring white flavorless paneer? Then it's time to give our beloved paneer a flavorful and colorful makeover.Are you game? So let's get started!

What you need?

Milk (full cream): 1/2 litre
Juice of one lemon or Vinegar or Curd
Chilli Flakes- 1 tsp
Coriander Leaves: 2 tsp
Pepper (coarsely grounded): 2 tsp
Muslin Cloth for staining the whey
Weight for placing on top of the paneer while shaping

How to create it?

• Boil milk
• In boiling milk add chilli flakes, coriander leaves and pepper powder.
• Mix the ingredients well and when the milk begins to raise add in the lemon juice or Vinegar or Curd 
• At this point keep stirring so that the curdled milk does not stick to the base of the pan
• Immediately transfer the mixture to a muslin cloth and squeeze out the water (be careful, don't burn your hands in the process) 
• Wrap the muslin cloth tight and place it on a colander.
• Place a weight on top (i used a stone mortar for this) for shaping the paneer and taking off the excess water down
• Let it rest for an hour
• After an hour take out the paneer from the muslin cloth
• At this point you can will see a beautiful block of paneer ready to be cut into cubes or you can refrigerate and cube it as and when required
• Here i have used spices as per my choice, you can use any spice or herb of your choice. You can even add Italian seasoning for using it in pizza or pasta. 

“EXTRA HELPINGS”

We all know how essential milk is for keeping good health but do you know that milk is equally good for skincare too? Raw cold milk acts as an excellent cleanser. 

Just take few teaspoons of milk in a bowl and soak a cotton ball into the milk and wipe your face with it. It is sure to take away all the impurities and makeup of your face without leaving it dry and itchy. So next time you go shopping the expensive cleanser just head to the milk counter and buy a packet of fresh milk, it is not just cheaper but safer and much more nourishing too! :) 

Coconut Chutney- Authentic South Indian Style

If you have been looking for an authentic coconut chutney recipe that tastes exactly similar to the taste that you come across in the south Indian restaurants then look no where, your search ends here! Here's a coconut chutney recipe that will take you straight to the south. :)

This awesomely yummy chutney is a compatible partner to idly, dosa, upma, uthapam, vada, bhajjis and many more. ;) You can even try the match making with your dhoklas and samosas. :D

So why wait? Let’s get started! 

What You Need?

For Grinding

Shredded Coconut: 1 cup
Channa Daal: ½ cup
Ginger: 1″ pc
Green Chillies: 2
C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁ (Sugar): ½ tsp
Lemon Juice: 1 tsp
Salt to taste

For Tempering

Curry Leaves: 1 sprig
Oil: 1 tsp
Asafoetida: A pinch
Mustard Seeds: ½ tsp
Dry Red Cillies: 1-2
Chana Daal : ½  tsp
Cumin: ½ tsp


How to create it?

• Dry roast the chana dal in a pan till it gets light brown in colour and a nice aroma fills your kitchen.
• Now transfer the chana dal, coconut, ginger, chillies, salt and sugar into the mixer jar and pulse grind.
• Use little water to make it into a smooth paste.
• At last add in the lemon juice and mix.
• Transfer into the serving plate or even better serve in a coconut shell.

Tame It With Tempering

• Heat oil and add the mustard seeds along with asafoetida.
• Once the mustard seeds crackle, add the chana dal.
• Fry till the chana dal turns brown.
• Next add the dry red chillies, cumin and curry leaves.
• Fry for a minute and then pour it over the coconut chutney.  

"EXTRA HELPINGS"

Do you know that Coconut Oil is an excellent moisturizer? 
Coconut oil has great anti-aging properties and is a great skin nourisher. So next time instead of heading to the cosmetic section of the store, head straight to your kitchen to tackle those dry patches and fine lines ;) 

Khaman Dhokla - An Indian snack made of chickpea flour

Alright so it’s raining outside...and with rains comes the urge of eating pakodas (fried Indian fritters)! So what do you do? You head straight to the kitchen to catch hold of some chickpea flour and get started. But hey wait! You're on diet!! Oops nothing deep fried!! Nothing high on calories!! :( So is it pakodas?? Nay!! :P But what do you do with the chickpea flour looking at you in anticipation of a great dish?? Well, let’s make Dhoklas!! :) Yay!!!  :D Yummy Dhoklas are just the perfect alternative to put your chickpea flour to a healthier use and tackle the sudden SNACK ATTACKS!! 

These soft, fluffy & moist Dhoklas are so easy and convenient to make that once you try your hands on this recipe, you would never want to buy Dhoklas from the shop again!! There are many different variations of this dish but what I’m gonna show you here is super fast and super yummy! Trust me!

So let's kick start with the ingredients: 

What You Need?

 

For Batter

Chickpea Flour or Besan: 1 & ½ cup 

C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁ (Sugar): 1 tsp 

Salt to taste 
Lukewarm H₂O (water) as required (around one cup)
Fruit salt or Eno: 1 sachet

Ginger & green chilli paste: 1 tsp

Oil: 1 tsp (for greasing and little to drizzle on the batter)

C₆H₈O₇ (Citric Acid) or Lemon Juice: 1 tsp 

For Tempering

Oil: 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds: ½ tsp

Asafoetida: A pinch

Slit green chillies (you can also use dry red chillies like me): 4

C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁ (Sugar): 1 tsp

Grated coconut: ¼ cup

Chopped coriander leaves: ½ cup

H₂O (water): ½ cup

How to create it?

• Mix salt, sugar and chickpea flour. Pour lukewarm H₂O to make a thick paste (it should have a falling consistency but not runny). 
• Let it rest for 15-20 min at least.
• Meanwhile put H₂O into your steamer and let it steam on high flame. 
• After resting the batter for 15 min, mix in ginger- green chilli paste, lemon juice and a drizzle of oil. 
• Just before putting the batter into the steamer mix in the fruit salt and pour it in a greased tray.
• Steam  for at least 15 min and then de-mould it after cooling.

Tame It With Tempering

• Heat oil in a kadhai.
• Once hot, add mustard seeds, asafoetida, slit green chillies, sugar, grated coconut, chopped coriander leaves and water.
• Boil for a minute and then pour it over the dhoklas. 

Khaman Dhoklas are ready to be relished! :)

"EXTRA HELPINGS"

Do you know that chickpea flour not just makes excellent Dhoklas but also makes an excellent treat for your skin? Here’s a quick recipe of ‘Besan Body Wash’ that you can try at home.

Take one cup besan, add milk and form a paste. To it add a pinch of turmeric and 1 tsp lemon juice. Apply this scrub all over your damp body and rinse. Do this once a week to say goodbye to dead cells and hello to a glowing skin!