Irish soda bread

It appears everyone has their favorite Irish soda bread recipe. Some with olives, some with raisins, some with both, some with neither. The essential ingredients in a traditional Irish soda bread are flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk. The acid in buttermilk reacts with the base of the baking soda to provide the bread’s leavening.

Its been an all time favorite in our household. Its really quick to make and doesn't require any proving time.. 

Soda bread dries out quickly so is only good for a day or two. It is best eaten freshly baked and warm or toasted.

Here is a simple recipe that I use.. 

Ingredients :

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp sea salt

1 tbsp Italian Seasoning ( I used the Pre- mix that comes in the market)

1 cup chopped black olives

21/4 cups buttermilk

Method

Before going into the oven

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lightly oil a large baking sheet using olive oil or cooking spray. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a large mixing bowl. Add the italian seasoning and chopped olives and stir well to combine.
2. Create a well in the center of the flour mixture. Pour the buttermilk into the well. Stir the buttermilk into the flour mixture, starting in the center and working your way to the outside of the bowl until a dough forms. If needed, add additional buttermilk (1 tablespoon at a time) to form the dough.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly-floured surface and knead for 1 minute. Form a large disc out of the dough. Cut the dough in half with a knife and with floured hands, form two small discs out of the dough.( or you can make it one large loaf like i did) ... Using a serrated knife, cut a ¼-inch deep square or X into each disc of dough.
4. Place both discs of dough on the lightly-oiled baking sheet. Be sure to place the discs far apart, as they will rise while baking. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and bread tests clean when poked with a knife. Remove from the oven and allow bread to cool at least 20 minutes before slicing!
   
   

Vada Paav - Mumbai Ishtyle!

Tried my hand at making authentic Vada paav last night for a snack and it turned out awesome! It is such a popular street food in Mumbai that it also has a wiki entry honouring it, read here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vada_pav

The best part about making this lip-smacking snack is how easy the ingredients are to find in your own pantry/fridge and how simple the entire process is. You can take my word for it, as I am a person who hasn't ventured much into the world of fried snacks [i.e pakoras/vadas etc].

Ingredients:
2 whole boiled potatoes - you can pressure cook them in a bit of turmeric and then mash them either by hand or with a masher.
1 tsp mustard seeds [rai]
a few curry leaves and coriander leaves, finely chopped
Asafoetida [Hing] - a pinch
1 or 2 green chillies finely chopped as per your taste.

For the batter:
3/4 cup of gram flour [besan]
1/2 tsp of tamarind paste
1/2 tsp / as per your taste, of red chilli powder
A hint of salt and asafoetida

1. Heat a bit of oil in a kadhai and add mustard seeds in it. When it finishes sputtering, add green chillies, coriander leaves and curry leaves. Mix together and then add the mashed potatoes, and salt as per taste. Mix well and fry for a bit of time. Remove off the flame and allow to cool.

2. In a bowl, add besan, and the other ingredients mentioned for the batter, with as less water as possible, just to make a thick paste. Remember, if the paste is too thin, it will not coat the potato mix.

3. Make medium sized balls of the potato mix, dip in the besan batter and deep fry. Serve hot with Indian paav and you can also make a coriander chutney and garlic chutney to go with it. I made neither as this was just a last minute effort. I did serve it with sliced onion though.

                       

Gobhi ke Parathey

Gobi Ke Parathey !! They were quite yummy, a successful attempt :)

Ingredients :

Whole wheat dough made as you would make usually for parathas. 

For the filling:

1 medium sized Gobhi [cauliflower] - into florets and minced finely

Instead of onions, I used shallots - so, 7-8 shallots, minced finely

Garlic cloves - 2 or 3, as per your preference, finely crushed.

Usual spice mix - dhaniya powder, haldi [turmeric], garam masala [a teaspoon each]

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Make the dough for the parathey and let it stay for about 30 minutes, covered with a moist cloth.

2. Mince the cauliflower and shallots together and saute well with the crushed garlic in a little bit of oil with the spices. It should look like this when it is done. This is your filling. Top with coriander.

3. Stuff and roll out. Fry each paratha lightly, drizzling the pan with a bit of oil when required. 

4. Enjoy the delicious treat - I served it with some black gram curry [kaale channey] and a bit of curd by the side. 

Breakfast Special : Egg Bhurjee

We had an eggalicious weekend!! :):) Hubby and I just L.O.V.E our eggie breakfasts on weekends - so I decided to make a bhurjee [scrambled eggs but desi style]

You will need :

3 eggs - nicely beaten

1 small onion and tomato - diced

1 green chilly

Get the ingredients chopped and ready. Meanwhile whisk the eggs in a bowl and set aside.

Toss the onions in a bit of oil and saute well. Add tomato and the chilly

I do not know what is the traditional way to make it. But this is what I usually do - scrape the onion mixture to the side of your wok and pour in the eggs on the other side. Let it form into an omelette and then break it up.

Add salt and half a tsp of garam masala

Garnish with coriander and serve with pav [Indian bread bun]

Quick Bread Crumb pudding..

The idea for this recipe came from some bread crumbs that I had made. My husband refuses to eat the brown sides of the bread slice and instead of throwing them, I stored them in the freezer and then later toasted and ground them into fine bread crumbs.
This recipe is a nice way to use the breadcrumbs.
I hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients :
Bread Crumbs - 1 cup
Milk : 1 1/2 cup
Sugar : 3/4 cup
Ghee - 5 tbsps
Cashewnuts and raisins - 1tsp each.
Condensed milk - 4 tbsp
Chopped strawberries -for garnishing.


Method:
-In a pan, take 2 spoons of Ghee and fry the cashews and raisins and when done add the bread crumbs and fry for a few minutes. 
- Add milk and cook for 10 minutes in a low flame, in the meanwhile also add the condensed milk. 
- When this mixture is half cooked add the sugar.
-When the sugar had dissolved fully, add the rest of the ghee.
-Garnish with the chopped strawberries. Serve chilled.

Bread Dosa

Bread Dosa..

Ingredients : 

• 10 slices White Bread
• 1/2 cup Semolina (rawa/suji)
• 1 tsp Rice Flour
• Salt to taste
• 2 tsp Split Black Gram Skinless (Dhuli Urad Dal)
• 1 medium Onion (chopped)
• 1-2 Green Chillies (chopped)
• 1/2 inch piece Ginger (chopped)
• 2-3 Curry Leaves (chopped)
• 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
• 2 tsp Yogurt (whisked)
• Oil to deep fry 

Method : 
- Take the bread slices, cut the brown edges and soak it in water for two minutes. Squeeze out the excess water and gently crush the bread. Keep aside. 

-In a bowl, take semolina, rice flour, salt and water and make a thin batter. Add the crumbled bread and yogurt to the batter and blend it well in a mixer. Pour it out in a clean bowl and check the consistency.

passing the rice flour through a sieve to avoid lumps

Semolina and rice flour mixed together to make a light batter

Adding the batter ,crushed bread & yoghurt into the mixer

Checking the batter for consistency

-In a pan, heat two tablespoons of oil and add mustard seeds, black gram, curry leaves, chopped ginger, green chillies, onion and sauté till light brown. Allow it to cool a little and then mix it to the batter.

Chopped ginger,chillies and onions... 

Add the Urad dal and mustard seeds

Sautéing the onions, chillies and ginger in the kadhai

Sautéing the onions, chillies and ginger in the kadhai

 -Take a dosa tawa, dab it with a little oil and wipe it with a clean wet cloth.-Pour a big spoonful of the batter onto the hot tawa and spread wide.

-Drizzle a little oil on top and sides and cook for two to three minutes. Turn and cook the other side till brown and crisp.

-Serve with Mint chutney.