Friday, 27 February 2015

Ladi Paav Recipe



Ladi Paav Recipe:

Active dry yeast- 2+1/4 tsp
Sugar- 2tbsp
Maida- 2 cups
Melted Butter- 3 tbsp
Salt- 1 tsp
Lukewarm water(100C-105C)- 1 Cup 


Steps:
The very first step is to activate/proof the yeast. Make sure the yeast is fresh and not expired or been kept for very long. Please throw away any yeast that has been opened but not used for over 3 months or so because the dough won't raise otherwise. I did the same mistake and wasted many batches of my effort.

Take warm water in a cup and add sugar and yeast to it and stir well and keep aside covered for 10-15 minutes. You will find that the yeast has become frothy and little bit raised on the top.

Now in a bowl take maida and add melted butter and salt and the proofed yeast water and knead well.
If your dough gets too sticky (like mine went) and unmanageable you can always add a little more flour. The dough should be sticky yet firm and soft. Knead well till 8-10 minutes. This is very important so as to activate gluten in the dough.

Grease a bowl and roll the dough in it. Keep covered with a wet cloth or kitchen towel for about 1.5- 2 hours depending on the weather outside.

After 2 hours you will find that the dough has doubled up in size. It’s time to punch it back again.

Clean your kitchen counter and sprinkle some flour over it and punch your dough again and release all the air. Bring the dough to its normal volume.

Now pinch out balls of dough as you do while making chapatis. Make round balls of the dough approximately the size of a big lemon.
Grease a baking tray or pan and dust it with some flour.

 Place the dough balls in the greased baking tray at a distance of 1 inch. Leave them covered again for 1 hour till they again rise and get connected to each other. Now it’s time for baking.

Preheat the oven at 250C for 10 minutes and bake these for around 8-10 minute or till they get a golden hue on top.

Take them out and place on a wire rack till they are cool if you want to store them. You may have them immediately too. :)

Thursday, 26 February 2015

Garlic Bread Recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups Maida
50 gms butter
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt, 3 tsp dry yeast and 1/2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp minced garlic
herbs as required.
3/4 cup grated processed cheese



Process:

Take one cup lukewarm water, add sugar, dry yeast.  Keep it for 15 minutes.

Mix all other ingredients except cheese and olive oil.

After 15 minutes add the yeast water, make sure the dough is properly fermented for the bread to become soft.

Knead the dough for 10 minutes and keep it in a warm place for 3 hours.

After 3 hours dough should have been doubled, again knead it and give it a shape of your choice, top it with herbs and olive oil and keep it in pre heated oven at 180 degree for 20 minutes. Don't forget to check out in between. You can add cheese in-between.

Broken Wheat Instant Idlis

Ingredients:
2 cups broken wheat (dalia)
3 cups sour curds (khatta dahi)
salt to taste
1/4 cup grated carrot
1 tbsp chopped coriander (dhania)
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
1 tbsp freshly grated coconut
oil for greasing and roasting



Method:
Heat little oil in a pan, add the broken wheat and saute till they turn pink in colour.
Cool, add the salt, curds and cumin seeds and blend in a mixer till smooth, using water if required.
Cover and keep aside for 30 minutes.
Grease the idli moulds using oil and place some carrots, coriander and coconut in each moulds.
Pour a spoonful of batter on top and steam in a idli steamer for 15 minutes or till cooked.

Serve hot.

Broken Wheat(Dalia) Dosa Recipe

Ingredients for Dosa Batter:

3 Cups Broken Wheat (Dalia/lapsi rava)

1 Cup Split black gram (Dhuli urad dal)

1 Cup Rice

½ tsp Fenugreek seeds (methi dana)

Salt to taste

Water as required

Oil for greasing



Method:

1 Wash and soak the rice and broken wheat in water for nearly 3 to 4 hours.

2 Wash and Soak the Urad dal and Fenugreek seeds also in water in a separate container.

3 After 4-6 hours remove water from the rice and broken wheat and grind it.

4 Grind it to semolina (small rava) like consistency with as minimum water required, in a mixer grinder.

5 Do not grind continuously as the mixer will get overloaded.

6 Remove it in a deep vessel.

7 Grind the Urad dal and fenugreek also in the mixer to a very fine paste with as minimum water required.

8 Do not grind continuously.

9 Remove it to the vessel and mix both the pastes together and cover and keep in warm place for fermentation overnight.

How do we proceed:-

1 In the morning see if the batter has doubled in size that means it has fermented well.

2 If not you can add 1 tsp of baking soda to make the Dosa’s light and fluffy (in winter season the batter doesn’t double much)

3 First check the batter consistency and then add the water if required.

4 Stir it and adjust the consistency of the dosa batter by adding water as required. If it’s already ok don’t add water.

5 Mix in the salt to taste and your batter is ready to make Dosa.

6 Keep a non stick Tawa/ griddle on the flame to become hot.

7 When it is hot enough put 2-3 drops of oil. When the oil is hot enough sprinkle little water to adjust the temperature.

8 Pour out 1 – 1 ½ ladle full of batter and spread it out from centre to outwards with the back of the ladle to make a circle. You must be quick enough.

9 Leave a little oil from the sides of the dosa. Keep on medium flame.

10 When the dosa is done and starts to leave sides remove the dosa and keep in the serving plate.

11 If you think the dosa is uncooked on the top you can flip it to cook on the other side also.

12 Serve hot with the chutney of your choice. You can also serve sambhar and potato bhaji with it.