Bread Upma

I haven't even heard of bread upma until the day I made it. My hubby suddenly had a craving for it, and told me about this dish that used to be very popular in Tamil Nadu during his childhood. Before chaats from north India became popular and invaded the snack scene in south India, these were a regular item in most tea shops. Nowadays, you can never find this in a restaurant menu. So he asked me to look it up and make it for him. I went through a few bread upma recipes online and mostly followed Preethi's.

Ingredients:

Bread - 6 to 8 slices
Ghee - as required
Onion - 1 medium, chopped
Green chilli - 1, chopped
Ginger - 1/2 inch, minced (optional)
Tomato - 2, chopped
Vegetables of choice - like crumbled potato, green peas, carrots, beans, chana (garbanzo), chopped and cooked. You can also add cooked ground meat.
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad Dal - 1/2 tsp
Chana Dal - 1/2 tsp
Cashewnuts - handful, broken
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Tomato puree or water - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves - minced (or coriander chutney) - to taste
Lemon juice - to garnish

Method:

Toast bread pieces on a skillet with ghee. (You can skip toasting the bread, but I felt this step made the dish really tasty!) Cube them into bite size pieces. In a wok, heat ghee and splutter mustard seeds. Add chana dal, urad dal and cashewnuts. Stir well so that they fry evenly. When they brown, add onions, ginger and green chilli. Fry till onions turn translucent with salt. Then add tomatoes and fry till they mush up. Then add cooked vegetables and combine. Add turmeric powder, asafoetida, red chilli powder and garam masala. Sprinkle some water or add tomato puree and cook for a few minutes. Finally add the cubed bread pieces and combine well. Garnish with cilantro chutney and squeeze a bit of lemon juice. Serve hot.

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Naan

 
Naan is an Indian bread that I've been wanting to try making at home for a long time. It's traditionally made in a Tandoor which is a hot clay oven. Obviously a commoner like me won't have a clay oven at home, so we usually had them at a restaurant. But my mom used to make a similar one at home on a stove top when I was a kid. It used to be one of her specials served with keema matar, made specially for her children. :)
I tried a recipe from vahchef. He shows two options - an oven technique and a stove top technique. Since my stove is electric, I couldn't follow that one, although he says its the better tasting one. I opted for the oven technique and it turned out good anyway. I may try the stove top version when I get a grill.
I served it with Shahi Paneer for dinner.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour (Maida) - 3 cups
Instant dry yeast - 1 sachet
Water - 1/2 cup (lukewarm)
Milk - 1 cup
Egg - 1 (optional)
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Salt - a pinch
Oil - 2 tbsp
Extra flour - for rolling out

Method:

Sieve the flour into a bowl.
Prepare the yeast mixture first. In a small bowl filled with 1/2 cup lukewarm water, add the instant yeast. Stir with a plastic spoon to mix, the yeast will start to get activated. To help this, add in the salt and sugar. Let rest for 5 minutes. Add the milk, and egg if using. Egg will make the naan softer. Also add a tablespoon of oil in the mixture.
Pour the yeast mixture a little at time into the bowl of flour and knead with your hands. The video shows that you need to get a very sticky and smooth dough, so its ok if its sticks a lot on your hands. I did not have to use the entire yeast mixture to get the consistency shown in the video (that's why I use only 1/2 cup water in this recipe). Drizzle some oil over the top so that it doesn't dry when letting it rest. Rest for about 1/2 hour or even an hour, to let the dough rise. In the meantime, I prepared the curry that I would serve with it.
Preheat your oven to the highest possible temparature (broiler mode). Flour your work surface and your hands. Start pulling out portions of the sticky dough and form a rough ball with it. The extra flour will help prevent it from sticking to your hands. Once you've made the balls, cover them with a kitchen towel and rest again for about 10 to 20 mins. Then take eash dough ball and flatten them out with your palm. Keep tossing them between your palms like you would a pizza dough. The video shows you how to do this. Beware he's goofy, so it's hard to take him seriously at first lol!

Place them on a non-stick cookie sheet or on an oiled pan. If you like garlic naan, spread minced garlic over the naan at this stage. Bake it in the oven for 2 and a half minutes. Anymore and you will burn the naan (Oven temperatures may differ so keep a close eye on the first batch to calculate what works best). Take it out and flip it, and place it back in the oven for only 30 seconds. Get them out and immediately dab salted butter on it, if you like butter naan.
Serve hot with your favorite curry.

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Better-Than-Pita Grill Bread

Khubz is the Arabic bread known as pita in other parts of the world.
Usually this is made in the traditional wood burning oven. It can also be made in the modern oven.
Since I dont have either, I tried this lovely grilled bread from Epicurious

Credit: Epicurious

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fast-acting yeast from 1 (1/4-oz) package such as Fleischmann's Rapid Rise yeast
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon warm water (105-115°F)
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon beaten egg

Special equipment: a lightly oiled ridged grill pan, cast-iron skillet, or griddle

Method:

Whisk together flour (2 cups), sugar, salt, and yeast in a bowl until combined. Whisk together water, oil, and egg in another bowl until combined well, then stir into flour mixture until a shaggy dough forms. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead, working in just enough additional flour to keep dough from sticking, about 2 minutes (dough will not be smooth). Form dough into a ball and put in an oiled bowl, turning to coat, then let rest in bowl, uncovered, in a warm draft-free place 10 minutes.
Note: I required almost 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup oil to get a dough. To be safe and to get the required consistency, first add 1/4 cup each and then add little by little as you go.



Cut dough into 10 pieces and form each into a ball. Working with 1 piece at a time, flatten balls, then roll out into 6-inch rounds (less than 1/8 inch thick) on lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin.



Mine of course turned in shapes other than rounds. To ensure that you get a pocket in the middle, fold it in half as shown below, and roll out again.



Preheat grill pan or skillet over moderately high heat just until smoking, then reduce heat to moderate and grill bread rounds, 1 at a time, turning once, until marks appear and bread is cooked through, about 2 minutes. It will puff up on the hot pan and deflate once taken off the pan. Keep breads warm, wrapped in a cloth napkin.



Cooks' notes: If you have a 2-burner grill pan, you can grill 2 bread rounds at a time.
Bread can be made 1 day ahead and cooled completely, then kept in an airtight container at room temperature. Reheat bread, loosely wrapped in foil, in a 350°F oven until heated through.

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Pizza Parotta - My Twist of Taste

These days I see a lot of emphasis on fusion food. I was never really into it as I prefer trying to get the authentic tastes. But I sometimes wonder how someone would even think of fusing this and that together. Some are interesting, some not, some even pure genius!
So how did I venture into this area of fusion food? As they say, necessity is the mother of all inventions. I was working at home coz I was not feeling too well, and did not have much work. But to my utter disappointment, my clients felt that today was the perfect day to report tons of issues, and I get assigned more work than I usually handle. Grr... there goes all my plans to relax at home, exploring various recipes and trying out new stuff. I started to feel hungry and wondered I had in the refrigerator. I had a packet of Kerala Parottas. But what do I eat with it? Most of the veggie ingredients were Italian stuff left over from my pasta recipes. So I imagined... what if I use the ingredients like a pizza topping but the base be used as a kerala parotta? Its like those thin crust pizzas, except that this crust is thin and flaky. yum! and oh it was yum!! Mine was totally simple and quick but you can add any of your favourite pizza toppings.

Ingredients:

Kerala parotta: 1
Salsa: 2 tbsp.
Black Olives: 4 sliced
Basil Leaves: 2 or 3
Mozzarella cheese: as required
Oregano: to garnish
Garlic bread seasoning: to garnish

Method:

Spread the salsa on the parotta. Arrange sliced olives and broken up basil leaves on top. Sprinkle grated mozzarella all over. Take a frying pan with a lid. Place it on a stove on low heat. Place the parotta on the frying pan. Sprinkle oregano and garlic bread seasoning. Cover the lid and allow the pizza to cook on low heat. Wait till all the cheese melts and take it off the pan. Slice them and serve immediately!



You can add sauteed baby corn, capsicum and minced garlic in a little olive oil. You can also add cold cuts like sliced sausages, bacon or pepperoni. Onions, sun-dried tomatoes, the list can go on...

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Banana Poori

This was today's breakfast.. or rather brunch.
As I said in my previous post, I had this ripe banana that I had to use before it rots and I would have no choice but to throw it away.
It just the regular chappathi dough to which you add mashed banana in the end. Since it would be too sticky, I kept adding more atta till I got the right consistency to roll it.

Credit: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art24948.asp

Pooris are a delicious deep-fried Indian bread and the addition of ripened bananas makes them even harder to resist. Pooris (or puris) are enjoyed throughout India and are eaten particularly on festive occasions and holidays. This particular recipe is a favorite among both kids and adults alike. This dish is a great way to use over ripe bananas, in fact, the more ripe the banana the better! These pooris can be eaten for breakfast or as a light snack or meal and are especially great for picnics since they travel well.


BANANA POORI

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour (atta)
a few tbsp of all-purpose flour, as needed
1 large very ripe banana
salt to taste
pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
oil for deep frying
water as needed

Method:

Peel and mash the banana, set aside until needed. A fork works really well for this task.

In a large mixing bowl, add the flour and the salt. Mix together and slowly add the water while kneading until a soft dough is formed. If the dough is sticky, add a little all-purpose flour. Add the mashed banana along with the freshly grated nutmeg and carefully mix them into the dough adding a little extra flour if needed.

Using a clean work surface sprinkled with some all-purpose flour, gently knead the dough and divide it equally into round balls (roughly ping pong ball size). At this point, you can use a poori machine (similar to a tortilla press) or a rolling pin to make the pooris. Roll them out evenly into round circles (4-5 inches in diameter). Heat a deep skillet with enough oil to deep fry. When hot, carefully add the pooris (2-3 at a time) and fry until golden brown. You may need to fry them in batches. Drain well and serve immediately with your favorite sweet chutney and yogurt.

Variations:

Instead of using freshly grated nutmeg, you could add a pinch of saffron or a pinch of freshly ground cardamom instead. You can even make banana pooris using chai masala (¼ tsp) and they will be a huge hit!

You can also caramelize the bananas in a skillet with a little butter. Peel and cut the banana into small pieces and brown in a skillet on medium high heat with a tbsp of butter. You can add a pinch of cinnamon or freshly grated nutmeg along with a tbsp or so of brown sugar. The bananas should break down and caramelize along with the sugar. Mash the mixture if needed. Let the mixture cool entirely before adding it to the dough.

Banana pooris can also be served along with shrikhand (sweetened yogurt).

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French Toast

No credits for this one as it is a universal recipe with tons of them floating around. I just make it using my own proportions.

Ingredients:

1. 2 eggs
2. 3 tablespoon sugar, optional
3. 1/2 teaspoon salt
4. 1 cup milk
5. 10 to 12 slices bread
6. butter
7. maple syrup or other syrup

Method:

Break eggs into a wide, shallow bowl or pie plate; beat lightly with a fork. Stir in sugar, salt, and milk. Over medium-low heat, heat griddle or skillet coated with a thin layer of butter or margarine. Not really required if using a non-stick pan. 
Place the bread slices, one at a time, into the bowl or plate, letting slices soak up egg mixture for a few seconds, then carefully turn to coat the other side. Soak/coat only as many slices as you will be cooking at one time.
Transfer bread slices to griddle or skillet, heating slowly until bottom is golden brown. Turn and brown the other side. Serve French toast hot with butter and syrup.

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