Naan - Indian Bread

I just love bread. The aroma of freshly baked bread is simply intoxicating. Baking good bread depends completely on getting the right proportions of flour and fluids and I would urge you to use standard measuring utensils while following these recipes (and not rely on the tea and table spoons available in your kitchen). In this recipe I present to you "Naan" or "Naan Bread" (for the rest of the world), one of the very easy to make Indian breads and definitely a high scorer on consistency, flavour and aroma.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour (Maida) - 4 cups

Active dry yeast - 2 tsp

Water - ¾ cup, Luke warm

Milk - ¾ cup, Luke warm

Sunflower Oil - 2 tbsp

Sugar - 1 ¼ tsp

Salt - 2 ¼ tsp

White Til (Sesame seeds) / Kalonji (Nigella)

Butter

Method:

In small bowl, add milk, water, oil, sugar, salt and yeast. Whisk the mixture thoroughly. Let it stand for a minute. Take flour in a large bowl, make a well in the middle and pour the yeast mixture. Mix it thoroughly. Its alright if the dough is gooey at this moment. Because gooey dough will guarantee a very soft Naan. Cover the bowl with a wet cloth and keep aside for around 30 minutes.

Apply oil to your palm before handling the dough. Divide into 7-8 dough balls and place them in a large plate. Cover it with a wet cloth and let is stand for 30 more minutes.

Flatten the dough balls on a counter-top, elongate on one side to get the signature Naan shape, sprinkle some sesame seeds or kalonji, and place them on a baking tray. Pre-heat the oven on grill mode for around 10 minutes. Place the tray on the top most rack, close to the grill. Bake for 4 minutes on each side or until done. Rub butter on both sides.

I bet these beautiful Naan needs no accompaniment and can be had without a curry. Hope you liked the recipe, leave a comment, tell me how it turned out for you.

Croissant

Bonjour friends...this is my first encounter with French cooking. And well what better way to start than with baking. Presenting to you, the classic French puff pastry....Croissant. The recipe does not have too many ingredients, but requires time, patience and lot of love.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour (Maida) - 4 cups plus some extra flour for dusting

Active dry yeast - 1 tbsp

Sugar - ¼ cup

Milk - ½ cup, luke warm

Water - ½ cup, luke warm

Salt - 2 ¼ tsp

Butter sticks - 200 gms, cold

Egg wash-

Egg - 1

Water - 1 tbsp

Method:

Take milk in a large bowl, add yeast, whisk nicely. Add sugar and salt, mix well. Now add 4 cups of flour, mix thoroughly (no need to completely knead the dough at this point). Roughly shape into a ball place it in a large plate and cover it nicely with cling wrap. Refrigerate overnight.

Place a large piece of cling wrap on the counter top, place the butter stick on top and cover it with another cling wrap. Now gently start beating the butter flat with a rolling pin. Flat it to around 1/2 cm thick. Repeat for the the rest of the sticks. Put the flattened butter back to the refrigerator. Now take out the dough and roll out to from a 12 inch square. Place the flat butter sheets in the centre of the square and arrange next to each other. Fold one flap of the dough covering the butter, stretching it slightly so that the point just reaches the center of the butter. Repeat for rest of the flaps. Press the edges together to completely seal the butter inside the dough. Dust the dough and start rolling the dough lengthwise while keeping the width as is. Roll till the length is around 24 inches and width about 8 inches (Keep dusting the dough making sure it does not stick to the counter top). Now fold one end of the dough (along the length) till the middle, and then fold the other end to the middle (both ends meet at the center). Fold the dough from the center so that the dough forms a  6 inch x 8 inch rectangular shape. Place the dough in a baking tray, cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for ½ hour. Take out and roll the dough till the length is around 24 inches (lengthen the other sides this time, viz the open ended sides) and repeat the above process for three more times refrigerating the dough every time for ½ hour.

Once set in the refrigerator, take out and roll into a 40 inch x 8 inch long sheet. With a scale, make marks at 5 inch intervals on one side lengthwise. Mark intergvals of 2 ½ inch on the other side. With the help of a pizza cutter, cut triangles such that the base of the triangle is 5 inch. Once done, make 1 cm long cut right in the middle of base of the triangle. Now pull the edges slightly (on either sides of the cut) apart and fold and keep rolling in-wards towards the pointed edge of the triangle to form the basic croissant shape.  Now bring both the edges together to form the final croissant shape. Place it over butter paper set on a baking tray. Leave it in a warm place (around 30º C) for proofing. Make sure the place to not too warm or else the butter would just melt away. Keep it for around 2 hours.

Beat the egg and water in a bowl to form the egg wash. Now brush the egg wash gently (do not apply pressure on the croissants, they are very delicate at this point). Pre-heat the oven @ 200º C and bake for 20 minutes (after the first 10 minutes rotate the sheet and continue baking).

Enjoy the delicate and buttery flavoured croissant.

Pasta in White Sauce

The humble pasta strikes back...here i go with another interesting pasta recipe. A vegetarian delight...absolutely love the aroma.

Ingredients:

White Sauce-

Butter - 2 tbsp

Garlic - 1 tbsp, chopped

Cornflour - 2 tbsp

Milk - 2 cup

Pepper powder - 1 tsp

Cheese - 1 slice

Oregano - ½ tsp

Thyme - ½ tsp

Salt to taste

Blanched Veggies-

Mushroom - 150 gms, cut into medium chunks

Carrot - 160 gms, small chunks

American corn - ½ cup

Capsicum - 140 gms, small chunks

Fusilli - 350 gms

Red chilly flakes

Parmesan cheese

Method:

Melt some butter in a pan. Add garlic and saute till garlic gives off the aroma. Now add cornflour and saute for a while (don't let it turn brown). Pour in the milk, keep stirring till blended. Cook till you get the desired thickness (don't make the sauce too thick). Add salt, pepper, oregano and thyme. Add the blanched veggies and cook on low flame for two minutes. Adjust seasoning and keep the sauce aside.

Cook the pasta (Fusilli) in abundant boiling water (add salt to the water) till done. Also add may be a 1 tbsp of oil into the boiling water. Drain the pasta, drizzle some olive oil into the pasta and mix it well with the sauce.

Serve with grated parmesan and sprinkle red chilly flakes lightly over the top.

Spaghetti and meatballs

Here's another Italian pasta dish. Well, not exactly Italian. Originally, pasta and meatball recipe was conceived by Italian-Americans around the year 1920. It uses the long form of pasta called spaghetti. This is my very first trial and it came out to be an absolute winner, reminds me of a restaurant in New York, where I had it a few years back. The original version uses beef, I have used mutton here.

Ingredients:

Meatball -

Minced mutton - 400 gms

Chopped garlic  - 1 tbsp
Grated cheese (Gouda) - ¼ cup

Bread slice - 2 thick, soaked in milk for a minute and then squeezed

Egg - 1, lightly beaten

Onion - 1 medium, finely chopped

Coriander leaves - ¼ cup, chopped

Oregano - ¼ tsp

Lemon zest - 1 tsp

Pepper powder - 1 tsp, freshly ground
Oil for shallow fry

Salt to taste

Tomato sauce -
Red ripe tomato - 9 medium sized
Extra virgin olive oil - 2 tbsp
Garlic - 4-5 cloves, minced
Basil - ½ cup
Red chilly flakes - 1 ½ tsp
Salt to taste

Spaghetti - 350 gms
Rosemary fresh or dried
Parmesan cheese

Method:

Take minced mutton in a large bowl, add rest of the ingredients. Mix thoroughly with your hands (DO NOT squeeze the mince). Let it stand for 5 minutes. Then, make balls out of them, roughly of size 1 to 1 ½ inch.  Place the balls in a tray, cover with cling film and place it in the refrigerator for around ½ hour. Heat a pan over high flame, add oil for shallow frying. Fry the meatballs in batches until they a brown on all sides. Set it aside on an absorbent paper.

Cut the tomatoes into half, remove most of the seeds using your fingers. Then cut them into quarters. Heat the oil in a pan, add garlic and the chilly flakes. Saute till the garlic gives off its aroma. Add tomatoes and cook on a high flame till the sauce thickens. With the help of a wooden spoon mash the tomato as much as possible. Add roughly chopped basil and salt. Cook for another 10 minutes. Roughly run the hand blender for ½ minute in the sauce to smooth any tomato chunks. Now add the meatballs, coat them nicely in the tomato sauce. Lower the heat, cover the the pan and cook for about 20 minutes.

Cook spaghetti in abundant boiling water (add salt to the water) till done. Also add may be a 1 tbsp of oil into the boiling water. Drain the pasta, drizzle some olive oil into the spaghetti.

Pour a generous serving of the meatball sauce over the spaghetti, sprinkle rosemary and grate some Parmesan.

Chocolate Muffin

Ingredients:
Plain flour - 200gms
Cocoa powder - 25 gms
Baking powder - 1 tbsp
Ground cinnamon - 1 tsp
Caster sugar - 115 gms
White Chocolate - 125 gms, broken into small pieces
Eggs - 2
Sunflower oil - 80 ml
Milk - 220 ml

Icing -
White chocolate - 100 gms
Water - 4 tbsp
Butter - 50 gms
Icing sugar - 350 gms

Method:

Preheat oven to 190º C. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with muffin paper cases. Sift the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and cocoa into a large mixing bowl. Add sugar and white chocolate to it and stir nicely.

Take the eggs and oil in a bowl and whist until frothy, then gradually whist in the milk. Slowly stir into the dry ingredients until just blended. Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until, filling ¾ full. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until well risen. Leave it to cool for 2 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the icing, break the white chocolate into a small heat proof bowl, add water, butter, and set the bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water until melted. Stir until smooth and leave to stand over the water. Now add the icing sugar and beat until smooth and thick.

Top the muffins with the icing.

Vegetable Biryani

This dish is dedicated to all my vegetarian friends. This dish is surely a strong contender for its meaty counterpart and is an absolute winner on flavours.

Ingredients:

Rice -

Basmati rice - 4 cups

Cloves - 3

Cinnamon - 2"

Cardamon - 4

Shahi jeera - 1 tsp

Oil - 2 tbsp

Saffron - two pinch soaked in 100ml warm water

Cashew nuts - ¼ cup, chopped

Almonds - ¼ cup, chopped

Salt to taste

Masala -

Oil - 4 tbsp

Cloves - 4

Green cardamon - 4

Black cardamon - 1

Mace - 1

Cinnamon - 2"

Shahi jeera - 1 tsp

Ginger garlic paste - 1 ½ tsp

Biryani masala - 25 gm

Fried onion - 2 large finely sliced

Green chilly - 6 diagonally sliced ½" chunks

Coriander leaves - 1 cup, chopped

Mint leaves - 1 cup, chopped

Curd - 2 cups, whisked to creamy texture

Cauliflower - 1 ½ cup, large flower

Paneer - 200 gms, cut into 1" cubes

Carrot - 225 gms, cut into ½" thick and 2 ½" long strips

Soya chunks - 1 ½ cup, soaked in warm water, cut into half (squeeze the water off)

Potatoes - 2 large, ½" thick and 2 ½" long strips

Salt to taste

Atta Seal-
Atta dough to seal the biryani vessel

Method:

In a large flat surfaced vessel, heat some oil. Saute the dry masala (cloves, green and black cardamon, mace, cinnamon). Once the flavour have been infused into the oil, add shahi jeera, ginger garlic paste. Saute till the garlic gives off its aroma. Now add all the vegetables except the soya chunks and paneer. Let this cook till the vegetables are 70% cooked. Add some salt. Now add half of the coriander and mint and green chillies, biryani masala. Cook  for a minute. Add ½ of the curd followed by panner and soya chunks. Mix thoroughly and cook cook for a minute or two. Keep this aside.

In a large vessel, boil abundant water, add salt, add the dry masala (cloves cardamon, shahi jeera). Add rice and cook till the rice is 70-80% cooked. Drain the excess water.

Heat another thick bottom vessel, put half of the vegetable masala. Add curd and the nuts (cashew nuts, almonds), adjust the salt. Now sprinkle ¾ of the fried onion on top of the masala. Evenly spread ½ of the rice on top of this. On top of this, spread the rest of the masala and the fried onion. Cover this with rest of the rice, sprinkle coriander & mint leaves and the saffron water.

Seal rim of the vessel with atta dough and cover the lid. Cook on high flame for 5 minutes, then 15 minutes on low flame.

Serve the briyani with onion raita.

Pasta with Tomato & Basil Sauce

An excellent choice for a holiday brunch. I cooked this today and the family just loved the flavours. My daughter couldn't resist the taste, ended up with a sparkling clean cutlery :).

Ingredients:
Red ripe tomato - 6 medium sized
Pasta (Penne rigate) - 250 gms
Extra virgin olive oil - 2 tbsp
Basil - ¾ cup
Garlic - 4-5 cloves, minced
Red chilly flakes - 1 tsp
Rosemary
Parmesan cheese
Salt to taste

Method:

Cut the tomatoes into half, remove most of the seeds using your fingers. Then cut them into quarters. Heat the oil in a pan, add garlic and the chilly flakes. Saute till the garlic gives off its aroma. Add tomatoes and cook on a high flame till the sauce thickens. With the help of a wooden spoon mash the tomato as much as possible. Add roughly chopped basil and salt. Cook for another 10 minutes. Remove from heat, roughly run the hand blender for ½ minute in the sauce to smooth any tomato chunks.

Cook the pasta (I used penne rigate here, but you could use any other pasta that you can get hold of) in abundant boiling water (add salt to the water) till done. Also add may be a 1 tbsp of oil into the boiling water. Drain the pasta, drizzle some olive oil into the pasta and mix it well with the sauce.

Serve with grated parmesan and sprinkle rosemary lightly over the top.

Crispy Golden Fried Prawns

Ingredients:
For the marinade -
Prawns (big/tiger) - 6 
Lemon Juice - 1 tbsp
Black pepper powder - ½ tsp
Salt to taste

For frying -
Almonds - ½ cup, peeled and ground to bread crumb consistency
Bread crumbs - ½ cup
Egg white - 1
Cornflour
Oil for deep frying

Sweet chilly dipping sauce -
Ginger - 4cm, finely sliced (julienned)
Green Chilly - 2, de-seeded (julienned)
Light soy sauce - ½ cup
Sesame oil - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Groundnut oil - 2 tbsp

Method:

De-vein the prawns, mix along lemon juice, salt and pepper. Marinate it for around 30 minutes.

Coat the prawns one by one in the corn flour, pat the prawns to remove any extra corn flour. Dip into the egg white and coat it with almond and bread crumb mixture. Deep fry on high flame for ½ a minute and then on a low flame fry till golden brown.

For the dipping sauce - Mix all the ingredients except the groundnut oil, whisk it nicely. In a wok heat groundnut oil, once it is hot enough, carefully add the mixture into the oil. Take it off the heat.

Enjoy crispy golden fried prawns with oriental dipping sauce.

Kaju Katli

Ingredients:
Water - 200 ml
Sugar - 400 gms
Cashew nuts - 400 gms
Pistachio - 50 gms, chopped

Method:

Coarsely grind the cashew nuts into bread crumb consistency.

Heat water and sugar in a sauce pan, bring to a boil and cook till sugar forms a 3 string consistency.

In another thick bottom vessel, mix together the sugar syrup and ground cashew. Cook on a low flame stirring continuously till the mixture is thick and glossy. Switch off the gas, and mix ¾ of the pistachios, let the mixture cool.

On a greased surface, slightly knead the cashew mixture to form a ball. With a rolling pin flatten like thick chapatti (½ cm thick). With a pastry cutter, cut into diamond shapes. To garnish, sprinkle the rest of the pistachios over the cut kaju katli. You could also use the silver warq on the kaju katli.

Galouti Kabab

The very famous Lucknowi cuisine Galouti Kabab, was originally conceived for the toothless Nawab of Lucknow. So delicate that it just melts in your mouth.

Ingredients:
For the marinade -
Minced mutton - 350 gms
Raw papaya paste - 3 tbsp
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
Salt to taste

For the masala -
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Saunf - 3 tbsp
Coriander seeds - 3 tbsp
Poppy seeds - 1 ½ tsp
Ghee - ½ tsp
Nutmeg - ¼ tsp, grated
Cinnamon - 1 inch
Mace - 1 whole
Red chilly powder - ½ tsp
Garlic Cloves - 6-7
Gram flour - 3 tbsp
Black pepper powder - ½ tsp
Onion - 2 medium, finely sliced
Oil for deep frying
Salt to taste

For smoking the meat -
Coal pieces - 2-3
Cloves - 3
Green cardamon - 3, crushed
Ghee - ¼ tsp

Oil for shallow frying the kababs

Method:

Mix the minced mutton, papaya, ginger garlic paste and salt, marinate for around 4 hours.

Dry roast cumin seeds, saunf, coriander seeds, poppy seeds, keep it aside and cool. Meanwhile in a small pan, heat ghee to smoking point, switch off the heat and add nutmeg, cinnamon and mace. Heat oil in a kadhai and deep fry the sliced onions till they turn crisp and brown. Grind to a paste, the dry roasted spices, pepper & chilly powder, salt, garlic, gram flour and the spices we had fried in ghee. Nicely mix the ground paste into the minced meat (use your hands if you wish).

Heat the coal pieces in an open flame till red hot and place them in a steel katori or any small bowl. Place the meat in a large bowl, make a depression in the middle and place the katori. Add ghee, cloves and cardamon on the coal. Cover the bowl with a lid or with aluminum foil. Leave it for around 15 minutes so that the aromatic smoke incorporates well into the meat.

Make 2 inch tikkis (patties) out of meat using both your palm(in case the mince sticks in your palm, you can dip your hands in water before). Take some oil in a pan heat and shallow fry the tikkis for around 4 minutes on both sides or until brown.

Serve the kabab with finely sliced onions.