Pane Siciliano - We Knead to Bake 24

I am there, huffing and puffing, I have finally caught up with members of the We Knead to Bake - Bread Baking  Group who have baked all the breads thus far. However irregular, I am happy that I have been able to bake along and post all the 25 breads along with Aparna.
The Pane Siciliano is a Sicilian Sesame seeded semolina bread. This was the choice for January 2015.
As a brief description to this bread, I reproduce here Aparna's words:
On the 13th of December, feasts are held in Sicily and around the world celebrating the bravery of Santa Lucia. One way is by baking a special bread which is known as Pane Siciliano. What is unusual about this bread is that it is baked with semolina. In Sicily (and Italy) the semolina they use for this breadis a specific grind of durum wheat called 'semolina di grano duro rimacinato' or just 'rimacinato', which translates to 'ground again'. This refers to semolina which is ground once more to break the coarser grain into finer flour.
There are recipes to make this bread in a shorter time. Traditionally,it is made using a pre-ferment which the locals call 'cresciuta' which gives a more flavourful loaf. The Pane Siciliano is generally shaped in two shapes, the 'Occhi di Santa Lucia'and the Mafalda. The former means 'Eyes of Santa Lucia', while the latter, which is shaped as a snake that has its tail over its body, refers to 'snake'. We chose to make this latter one.If you would like to do the Occhi di Santa Lucia, please refer to an earlier post at Aparna's blog.
There is a video of  Mary Ann Esposito making the Pane Siciliano with Peter Reinhart which is quite helpful.

Pane Siciliano (Sicilian Sesame Seeded Semolina Bread)
( Adapted from Ciao Italia http://www.ciaoitalia.com/seasons/19/1919/sicilian-bread )

Ingredients:

Recipe makes a medium loaf that will suffice 4 to 5 people
For the Cresciuta (Biga/ Pre-ferment)
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1/4 cup all purpose flour

For the dough:
1/2 teaspoon dry active yeast
1 cup lukewarm water
2 tsp honey
All of the prepared cresciuta
2 to 21/2 cups fine durum wheat semolina (or a ground flour from this semolina, that I have used)
1/2 teaspoon vital wheat gluten
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

a little water for brushing on the bread
1/8 cup sesame seeds

Method:
The night before baking the bread or at least 4 hours prior to baking, prepare the cresciuta.
Dissolve the yeast listed there in the lukewarm water and set aside for a few minutes until the yeast becomes frothy.
Then add the all purpose flour to it and mix with a fork. The resultant mix will be wet and stringy.
Leave the cresciuta to stand for a minimum 4 hours or overnight.
Fine grain durum wheat semolina is available in my local store.
I powdered the durum wheat semolina by running in my spice mixer until very fine, sieved it and used for this bread.
Now to make the dough, dissolve the 1/2 teaspoon yeast in lukewarm water mixed with the honey.
Mix the salt and the vital wheat gluten to the flour.
Once the yeast has risen, add the cresciuta to it and mix well. Add initially 2 cups of semolina flour a to this and form a pancake batter like loose dough.
Knead it well until it forms a soft and smooth ball of dough. Add as much more flour from the rest of the 1/2 cup to achieve this dough.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turn it over in the oil to coat, cover loosely and allow it to double in volume. This may take about an hour and a half.
Deflate the dough and turn it on to the work surface.
Roll the dough in a cylindrical rope that is about 30 inches long.
Place it on a baking tray that has been lined with a baking sheet.
Place the rope on the tray, and shape it like a wriggling snake leaving about 7" of the dough for the tail.
Now bring the tail over the shaped 'body' of the snake and let it rest on top of the body. Do not tuck it underneath.
Loosely cover this shaped dough and let it stand a second rise for 2 hours again until doubled.

Pre heat the oven to 190 degrees C. Place another baking tray upside down in the oven on top of which you may be able to place the tray with the dough.
Brush some water on the top of the bread and sprinkle sesame seeds.
Bake for 30 minutes until bread is brown and hollow when tapped.
Cool on a wire rack.

Serve with any soup of your choice.I served this with my almond carrot soup.
There are more mafaldas and ochchis just a click away from here to this post in Aparna's My Diverse Kitchen. Enjoy the recipes there.

Almond Carrot Soup

Sometimes you are intrigued by the description of a dish in the menu and go for it, like it so much that you want to try making the same. This soup is one such dish that has been keeping me thinking. Once, we were at a restaurant, my nephew and I seemed to fancy the almond soup. It had so much flavour to it from all the garlic and caramelised onions to the otherwise bland soup. We liked it so much that we discussed the soup through the meal.
Few weeks ago, my daughter told me that she was making soup every night to warm herself up as the weather was chill. Everyday she would tell me what soup was their dinner and some of them were quite interesting that it prompted me to try a few. She had made this almond soup with a head of cauliflower. She told me that she used a fistful of almonds and that the soup turned out creamy by itself without any milk.
I had a huge quantity of almonds in the pantry; my husband has this selective dislike for cauliflower, his theory ,manchurian and deep fried golden cauliflower is good while in any other it tastes weird. So putting cauliflower, broccoli and such had to be erased from the soup. Initially I wanted plain almond soup with robust flavours, then wanted to have a vegetable and decided on the carrot. The almonds and the vegetable gave the soup a richness by themselves that the vegan option was a good choice. We did not miss the extra creaminess from addition of milk. I had earlier made the Pane Siciliano for the We Knead to Bake - Bread Baking Group, which paired very well with the soup. It was all we had for our dinner.

Almond Carrot Soup with Garlic and Caramelised Onions

Ingredients:
Serves two people
12 to 15 whole almonds blanched
1 medium carrot cubed
3 teaspoons vegetable oil (any cooking oil would work well)
5 pods of garlic

1 medium red onion sliced finely
Small piece of  ginger (adjusted according to taste)
Salt to taste
Ground black pepper to taste
2 cups of vegetable stock or water

Method:
Soak almonds in hot water, remove the peel. I had blanched almonds readily available and used them.
Soak again in water for about 15 minutes.
Grind the almonds adding sufficient water at intervals to a very smooth paste. Add more water to make a milk like liquid.
Cook the carrot until soft.
Heat 1 teaspoon oil and sauté the garlic pods until they are browned.
Run the garlic, ginger and cooked carrot in a blender and puree them.
Place a pan on the stove, pour the vegetable stock or water in it.
Put in the carrot puree and cook for a few minutes until the raw taste subsides.
Pour in the almond milk and cook on medium heat stirring every now and then to avoid any lumps.
Add the salt and ground black pepper, adjusting according to taste.
Simmer the soup until thickened.

Serve warm with any soup bread.
I am sending this soup to the No Croutons Required Event jointly administered by Lisa and Jacqueline with Lisa hosting the March 2015 edition.

Julekake - We knead to Bake 23

Julekake or Julekaga is Christmas bread from Norway. Aparna suggested this one for December 2014 and the We Knead to Bake - Bread Baking Group baked along with her then. i am late by over two months posting this. Nonetheless, all good things need to be shared; this one certainly has to be.
Julekake is a rich holiday bread flavoured with cardamom and is traditionally served at Christmas throughout the Scandinavian countries. Going by the name which means 'yule bread' in the Norwegian language it is widely popular in Norway and Denmark.
The bread is more like a cake in its texture and there is glaze or dusting with powdered sugar.
Leaving it plain without glazing, makes it a breakfast dish when paired with butter or goat's milk cheese called geitost or brunost. Traditionally, in Norway, only a lime green citrus peel called sukat is added to the bread along with cardamom and golden or black raisins. in recent times, being a Christmas dish, people add some red  and green cherries in line with the season.While there are other additions like candied orange peel and other coloured candied peel, the flavour id predominantly from the cardamom. Some Julekake even feature almonds, which I have used in my bread to glaze the bread along with decorative sugar stars.Also I have not used the egg given in this recipe.

Julekake or Julekaga (Norwegian Cardamom Scented Christmas Bread)
(Partially adapted from the Great Scandinavian baking Book by Beatrice Ojakangas)

Ingredients:
For the bread:
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1/2 cup lukewarm milk
1 egg (I opted to omit, not substitued either)
50 grams butter at room temperature, softened
1/4 cup sugar (you might want to reduce sugar if you are using icing)
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 or 5 pods of cardamoms crushed to a powder
21/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup mixed candied fruit
1/4 cup golden or dark raisins

For the glaze:
1 tablespoon milk
Pearl sugar or crushed sugar cubes/ and or sliced almonds

If Icing:
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 to 2 tablespoon cream or milk
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Method:
Mix yeast with 1 teaspoon sugar, lukewarm milk and lukewarm water. Keep it covered and let it rise.
Place the yeast mixture, sugar, egg (if using) and the butter in a bowl and mix a couple of times.
Mix well and then add flour and powdered cardamom.
Knead well to form a soft, smooth and elastic dough.
Add more liquid or flour to achieve this texture.
Place the dough on a work surface, flatten it and sprinkle the candied fruits and raisins all over.
Roll the dough, Swiss roll style and again knead lightly by hand. This ensures that the fruits and raisins mix well in the dough.
Shape the dough in a small ball and place it in an oiled bowl, turning the dough well in oil to coat all over.
Cover and allow the dough to rise for about an hour.
Remove the dough after it has doubled in volume, lightly punch the dough down and give it a second raise  for another 45 minutes.
Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees C.
Place the dough in a greased or parchment lined baking tray/ cake tin/ bread loaf tin.
Brush the milk on the surface and sprinkle almonds and sugar pearls over the top. Press them lightly so they do not fall off. If you choose to do the icing, skip this step.
Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown and done.
If you find the bread browning too quickly, half way through cover with aluminium foil wrap and continue baking.
Place on a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
 

If you are icing the bread, allow to cool completely before proceeding.
Mix the ingredients for icing together to a pouring consistency. Pour it over the cooled down bread.
This bread is soft like cake and very festive from the fruits and flavour.
Please click from here to Aparna's post; there are all links to other members' breads to feast on.

Paruppu Urunadi Kuzhambu

It is often that I make aappam, for which I like to try, different side dishes to go with. Most often I put together a kurma or the Ishtu. There are times that I do not have enough vegetables to make either of them and have to look for something as interesting. Gone are the days when we ate dishes that are heavily laden with masalas, spices and therefore fat. We tend to keep our night's dinner light. Making aapams for dinner is not an option and with the rush in the mornings it is not a good idea either. Thus, of late I make them at lunch time; I put together one side dish and vegetables. Made from rice, the aappam, serves a good alternative to steamed rice in my household.
I have a cookbook that suggests vadakkari as a side for the aappams. It suggests deep fried chunks of onion, masalas and chickpea flour to be added in a gravy that is onion and tomato based. I remember that while in college one friend used to bring us paruppu urunadai kuzhambu cooked in a similar gravy base. Her mother used to prepare extra quantities of the kuzhambu to share with many of her friends. We used to suggest that she brings only this dish and we shall share the rice and vegetables from our tiffin. All the same, we would cross fingers, that her tiffin is not already polished off by the boarders who are always hungry for home cooked food.
This has always been in my mind to post the recipe. I did not get to it until my cousin wanted the recipe for the same. I had to make it for the side dish and give her the recipe. Often times my daughter will message me asking to suggest a spicy gravy side dish and this one might be simple and easy to put together for her too.

Paruppu Urundai Kuzhambu 

Ingredients:
To serve 4 people

For the paruppu urundai:
1/4 cup thuvar dhal
1/4 cup channa dhal
1/8 cup urad dhal
1/8 cup mung dhal
5 dry red chillis
3-5 fresh green chillis
2" piece ginger
1/8 teaspoon turmeric powder
Salt to taste

For the gravy:
2 large red onions
1 whole garlic (about 10 pods)
3-4 medium size tomatoes (or so many as to yield 1 cup puree)
1 small lime size tamarind
2 tablespoons cooking oil

For the masala:

3-5 dry red chillis (adjust according to heat of chillis and requirement)
1and 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1" long cinnamon
6 cloves
2 teaspoons white, cooking poppy seeds
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 pods cardamom

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
Salt to taste

For tempering:
2 teaspoons oil
2 teaspoons mustard seeds
10-12 curry leaves

Method:
For the paruppu urundai:
Wash and soak the dhals for half an hour along with the chillis and ginger.
Drain the water and grind to a coarse paste.
Add the turmeric powder and salt.
Divide the slightly stiff batter into 16 small rolled balls.
Place them in a steamer and steam for 7-8 minutes.
When you open the lid, the balls should have acquired a shine to indicate that they have been done.
Keep aside.

For the gravy:
Meanwhile, blanch the tomatoes in hot water and puree them adding little water.
Cut the onions in chunks. Peel the garlic and keep ready.
Soak the tamarind in water and extract a thickish pulp. Add this to the tomato puree.
Heat a little of the oil in a pan. Add the onions and saute for a few minutes before adding the garlic.
Add to the above all the ingredients listed for the masala. Toss them for 3-5 minutes until onions are pink and the chillis are brittle.
Allow to cool a bit and grind them to a fine paste.
Heat the rest of the oil in the same pan and drop the masala paste. Add turmeric powder and salt. Cook a few minutes before adding the tomato-tamarind puree in. Adjust the water and bring to a boil. Allow to simmer for 10 to 12 minutes.

Putting together the kuzhambu:
Add the prepared paruppu urundais to the simmering gravy. Let it stay on the stove for a further five minutes.
Take the pan off the stove and transfer the kuzhambu to a serving dish.
Heat the oil for tempering in a pan, add the mustard seeds and allow them to crackle. Saute the curry leaves in the oil along with the mustard seeds and temper the kuzhambu with them.

Serve hot with steamed rice, aappam, neer dosai, idiyaappam or shavige (plain sevai).

This dish is being sent to My Legume Love Affair 81, a popular event, brainchild of Susan, The Well Seasoned Cook, currently managed by Lisa of Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen. MLLA 81 is being hosted through March by Siri at Cooking with Siri.
My cousin who wanted the recipe informs me that when she served it for Sunday lunch, it was well received by her husband and children. So what are you waiting for, go ahead and try it.

Teas again for Black and white Wednesdays 158

Time and again I profess my tea addiction. I stock up on varieties of teas. While I like, black, green and white teas all the same, my husband likes his black with milk added, flavoured with ginger or the typical Indian masala chai.
This box of three blends of Orange Pekoe teas was brought by a friend who travels from Europe to Togo, on business, often enough to keep my supplies refreshed.

This picture of my special teas is to be sent to Black and White Wednesdays 158, this fortnight being hosted by Shri @ Tiffin Carrier Antic/ques. The idea of  Black and White Wednesdays for food related photographs was initially conceived by Susan @ The Well Seasoned Cook and is now continued and presently being administered at Cinzia's Cindystar blog.

Most times I prefer black tea with a hint of lemon in it, though I do not add sugar, honey sometimes gives my tea the best taste.

Sheermal - We Knead to Bake 22

Sheermal was the bread that members of the We Knead to Bake - Bread Baking Group had tried in November last year. I would have joined them too. Some unforeseen plans developed that I travelled home and skipped this bread then. Now that I am back to my routine, I am hoping to work on all the breads that I had missed baking along with Aparna and others.
Sheermal is a slightly sweet,  flavoured with saffron, flat bread that possibly was introduced to India by the Persian invaders.The word 'sheer' indicates milk in the Persian language, and this naan like bread, is traditionally famous in the Muslim neighbourhoods of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
It is slightly rich in texture, differently made at different regions of India.
They are normally eaten as it is, with tea, or for breakfast.They can also be servered as part of a meal with mutton curry called Nehari or spicy kebabs.Sheermals can be had with qorma as side too.
We attempted the sheermal that uses yeast and not baking powder for our bread. The kewra water added to the dough gives a unique flavour. It is an acquired taste, thus it may be substituted by rose water too, or without any flavour. Incorporating ghee in stages into the dough, kneading it well until very soft makes one superior sheermal. The hall mark of good sheermal is the glaze from the ghee that is brushed on top of it soon after it has been baked. while egg gives it a great texture, you might do without too.
The sheermal is traditionally made in the Tandoor, we just baked them in our ovens.

Sheermal- Saffron flavoured Flatbread

Ingredients:
Makes 4 sheermals of 4" diameter each.

2 &1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg lightly beaten (or up the milk/ water by 1/4 cup to substitute)
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 cup luke warm water
1/4 cup ghee
1/2 cup milk (or more as required while kneading)
1 teaspoon kewra essence(screw pine extract) or rose water (optional)
Few strands of saffron soaked in 2 tablespoons warm milk
Melted butter or ghee for brushing

Method:
Add the yeast to the luke warm water and sugar. set aside for 10 minutes for the yeast to proof.
Kneading can be done by hand or using a processor. Add flour and salt in a bowl. Whisk to mix well.
Add the yeast mixture and egg/ the extra liquid that you are using to substitute for the egg. Mix them well.
Add ghee in two lots and to achieve a crumbly texture of the dough.
Finally add the milk as needed and finally the kewra essence and knead to a very soft, elastic dough that is slightly sticky. Remember a well kneaded dough is essential for the sheermals to turn out well.
Transfer the dough ball to an oiled bowl, turning it to coat well all over, and cover the bowl with a damp cloth. Allow the dough to double in volume. this may take from an hour to an hour and a half.
remove the cover and knead again. shape into a ball and lightly brush ghee all over and allow another raise for 15 to 20 minutes.
Divide the rested dough into 4 equal portions.
Keep ready the milk- saffron mix and a baking tray that has been lightly greased or parchment lined.
Pat one portion of the dough with hands to a circular bread which is 4"in diameter and 1/8th of an inch thick.

 

Transfer the patted sheermal to the baking tray and dock out small pores using a fork on the surface.
Brush all over, generously with the saffron infused milk.
Repeat the same for the rest of the dough.
Bake them in a pre-heated 180 degrees C oven for 10 to 15 minutes, taking care not to over bake them.
Soon as they are out of the oven brush melted butter/ ghee all over the surface while they are warm.

Serve warm. i served them with Dum aloo  Banarasi recipe from Tarla Dalal cookbook Swadisht Subziyan.
There are links to posts by others here in Aparna's post, all just a click away. please do check them out.

Chundo - Grated Mango Preserve

This time again, the old mango tree in my backyard,looks promising of a good number of mangoes. The tree is quite old and during the last season, it bore so many fruits that almost all of them fell off the tree unripe, some very tiny others big yet diseased. Thus, we did not get to taste any of them as fruits, but were able to drop a few tiny, sour tasting ones in brine and pickle those.
Mangoes do not totally go off season in Togo. The tree in my home starts season sometime around January through March- April. This year too, I have already plucked few huge mangoes. They are raw and very slightly sour.They are ideal to make raw mango rice, some pickle and such. Chundo has been in my mind for a long time to be tried. I am, however, apprehensive that such dishes will meet resistance from my husband. Hence the idea was one I was contemplating on.
I met Rushina, author of "A pinch of this and a handful of that",  and one who has put together a cook studio,"A Perfect Bite", at the IFB Meet last August. She generously gifted me, an authentic Gujarati cookbook titled Dadimano Varso. It is a treasure trove of Palanpuri, Jain Cuisine. Neatly categorized and all recipes given in both languages, English and Gujarati, this book is a quick reckoner to some exotic dishes. I have been making dhals and theplas, shaak and khadhis from this book. Those dishes were very welcome in my home. So I decided to venture a little further and be adventurous. The mangoes and the recipes in the book got me to pick on the Chundo.
Chundo is a sweet - sour and lightly spiced preserve with grated mangoes that is matured in the heat of the sun. You may opt to do the same on stove top too; also the grated mango can be replaced by cubed chunks that render an altogether different texture.
I chose to make the grated one and this is an adaption of the recipe from the book. I did not go by weight or volume given in there.
Chundo - Grated Mango Sweet-Sour and Spiced Preserve
(Adapted fully from Dadimano Varso)
Yield: About 250 ml cupful of preserve.

Ingredients:
2 cups of raw mango grated
2 heaped cups of sugar
Salt to taste
1/3 teaspoon turmeric powder

The spices:
1/4 teaspoon crushed cumin seeds
1/2 tablespoon redchillis crushed to a coarse powder ( the book asks for Kashmiri chilli powder; I had on hand the Byadagi variety chillis only. I crushed them and two regular dry red chillis together.)
2 pinches asafoetida powder


Method:
Wash the mangoes, pat them dry.
Remove the skin and grate them until near the stone within.
Take the grated mango in a large bowl, add the turmeric powder and salt. Allow about 30 minutes for the mangoes to absorb the salt.
Add the sugar and mix well. cover and keep aside.

Keep stirring the mixture at regular intervals so the sugar dissolves in the juice of the mangoes and blends well.
Keep cover for a day and overnight.
Next morning give the mixture a thorough stir and cover the mouth of the bowl with a cloth that is wrapped tightly around the edge.
Place this in the sun through the day. By evening, bring the bowl inside and stir the mangoes again.
Repeat this process for the next seven or eight days. By then the sugar would have thickened and the mangoes translucent.
After a week in direct sunlight, bring the bowl inside and while the preserve is still warm from the sun, add the crushed spices. Give a brisk stir, cover and keep aside.
Place the wrapped bowl in the sun for a further two days. Let the flavours from added spices blend well in direct sunlight.
Once ready, transfer to a clean, sterile bottle/ jar and use.

If sugar does seem less, you may add powdered sugar to the preserve in one of the days in between, during the week when it is curing.
This preserve stays well for a year.
The chundo makes a great accompaniment for theplas.