Tiranga Bread Roll

My daughter, Vaanya, had Independence day celebrations at her Montessori today. All parents were informed a couple of days back to dress up their child in colours that represent the National flag. I must confess that I have been the laziest Mom around in terms of showing enthusiasm for such events by running around arranging dresses. This time I wanted to be different and decided to charge up my lazy self and go the market to buy a piece of cloth for her dress. Thankfully my Mom is an expert in stitching and happily agreed (with much more enthusiasm than mine) to stitch a frock for Vaanya. With one day left for the celebrations at school, me and my mom were discussing the buttons and ribbons to be added and so finally the frock was ready. A beautiful dress with the colours of the flag for my most beautiful daughter who was equally happy to wear it to school and participate in singing 'Nanha Munha Raahi hoon'. 

  This year while scratching my head on a recipe for Independence day celebration, I strictly avoided going the sweet way. I was reminded of these bread rolls that my mom made often. Grated cucumber, carrots and crumbled paneer with crushed peanuts make way into these crisp bread rolls. The combination is amazing and I can eat 2-3 of them in one go. Since the filling has all the colours of the flag, I nudged my Mom to help me make this recipe for the blog. 

 Ingredients : Makes 12 bread rolls

• 12 slices of white sandwich bread, edges trimmed
• 2 medium sized carrots
• 2 medium sized cucumbers
• 100 gms paneer
• 50 gms roasted peanuts
• salt and black pepper powder to taste
• Vegetable oil for deep frying

Procedure : 

Peel and grate carrots and cucumbers. 

Take a little butter in a pan and saute the carrots and cucumbers till the water from the cucumber dries up. 

Crumble the paneer and add. Mix well.

Add salt and black pepper to taste and mix well.

Remove from heat and allow to cool. 

Crush the roasted peanuts and add to the mixture. 

Heat oil in a deep pan for frying. 

Take a bowl with water wide enough to dip the bread slice.

Take one bread slice at a time, dip it for a brief second and squeeze out the water by pressing between your palms. 

Take a portion of the carrot-cucumber-paneer mixture and put in the middle of the bread slice.

With your hands shape the bread in a roll and keep aside. Repeat the same with all bread slices.

Once all are ready, deep fry them till golden brown.

Enjoy them with your cup of tea or relish with some tamarind chutney or ketchup. 

Happy Independence day

Amrita

Brazilian Carrot Cake

Baking is my weakness. Period. 

And when I meet people from different countries, I end up talking to them about their confectionery culture. To the western world, baking is quite their way of life unlike ours. Therefore I love to know and understand about the different techniques and ingredients that goes into their baking. 

Recently I got an opportunity to meet a Brazilian brother sister duo who had come to Kolkata to learn and experience the intricacies of Indian food. And they were here only for a week! Vishal, my husband, had the responsibility of introducing Indian food to them and also give them some quick classes. Thus started one crazy week of the most concised course on Indian food. They went back with aching stomachs and 'please no more food' on their lips and absolutely mesmerized with the variety of spices, techniques and ingredients that we use.

As soon as I found my opportunity, I questioned them about their cake culture. While they went on explaining to me in their broken English about the different varieties, this particular cake caught my fancy. A carrot cake has been on my baking list(like a hundred others) for a long time. I have always been of the opinion to bake with the red juicy variety that you get only in Winters. When I learnt from them that the bright orange variety is the ones they bake with, I knew it was my 'Voila' moment. 

Unlike the popular American version of carrot cake, the Brazilian carrot cake uses raw carrots blended and then added to the batter. I knew I had to bake this one before I add yet another bake to my list. The cake gets a beautiful orange hue with the use of those bright coloured carrots. With very simple ingredients and instructions, making this cake is a breeze and with a simple chocolate frosting dressed on top of the cake, this cake is a must try.  

The darling daughter loving the cake and happy mommy clicking away :)

Recipe adapted from : Allrecipes

Ingredients : Yields a 5" long loaf cake

• 1 medium sized carrot
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt

Chocolate Glaze :

• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp milk

Procedure : 

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius.

Grease and flour a loaf baking tray or a round baking tray.

Peel and chop carrot in small chunks and place in a blender with oil. Blend it well.

Add egg and blend again. 

Pour this mixture in a bowl.

Mix in the sugar, all purpose flour, baking powder and salt. 

Pour this mixture into the prepared cake tin. 

Bake for 25-30 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. 

Mix all the ingredients under the chocolate glaze and spread on the cooled cake. Refrigerate for the icing to set well.
Slice and serve.

Happy carrot cake enjoying

Amrita

Ajwain wali Gajar

With Winter bidding adieu, I was suddenly reminded of this recipe made by my Grandmother which she very lovingly prepared for the family. Beji, as we called her, was full of warmth and love and her sole mission was to feed her family very well. She was a wizard in the kitchen and would make sure not to waste anything. She had tonnes of patience to prepare everything from scratch and serve food fresh and hot. 

As a child I have memories of a small manji(cot) being laid in the sun which was used to dry the washed grains of wheat. Beji would get them ground to atta from the local chakki for rotis and all sorts of paranthas. I have no memory of her sitting idle. She was always found busy with something or the other. I remember her telling me stories of how she would knit sweaters at night so that the neighbour ladies would not copy the pattern. Stitching, knitting, cooking, she had the time and love for it all. 

She had the same consistent energy even after a shoulder dislocation. I remember with that stiff shoulder she still managed to do so many things. Her gentle face was always adorned with a sweet smile. She was truly my superwoman. 

Ajwain wali Gajar was my Beji's recipe which was served with soft Paranthas or as she would call 'Polae polae paronthe' as they were made with desi ghee. This recipe has no onion, garlic or tomato, the otherwise pillars of Punjabi cuisine. The sweetness and juiciness of the winter carrots along with the bitterness of the ajwain gives an amazing flavour to the dish. 

My Beji is no more but she is alive in my memories. Food is such a beautiful medium to keep stories alive.

Beji continues to live amongst us with her recipes. 

Last year I had shared my Beji's Matar ke chilke ki sabzi and pakode which will soon get featured on Rocky and Mayur's new food show.Will keep you all updated about it. 

As for now, while the winter carrots are still available in the market, do try my Beji's recipe.

Ingredients : For 2 servings

• 4-5 medium sized Gajar/carrots (Winter carrots are best)
• 2 tsp ajwain/Carom seeds
• 1 tbsp ghee
• 1/4 tsp haldi/turmeric powder
• salt to taste

Procedure : 

Peel and wash carrots and chop them in small cubes. 

(The only time consuming part of the recipe)

Take ghee in a kadai/ deep pan and add the chopped carrots.

Cook the carrots on low flame. It should take about 5-8 minutes for the carrots to cook.

Add salt and turmeric powder and mix well.

Add ajwain and mix and remove from flame. 

Serve with paranthas/rotis and with some raita.

Happy Carrot Indulging

Amrita

Gajar-mewa-nu-achaar(Carrot and dried fruit sweet pickle)-my Irani connection

It was August 1999.

I remember noticing a thin, short, fair bespectacled girl become the pick of our seniors to rag in hostel.

Yes, ragging in college and hostel was normal in those days and we as dutiful juniors were supposed to sing songs, dance on their tunes, make them laugh and describe embarrassing words that they asked us. 

Now when I think back, we were asked some very silly questions like 'Do you have a boyfriend' or 'What is a chumma'. 

Let me remind you it was 1999 and not like today where such words are commonly spoken by everyone and is not considered any deal at all. In those days (and for my generation even till date) it was nothing short of blasphemy to utter such words in front of elders or share our love lives with them. 

Well as for 'Chumma', we soon learnt that it is a Kannada word for the expression 'just like that'. 

I was asked to sing songs for my seniors every now and then as part of my ragging. No one ever dared say no to the seniors. No one but Afsana K. Meherbani-that same fair Irani girl who was the favourite amongst the seniors because she would lash back at them with her answers. She once threw a seniors plate full of food as retaliation and that really angered everyone. That was true blasphemy in the hostel world.

I remember telling myself never to befriend that girl as it would mean getting in more trouble. 

Ragging soon got over or perhaps the seniors got bored of us. I really do not remember how it happened, but very soon that same Irani girl became an integral part of our group. And in no time Afsana, me and Veena became the best of friends. Years passed and we became more closer, much more than just friends. We were like sisters. We cried while leaving that same hostel, that place we spent four years of our most beautiful and carefree days. 

Our hostel food was usually made palatable by some goodies from home. Afsana used to bring this delectable Gajar-mewa-nu-achaar that was the only way I could relish mess food. Afsana introduced us to this amazing pickle which is usually made in Pasrsi/Irani weddings.

A few days back when I put my hands on this pickle at home, I kept thinking of those wonderful and carefree  hostel days.

Sweet memories with this sweet pickle. 

Recipe source : Parsi cookbook by the very famous Katy Dalal

Ingredients : I reduced the recipe by one fourth

• 1 cup grated Carrots
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp garam masala
• 1 tbsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/4 cup Sugarcane vinegar(I used Apple cider vinegar)
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup dried dates
• 1/4 cup dried apricots
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• salt to taste  

Procedure : 

Soak raisins, dried dates and dried apricots in 1/4 cup vinegar overnight.

Place carrots in a heavy pan and add sugar. 

Strain the overnight soaked dried fruit and keep aside. Use the same vinegar and pour in the pan over the carrots and sugar. Let it cook on slow fire. 

Add chopped garlic. 

If required add more vinegar to soften the carrots 

(I did not require) 

When carrots have softened in about 4-5 minutes, add the soaked dried fruits and bring the mixture to a boil. 

Add garam masala, turmeric powder,red chilli powder and salt and mix well. 

Remove from heat when the pickle has thickened to required consistency and allow to cool.

Sending this recipe to Kolkata Food Bloggers ongoing event 'East or West, Food is best'.

Happy Pickle relishing

Amrita

Bada Memsaheb ka Vegetable Seekh Kebab

Pic courtsey Kamalika Chakrabarty

Kolkata, or Calcutta as we all fondly still call, is a city that has been a host to various religions and nationalities like British, Chinese, Jews, Sikhs, Gujratis, Biharis etc. All these settlers with time have brought in some unique changes to the cuisine of Kolkata. One such famous and irrefutable change in the local cuisine was brought in by The British rule. Usage of local ingredients, restrained use of spices and western techniques gave birth to a unique cuisine which lived especially on a variety of 'Finger food' popularized in the clubs of Kolkata.

We are proud to announce that Kolkata Food Bloggers are working as co-organizers of the annual event Nutrifest, 2013 organized by KPC School of Nutrition and Food, Kolkata. Extensive research has been done by the KPC team to dig out recipes and history from places like Rajbari's to restaurants and clubs. The theme for this year is "Laatsaheb er Bangali Khanshama" which means the influence of British rule on Bengali cuisine. The search was for food which originated in the British era and can still be found in some prestigious clubs of Kolkata. 

The recipe that is shared here today is one of the by-forgotten ones and is uniquely named Burra Memsaheb-er vegetable Seekh Kebab (Bada Memsaheb ka Vegetable Seekh kebab) Along with its unique name, the kebab is supposed to be constructed of three elements each of which gave a Sweet, Spicy and Tangy flavour to it.

I have tried to recreate this famous dish by incorporating all the three flavours into the kebab. For the sweet flavour I have used Raisins and sweet corns, for the spicy flavour I have added green chillies and red chilli powder and for the tangy flavour, I have used chaat masala and lemon juice. 

Kolkata Food Bloggers got together to make a video shoot of this recipe along with some others. The video link shall be uploaded to this blog post as soon as it is released. 

Ingredients : For 5-6 seekhs(as in the picture with 2 kebabs in each)

• 2 large potatoes, boiled
• 1/4 cup green peas, boiled
• 1/4 cup sweet corn, boiled
• 1 carrot, chopped and boiled
• 10 french beans, chopped and boiled
• 1/4 cup cabbage, chopped
• 2 tbsp roasted gram flour/besan
• 1 tbsp cashewnut powder
• 5-6 pieces of raisin/kishmish, chopped
• 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
• 1 green chilly, chopped (optional)
• salt to taste
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 1/2 tsp chaat masala
• 1 tsp roasted cumin/jeera powder
• Green bell pepper, tomato and onion squares for garnishing

Procedure :
Take 1/2  tbsp oil in a pan and saute the ginger-garlic paste and the chopped green chilly for 2 minutes. Add the chopped cabbage and saute for a minute.  Remove from heat and keep aside.
Take a big bowl and add potatoes. Mash them. 
Add the boiled vegetables like green peas, sweet corn, carrots and french beans and mash them well. 
Now mix in the ginger-garlic, green chilly and cabbage mixture.
Add in salt, red chilli powder, chaat masala and roasted jeera powder.
Now add the cashewnut powder(made by simply grinding 5-6 cashewnuts), roasted gram flour/besan (made by dry roasting gram flour/besan) and chopped raisins. Mix well. 
Soak some wooden skewers in water for 1/2 hour. 
Take a little portion of the vegetable mixture and press it around the wooden skewer shaping it as a cylinder. Make two such shaped cylinders on one skewer.
Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius. 
Line a baking tray with an aluminium foil and lightly grease it with oil.
Place the skewers on it and bake for 15-20 minutes or till golden brown from all sides. You will require to turn sides in between for uniform browning. 
Take 1/2 tbsp oil in a pan and saute the green bell pepper, tomato and onion squares.
Insert the sauteed garnishing in the skewers and serve with a yogurt-mayonnaise dip where you add equal quantity of hung curd and mayonnaise and adjust seasonings.
Add a dash of lemon juice on top of the kebabs before serving.

Notes : 

• You may reduce the spiciness to suit your taste buds by not adding the green chilly.
• In case, you cannot shape the kebabs on the wooden skewer, shape them into cylinders and bake them and later thread them through the skewers. 
• In case the vegetables feel hard while mashing, roughly grind them in a mixer and then add to the other ingredients.

A special and heartfelt note of thanks to Kamalika Chakrabarty for providing me these lovely pictures which were taken during the video shoot. 

Check some more interesting recipes from the British era like Deemer devil and Country Captain Chicken on these links. 

Disclaimer : The entire history and recipe has been provided by KPC team. I have just tried recreating the original version with my little changes.
 

Happy By-gone era kebab relishing

Amrita

Pumpkin Carrot Soup

'Know your Kolkata Food Bloggers' event has literally made us search each others blog in depth and check exciting recipes and lovely reads. This week, it is my pleasure to introduce a lovely and passionate person, Antara Ray. I met her very recently when we got together with other members for a restaurant review. 

She works for a consultancy firm and finds cooking and experimenting very interesting and joyous. Her blog Antypasti has some amazing recipes that are quick, simple and delicious. 

Frankly speaking, the first list I checked was her bakes and then the desserts. But I was determined to steer away from usual stuff I keep doing and find something that is simple and quick, though her Lazy tart kept calling me back. I decided on this very healthy soup called Creamy Pumpkin carrot soup. I loved the idea of using these two vegetables and turning them into a soup and made some basic changes. Vaanya, my daughter is a big fan of soups and this was definitely meant for her.

The soup was made in a jiffy and plated for the picture taking ritual. Vaanya eyed the soup and I had the most difficult time trying to keep her away from dunking the carrot flowers in the soup and wanting to have it. The pictures were hurriedly taken as I could no longer bear my 2 year old wanting her bowl of soup so badly. It brought me so much satisfaction to see her love the soup and have her fill. Thank you Antara for introducing such an easy and healthy soup to us. This will definitely become our family favourite. 

Ingredients : Serves 2 

• 150 gms pumpkin, peeled and chopped
• 1 medium sized carrot, peeled and chopped(save a little peeled carrot to make the flowers by making 4 'V' shaped incisions equally)
• 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 medium sized onion, chopped
• salt to taste
• black pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• a little cream for garnishing

Procedure :

Take olive oil in a deep pan/kadai and add garlic and onions. Let them cook till onions turn pink in colour. Add the diced carrots and pumpkin and season with salt and black pepper. Cook them for 4-5 mins on low heat. Turn off the heat and allow to cool.

Transfer to a blender and blend to a smooth paste. 

Heat the pan again and pour the paste in it through a sieve. Add some water to make the soup reach a  consistency to your liking. 

Serve warm with some cream and carrot flowers.

My daughter enjoying her healthy soup

Happy healthy Soup drinking

Amrita

Stuffed Pav Bhaji Rolls-Indianized Hokkaido bread

People who love to eat, are always the best people!! Julia Child

Coming from a Sikh family, cooking and eating has been an integral part way of our lives. At breakfast, we discuss lunch and at lunch we settle on our dinner menu, everyday! Growing up in a foodie family and then getting married to an equally food loving family has made a non cook/baker like me to experiment and enjoy food. In fact, that is precisely the reason me and Vishal started this blog, because of our love to experiment, invent and share food. We have just completed one beautiful year of blogging and look forward to further grow our passion of learning and sharing food through this amazing medium.

Through blogging we got the opportunity to virtually meet and learn from some wonderful fellow passionate foodies. One such group of amazing bakers are the 'We Knead to Bake' and I am so glad to be part of this extremely talented group. The bread bake for this month is Hokkaido Milk bread with Tangzhong.

This technique of bread baking uses an ingredient called Tangzhong which is made by cooking flour with 5 times water at 65 degrees Celsius to form a roux. It is said that at 65 degrees, the gluten in the flour mixture will absorb the moisture creating a leavening action. This Tangzhong when added with other ingredients of bread produces extremely soft, tender and fluffy bread.  

This is a very versatile recipe and can be easily adapted to make/shape any sort of bread with amazingly soft results.

Pavs-9 regular sized 

Ingredients: I halved the original recipe adapted from Kirbie's Cravings, original recipe from 65 Degrees Tangzhong “65C Bread Doctor” by Yvonne Chen

Tangzhong - Flour water Roux

• 5 tbsp All purpose flour
• 4 tbsp water
• 4 tbsp milk

Bread dough 

• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tbsp sugar, powdered
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp powdered milk
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tbsp cream
• 1 tsp Instant yeast 
• 5 tbsp Tangzhong 
• 1 tbsp butter, softened

Procedure:

Tangzhong
Whisk together flour, water and milk in a saucepan. Place on a stove over medium heat and let it cook till it starts thickening while stirring continuously. Cook till it reaches 65 degrees Celsius or else till you see lines forming in this mixture (roux). Remove from heat and let it cool completely for 2-3 hours.

Bread dough 
Mix flour, salt, sugar, powdered milk and instant yeast in a bowl and mix well. 
Mix milk, cream and Tangzhong in another bowl, till smooth.
Add the milk Tangzhong mixture to the flour mixture and process on low speed using a  food processor/hand mixer with dough hooks till the dough comes together or else knead with hands for 10 mins.
Add butter and process till the dough is smooth and elastic. 
The dough can be sticky to begin with but will become smooth if you keep kneading (Tons of patience required to not add any more flour)
Form the dough in a ball and keep in a well oiled bowl, coating all sides. 
Cover with a damp muslin cloth and let it rise in a warm place  for an hour or till it gets double in size.
Pinch 9 equal sized balls from the dough. 
Roll each about the size of your palm and spread some garlic chutney and some Bhaji as filling. Seal the edges and give a round shape to the stuffed dough.

Place the dough balls in a well oiled square tin.

 
(You may skip the stuffing step if you want to make just the Pav buns.)
Cover with a damp muslin cloth and let it rise for another hour.
Preheat oven to 170 degree Celsius.
Brush the tops of the bread with milk cream mixture or just milk.

Bake for 20-25 mins or till the tops are browned well. 

Bhaji

Ingredients:

• 2 medium sized Potatoes, boiled and mashed
• 1/2 medium sized Green capsicum, chopped
• 1/2 cup green peas, boiled
• 1/4 cup little florets of Cauliflower
• 1 small carrot, chopped
• 2 medium sized Tomatoes, blanched in hot water, skin removed and pureed
• 2 spring onions, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• salt to taste
• 1 tsp cumin seeds/jeera
• 1 tbsp Pav Bhaji masala
• 1 tsp red chilli powder 
• Juice of a lemon  
• few drops of orange red food colouring

Procedure :

Take 2-3 tbsp oil in a deep pan/kadhai , add 1 tsp of cumin seeds and as it browns add onions. 

Add ginger garlic paste. Let it cook for a while. 

Add chopped cauliflower, carrot and capsicum. Let it cook for 4-5 mins. 

Add peas and tomato puree. 

Mix well and add mashed potatoes. 

Add salt, red chilli powder and Pav bhaji masala.

Mix lemon juice.

Using a masher, mash all the veggies well.

Let it cook till all the veggies are mashed and the bhaji has thickened. 

Add food colour to your liking or avoid this step.

Check the seasoning and adjust to your liking.

Garnish with spring onions.

Garlic Chutney

Ingredients:

• 3-4 dried red chillies, deseeded
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 10-12 garlic pods
• salt to taste

Procedure:

Soak dried red chillies in white vinegar for 1 hour. 

Remove and grind with garlic and salt to a fine paste. 

Add some water to give chutney consistency. 

 

This method of bread making is surely a keeper with  the bread being remarkably soft. The bread is as soft as my Cheesy chicken stuffed braided bread which uses the scalded flour method. Personally I liked both the methods as they have yielded super soft bread.

The choice to shape this bread dough in endless and it can be easily used to try your hands on any bread bake.

 

This recipe is getting Yeastspotted and is being sent to Bake fest#17 brainchild of Vardhini, What's with my cuppa brainchild of Nupur,
Kid’s Delight Event brainchild of Srivalli , Foodabulous Fest Event organised by Simply TADKA,

Happy Modern Pav Bhaji Experience
Amrita