WOYP Day #58 Eggless Sweet Buns (Tutti frutti Buns)

Sweet buns or Tutti Frutti buns are popular in bakeries in Karnataka. I loved these as a kid and still do enjoy them. The heady aroma hits you anytime you drive past one of these bakeries and who can resist freshly baked buns? Yum! Few weeks ago I made Khara buns (spicy buns flavored with fresh Dill) and Sweet buns were next on my list. On our last visit to Mysore, my boys tried them for the first time and were hooked. They were thrilled that I made these at home :)

Pillowy soft buns studded with sweet Tutti Frutti, it truly is heaven in every bite!! :) These are easy to make, you can use a stand mixer or mix by hand if you don’t have one. Good old kneading by hand gives you a nice arm workout! :D This recipe also doesn’t require proofing the yeast but it does need an hour and ten minutes of proofing, so make sure you plan ahead for that.

Eggless Sweet Buns:
You will need:
Makes : 6 Sweet Buns

1 1/2 cups All-purpose flour
5oz Warm water
1 tsp Instant Yeast
1/4 tsp Salt
3 Tbsp Sugar
3 Tbsp Tutti Frutti plus 1 tablespoon
2 Tbsp Olive Oil (or Vegetable oil)

1 tablespoon Unsalted Butter, softened

Combine all purpose flour with yeast, salt, sugar and tutti frutti in a medium bowl. Add warm water little at a time to form a soft, sticky dough. Add the oil and knead by hand for 6-8 minutes until a cohesive soft dough is formed. Kneading helps develop gluten which makes soft buns. 

 Place in a lightly oiled bowl and allow to double in size, about an hour.

Lightly punch the dough and turn out onto a countertop. Knead gently for 5 minutes. Divide the dough into 6 parts. Shape into buns and place on a baking sheet or a lightly greased 9” baking pan. Cover and rest for 10 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 400F. After the buns have rested, lightly brush the top of the buns with milk and sprinkle tutti frutti on top. Bake for 15-18 minutes until the top is a light brown. 

Once the buns are out of the oven. Brush the tops with melted butter. Cool well on a cooling rack before storing. 

WOYP Day # 49 Moong Dal Parathas

Yellow Moong is Whole Green Moong that is split and skinned. When cooked it has a mellow, creamy taste. Yellow Moong dal can be used to make Spinach Dal, Moong Dal Payasa and even a traditional South Indian side dish made with soaked moong dal - Kosambari . I made a paratha filling with the versatile Moong for these Moong Dal Parathas. 

Moong Dal Parathas:
You will need:
For the Moong filling:

1 cup Yellow Moong
2 tbsp Oil
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
2 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
1 tbsp Coriander powder
2 tsp Cumin powder
2 tsp Kashmiri Red chilli powder
1 tsp Red chili powder
Salt to taste
2 tbsp Chopped Cilantro

For the dough:

2 cups Whole wheat flour
1 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Oil
Warm water as needed

Make the dough:

Combine the wheat flour, salt and oil in a medium bowl. Slowly add warm water as needed to make a slightly soft dough. Knead for few minutes. Cover and rest for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile prepare the filling.

Make the Filling:

Dry roast the moong in a pan until light brown and fragrant. Remove from pan immediately since it continues to brown in the pan and burnt moong doesn’t taste good! 

Pressure cook the moong for 2-3 whistles and allow to cook. If cooking on stove top use enough water and cook until moong is soft. Drain the water.

Heat oil in a pan. Add the cumin seeds once the oil is hot and then add the chopped onions. Sauté until soft. Add the Ginger garlic paste. Cook for a few seconds until fragrant. Now add the spice powders - coriander, cumin and both the red chili powders. Add salt to taste and cook well. Cook for 2-3 minutes on medium until the spices are fragrant. Now add the drained moong dal and combine. Cook until the moong dal mixture is slightly dry and can be rolled into a ball. Add chopped cilantro and combine. Turn off heat and cool the filling before using.

Method to make the Parathas:

Knead the rested dough for few minutes until soft and smooth. Divide into 10-12 equal balls. Make small balls of the cooled filling.

Flatten a ball of dough and using your thumb and fingers form a cup. Place a ball of filling in the cup and gather the dough around the filling and seal on top. Remove any excess dough. 

Dredge the ball in wheat flour and roll gently into a thick disc using a rolling pin. Take care to roll gently and with even pressure so that the filling spreads evenly. Parathas are usually thick but I prefer to make them a little thinner, but definitely thicker than Chapatis.

Heat a pan on medium heat. Roast one side for 1 minute, apply little butter and then flip to cook the other side until lightly browned. 

Remove from heat and serve hot with Raita and Pickle. 

These Moong Dal parathas are great for lunch boxes or to carry on a picnic, they remain soft and taste good even when cold.

WOYP Day #34 Phulkas & Palak Chole

Phulkas are similar to Rotis/Chapatis made with a whole-wheat flour dough but using a different method. They are cooked partially on a pan and partially on a direct flame. This imparts a smoky flavor to the Phulkas. It also makes them light. 

Phulkas can be paired with any curry. We had ours with a creamed Spinach & Chickpea curry a.k.a Palak Chole. Palak translates to Spinach in Hindi and Chole is Chickpeas. 

Phulkas:

You will need:

1 cup Whole wheat flour plus more for rolling
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Oil
1/2- 3/4 cup Warm water 

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt & oil. Add the warm water as needed to make a soft dough. Knead into a ball. Cover and set aside for 15 minutes.

Knead well and divide into small balls. Dip each ball in wheat flour and roll into a 4” thin disc. Heat a pan on medium and on another burner, a roti griddle on medium heat.

Place the rolled phulka on the hot pan and cook for 20 seconds. When you see bubbles appear flip to the other side. Cook for another 15 seconds and move it to the Roti Griddle (like shown in the picture below) Watch as the Phulka slowly puffs up. My boys were fascinated looking at it balloon up and my younger one thought it was floating on the griddle :D Flip and cook the other side briefly, remove to a plate. Immediately apply ghee and serve hot. 

Repeat with the remaining dough making sure to apply ghee while still hot. 

Palak Chole: 

 
You will need:

1 8oz can Chickpeas (or 1 cup dried chickpeas soaked overnight)
1 large bunch Spinach
1/2 cup Cilantro
3 green chilies
2 tbsp Oil
1 Onion finely chopped
1 Tomato finely chopped
1 tbsp Coriander powder
2 tsp Red chili powder
1 tsp Anardana powder (from dried Pomegranate seeds)
1/2 tsp Garam masala
Salt to taste

 

If using canned chickpeas, bring contents of the can to a boil in a pan. Drain and set aside. If using soaked chickpeas, pressure cook chickpeas with water and little salt. Drain and set aside until ready to use. 

Wash spinach and blanch in hot water for 5 minutes. Remove immediately and run under cold water. Grind to a smooth paste with cilantro and green chillies.

Heat oil in a pan. Add the chopped onions and sauté until soft. Add the ginger garlic paste, cook until fragrant. Add the chopped tomatoes, coriander powder, red chili powder and anardana powder. Season with salt. Combine and cook for 4-5 minutes until tomatoes are soft and spices lose the raw smell.

Now stir in the chickpeas and prepared Spinach paste. Combine well and cook on medium heat. Add Garam masala. Bring to a simmering boil and adjust salt if needed.

Serve hot with Phulkas.

I for Indian Ladi Pav/Indian Dinner Rolls I How to make Ladi Pav -Day 9

When I began to make a list for the Blogging Marathon, I was able to decide on a lot of dishes almost right away. A-H was a breeze and then came I. I had to use the country superlative for this one. Either it was going to be our very own India or something Irish. I picked India of course and chose to make the Indian Ladi Pav or Indian Dinner rolls. I’ve been meaning to make these for a really long time so this was the perfect time to try my hand at these.

I for INDIAN LADI PAV: 

The Pav/Pao/Pau needs no introduction. It has a fairly long standing history. Read on.

History:

“ As Lizzie Collingham points out in her authoritative Curry – A Biography, the Portuguese landed in parts of India (Cochin, Goa etc) where the locals ate rice. But they missed their crusty bread, and in any case, they needed bread for Holy Communion. They could find wheat flour in Goa but yeast was hard to come by. So they started using a few drops of toddy to ferment the dough and created the various Goan breads we know today: the round gutli, the flat pav, etc.

It is from Goa that bread first travelled to Bombay and became a staple among locals. By the time British arrived with their white bread, the Portuguese-Goan pav had already been well established. And so British bread became an upmarket sort of dish, useful for making toast or sandwiches. But the food of the streets used pav, which could be sliced open to stuff an omelette into it or served alongside a spicy keema or a korma. And Bombay’s Goan community continued to use it as an alternative to rice. The first pav bhaji stalls were located near the old Cotton Exchange, because traders waited for the New York cotton prices (in the ’60s, these were carried prominently in all Bombay papers) that came in late into the night and early in the morning. But soon the pav bhaji stalls spread all over the city and by the late ’60s such restaurants as Tardeo’s Sardar Pav Bhaji were packing them in.”

Source: An article by Vir Sanghvi on foods contributed by the Portugese to Indian cuisine.

And that’s how Pav served up with bhaji in street side stalls became popular as it is to this day. Pavs are also used to make Vada pav, batter dipped potato balls deep fried and then slathered with a spicy garlic chutney and placed in between the Pav. More on the Vada Pav in another post. 

You will need:

Recipe adapted from here:

Makes: A dozen Pavs (Dinner rolls)

2 cups All-purpose flour

1 cup Milk

1 tsp Salt

4 tsp Butter

1 ½ tbsp Milk powder

2 tsp Instant yeast

1 tbsp Sugar

Milk and Butter as needed for brushing the tops

Extra flour- for dusting

Oil for greasing pan

Warm the milk and add the yeast and sugar. Stir once and set aside for 10 minutes until foamy.

Combine all-purpose flour, salt and milk powder in a large bowl. Make a well and add the proofed yeast mix. Combine and then turn out onto a flat surface. This will be a very sticky dough. Add the butter and begin to knead. Use a bench scraper to gather the dough and knead. This process helps develop the gluten. The stickier the dough the softer the rolls will be.

Knead for a good 15 minutes until the dough comes together and forms a ball. It will be a soft ball, and not as sticky. Apply a little oil and place in an oiled bowl to double in size in a warm place, about an hour.

Dust your hands with flour and punch down the dough. Divide into 12 equal portions and shape into balls. Place in an oiled 8-inch square pan. Cover with a damp towel and allow to rise for another 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Brush the tops of the risen pav with milk and place in the oven. Bake for 15-18 minutes until tops are brown. Remove from oven and immediately brush the tops with butter.

Allow to cool and use as needed.

Freshly baked Pav is out of this world and these didn’t even last until I made a batch of bhaji. My boys enjoyed the soft rolls as is and didn’t quite need an accompaniment. I had a few with my favorite orange marmalade… mmm tasty! I’ll be sure to bake another batch very soon to have them with Bhaji.

BAKES FROM AROUND THE WORLD: 

A for ANZAC BISCUITS - AUSTRALIA

B for BASBOUSA - EGYPT
C for CHOCOLATE ECLAIRS - FRANCE
D for DAMPER BREAD - AUSTRALIA
E for EMPANADAS - MEXICO
F for FLAN MEXICANO - MEXICO
G for GRISSINI BREADSTICKS - ITALY
H for HOT MILK SPONGE CAKE - USA

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 75

An InLinkz Link-up

Punjabi Thali I Punjabi Thali Recipes

This is the second leg of the Blogging Marathon #74 and I picked Thalis & Spreads. My first thali is the Punjabi Thali. Punjab is known for its rich cuisine and various dishes local to Punjab are popular throughout India too. I picked a few of my favorites to showcase in this Thali.

Tandoori Roti

Pindi Channa

Aloo Gobi (Potato Cauliflower fry)

Kadai Paneer

Jeera Peas Pulao

Papad

Gulab Jamoon

Chaas

Salad

Tandoori Roti:

Tandoori Dishes are an integral part of Punjabi cuisine. The Tandoori Roti is traditionally made in a Tandoor, a large clay oven with coal as the main source of heat. Though its not possible to have a Tandoor at home, it is possible to make this at home using your regular oven.

You will need:

Makes 10-12 rotis

2 cups Whole wheat Flour

¼ tsp Baking soda

½ tsp Sugar

1 tsp Salt

½ cup yoghurt

Water as needed

Butter for brushing

Combine all the ingredients, except butter, in a medium bowl. Use water as needed to make a dough. Knead for a minute or two until dough is soft and smooth. Cover and allow to rest for 30 minutes to an hour.

Preheat oven to 500F. Place a cast iron plate or griddle in the oven to heat up. Break off a small piece of dough and roll into an 8-inch round. Brush the dough with water on both sides. Wet your palms and then lift the dough to place on the hot griddle. The dough will begin to puff up, bake for 2 minutes on each side until golden brown spots appear. Apply butter while still hot and serve immediately.

Repeat with the remaining dough. Left over dough can be refrigerated up to 2 days. Bring dough to room temperature before making the rotis.

Aloo Gobi:

This is a flavorful combination of Potatoes & Cauliflower, sautéed with spices.

You will need:

Adapted from Tarla Dallal

1.5 cups Cauliflower cut into small florets

1 Potato, cut into chunks

2 tbsp Oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

¼ tsp Asafoetida (Hing)

2 Dry red chillies

2 tsp Ginger Garlic paste

½ tsp Green chili paste

¼ tsp Turmeric powder

½ tsp Chili powder

½ tsp Garam masala

½ tsp Amchur powder (Dried mango powder)

Chopped cilantro

Heat oil in pan. Add cumin seeds and asafetida. When it begins to splutter, add the dry red chilies. Add the chopped ginger and green chili paste. Saute for a few seconds and then add the potatoes. Cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the cauliflower. Add 2-3 tablespoons of water and combine. Cover and cook for 5-6 minutes more. The potato and cauliflower must be tender not mushy. Add turmeric powder, chili powder, garam masala and amchur powder. Combine well, add salt. Cook for a few minutes, and turn off heat. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Chaas: (Buttermilk)

A tangy flavored buttermilk, downed in the end of the meal to cool off your palette. This is serving in super tall glasses and a must with every thali. I made a smaller portion to go with this thali.

You will need:

¼ cup thick yoghurt

Water

Salt to taste

¼ tsp Crushed ginger

Chopped cilantro

Whisk all the ingredients in a bowl or a tall glass. Add water as need to fill up the glass and to thin it out to make buttermilk. 

Will share the remaining recipes in upcoming posts.

 Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#74