White Bread & Dilpasand - Eggless

We had a wonderful challenge set by Swathi Iyer for Baking Partners challenge 8. Baking fresh  breads at home. Thank you Swathi for this wonderful challenge. 

I chose to use the  Asian method of Tangzhong  method to bake the bread and dilpasand.  I have added some raisins you can omit that if you want, if you like all you have to do his just soak the raisins in hot water for 10 minutes and then remove them from water when dry roll them in a tbsp. of flour and then use this in the final stage of rolling.

We are given two methods of bread making one is Asian method Tangzhong and other is Scandinavian method of Scald flour. 

Homemade Pita Breads

I have never posted  more recipe from the middle eastern cuisine,  I made two types of pita one I used completely with all purpose flour and the second type I made was using half of the whole wheat flour and  all purpose flour to make it more healthy. Both were extremely soft and fluffy.

I felt more comfortable to use the stove top method to bake the pita as handling it was much easy.

Makes  : 8 to 10

Time taken: 2hrs

Ingredients

Warm water – 1 cup (not boiling hot)

Active or instant yeast – 2 tsp

All purpose flour – 2 ½ to 3 cups

Salt – 2 tsp

Olive oil  - 2 tsp

Method

Mix water, yeast together and let it sit for about 10 minutes until the yeast is well dissolved and bubbles are formed.

In a big bowl add the flour (2 ½ cup and the rest you can add whilst kneading), salt, 1tsp olive oil and mix well.  Now add the yeast mixture and  knead the dough well, keep adding the extra flour on the work area and kneed for about 10 minutes until smooth dough is formed. If the flour is left out never mind we can use it at the later stage.

In a clean bowl  brush the dough with olive oil and cover it with a wet cloth or cling film and now let this rise double the size (probably 1 or 2 hours or even more depending on your climate).

Gently deflate the dough on a lightly  floured   work area. Divide into 8 balls and flatten each balls into thick disc and cover the disc with a kitchen towel until you are ready to roll them.

Use a rolling pin and make nice small  circles of the each disc about ¼ inch thick. If you are not able to roll the dough and if its starts to spring back whilst you are rolling which means it needs some more time of resting.  After a while start rolling them back.

You can bake them at 450 deg on a baking sheet for about 3 minutes as it puffs up like  a balloon  you can get it out. You can put as many as your sheet can accommodate.

You can even make it on the stove top on a skillet. Place a rolled pita on the hot skillet and  when you see the small bubbles flip to the other side for another 2 minutes, you will get nice puffed up balloon like pita.  If it does not puff then you just press the pita gently with a clean towel  and it will puff.  Cover the cooked pitas with a clean dishtowel whilst cooking the rest of them.

Pitas are stored in an airtight bag or the best is to have it hot as they are made.

Latha


Sending this to:

http://seduceyourtastebuds.blogspot.ae/2013/03/celebrating-womens-day-with-event.html


http://h4hemh4help.blogspot.in/2013/03/wtml-march-2013.html

http://gayathriscookspot.blogspot.in/2013/03/walk-through-memory-lane-february.html


http://foodssrilanka.blogspot.ae/2013/03/cook-like-celebrity-chef-5.html




http://www.en-iniyaillam.com/2013/02/announcing-passion-on-plate-giveaway.html


http://www.simplysensationalfood.com/2013/03/announcing-event-lets-cook-for-kids.html

Whole Wheat Bread - Eggless

A very healthy and a simple bake.  Eggless  and  you can use any cooking oil and make this.

Makes two 9x5 loaves

Time taken: approx. 4 hrs in all

Ingredients

1 cup  warm  water
¼  cup  honey
2 tbsp  oil
2  ¾  cups  all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
2 ¾  cups  whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup  milk
1 tbsp salt

 Method

Pour the water into the bowl  and sprinkle the yeast over top. Let this stand for a few minutes until the yeast has dissolved. Stir in the milk, honey, and oil.

Add two cups of all-purpose flour and the salt, and stir to combine the ingredients. Add the rest of the all-purpose and whole wheat flours. Stir to form a loose dough. Rest the dough for  20 minutes.

Knead the dough for 10 minutes,  add extra flour a tablespoon at a time until it is no longer sticky. The dough should be  kneaded  smooth and springs back when poked.

Make the dough into a ball and turn it in the bowl to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm spot  to rise (approx  1 or 2 hours) depending on the level of heat in your  work area. This dough won't double quite  unlike the  other recipes, but the dough should look visibly puffed.

Sprinkle a little flour on the counter and turn the dough out on top. Divide the dough in two and shape each half into a loose ball. Let the balls rest for 10 minutes.

Grease two loaf pans, shape each ball of dough into a loaf. Let the loaves rise a second time  for 30-40 minutes.

Heat the oven to 425°F

Before putting this in the oven slash the tops of the loaves with a serrated knife. Turn down the heat to 375°F and bake for 30-35 minutes. 

Finished loaves will be golden-brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove the loaves from the pans and let them cool completely before slicing.

Latha

Dil Pasand/ Dilkush/ Coconut muffin

We  loved eating this Dil Pasand or Coconut Muffin from  Iyengar bakery, Bangalore.  We had  a bakery very close to my place and weekend it used to be a practice  that we would like to have this for tea. After moving to Dubai we only get to enjoy this during our annual vacation.

I have been  looking for this recipe for sometime but everyone had used the puff pastry sheet and I was not keen on making this with that. Recently I came across this  site. Julie had made this  exactly the way I was looking for.   Thank you Julie for this wonderful recipe, we at home enjoyed this for tea. Truly it was lovely and now we can make this  at home itself. My hubby loved this so much and says bake one more time as this has been his all time favorite. 

I have exactly used half the ingredients  for one small dilkush and I have not used the cashew.

Makes : 2 stuffed breads

Ingredients

All purpose flour 4cups
Active dry yeast 1 tbsp full or 4tsp
Warm milk 1 cup
oil 2tbsp
water 2 tbsp
eggs 2 beaten (reserve one egg white for glaze)
salt
sugar ¾  cup

For filling

coconut 1 ½  cup shredded (I used the sweetened coconut flakes)
tutty fruity 5 oz
sugar 2-3tbsp
cardamom powder 1 tsp
Cashew – few (optional)

Cinnamon Rolls

Every time we pass by the Cinnabon store my daughter would inhale  deep breath and say maa I love this smell. In return I would close my nose and move away from there as the pungent smell of the cinnamon  would drill my nostrils  and not a fan of this. I would stay far away from the store and my daughter would pick up her share of the rolls. I would sit and see her how she would enjoy every bite of this roll.

However, recently  I surprised my daughter  by making this rolls for her, believe me as the smell was coming she asked me what was I baking. She was so curious and she was so happy seeing her favorites getting baked in the oven. She enjoyed the whole lot and told me it was so soft and yummy. I made some small change like  I did not frost them on top after the rolls were baked as my daughter did not want it.

On going through  several websites on the internet and cook books  I have arrived here with this recipe.

Focaccia

Focaccia is a very popular flat oven-baked Italian bread in Italy . Don’t get scared with the name thinking its gonna be a big task in baking this. I tell you it’s a very simple and lovely bread, especially for the kids snack box. Ofcourse don’t need any special gadgets to make this.

I have given a small twist by adding  little bit of spices according to my taste buds. No worry on the butter or egg as  just few ingredients  like flour, yeast, salt,  olive oil and ofcourse the main ingredient is the  Italian herbs is just enough to make this. 

As I baked the aroma of the Italian herbs was completely  in the nook and corner of the house. You can top this with onion, cheese and meat or flavored with  your choice of vegetable. I just loved it to be just with the onions as the taste with onion was too good.

This rustic Italian bread is perfect as an appetizer served with a dipping oil  with garlic and herbs into the oil or a side to your favorite pasta dish.

I loved to have it with tea and indeed  good for breakfast too.

Adapated this recipe from showmethecurry.com

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour – 2.5 cups

Warm Water –  ½ + 1/3 cup

Active Dry Yeast – 1 tsp

Sugar – 1 tsp

Salt – 1 tsp

Olive Oil – 3 tbsp + 1 Tbsp for coating the bottom of the pan +2 tbsp for coating the dough

Red chilli flakes – I have used this  its optional

Rosemary but I  have used dried mixed Italian herbs – 1 tsp

Onion – 1/4 small, sliced finely