Vegetable Platter: April 2020

Appetizers

I not into baking a lot of cakes & cookies but I love savory bakes. I have since long wanted learn to bake a good Pizza at home. My dad loves baking as well especially it it has anything to do with yeast :)

So we finally tried our hands on the basic Cheese Pizza. It is always nice to bake with someone who is as enthusiastic as you in the kitchen

After baking Pizza for 3 consecutive days and experimenting with 2 different kind of doughs , I can finally say that I am eligible to write this post.

Since this was my first time making Pizza from scratch, I wanted to perfect the basic Cheese Pizza. We all love Cheese Pizza don't we? I like mine with lot of Olives & red chilli flakes sprinkled on the top

WHAT KIND OF YEAST DID I USE?

Eversince the Lockdown has happened, there has been a sudden demand for yeast & I was not able to find yeast in any of the stores.

I was finally able to get some Fresh Yeast (The one that comes in cubes & has to be refrigerated) & honestly I was quite skeptical about it but the pizza turned out rather well

So you can use any kind of yeast

Fresh Yeast

Active Dry Yeast or

Instant Yeast

Make sure you get the conversions right & use only the right amount of whichever you were using

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MAKING THE PIZZA DOUGH

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Makes 4 Medium Crust Pizzas of 11 inches each

You Will Need:

600 grams All Purpose Flour
25 grams Fresh Yeast Or 8 Grams of Active Dry Yeast ( I used Fresh Yeast )
400 ml water
3 teaspoon Salt
Half teaspoon Sugar
6 teaspoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

HOW TO:

In a sauce pan, heat Water until its lukewarm. To this, add Yeast, Salt, Sugar & Oil. Cover & set aside for the yeast to activate for 15 minute

When the mixture turns frothy, it means that the yeast is active. Now In a wide bowl, add the flour & mix in the yeast mixture & knead well slowly incorporating all the flour

The flour will turn slightly sticky so add some more flour as you knead but not too much

When the dough turns fairly smooth, continental kneading for 20-25 minutes by hand. You can put your food processor to use if you have one. If using a machine, knead for 8 minutes.

Make 4 medium balls of dough, Coat the dough with EVOO & place it in a bowl, cover with a damp kitchen towel & let it proof for 2 hours.

I used the Yogurt Mode in the Instant Pot for one hour to proof the dough

After the allotted time, the dough would have doubled in size.

Place each ball in individual containers or ziplock bags with enough room for it to rise again.

Refrigerate for a minumum for 3-4 hours or for a maximum of 3 days. Ideal would be to refrigerate for 24 hours

Pull out the dough at least an hour before you plan to bake the Pizza

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BAKING PIZZAS

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MEDIUM CRUST

When you are ready to make Pizzas, you will need to pull out the dough out of the refrigerator One hour in advance so that it reaches room temperature

You Will Need:

Pizza Dough
Pizza Sauce (I used Store Bought)
Mozzarella Cheese
Basil leaves
Salt
Garlic powder
Dried Oregano
Black Olives
Olive Oil
Dry Chilli Flakes (Optional)

HOW TO:

Preheat the Oven to 500F or 260 C for 30 minutes

Take the dough out of the container, lightly flour the working station, begin stretching the dough with your hands.

If you feel that the dough shrinks back when stretched, allow it to rest on the counter for another 15 minutes. Keep the dough covered with a damp cloth

Alternately, you can even roll the dough using a rolling pin.

Sprinkle a little flour on the kitchen counter & Roll or uniformly stretch into a circle of 11 inch diameter.

Transfer the stretched/rolled dough onto a parchment paper & brush it lightly with olive oil

Using a pizza cutter, lightly cut the pizza into triangular slices

Apply pizza Sauce, Garlic, powder, dried oregano Add Mozzarella Cheese generously, sprinkle some salt & top with sliced olives.

Put the parchment paper onto a cast Iron Pan. I used my trusted Lodge Cast Iron Pan.

Bake at 500 F for 8-9 minutes (Oven Temperatures will vary)

8 Minutes is ideal. The crust is cooked well. I baked a couple of pizzas for 9 minutes, the cheese was more brown at the top & the crust was a tad crunchier

After 8 minutes, Take out the pizza from the oven & transfer it onto a wide plate & gently cut the slices using a pizza cutter

Sprinkle with chilli flakes & garnish with fresh basil & serve hot

NOTES:

Oven temperatures will vary so keep eye on the Pizza while its baking

It is very important that the oven be hot. So, Preheating for 30 minutes is a must

Always slightly cut the pizza dough into slices before you add the sauce & toppings as its easier to slice them later on

Always always always refrigerate the pizza dough. The 1st day we baked the pizza about a couple of hours after the dough was proofed. And we made some more pizza with dough that was refrigerated for 24 hours. The 2nd batch turned out better in texture

No comments

, by Deepthi Shankar

After School Snacks

Instant Oats Paddu

A quick Paddu Recipe to the rescue when you don't know what to cook for breakfast. Also makes for a great after school snack or weeknight dinner

Last year, We had bought a jumbo sized pack of Instant Oats from Costco & since we add only a tablespoon of oats into our smoothies, it was hardly getting used up. My Mum was visiting us & she started experimenting a lot of Indian recipes using Oats.

She makes this really delicious Veggie loaded Oats Upma ( A recipe that I plan to share soon ) & then this Paddu also happened.

The texture of this paddu is softer than the ones made using Dosa batter but is nonetheless tasty.

Its an easy instant recipe when you'd like something quick & nutritious & especially if you want to use up your packet of Oats :)

You Will Need:

1 cup Quick Cooking Oats
Half Cup Fine Rava/Chiroti Rava
1 tablespoon Rice Flour
1 medium sized Onion - Finely chopped
1 small Carrot - grated
6-7 green chilies
1 teaspoon Grated Ginger
A handful of Fresh Coriander
1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 cup Curds
Salt as per taste

How To:

In a pan, dry roast Oats & set it aside to cool. Once cool, grind it into a powder using a mixer-blender

In the same pan, roast Fine Raw until aromatic. Set aside

In a pan, heat oil, splutter mustard seeds, add onions & Green chilies & sauté for a couple of minutes. Add ginger & grated carrots & sauté until the carrots are slightly cooked. Turn off the heat.

In a wide bowl, add powdered Oats, Rava, Rice Flour sautéed Onion-carrot mixture, Curds, Baking Soda, chopped coriander & Salt.

Add water to make a fairly thick batter. Set aside for 10-15 minutes

Now Proceed to make Paddus.

To Make Paddus

Grease the Paddu maker with oil. Turn on the heat. When its fairly hot, add a ladle full of batter into each indent & cover with a lid. Let it cook on medium flame

After a minutes, with the help of a small spoon, flip the paddus & let them cook the other side as well.

After a minute, Take them out of Paddu Maker & serve hot with Peanut Chutney

Grease the Paddu Maker again & repeat the process to make more Paddus

NOTE:

These Paddus have a slightly sticky inside due to the addition of oats which is why they taste best when its Hot & freshly out of the pan. Its not very suitable to be carried in a Lunch/Snack box

No comments

, by Deepthi Shankar

Karnataka Recipes

Congress Kadlekai & Peanut Masala (Raja Special)

For the uninitiated, Congress Kadlekai is basically Spicy Roasted Peanuts & is a Bangalore Speciality. This snack has a little bit if history to it & was created way back in 1956 by Sreenivasa Brahmin's Bakery located on DVG Road, Gandhi Bazaar

Apart from eating it as a snack, it is also added to a lot of Bangalore style chaats especially Churmuri & Tomato Masala.

For the longest time, Congress Kadlekai was something that we bought only from Iyengar Bakeries in Bangalore & I never attempted making it at home, but its really easy to make it at home, the only effort is to roast, de-skin & halve the peanuts. Once that is ready the rest is easy

You Will Need:

2 cups Peanuts
1 1/2 teaspoons Red Chili Powder
1 1/2 teaspoons Turmeric powder
1 teaspoon Pepper Powder
2 big pinches of Asafoetida/Hing
2-3 sprigs of Curry Leaves
2-3 tablespoons cooking oil
Salt as per taste

How To:

In a heavy bottomed pan, dry roast peanuts until they are crisp & the skin turn slightly reddish. Transfer into a bowl & allow it to cool

Place the peanuts on a clean kitchen cloth & tie the edges into a knot & rub the peanuts well. This helps the skin come off easily Split the peanuts into halves & set aside

In the same heavy bottomed pan, heat oil. Once its moderately hot, add Asafoetida, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, pepper powder & curry leaves. Let it sizzle on low heat for about 30 seconds. Add the peanuts & Salt & turn off the heat.

Once its cool, Mix the spice mix & peanuts with your hands, crushing the curry leaves

Allow it to cool completely before storing them into air tight jars

Peanut Masala (Raja Special)

Bangalore style Peanut Masala, also known as Raja Special is made using Congress Kadlekai mixed along with the usual suspects like, Onions, Tomatoes & Carrots. It is a very popular starter served in restaurants & local bars all over the city

It also makes for a great protein packed snack. Once you have Congress Kadlekai ready (Home made/store bought), It takes 5 minutes to put this together

To Make Peanut Masala (Raja Special)

Half cup Congress Kadlekai
2 tablespoon finely chopped Onion
2 tablespoon finely chopped Tomato
2 tablespoon grated carrots
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoon finely chopped coriander
1/4 teaspoon salt

How To:

In a wide bowl, mix all the ingredients together & serve as a starter

NOTE:

I have noticed that finely chopped onions when kept aside for a long time, turn bitter. These onions when added to a chaat tends to lend a very bad taste So chop onions a few minutes before you plan to assemble this dish

No comments

, by Deepthi Shankar

Indian Breakfasts

Karnataka Style Dosa/Dosae

Dosa or Dosae as we call in Kannada, is one of Kedar's all time favorites. He could practically eat Dosas for every meal & not be bored of it

This post had been sitting in the drafts for the longest time, 9 years to be precise :) And I thought this should finally see the light of the day.

Please Read the NOTES section to get an idea of what varieties can be used to make these Dosas

While you can use Idli Rice, the key to Golden Colored Crispy Dosas is the use of Sona Masuri Rice & Poha

Difference Between Karnataka Style Plain Dosa/Dosae Batter & Other States from South

Most households in Karnataka make separate batters for Idli & Dosa. Yes, and this is because,

We do not add Fenugreek Seeds/Methi Seeds to our Idli batter but we add them to our Dosa Batter

Our Idli Batter is very slightly coarse because we like grainy idlis so we cannot use the coarse Idli batter to make to make Dosas

Also, We add a couple of handfuls of thick poha/Avalakki to our Dosa batter & we may or may not add Poha to the Idli batter depending on whether the batter is ground using a mixer or a grinder (We will come to that when I do a detailed post on Idlis)

You Will Need:

3 cups Rice (See Notes)
1 cup Urad Dal - I used Gota Urad Dal
1 tsp Methi/Fenugreek Seeds
2 handfuls of Flattened Rice/Poha - The Thick Variety Only
2 tsp Moong Dal - Optional
Salt as per Taste
Oil to Make Dosas

How To:

In a colander, measure out everything except Salt & oil & clean under running water until water runs clear

Soak in a wide bowl with enough water & Urad Dal Swells up upon soaking. Soak for 4-6 hours

Do Not discard the water used for soaking as it aids in fermentation

Use a wet grinder or a mixer to grind into a smooth batter. I use a mixer & grind the batter in 3 batches, adding little water at a time

Pour the batter into a large vessel, Add Salt & mix with your hands, cover & set aside in a warm place. It should take anywhere between 8-18 hours to ferment depending on the weather.

Once the batter is well fermented & you are ready to make dosas, Stir the batter a couple of times.

Heat a good cast iron griddle or a non stick griddle, once hot enough, pour a ladleful of batter in the centre & spread in circles. Drizzle oil along the edges & roast on medium flame until it turns golden brown & crisp.

There is no need to flip the dosa. fold into a semi circle & enjoy Hot Dosas with Coconut chutney or Chutney Pudi & Ghee

NOTES:

If you are using a wet grinder to make the batter, you can use 4 cups of rice for 1 cup of Urad Dal. Since, I make the batter in a mixer, I stick to using 3 cups

I used Regular Sona Masoori Rice. But my Mom uses Dosa Rice (Availale in India)

You can even use Idli Rice (used to make both Idlis & Dosas) or Half portion of Idli Rice & Half portion of Sona Masoori Rice

Many soak Urad Dal & Rice separately. It does not make a difference in my opinion

Adding Poha makes the dosas crisp & contributes in getting that nice golden color

You can even make this batter using Basmati Rice. I once ran out of Sona Masuri & all that was available at that moment was Basmati Rice so I went ahead & soaked it & it turned out just fine