Komaj - Persian Stuffed Bread

Komaj is one of the most unique breads I have come across . This bread consists of most unusual flavors like cumin seeds and turmeric . The stuffing is made with dates and cardamom powder. You will naturally wonder what kind of weird combination is this. But trust me it works amazingly. This stuff bread tastes superb with a hot cup of tea. Have it warm to get the real taste of this delcious bread. I baked it as a challenge for we-knead-to-bake an event by aparna . She has taken the recipe from the book  Saraban – A Chef’sJourney Through Persia.

Ingredients  for the bread :

3 cups ...................... all purpose flour
1 tsp........................dry active yeast
1/2 tsp ...................sugar
4 tbsp .....................sugar powder
1/2 tsp .................salt
1/8 cup ..............warm water
1/2 tsp................turmeric powder
2 tsp...................cumin seeds ( slightly crushed)
1........................egg
2/3 cup...........warm milk
1 n 1/2 tbsp....oil




Ingredients for the filling :


10 - 12 ....................soft deseeded dates ( chopped)
1 tsp.........................crushed cardamom
1 tbsp.....................soft unsalted butter

Mix these three thoroughly and keep aside to fill in the buns.

Milk for brushing

1tsp...................cumin seeds ( slightly crushed)










Method :

Dissolve yeast sugar and water in a bowl and set it aside for 10 minutes .

In another bowl mix well flour, turmeric powder , cumin seeds , sugar powder and salt.

Now add the yeast mixture which would have formed a froth to this flour bowl.

Mix everything very well and add milk and oil.

Knead for 5 minutes till you get a soft , elastic and non sticky dough.

Keep the dough covered in a well greased bowl for 1 hour and let it rise.

After 1 hour punch the dough and deflate it and again let it rise for 1 more hour.

Now make 8 equal ball of the dough and roll them 1/8 " ovals or rectangles.

Brush them with milk and keep a tsp of filling at corner of this rolled rectangle.

Now cover this filling with the other side of rectangle and press all sides to seal well.

Now with a cookie cutter cut the dough taking care that the filling doesn't come out.

Keep these rounds on greased baking tray and let them rise for 15 minutes.

Now brush them with milk and sprinkle some crushed cumin on top of each round bun.

Bake them in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 12 - 15 minutes.

Have the buns warm while eating.

Masala Scones

Though I love baking I am not an expert baker and so there are certain bakes which I hesitate to prepare. Scones is one such baked dish. I have gone through many scone recipes in the past but was too scared to try one.

So this month when I saw that  Archana has suggested Scones and Tarts for our this months baking-partners-challenge it was tarts for me. But then when I read the recipe of scones found it interesting and moreover Archana made it sound so simple that I couldn't resist trying it out.

 And then when I finally gave them a try was really glad that I made a right choice . They were so crumbly and soft . The cheesy flavor was just yumm.

 Though the original recipe is eggless I tried them with eggs when I saw Swathi doing the same because I did not want to spoil the dish at any cost. I also substituted sage leaves with coriander leaves and chillies . The result was amazing and loved these scones with our morning breakfast.

Ingredients :

2 cups .....................wheat flour
1 tbsp.......................baking powder
1 tsp......................pepper powder
5 tbsp.....................chilled butter ( cubed)
2 tbsp......................fresh coriander leaves ( chopped)
2 ..........................green chillies ( very finely chopped )
2 .........................eggs
2 tbsp..................fresh cream
100 gms................grated cheddar cheese
salt to taste







Method :


In a bowl take the flour and add pepper powder and baking powder.

Now add the chilled butter cubes and rub the flour with your fingers.

Continue till you get a crumbly texture.

In another bowl whip eggs and fresh cream .

Mix chopped coriander and chillies to egg and cream mixture and beat lightly.

Add this to the crumbled flour.

Also add  cheese and salt and knead into a dough.

Take the dough on a well floured platform and roll it into a thick disk.





Cut the disk into triangular parts and arrange them in a greased bowl.




Brush the surface with butter and bake in a preheated oven.

Bake at 180 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes till the top is golden .

Spinach Fatayer

I love making variety of savory bakes and so when I saw that this month's home-bakers-challenge had sweet as well as savory bakes was very happy to  choose this yummy snack item.

Spinach Fatayer is a very easy and healthy snack . This recipe is from Middle East and was one of the dishes chosen by Rafeeda who is hosting this month's home-bakers-challenge an event started by  Priya Suresh .

These samosa  like baked snacks were very easy to prepare and made for a delcious snack for our evening tea. You can make these fatayer for your party and get sure likes from kids and adults alike. The health conscious folks will really appreciate your choice of starters.

Everyone at home thoroughly enjoyed having them and have decided to include this hassle free dish in my party menu for starters .

Ingredients  for the covering :

1 cup..................maida
2 tbsp.................oil
1/4 cup...............warm water
salt to taste



Ingredients for the filling :

1 small bunch ...................fresh spinach
1...................................onion (finely chopped )
2 to 3 tbsp....................walnuts ( roughly crushed)
1.................................green chilly ( finely chopped )
1/4 tsp........................pepper powder
1 small....................lemon ( take the juice)
salt to taste.

Method :

Mix together maida, oil and salt .

Gradually add warm water and knead a soft dough.

Cover it with a wet muslin cloth and keep aside.

In a bowl mix well all ingredients given under filling .

Now make balls out of the dough and roll a puri .






Keep a heaped spoonful of the filling on it.







Fold the circle in a triangular shape and seal the edges by pressing them.






Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes till they become golden brown.

Oats and Jaggery Chikki

I made this chikki for this month's shhh-cooking-secretly-challenge an event started by Priya Suresh . My Partner for this month is Laxmi Priya and she chose oats and jaggery as my secret ingredients. I used chikki gud ( special variety of jaggery used only to make chikkis and laddoos ) for this. Nuts I used were a mix of walnuts, almonds and cashew nuts but you can add or skip the nuts as per your choice. This is a good option as a sweet treat for all of us . Even kids will find this healthy sweet very tempting.

Ingredients :

2 cup ....................oats
1 cup....................shredded jaggery ( used for chikki)
1/4 cup.................black currants
1/4 cup.................candied orange peels
1/2 cup................mixed nuts ( crushed coarsely )
1 tsp..................ghee

Method :


Heat the shredded jaggery in a thick bottom pan with ghee.

The jaggery will first melt and then start bubbling.

Keep a bowl with cold water and drop very little bubbling jaggery in this bowl.

Try gathering the jaggery in bowl and form a ball.

Hit this hardned ball of jaggery on kitchen platform.

If it makes noise like you have hit a stone then the jaggery syrup is ready for use.

Now add all the above things and mix really well.

Immediately pour this on a well greased tray.

Take a greased knife and cut the chikki into desired shapes.

Let the chikki cool completely.

Then separate it and store in a plastic container.

If it becomes difficult to remove the chikki from the tray just hold the tray for a minute on medium flame.

The chikki now can easily be removed.

Amritsari Kulcha - Punjabi Special

Any food lover will completely agree that India has a mindblowing variety of breads ( rotis). Parathas, Kulchas, Naan, Roomali roti, Kerela Parotta , Rajasthani Bati and the list goes on and on . Indian breads are very nutririous and can be easily converted to full meal . Today's post Amritsari Kulcha stuffed with aloo is one such dish. These stuffed kulchas are very filling and can just be had with dahi ( curds ) and achar ( pickle) or you can serve them with any side dish of your choice.

This month  Srivalli had suggested Amritsari Kulchas for our indian-cooking-challenge ( ICC ) and I was more than happy to make these lovely kulchas. I had already missed last few challenges and desparately wanted to make these kulchas.

Serve these hot kulchas with a dollop of butter and have a very satisfying meal.

Ingredients :



For the dough :

4 cups .............................wheat flour
1/2 cup............................curds
2 tsp..............................sugar
1 tsp................................baking powder
1 pinch ..........................baking soda
1/2 cup...........................milk
1 tbsp..............................ghee
salt

For the filling :

5 to 6 .............................boiled potatoes ( peeled and mashed)
2 tbsp.............................ginger chilly paste
1 tbsp.............................amchoor ( dry mango powder )
1 tbsp............................dhana jeera powder
1 tbsp...........................black sesame
1/ cup..........................chopped fresh coriander
salt
oil


Method :


Knead a smooth but firm dough with all ingredients given in dough with just enough milk.

Keep it aside covered with wet muslin cloth for atleast 1 hour.

In the mean while mash the boiled potatoes and add chopped coriander and ginger chilly paste .

Also add amchoor and dhana jeera powder and salt to taste.

Mix very well till everything is well combined.

Now make big lemon sized balls of the dough and make equal balls of the filling.

Roll the dough to the size of puri and keep the filling inside.






Cover with dough from all sides and roll it.

Sprinkle some black sesame on it and continue to roll a kulcha of 6 to 8 '' diameter.

Cook on a how tawa by smearing ghee  on both sides.







Serve with any side dish  of your choice or with some pickle and curd.

Barley Vegetable Soup

Mumbai experienced its first rains today for this season. Wanted to celebrate it with something steaming hot. This delicious barley veg soup was perfect for the occasion.

Wherenever I buy vegetables I have a habit of  keeping some portion of each veggie aside. This helps me to make different variety of mix vegetables. Sometimes I make chinese stir fry or a  veg curry. So today decided to make this  vegetable soup with some barley to welcome the rains.

 This made our today's dinner light and still healthy n filling.  Loved this delicious soup. It served my purpose of eathing nutritious and yet a delicious light meal. Hope you all too like it.

Ingredients :

4 tbsp.....................barley
2 .........................tomatoes ( pureed )
2 tbsp....................carrot ( finely cubed )
2 tbsp...................onions ( chopped )
2 tbsp...................capsicum ( finely cubed )
fistful ..................coriander leaves ( finely chopped )
1 tsp .......pepper powder
1 tbsp...................lemon juice
1 tbsp..................oil
salt


Method :

Wash and boil barley in 4 to 5 cups of water.

After 10 to 15 minutes barley will swell and become soft and the water will become thick.

Switch off the gas and keep barley with water aside.

In a soup pan add oil and saute onions till transluscent.

Now add carrots and saute for just 2 minutes.

Add tomato puree and stir fry for 5 minutes now add barley with water and give the soup a boil.

Finally add capsicums, chopped coriander, salt, pepper powder and lemon juice .

Just give a boil and serve hot immediately.

Take care not to over cook the vegetables.

The crispy vegetables give a the soup a rusty crunchiness .

Khasta Dhania Mathri - For SNC

Hi everyone ,

 Feeling very happy to be back to blogging ( where I feel I belong ) after a very long time.

 Today I am posting a very delicious snack item from Bihar-Uttar Pradesh for The  south-vs-north-challenge an event started by Divya Pramil . This month the North team was challenged by none other than  Priya Suresh with Cashew pakodas and we the South team were challenged by   Nupur of ukrasoi.com. with these crispy addictive and  flaky mathris .

 I was unable to blog for many weeks due to vacations, some family functions and above all wanted to devote some time to my craft venture. I am very glad that I am getting a very good response to my handcrafted items . Would really feel very happy if you visit my new FB page  https://www.facebook.com/NayanasKreativeKrafts  and give your valuable opinions.

Ingredients :

1 cup....................wheat flour
1 cup....................maida
4 tbsp..................oil
2 tbsp................ghee
1/2 cup.............chopped fresh coriander
4 tbsp................dried kasuri methi
1/2 tsp each ......pepper powder, jeera powder, chilli powder
1/2 tsp..............ajwain
3/4 tsp..............salt
water for kneading
oil for deep frying

Method :

Mix all the above ingredients first with fingers to form a coarse mixture.
Now slowly add water and knead to a hard dough.
Cover the dough with a damp cloth for half an hour.
Heat the oil for frying.
When the oil is hot lower the heat to medium.
Make small balls of the dough and flatten them with your palm.
Drop them 5 to 6 at a time in the frying pan and fry till crisp on slow medium flame.
As the mathris are thick they need to be fried for a longer period .
If you high the flame then the mathris with become brown  outside but remain soft inside.
Serve these crispy yummy mathris with a steaming hot cup of tea or coffee.