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ANOTHER INDIAN FLATBREAD…KHAMEERI ROTI
“Without bread all is misery.”William Cobbett Carrying on from my last post, time to blog eloquently about the third Indian flatbread I had a go at making. You can find the earlier two, Naan & Tandoori Roti, in this post here. While the naan I made is a leavened bread but not with yeast, the tandoori roti is unleavened. This current flatbread, ‘Khameeri Roti‘, is also leavened, & yeast is the rising agent in this case. (‘Khameeri‘ means fermented.) This is a rustic, moreish flatbread, made entirely with wholewheat flour (aata) & has delicious crust. Like most baked flatbreads, it tastes best eaten hot out of the oven. The dough…
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A CRUST OF BREAD & A CORNER TO BLOG IN…LIFE IS!
“If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens.”Robert Browning Have been on an Indian flatbread making spree of late. Recently rediscovered a book that I haven’t used in a while…The Indian Menu Planner. The recipes in this book have been put together by the master chefs of the Welcomgroup Maurya Sheraton Hotel & Towers, New Delhi. With loads of naans popping up every now & then, that was the first bread I wanted to try, & the second on my list was tandoori roti, an unleavened bread made from wholewheat flour. Both came out delicious. The naan needs prior preparation as it…
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LENTILS WITH MEANING…THE MOTHER OF ALL DALS!
“I am always doing things I can’t do, that’s how I get to do them.” Pablo Picasso Indian meals are made more meaningful with the addition of a dal/lentil on the table. This particular dal, Maa ki Dal is a very popular Indian dish, also known as ‘Dal Makhani‘, which is often ordered at restaurants, dhabas (roadside eateries) & is enjoyed for its creamy, rich flavours. I tried making it a couple of times over the past years, but with little success; that important something was always missing. Most ‘Maa ki Dal’ recipes add dollops of butter & cream, putting me off before I even attempt. Cutting corners in ‘fat’…
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BIRYANI/YAKHNI PULAO…Mingling with ‘One Dish Dinners’
“In the childhood memories of every good cook, there’s a large kitchen, a warm stove, a simmering pot and a mom.” Barbara Costikyan LAMB BIRYANI/YAKHNI PULAO Decided to make a biryani/yakni pulao for lunch last weekend. Have been procrastinating making it for long as it is just a bit involved. Then I thought, might as well, & went off to dust the cob-webs off my biryani utensil which hadn’t seen light of day for a while. Life seems to be all about eating & drinking…so I got on with tying my bouquet garni!! In a strange quirk of fate, after eating the Mughlai dish for lunch, we unexpectedly got invited…
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ROGAN JOSH…A popular lamb curry; Served here with stir-fried cawliflower
” Vegetables are interesting but lack a sense of purpose when unaccompanied by a good cut of meat.” Fran Lebowitz LAMB ROGAN JOSH…a passionate curry! A very popular dish from North India & Pakistan, Rogan Josh is just mildly spicy. It gets its fiery red colour from paprika, & like all popular recipes, has many versions. Here is my own simple rendition of Rogan Josh…mild, tasteful & one we all like very much. I like this recipe for a change because it has no tomatoes & isn’t too laden on calories. Though traditonally cooked in clarified butter or ghee, mine is cooked in sunflower oil. I served it with a…
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SMOKED BUTTER PANEER…Paneer-e-Dhungaar is what I like to call it!
“Raising children is presented at first as a true-false test, then becomes multiple choice, until finally, far along, you realize that it is an endless essay. No one knows anything.”Anna Quindlen SMOKED BUTTER PANEER CURRY…‘Paneer-e-Dhungaar’ is what I like to call it! This recipe is the result of trying to keep the dinner table smiling with eager kids. Here’s a nice change to the regular Indian style cottage cheese/paneer curry. It combines the best of paneer tikka (which has a smoked flavor) & butter paneer. I made this up one day when the kids were losing interest at the dinner table, and I had paneer on hand which I wanted…
