Whole Wheat Paav Buns

I am presenting an Indian recipe today. The mumbai famous Paav buns. As usual I picked up the recipe from Gayathri's space. I was skeptical about doing this recipe. I read 2-3 blogs and somehow thought that the procedure is complex and perhaps I would not be able to do it perfectly. So I made it in small quantity but it came out absolutely perfect.

Paav means a small loaf of bread. This word has been derived from pao - a Portuguese word for bread. It seems the Portuguese were the first one to bring yeast to India. Thus with this yeast we Indians learned to make bread and initially called these paavs as double roti or double bread.

Commercially, pavs are always made with maida or all purpose flour. I made these paav with whole wheat flour instead of using the all purpose flour. I have already posted the recipe of Paav-bhaji. 

I made these paavs in the evening but unfortunately we were unable to eat it at that time. They stayed the same way till next day morning. I then made the bhaji and we relished paav - bhaji for breakfast. 

Recipe Source: Gayathriscookspot

Country: India

Ingredients

Whole Wheat Flour - 1 cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Sugar - 1 tbs
Instant Yeast - 1/2 tbs
Curd / Yogurt - 1/5 cup
Milk - 1/4 cup
Oil - 1 tbs

Method:

• In a bowl mix together flour, yeast, sugar, salt, gluten and yeast. Combine them well.
• Add milk, curd and oil. Combine to make a slightly sticky dough.
• Knead the dough on counter for ten minutes until smooth and elastic.
• Place in an oiled bowl, apply some oil on the dough and cover with cling wrap and set aside.
• Let it sit for one hour or until double in volume. Flip it on to counter and press it into a square.
• Divide into 6 equal portions. Roll each into a tight ball.
• Place inside a greased 8" square pan. Arrange all the rolls inside the pan.
• Cover and set aside for 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 200°C.
• Apply milk wash on the buns and bake them for 30-40 minutes or until the top is golden.
• Remove from oven and transfer to wire rack.
• Once cool, store in air tight jar.

Enjoy paav-bhaji or the mumbai famous vada-paav.

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Uovo al Pomodoro

Today I am presenting a recipe from tuscan part of Italy. Simplicity is central to the Tuscan cuisine. Legumes, bread, cheese, vegetables, mushrooms and fresh fruit are used. Tuscan cooks rely chiefly on the quality of the ingredients rather than on elaborate preparation. Today I am presenting a very simple recipe. I am not sure how it is spelled but it means Eggs Poached in Tomato Sauce.

The most basic version of this recipe requires some form of tomato, be it fresh, canned, whole, chopped or pureed; some aromatics such as garlic or herbs; and, of course, eggs. But it is a dish that is easily adaptable and takes well to a number of extra additions.

Recipe Source: cookingchanneltv

Place: tuscan, Italy

Ingredients:

Tomatoes - 3 big (finely chopped)

Onion - 1 big (finely chopped)

Garlic - 5 pods (minced)

Oil - 2 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Pepper - 1 tbsp

Red pepper flakes - 1/2 tsp

Eggs - 2

Handful of herbs (parsley, basil, oregano, thyme etc)

Method:

For the red sauce:

Puree the tomatoes to a smooth, creamy consistency.
Add the oil to a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until soft but not browned
Add the garlic and the red pepper flakes if using and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the pureed tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for about 10 minutes. Strive for balance in the consistency of the sauce; it should be fluid but shouldn't look overly wet. A few minutes before taking the sauce off the heat, add half the amount of herbs.

For the uovo al pomodoro: 

Preheat the oven to 230C.
Add a few ladlefuls of red sauce to one oven-safe skillet or a glass vessel.
Crack 2 eggs directly on top of the red sauce. Season with salt and pepper, and transfer to the oven until the whites are cooked completely but the yolks are still runny, 7 to 8 minutes.
Garnish with the chopped parsley, and serve hot with a slice of grilled Tuscan bread on the side.

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Twisted Snail Buns

It’s more than certain that nothing can top off a homemade pastry for breakfast. The smell only, increases your appetite and awakens all of your senses. From the time this baking marathon has started I have been baking something or the other for breakfast. Today I am sharing with you twisted snail buns and they look amazing on first sight.

The most interesting part is that the preparation of these snails is not complicated at all. Although it seems as though you’ll have to have some special skills in order to get them right, trust me you will make it on the first try. With a little patience and a little more persistence you will get perfectly home baked snails to treat your loved ones or to surprise your colleges at work.

We had this for breakfast along with a bowl of muesli and milk. And believe me it was a very heavy breakfast. Do try this out.

Recipe Source: soulkitchenrecipes

Country: Macedonia

Ingredients

All purpose flour - 2 cups

Milk - 1/4 cup

Wate2 - 1/4 cup

fresh yeast - 2 tsp

oil - 2 tbsp

salt -  to taste

sugar -  1 tsp

olive oil

Milk (to glaze) - 2 tbsp

herb powders 

Method: 

• In a bowl, whisk together water, sugar and yeast and let it sit for about 10 minutes. In large bowl add sifted flour, salt, milk, oil and add the yeast. Knead until you get smooth and elastic dough. Cover bowl with towel and let it rest until doubled in size, about one hour.
• After dough has risen, divide in 8 equal parts of dough and roll out each part into a rectangle of about 25 cm x 15 cm. Brush the dough with olive oil.
• Cut the dough into strips about 2 cm wide. Starting from the shortest end, diagonally roll the dough until you get a long roll, and then twist it around to shape it into a snail shell.
• Lay them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and let the buns rest for about 30 minutes
• glaze the buns with milk. Sprinkle a mix of herbs on the top and bake in the oven about 15 minutes at 230 degree C or until golden brown.

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Sekerpare

Sekerpare is a much loved Turkish dessert, made in Turkish homes, which means "a piece of sweetness." Mainly prepared by baking some soft balls of almond based pastry dipped in thick flavored sugar syrup.

 When I first read about this recipe, I was so much skeptical to try it out. I have never poured sugar syrup on cookies and didn’t know how they would turn. But still the recipe interested me. The cookie dough has semolina in it and this remins me of the Basboussa I have made earlier. Basboussa is bakes as a cake while sekerpare is baked as a cookie. But they taste similar. The cookies while coming out of oven are crispy. Cool syrup is poured over hot cookies and let to soak. After some time the cookies take up all the syrup and become soft. When you take a bite, you will get the crispy nut on top and soft sugar syrup soaked cookie and together it was fantastic.

Each cookie has a pistachio on top. But when I baked the cookie, I didn't have pistas in hand. After baking, I poured the sugar syrup and that time I got the pistas. I just placed the pistas on top of these cookies and they stuck there because of the sugar syrup. Lovely cookies I say.

Recipe Source: Gayathriscookspot
Country: Turkey

Ingredients:

For The Cookies:

Flour-1 cup
Sooji/ Semolina-1/4 cup
Sugar-1/4 cup
Curd-1/8 cup
Butter-1/3 cup
Baking Powder-1/2 tsp
Pistachios for topping


For The Syrup:

Sugar-1/3 cup
Water- 1/2 cup

Method:

• First make the sugar syrup and allow it to cool completely before baking the cookies.
• Add water to sugar and bring it to boil.
• Simmer and let it boil for 10 minutes until thick and syrupy.
• Set aside to cool.
• Preheat oven to 180°C.
• In a bowl cream together butter and sugar.
• Add the curd and beat until fluffy.
• Add the flour, sooji and baking powder.
• Make small balls out of the dough and press to make a cookie.
• Arrange on a greased baking tray.
• Top each cookie with a pistachio nut.
• Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.
• Arrange the baked cookies on a plate and pour cool syrup on top of each cookie.
• After some time the cookie would have absorbed all the syrup.
• Serve along with a cup of coffee.

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Qlecha

I didn't have to do much research for 'Q', this being the difficult alphabet. In Gayathri's space I found a wonderful recipe the Iraqi Qlecha or Kleicha. Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a western Asian country. Its capital is Baghdad. It shares its boundaries with Turkey in the north, Iran in the east, Kuwait in the south east, Saudi Arabia in the south, Jordan in the south west and Syria in the west. Source: Wikipedia

It seems this cookie is made during EID and shared with friends and relatives. H thoroughly enjoyed these sweets. It is also very easy to make. This is very similar to the Andhra sweet recipe - Kajjikayalu, except that the qlechas are baked, so less of oil.

I had to make this recipe twice. Initially I made these qlechas, took snaps. But while editing the blog post I found the snaps to be missing and by that time the qlechas got over. So I made the qlechas again, the second time less in number and took snaps again. The qlechas ran away in a day.

Recipe Source: Gayathriscookspot
Country: Iraq

Ingredients:

For The Outer Dough:

Flour/ Maida-1 1/2 cups
Milk-1/2 cup
Butter-1/2 cup, melted
Salt-a pinch
Cardamom Powder-1/2 tsp
Instant Yeast-1 tsp
Sugar-1/2 tsp


For The Filling:

Grated Coconut-2/3 cup
Sugar-1/3 cup
Cardamom Powder-a pinch
Curd-1 1/2 tbs
Rose Essence-1/2 tsp

Method:

• In a bowl mix together flour, salt, cardamom powder, sugar and yeast.
• Add melted butter and mix well.
• Now add milk and mix until it is well incorporated and you get a soft and non sticky dough.
• Cover with cling wrap and set aside for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 175°C.
• Now mix the coconut, cardamom powder, sugar, curd and rose essence.
• Roll out the dough into a large thick disc.
• Cut out small rounds with a cookie cutter.
• Place some filling in the centre.
• Fold the circle into a crescent and seal the edges. Use a fork to make some designs along the edge.
• Place on a baking tray.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the crust is golden.
• Cool on wire rack.
• Store in an airtight jar.

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Rose Tea Cake

I had selected this rhubarb tea cake for R. But then found out that rhubarb is not available anywhere near my place.  Rhubarb is a herbaceous perennial growing from short, thick rhizomes and is found in plenty in the scandinavian region. Most commonly, the stalks are cooked with sugar and used in pies, crumbles and other desserts

 So I had to do some research. I found out that strawberries can be added instead of Rhubarb but then it would not serve the purpose of a recipe with 'R'. And I didn't have time to search for another recipe with 'R'. Of course I was lazy too.. Finally settled on replacing the rhubarb with Rose. I took some Rose leaves and ground them and added to the cake mix. Also added little bit of rose essence. The cake was awesome; a perfect accompaniment for evening tea.

Recipe Source: lucywaverman

Country: Finland

 

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 2 cups

Baking powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - to taste

Rose petals - few

Rose essence - 1 tsp

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Butter - 1/4 cup

Eggs - 2

 

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
• Place parchment paper in base of a loaf pan. Butter the sides of the pan and sprinkle sugar to coat sides.
• Grind the rose petals and make it into a paste.
• Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Stir in butter, sugar, eggs. rose petals paste and rose essence. 
• Beat with an electric mixer for 3 minutes or until mixture is smooth and some air has been incorporated. Scrape into loaf pan.
• Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until top is golden and a cake tester comes out clean. Allow to cool. Cut the cake after an hour or so.

 

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Pide

Presenting another easy-to-do baked recipe. Pide may refer to: Pita, Turkish version of a type of flatbread consumed especially in company of kebabs. 

Pide and its various varieties are wide spread through Turkey and are established as an important food. The base is a flat-bread of a similar style to pita, chapati, or western pizza crust. A proper pide should be baked in a brick or other stone oven. Toppings vary widely and include but are not limited to: cheese, onions, peppers, tomatoes, sausage, pastrami, eggs, mushrooms, ground beef, and parsley. Pide is also available for cheap on the street from a cart. 

RecipeSource: Gayathriscookspot
Country: Turkey

Ingredients:

For the dough

1 tablespoon instant dry yeast

1 cup warm water (for softer pide use milk) or 1 cup milk (for softer pide use milk)

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 cups all-purpose flour

For the filling

1 -2 tablespoon olive oil

2 medium onions, chopped

4 garlic cloves, chopped

10 ounces ground beef or 10 ounces ground lamb

1⁄2 teaspoon ground cumin

1⁄2 teaspoon ground coriander

salt and pepper

1 cup chopped tomato

Method:

• Combine all ingredients for the dough and knead until smooth.
• Grease the dough with some drops of oil, cover and let rest 30 minutes; give a short knead.
• Cover and let rise until almost doubled (about 1 hour depending on the temperature).
• In the meantime prepare the filling:
• In a large skillet heat the oil.
• Add chopped onions along with chopped garlic.
• When onions are translucent, add ground meat, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper.
• Saute for 5 minutes until meat is done.
• Add tomato and cook briefly until water is absorbed.
• Remove from heat and keep aside.
• Preheat oven at 200 degrees Celsius/400 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Place the dough on a floured surface; cut into 4 pieces (for medium pide) or 8 pieces (for smaller pide).
• Make round balls and, using a rolling pin, roll into ovals (12 inches/30 cm for medium pide or 6 inches/15 cm for smaller pide). I possibly try to let the borders stay thicker.
• Transfer the oval dough on the baking sheet.
• Divide filling in equal portions; spread on the dough; pinch the points together giving a boat-like shape.
• Bake for 15 minutes or until golden.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

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Onion Bialys

Bialys came to the United States from Bialystok, Poland, and they are sometimes known as Bialystok Kuchen.  In the early 1900s, hundreds of thousands of Eastern European Jews immigrated to American and settled in New York City.  They brought with them their taste and recipes for bialys. A bialy is similar to a bagel, in that it is a round, chewy roll.  But it is unlike a bagel in two important ways:  One, it does not have a hole in the middle, but a depression; Two, bagels are boiled and bialys are baked.

Bialys were a specialty of early 20th-century bakeries in Bialystock, Poland. I imagine that they came about the same way that pizza did in Italy. Excess bread dough was pressed into a convenient shape for eating out of hand and topped with the locals' favorite vegetable – onions.

The indentation in the middle of the dough is filled with onion, garlic, or poppy seeds.  And the bialy has a very short shelf like, about 6 hours - it tastes the best when hot out of oven. 

RecipeSource: Gayathriscookspot
Country: Poland

Ingredients:

Flour / maida – 2 cups

Instant Yeast – 1/2 tsp

Salt – 1 tsp

Water – 2/3 cup + 2 tsp

Onion -3

Oil – 2 tbs

Method:

• In a bowl mix together flour, salt and yeast.
• Add water and make a smooth dough.
• Transfer to counter and knead the dough for 8 – 10 minutes.
• Place in a well oiled bowl and cover with a cling wrap.
• Allow it to rise for one hour.
• Divide the dough into 6 equal portions.
• Roll each portion into a tight ball and place on a tray.
• Cover and set aside for one more hour.
• In a pan, add oil and sauté onions until nicely browned.
• Add salt and pepper to taste and allow it to cool.
• Shape the balls into discs with a thick outer edge.
• Place on a greased baking tray.
• Pinch the dough inside the thick edge with scissors to keep it from puffing.
• Fill the depression with the caramelized onion mixture.
• Cover and set aside for 10 -1 5 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 250 C.
• Give a milk wash to the bialys and bake in oven for 10 – 15 minutes.
• Serve it hot out of oven.

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Nazook

Starting this week's mega marathon with another baked sweet - nazook from armenia. And I am posting this recipe at the right time. Nazook is an Armenian pastry that's traditionally served around Easter.

The “not-so-sweet-and-overly-indulgent” kind. They are European in nature so I’m not surprised. The Europeans don’t seem to enjoy desserts that are too rich or sugary. I’m with them on that one. These cookies take a yeasted dough (that is completely sugar-less) and wrap it around what is basically a streusel to get a cylinder with a swirl. The whole process is very similar to how you make cinnamon rolls. The cookies are then cut from the cylinder, and baked up to a delicious, buttery, flaky, crunchy pastry. 

RecipeSource: Gayathriscookspot

Country: Armenia

Ingredients:

For The Pastry Dough:

Flour-1 1/2cups

Instant Yeast-1 1/4tsp

Curd-1/2cup

Softened Butter-1/2cup

For The Filling:

Flour-3/4cup

Sugar-3/4cup

Softened Butter-!/3cup

Vanilla-1tsp

Method:

• Mix all the ingredients given for the pastry dough. Knead for 10 minutes.
• If the flour is very sticky, dust it with a little flour.
• Cover the dough with cling wrap and place the bowl in fridge overnight.
• Mix all the ingredients given for the filling. It will look clumpy. Set it aside.
• Preheat oven to 180C.
• Remove dough from fridge and knead for 2 minutes.
• Divide it into 2 equal parts.
• Dust the counter with flour and roll out the portion into a thin rectangle.
• Divide the filling into two.
• Spread one part of the filling evenly on the rolled rectangle.
• Start rolling from the longer end and roll it into a tight log.
• Pat it a little to flatten.
• Cut into 10 equal pieces.
• repeat the same process for the remaining dough and filling.
• Arrange the pieces on a greased baking tray.
• Brush the top with milk and bake until golden brown.
• Cool on wire rack and serve

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Manakish - Zaatar

When I first came across the manakish zaatar recipe, I thought of it to be similar to that of pizza. Yes the base looks very much like that of a pizza base but this manakish is very tatsy with the zaatar spice. I don't think we can have just the pizza base with a spicy powder without the cheese even if it is served hot. I made a small alteration here. I layered with some tomato chutney and then with the zaatar spice powder because I just didn't want the family to reject it.

But later I Felt I should have left the manakish just with just the zaatar spice. I made this manakish for breakfast and I quickly took photos because I had a small doubt that the family members would taste it immediately. I had to leave for gym immediately and I usually have breakfast after coming back from gym. I came back from gym, had a nice bath and was very hungry. I went and opened the plate which had this zaatar and I found a teeny-weeny piece in the plate that was left for me to taste. I tasted it and it was heavenly. Later I had to satisfy my hunger with corn flakes and milk.


RecipeSource: Gayathriscookspot and archanaskitchen
Country: Lebanon

Zaatar - Ingredients:

1 tablespoon sumac powder (or dried lime zest)
1 tablespoon thyme seasoning
1 tablespoon oregano seasoning
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds (powdered)
1 tablespoon pepper powder
A little salt

Zaatar - Method:

Mix all the ingredients listed together and shake well to combine. Your home made zaatar spice mix is ready. Store in air tight container and use as and when required.

Manakish - Ingredients:

Flour – 1 1/4 cups
Water – 1/2 cup
Salt – 1/4 tsp
Sugar – 1/4 tsp
Instant Yeast – 3/4 tsp
Oil – 1/4 cup
Zaatar - 2 tbsp


Method:

• In a bowl mix together flour, salt, sugar and yeast.
• Add oil and water to make a soft dough.
• Knead the dough for 3-5 minutes on counter until soft and smooth and elastic.
• Place in a bowl and cover with cling wrap.
• Set aside for an hour or until double.
• Preheat oven to 220 C.
• Divide the dough into two equal portions.
• Roll them into thick discs and place on a greased baking tray.
• Top the discs with zaatar spice mix and some extra sesame seeds.
• Press it well into the disc.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Serve hot!!

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