Hot Cross Buns

Baking bread is something that has been on my mind for a long long time. I would see the awesome bread posts posted on facebook and would wish to be able to bake like them. However my whole life I have been staying in small cities with names you have not heard of. Opportunities were less even though the desire was there. Then finally we got to live in a sprawling metropolis, the business centre of our country. And this was a moment I seized with both my hands. Even before settling in I was googling for baking classes.
The four day bread workshop I attended was an eye opener. Both theory and practical was taught extensively. We were made to practice at least four kinds of breads everyday. Buoyed by the experience I decided to start baking on a regular interval.
The first bread I wanted to bake was Hot Cross Buns. I had heard this nursery rhyme so many times and I always wondered what is so special about this bun that you have a nursery rhyme dedicated to it. I started looking at different recipes and found myself getting more and more confused which one to follow. Met with a few disasters.
I have basically flowed the recipe by Joe Pastry. I have halved the recipe because I didn’t  need 18 buns. Also, thankfully, I didn’t add all the liquid at once because I was left over with almost ¾ cup of milk and yet the dough was quite sticky. It depends a lot on the quality of ingredients you use. What kind of flour you use determines how much liquid you need. So main point to keep in mind is not to use all the wet ingredient at once to make the dough. After the bread workshop I had an idea how sticky a dough should be and I used that much milk accordingly.
And while baking bread remember not to give up. The sticky dough will get together. Just keep kneading. If things seem hopeless dust your hands with a little flour, oil the working surface a bit. But keep at it!!


Ingredients 

Makes about 10 buns
2 ½ cups flour
½ tbsp instant yeast
¼ tsp nutmeg powder
¼ tsp cinnamon powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup milk, lukewarm
2 tbsp honey
1 egg(optional)
2 tbsp soft butter
½ cup raisins

For making the crosses
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp granulated sugar
Water to make a thick paste

Pour enough water on raisins to cover them and boil for 10 minutes. Keep aside.
Sift together flour, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder and salt. Mix the yeast with a spoon.  Whisk the egg and honey together. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients.

Add the whisked milk and honey and mix with a spoon. Slowly add the milk and keep mixing with the spoon.

 Stop adding milk as soon as you get a sticky dough.

Turn out the dough on a lightly floured surface and start kneading. It is going to be really sticky and will stick to your palms and the working surface. Keep at it for 5 minutes. Scrape your hands if you need. Now add the softened butter and raisins.

Start kneading again. The butter and sticky dough will make a real mess.

Do not panic. This is where you need your best friend, the scraper. Use it to scrape the dough off and keep kneading. After a long time that will seem like a life time the dough will come together. It will still be a sticky dough.

 Put it in an oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth. Do not let the cloth touch the dough or it will stick to it. Keep aside for 2 hours or until it has doubled in size.

 Lightly punch the dough to knock out the air.

 Divide the dough into 10.

Now comes the rolling part. Do not roll between your palms. Remember the dough has air which shouldn’t be squeezed out. Put the ball on the working surface, place your palm over it like a cage with the dough lightly touching your skin. And start a rolling movement with the only pressure being between the base of your thumb (the fleshy mound) and the working surface. As you roll the dough keep lightly pushing with the base of your thumb.

Do these with all the balls.

Place a parchment paper on the baking tray and put the balls on them keeping some space between the balls. Cover and keep for about an hour till it grows in size.
 Now make the crosses. Once the balls have doubled up in size, mark an X with a kitchen knife. Now make a thick paste with the sugar, flour and water. The paste should fall slowly when you pick it up with a finger. Using your finger slowly trail some paste on the X you have marked on the buns. If you are an egg eater then do an egg wash.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Bake the buns for 18-20 minutes.
After 10 minutes your house will be filled with an amazing aroma. Trust me !!

Dabeli

Dabeli

Dabeli reminds me of Ahmedabad, of Jai Bhavani on CG road. Whenever we visit Ahmedabad our standard evening fare is Vada Pav and Dabeli at Jai Bhavani. Soft pavs, slatehered in butter, accompanied by green coriander-mint chutney, with sev, pomegranate..ufffff!!!! Merely thinking about it makes me salivate.

Form Ahmedabad to Leh is a journey of 2110 kilometers. However it is not just the distance which is mind boggling. It is the terrain as you start climbing the mountains and go through the passes. Life changes as fast as the topography. 

Here in Leh we have got used to a difficult lifestyle. Things are not easily procurable and we have to make do with whatever we get. So getting Dabeli here was impossible. The only option was to make your own. My friend Smitha had a craving for Dabeli and it got me thinking. Why not make it at home!!

Make pavs.

Make Dabeli masala.

Have Dabeli!!

Ingredients

For the pav

See the recipe for pav with egg

http://apigeonnapie.blogspot.in/2015/05/dinner-rollspav.html

See the recipe for eggless pav

http://apigeonnapie.blogspot.in/2015/04/homemade-pav-and-bhaji.html

Dabeli masala

1 red chilli

1 tsp coriander seeds

½ inch cinnamon

½ tsp cumin seeds

4 black peppercorns

For Dabeli filling

3 potatoes, boiled, mashed

1 onion, chopped

1 tbsp ginger, grated

½ cup grated coconut

½ cup chopped peanuts

½ cup pomegranate

2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

½ cup sev

For green chutney

1 cup coriander leaves

Few mint leaves

1 tsp lemon juice

Salt to taste

Pinch of sugar

For red garlic chutney

¼ cup garlic pods

5 dry red chillies

½ tsp lemon juice

Salt to taste

For the Dabeli masala

Dry roast all ingredients and grind them to a powder.

For the green chutney

Blend together all ingredients to a smooth paste using a little water.

For the red garlic chutney

Soak the dry red chillies in hot water for 30 minutes. Grind to a paste along with garlic pods, lemon juice and salt.

For the Dabeli filling

Heat some oil. Add the grated ginger nad then the chopped onion. Suate for few minutes. Add the dabeli masala. Fry till the masala seems well cooked. Now add the potatoes, salt and grated coconut. Cook for some time. Switch off the heat. Add the chopped coriander leaves.

Slice the pavs in two. 

Apply green chutney on one half and red garlic chutney on another. 

Spread some potato filling on one half. Sprinkle pomegranate and peanuts on top. Top with some sev. Cover with the other half of the pav. Apply some butter on top of the pav and grill on the tava.

Dinner Rolls/Pav

Dinner Rolls/Pav

These are the softest and yummiest buns/rolls I have ever eaten.. No kidding!!

Once you start baking your own bread you become very pernickety about store bought ones. So I was desperately searching for an OMG recipe for pav/dinner rolls. 

Ever since my trusty and beloved Kitchenaid has come to my aid the process of bread baking has become easier. No more kneading away to glory!! Because kneading is what does the trick for breads.

You can use this dough to shape dinner rolls or buns, whatever you want. And believe me when say that this is the softest dough I have ever made. It was like playing with clouds. It was silky smooth and delicate as water bubble. So handle very gently. I made dents while brushing the buns with butter.

Ingredients

1 cup water

1 tsp sugar

 1 ½ tbsp. yeast

½ cup melted butter

½ cup granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp salt

5 ½ cups flour

Now you may be wondering about the amount of butter. The liquid component gives the buns their extra softness. So don’t skimp. Go ahead and make it at least once.

Warm the water and sugar. Add the yeast. Remember the water temperature is crucial. Too hot and the yeast will be killed. Too cold and it won’t froth. I usually put my finger in the water to test it. The water should not scald at all. It should be comfortably hot. Now sit back and relax because the sight of a well fermented yeast is one of the most satisfying sights in the world.

Here it ferments...

And it ferments dome more...happiness!!!

Combine butter, sugar, eggs and salt using a dough hook in your stand mixer. If you don’t have a stand mixer you can use a hand held blender. Now start adding the flour one cup at a time. Keep beating till the dough starts pulling away from the sides.

In a stand mixer you can keep beating with the dough hook for 15 minutes. If using a hand held blender you will have to start kneading by hand. The more you knead the fluffier your dinner rolls will be.

Oil a large bowl and put the dough inside rolling it well in the oil. 

Cover with a clingfilm and leave to double. 

Once it has doubled punch it down gently. Grease two square 10” pans. This dough will make roughly 15-18 dinner rolls. Make balls and place in the baking pans leaving room in between for the dough to rise again. 

Leave for half an hour. 

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Bake for 15 minutes. Take out of the oven and cover with a damp cloth. Your dinner rolls are ready. 

Stuffed Savoury Chelsea Buns

Stuffed Savoury Chelsea Buns

The Chelsea bun is a type of sweet currant bun. It is flavoured with lemon peel, cinnamon or mixed spice. The dough is rolled out into a spiral. So though this is called a bun yet it is more like a baked swiss roll.

Stuffed Savoury Chelsea Buns are an adaptation of the sweet Chelsea Buns.

The stuffing can be of your choice. You can make a paneer stuffing with salsa sauce, a corn and peas stuffing, shredded chicken, bacon..the choice is endless. I had a roll of salami lying at home and so I decided to make a salami and onion stuffing flavoured with rosemary.

Ingredients

3 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp oil

½ cup  water+ ½  cup milk

2 tbsp yeast

Stuffing

1 cup sliced salami/paneer

1 onion, sliced

1 tsp garlic, chopped

1 tsp rosemary

Salt to taste

½ tsp black pepper powder

2 tbsp softened butter

Warm the water and milk mix slightly. Add the yeast and put aside to proof.

Sift together flour, salt and sugar. Mix in the oil. Add the yeast mix and knead into a dough. Knead the dough well for about 10 minutes. The more you knead the softer the buns will be.

Apply oil and place the dough in a large bowl. Cover with a cling film and leave to double. This will take 3-4 hours.

Meanwhile prepare the filling. Heat some oil. Add the chopped garlic and sliced onions. Saute for 2-3 minutes. Add the sliced salami/paneer. Season with salt, black pepper powder and rosemary.

Once the dough has doubled you are ready to make the buns. Dust your working surface with some flour.

 Turn over the dough on the surface. Punch it down. Divide the dough into two portions. Roll out one portion into a rough rectangle. Brush it with melted butter. 

Put half the filling lengthwise .

 Roll up the dough like a Swiss roll. 

Seal the edges with water. Slice the roll into 9 pieces. 

Place in a greased bowl. 

Cover and keep for half an hour till the slices double. Apply an egg wash or a milk wash on the buns.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Bake the buns about 40 minutes.