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.

Amandine / Romanian Chocolate Sponge Cake

Amandine / Romanian Chocolate Sponge Cake

This Romanian Chocolate cake is called Amandine. It is light and fluffy with the use of 8 eggs. Infact it is so light that I had trouble cutting it into layers. 

The cake is layered with not ganache but a chocolate cream made with eggs and cocoa.

 When I first came across this cake I was intrigued by the different ways chocolate cakes are made and eaten in different parts of the globe. Each has its unique identity and taste.  Each is united with a love we all share for food. It is  global cuisine.

The icing and filling is a chocolate cream which can also be replaced by a simple chocolate ganache. However I would recommend going the extra mile and putting in a little bit of time and effort making this chocolate cream. Slow cooked beaten eggs in a double boiler make it ultra luscious and creamy.

I have always failed miserably at this method. My eggs would always curdle and make a royal mess. However this time things turned out perfect. The eggs were pale and creamy. The chocolate cream was silky and smooth.

I have adapted the recipe form Roxyskitchen.

Ingredients

For the cake

260 gm sugar

30 gm cocoa powder

150 gm flour

8 eggs

40 ml water

50 ml oil

Grease a large baking tray. 

Separate the egg whites and yolks.

Beat the egg whites and water till stiff peaks form. Add the sugar and beat some more.

Beat together the egg yolks and oil. 

Gently fold into the egg whites.

Sift together the flour and cocoa powder. Fold the flour mix into the egg whites. The flour, being heavier, will settle down into the bottom. Remember to scrape it well and incorporate the whole thing.

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Pour the batter into the tin and bake for about 30 minutes. The cake will rise beautifully without any baking powder or baking soda because of the beaten egg whites.

Once the cake is done take it out and let it cool.

For the soaking syrup

2  cups water

1 cup sugar

4 tbsp coffee powder

Heat the water and sugar till the sugar dissolves. Add the coffee powder and bring to a boil. Turn off heat and let it cool.

For the chocolate cream

4 eggs

20o gms sugar

100 gms cocoa powder

1 cup butter

Place the eggs and sugar on a double boiler and start whipping. The boiling water will slowly cook the eggs. You need to be patient and keep whipping on medium speed for 15-20 minutes. The eggs will become pale and frothy. 

Add the cocoa powder and mix well. The mixture will become very thick. Add the butter and keep mixing. The chocolate cream will now be of spreading consistency. If you feel it is still too thick then add some more butter.

Assembling the cake

Take the cake out of the tin and trim the sides. 

Slice the cake into two halves horizontally. Soak both halves with the soaking syrup.

 Spread a thick layer of chocolate cream on one layer and then place the other layer on top. 

Drizzle some soaking syrup on the top slice. 

Spread the chocolate cream on top. 

Cut into big pieces and garnish with sugar sprinkles.

Aloo paratha

Aloo paratha

Being a Bengali aloo paratha is not a staple in our house. Sure we love aloo paratha but they are made on rare occasions. I loved having them in my Punjabi friends’ homes. They used to have aloo paratha on a  regular basis. It was not uncommon for me to drop in unannounced at their place just to have the parathas.

Practice makes perfect and this adage was roved true when I started making aloo paratahs at home. I could never perfect the technique of making them round and fat. The potato filling would always sneak out from my parathas. If I tried to make them thin then filling disaster. If I tried to keep the filling inside then they would become too thick. Many a days I have spent in my kitchen battling with the aloo parathas.

Finally I succeeded in overcoming my nemesis. The trick that finally helped was rolling out the dough into a roundel, placing the filling inside and making a potli. Then slowly and gently rolling out the paratha.

 There are many ways and means of making the perfect parathas. Infact I think some people just have that special knack or Midas touch and don’t need any such trick. However this worked for me and that makes me happy.

Ingredients

3-4 potatoes, boiled

1 onion, chopped

3 green chillies, chopped

1 tsp chopped ginger

2 tsp chopped green coriander leaves

Salt to taste

1 tsp aamchur powder

½ tsp lemon juice

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp ghee

½ tsp salt

Water to knead the dough

First make the filling. Mash together boiled potatoes, chopped onion, chopped green chilles, ginger, coriander leaves, aamchur powder and lemon juice. Check the salt. Make sure that the filling is dry and the potatoes are not watery.

Now make the dough. Sift together the atta and salt. Mix in the ghee. Now using little water at a time knead the dough. The dough should be a bit dry and firm.

Make balls of the dough. Take one ball and roll it out into a small roundel. Take 2 tablespoon of the filling and place in the middle. 

Now gather up the roundel and make a potli. 

Gently pat the potli down into a disc. Apply atta and start rolling out gently. Do not exert too much pressure.

Heat a tava or girdle. Place the paratha on the hot tava and let it cook. Turn over, apply some oil/ghee and cook some more. Once both sides are cooked properly take off heat.

You can have the aloo parathas with butter and achaar. 

Homemade Burgers

Homemade Burgers

You just cant run away from fast food. It is there everywhere..on television, on billboards, in movie halls, malls. You name it and it is there. And how much can you deny your child in the name of health? As parents we give in more often than not. 

The only option ( I feel) is to make them at home so that you know exactly what is going on your kid’s plate. And anyway the homemade option is always better than the mass produced ones.

I have been on the look out for the perfect burger buns for quite some time. And these buns are an answer to that search. The recipe has been taken from thekitchn.com.

Ingredients

1 tbsp yeast

½ cup warm water

½ cup milk

1 egg

2 tbsp oil

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

3 cups flour/whole wheat flour

1 tbsp butter

Mix the yeast and warm water and let stand for 5 minutes till it froths.

Whisk together milk, egg, oil, sugar and salt. Add this to the yeast mix. Add all the flour and stir till it forms a wet dough. 

Knead till the dough is soft and pliable. 

Cover the dough and let it sit for 2-3 hours till it doubles. Dust the work surface and turn out the dough on it. 

Divide the dough into 8 pieces and shape each into a tight ball. Transfer onto a lined baking tray and leave to rise.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake the buns for 30-40 minutes. 

For the patties

3 potatoes, boiled and mashed

2 cups French beans, chopped

2 cups carrots, chopped

1 cup cauliflower florets, chopped

1 cup peas, blanched

1 tbsp ginger, chopped

Salt to taste

4-5 cups bread crumbs

Heat some oil. Add the chopped beans, carrots and cauliflower. Saute on high heat for five minutes. Cover and cook till soft. Add the mashed potatoes and mix well. Season with salt. Cook for few minutes. 

Take off heat and cool. Add about 2 cups of bread crumbs and mash well. Make thick patties. Roll them in bread crumb. You can either deep fry then patties or shallow fry them in a pan using minimum oil.

For garnish

Tomatoes, sliced

Onions, sliced

Cabbage/lettuce, shredded

Mayonnaise sauce

Your burger is ready to be assembled. Apply a little butter on the top of the bun and heat it on a girdle. Slice the buns in half. Apply mayonnaise sauce on the lower half of the bun. Place the patty, arrange tomatoes, onions and cabbage on top. 

Place the top half of the bun and keep in place with a toothpick.

You can also make chicken patties to make non vegetarian burger.

Shan Mutton Korma

Shan Mutton Korma

The magic of masalas, fresh and pure, ground to perfection! That is Shan masala for me. Hearing from friends who have used Shan masalas I too decided one day to try it out. The one dish I have been trying to perfect is the Mutton korma. Sure mine turn out really well but I still feel I am missing that something elusive, something that would want me to keep coming back for more.

The recipe given at the back of the packet is really simple and I was sceptical. Just use onion, ginger and yogurt from your pantry. Isn’t Mutton korma a very fragrant dish with lots of spices and aroma? 

What I didn’t realise was that the Korma masala took care of all the interplay of spices.

After using that first sample of Shan masala I have as of now a stock of 15 kinds of spices and I intend to use them one by one. Yes, they are that good!

Ingredients

1 kg mutton

3 onions, sliced fine

1 ½ cup yogurt, whipped

2 tbsp ginger juliennes

1 cup ghee

1 packet Shan Korma mix

Wash and dab the mutton pieces dry. Heat the ghee. Add the sliced onions in batches and brown them nicely. Remember you don’t want to burn them.

Once all the onions are browned keep them aside to cool. 

Transfer the ghee to a pressure cooker and in the same ghee add the mutton pieces and fry on high flame so that they are evenly browned. 

Add the beaten yogurt and Shan Korma mix. Fry some more and then add the ginger. 

Cover and cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Now crush the browned onions and add them to the mutton. 

Fry for 5 minutes. Check seasoning. 

Pressure cook for two whistles. 

Your finger licking mutton korma is ready.