Pav

There are so many types of breads in this world, the list really amazes me! Each country, region or town have their own distinct version of bread. The basic ingredients remain the same, but just "a hint of this, and an addition of that" changes the whole flavour, texture and taste of the bread. One of my blogger friend from Norwegia (Sharon) has recently sent me their local bread recipe, which i am going to make soon and post it on the blog. 

I have grown up with eating Pav from mumbai in my Vada Pav's and Pav bhaji's. So when i came to Delhi, the taste of the Pav was completely different for me. Pav is Indian bread, but the concept of it was introduced to us by the Portuguese in 15th century. The early Portuguese presence in India was "Missionary-heavy" and they made bakeries and baking a priority. These missionaries trained and taught the converts in Goa, the art of baking bread. Since yeast was not readily available, they used to bake with fresh coconut Toddy.

Well, making Pav is super fun. I purposely made small buns and gave them a round shape. But you can shape them as you want. Making them small surely helped since i was making it for the first time and they turned out super soft. 

I served some as a tiffin breakfast to hubby by spreading jam and butter in between. And some, i made into mini-burgers :))


Recipe adapted from : Ammaji's kitchen

Ingredients:

Maida (All purpose flour)- 1 and half cups

Yeast - 2 tsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Sugar - 1 tbsp plus 2 tsp

Milk - 1/4 cup ( Add more or less as needed)

Butter - 1 tbsp (melted)

Water - 1/4 cup

Recipe:

Take a bowl and grease it with oil. This bowl is to be used for raising the dough, so take a little bigger one.

Yeast: There are two types of yeast. Instant and Active dry. If you have instant yeast, there is no need to activate it. But if you have dry yeast, you have to activate it. This process is called proofing. It is always beneficial if you proof the yeast.

Take 1/4 cup water and warm it. It should be lukewarm and not hot. If it is too hot, the yeast will die and if it is too cold, the yeast will not raise. Add about 1 tsp sugar to it and mix well. Now, add the yeast. Mix and cover the bowl and let it sit for about 8-10 minutes. The yeast will rise a bit.

In another mixing bowl, add flour, salt, sugar and butter.

Now make a small well in between and add the yeast. Mix well and now add milk little by little. The amount of liquid added depends on the strength of the flour. So don't add everything at once.

Add slowly and start kneading the dough. Knead for about 10 minutes.

Place this in the greased bowl, cover and let it sit for about 1 n half hours to raise.

Now, take out the raised dough, spread some flour on the wooden board and knead it for another 5-7 minutes till all air comes out. 

If the dough is too sticky, add some flour and knead again.

Make equal sized balls and flatten them a little or shape according to your wish.

Grease a baking tray with some butter or oil and place the balls in the tray leaving little space in between for them to rise up.

Cover this and let it sit for another 1 n half hours to rise.

Please keep the bowls to raise at room temperature only. 

After about 1 n half hours, preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Brush the raised dough balls with olive oil/normal oil or milk and bake them for about 30 minutes till the top becomes golden brown.

Remove from the oven and brush some melted butter on them.

Let them cool.

Pav is ready :)

Happy Cooking :)

Bread Poha

I love making leftover recipes. That's when creativity is best put to use, and it's fun when hubby enjoys the final product not knowing what's gone inside as ingredients ;) Like making parathas of leftover daal, or adding palak to it and giving tadka to make it daal palak, or mixing leftover aloo sabzi with a new fresh vegetable, or making tadka rice with leftover rice!!! It's always a new better dish that comes out of the leftover than throwing it away. Just the same, when you are done with eating bread as toast, with omelettes, in sandwiches and it becomes 3-4 day old or is excess lying in the refrigerator, this recipe comes as a best option.

Some people even call it bread upma and add vegetables (carrots, beans, corn etc) as used in the regular Upma. Some add potatoes (as used in poha) but i always make it with only onions and tomatoes. There are even different ways of cutting/chopping the bread. At times, i remove the sides or i use them and chop the bread in small pieces, and sometimes i absolutely chop it like a loose powder (always by hand). The choice is yours.

So this makes for a perfect breakfast recipe or a tiffin recipe. You can have it as it is or alongwith some chutney or pickle or even dahi(curd). I prefer having it as it is with my morning cup of coffee.

Ingredients:

Bread slices - 6 to 8

Onion - 1 (finely chopped)

Tomato - 1(finely chopped) Addition of more tomatoes will make the dish soggy, so stick to less tomatoes as possible.

Green chilli - 1 big finely chopped

Oil - 2 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp (adjust according to taste)

Corriander  powder - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt - to taste

Oil - 2 tsp

Curry leaves - a few (optional)

Corriander leaves - chopped (to garnish)

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Asafoetida - a pinch

Lemon juice - on top (optional)

Recipe:

Chop the bread pieces or crush them roughly with hand.

Heat oil in a kadhai/pan. Add mustard seeds. When they crackle, add asafoetida and cumin seeds. Then add the curry leaves and onions.

Fry onions till transluscent. Don't over fry and burn them. Then add the green chillies and saute for about a minute.

Add in the tomatoes and cook uncovered till the tomatoes turn soft (not like a paste, but just soft). Keep stirring in between. Add some salt, so that it cooks faster.

Then add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder and corriander powder.

Saute till all the spices mix well with the onions and tomatoes. Now add in the bread, and mix it all well. I normally keep mixing and cook for about 3-4 minutes uncovered, but you can cover it too (though there might be a chance of the dish becoming soggy, but if you like it that way and are in a hurry, cover for about 2 minutes or so).

Adjust salt. Mix it corriander leaves and sprinkle some lemon juice on top (just before serving) for that tangy flavour.

Delicious and quick breakfast recipe is ready :)

Happy Cooking :)