Hakkaido Bread: Tangzhong method

This month has just vanished in the thin!! Our household has been suffering from flu which has jolted us terribly. First it was my son and as I tended his needs, I caught the bug very soon. All in all for 3 weeks, we were living amongst hot water bag, decongestants, vicks vaporub, paracetamols and antibiotics for my baby:(  During this, the only respite was the thought about “We knead to Bake” I am terrible when it comes to bread baking. However, Aparna’s monthly event is giving me the courage to bake them and try the path which I have trodden less:) As soon as I was on the mend, the first thing I did was worked on the Tangzhong for my bread …Hakkaido Bread.

Aparna writes in her notes about Hakkaido Bread:

This month we’re making Hokkaido Milk Bread which is known for its soft cottony/ pillowy texture. Apparently it’s very popular bread in South Asian bakeries across the world. It is also known as Asian Sweet Bread and Hong Kong Pai Bo. Some people say this is a Japanese bread while others say it’s because the milk used in this bread is from Japan while some others have suggested its pure white colour and the texture resemble the pristineness of Hokkaido!

The Hokkaido Mild Bread owes its texture and height to the use of an interesting ingredient called Tangzhong. Basically, the Tangzhong method involves cooking 1 part of bread flour with 5 parts of water (by weight) at 65°C (149 °F) to form a roux.

At 65°C, the gluten in the bread flour and water mixture would absorb the moisture and create a “leavening” action. When the Tangzhong is added into other ingredients of a bread dough, it produces light, tender and fluffier bread.

This method of using Tangzhong is often seen in South Asian breads and was created by a Chinese woman, Yvonne Chen, who describes this method in her book which translates to “65 degrees Bread Doctor” .

Ingredients:

For The Tangzhong (Flour-Water Roux)

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup milk

For The Dough:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tbsp sugar

1tsp salt

2 tbsp powdered milk

2 tsp instant dried yeast

1/2 cup milk (and a little more if needed)

1/8 cup cream (25% fat)

1/3 cup tangzhong (use HALF of the tangzhong from above)

1/4 tsp salt

25gm unsalted butter (cut into small pieces, softened at room temperature)

Method:

The Tangzhong (Flour-Water Roux):

Whisk together lightly the flour and water in a saucepan until smooth and there are no lumps. Place the saucepan on the stove, and over medium heat, let the roux cook till it starts thickening. Keep stirring/ whisking constantly so no lumps form and the roux is smooth.

If you have a thermometer, cook the roux/ tangzhong till it reaches 65C (150F) and take it off the heat. If like me, you don’t have a thermometer, then watch the roux/ tangzhong until you start seeing “lines” forming in the roux/ tangzhong as you whisk/ stir it. Take the pan off the heat at this point.

Let the roux/ tangzhong cool completely and rest for about 2 to 3 hours at least. It will have the consistency of a soft and creamy crème patisserie. If not using immediately, transfer the roux to a bowl and cover using plastic wrap. It can be stored in the fridge for about a day. Discard the tangzhong after that.

The Bread Dough:

I made this dough in the food processor. This dough can be made by hand but the dough is a bit sticky and can take some time and effort to knead by hand. If you have some sort of machine which will do the kneading for you, use it. Don’t punish yourself. And do not add more flour to make it less sticky either!

Put the flour, salt, sugar, powdered milk and instant yeast in the processor bowl and pulse a couple of times to mix. In another small bowl mix the milk, cream and Tangzhong till smooth and add to the processor bowl. Run on slow speed until the dough comes together. Now add the butter and process till you have a smooth and elastic dough which is just short of sticky.

The dough will start out sticky but kneading will make it smooth. If the dough feels firm and not soft to touch, add a couple of tsps of milk till it becomes soft and elastic. When the dough is done, you should be able to stretch the dough without it breaking right away. When it does break, the break should be form a circle.

Form the dough into a ball and place it in a well-oiled bowl turning it so it is well coated. Cover with a towel, and let the dough rise for about 45 minutes or till almost double in volume.

Place the dough on your working surface. You don’t need flour to work or shape this dough.  I rolled them into normal muffin size balls and placed them in muffin trays. Cover with a towel and leave the dough to rise for another 45 minutes.

Carefully brush the tops of the rolls and bake them at 170C (325F) for about 20 to 30 minutes till they are done (if you tap them they’ll sound hollow) and beautifully browned on top. Let them cool in the tins for about 5 minutes and then unmould and transfer to a rack till slightly warm or cool.

My son loved the small sized, soft muffin shaped bread rolls and vanished with them while they were warm. I had to save some for the photographs. These taste amazing with a dollop of butter spread on them.

I plan to bake some more of these muffin shaped bread as they are so handy for breakfasts!! I must thank Aparna for this event which is allowing me to try out different types of bread. Here is wishing everyone a healthy and happy life….

A Fight Against Plagiarism and a humble giveaway results.

Recently,  I started cooking and writing about Kamalabai Ogale’s book Ruchira. My aim is to cook each and every recipe she has put up in her book and rise to the standards she has created. I am so much hooked on to this book now that I am creating and collecting my work inspired by Kamalabai’s recipes at one place on Facebook called as Ruchira Videshini. I had an event on my food blog about Marathi Cuisine. This is to bring in a revolutionary thinking in bringing Marathi cuisine on every table around the world in a modern way and to fight plagiarism which is an issue which every blogger fears of. This of course is possible only when we create within the frameworks of traditional cooking but with modern thoughts.

I am so excited about the Giveaway!! Mehta Publishers are giving the three books and Neha Dandekar has helped me choose the winners for this giveaway:)  Neha Kaku is such an active lady. I wish I can stay as active as her. She has participated in cookery shows of different Indian Television Channels like ETV (Marathi), SAAM TV and in Weekend Mejwani- Shodh Sugranicha, Mejwani Paripurna Kitchen, Sugran, Khadya Bhramanti.

She conducts classes for Saree draping in different forms, Salad decoration,Flower arrangements,making different types of Vide(Betelnut leaves), Managalagauriche khel(festive games). If that is not all, she supplies Chirote to local sweet vendors and her average sale in a year is 150kg per year!!

She is an excellent judge for cookery and food shows. She has been judging both in Pune as well as outstation. I am so very thankful to Neha Kaku for helping me judge the giveaway:)

To know more about the original post please check the link on my blog and Facebook. Friends, since I am convalescing, I haven’t managed uploading photos for each of your entries. Please bear with me. I have added the links instead.

http://shrutinargundkar.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/unforgettable-lessons.html	Shruti Nargundkar	Tzatziki
http://shrutinargundkar.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/multicultural-raita.html	Shruti Nargundkar	Multicultural Raita
http://annaparabrahma.blogspot.in/2013/02/marathi-popti-or-bengali-paturi-nah-its.html	Anjali Koli	Popti/ Paturi
http://indulge-ashscorner.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/pivaliyellow-batatyachi-bhaji-staple-in.html	Ashwini Deshpande	Pivli Batatyachi Bhaji
http://www.indianfoodrocks.com/2013/02/banana-blossom-bhaji.html	Manisha Pandit	Kelfulachi Bhaji
http://indulge-ashscorner.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/bhajani-chakali-maharahstrian-favourite.html	Ashwini Deshpande	Chakali
http://indulge-ashscorner.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/sudhama-che-pohe-dahi-pohe-thick-betaen.html	Ashwini Deshpande	Sudamyache Pohe
http://saraniyapt.blogspot.in/2013/02/phodnicha-bhaat-tempered-rice.html	Sharanya	Phodnicha bhaat
http://shrutinargundkar.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/packed-to-rafters.html	Shruti Nargundkar	Bharli Vangi
http://petpujoandadda.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/a-bongs-that-also-noakhailla-take-on.html	Simone	Kolhpuri Chicken
http://saraniyapt.blogspot.in/2013/02/pav-bhaji-bread-served-with-spicy.html	Sharanya	Pav Bhaji
http://uk-rasoi.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/batata-chi-bhaji-marathi-style-aalu.html	Nupur	Batatyachi Bhaji
http://spicyfoood.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/vada-paav-indian-burger.html	Lourdes Princy	Vada Paav
http://shrutinargundkar.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/whole-foods.html	Shruti Nargundkar	Thalipith
http://recipeataptspice.wordpress.com/	Aditi	Jawas Chutney
http://saraniyapt.blogspot.in/2013/02/misal-pav-pressure-cooker-method.html	Sharanya	Misal Pav
http://shrutinargundkar.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/creative-comeuppance.html	Shruti Nargundkar	Vaangi Pohe
http://vaish.sengupta.net/of-cloves-and-capers/recipe/fried-fish-konkani-style/	Vaishali Sengupta	Fried Fish
http://maayeka.blogspot.ae/2013/02/kolhapuri-misal-pav-spicy-tomato-stew.html	Anjana SKC	Kolhapuri Misal
http://cooklikepriya.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/ammas-fish-curry-tamarind-fish-curry.html	Priya Ranjit	Fish curry
http://saraniyapt.blogspot.in/2013/03/vegetable-poha.html	Sharanya	Veg Pohe
http://saraniyapt.blogspot.in/2013/03/baked-soya-pinwheels.html	Sharanya	Baked Soya Pinwheels
http://merakitchen.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/ananas-bhat-pineapple-rice.html	Samata Narvekar	Ananas Bhaat
http://priyaeasyntastyrecipes.blogspot.fr/2013/03/tikhat-mithachi-puri-batate-kachrya.html	Priya Suresh	Tikhat Mithachi puri and Batatyachya kachrya
http://shashisabhivyakti.wordpress.com/2013/03/06/bareeta-a-tm-dish-auburginebrinjal-dish/	Shashirekha	Bharit
http://acookatheart.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/puranpoli-and-fight-against-plagiarism.html	Pallavi	Puranpoli
http://shashisabhivyakti.wordpress.com/2013/03/06/pineapple-gojju/	Shashirekha	Pineapple Gojju
http://shrutinargundkar.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/in-spoor-of-sprouts.html	Shruti Nargundkar	Sprouted methi pulao
http://saraniyapt.blogspot.in/2013/03/bharleli-vaangi-pressure-cooker-method.html	Sharanya	Bharle Vaangi
http://mummynme.wordpress.com/2013/03/10/sabudana-kichidi-carbohydrate-rush-to-fight-plagiarism/	Gayathri	Sabudana Khichadi
http://maayeka.blogspot.ae/2013/03/moraiyo-sama-ki-khichdi.html	Anjana SKC	Samo khichdi
http://shrutinargundkar.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/genius-vs-genial.html	Shruti Nargundkar	Pineapple Saar
Kutchi Dabeli	Surabhi Malhotra	Kutchi Dabeli
Strawberry Coconut ladu	Surabhi Malhotra	Strawberry Coconut ladu
Gavhache Modak	Sangita Lalit	Gavhache Modak
36.Kolambi Bhaat(Not out of the box)	Chandrima Sarkar	Kolambi Bhaat
37.http://shrutinargundkar.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/land-ahoy.html	Shruti Nargundkar	Masala Vada
38. Besanache Ladu	Ashwini Deshpande	Besan Ladu

Here are the lovely entries from my dear friends around the world…Thank you my dear friends for supporting this cause. You all deserve to be winners!! I wish I could send my love to each one of you. However, had no choice but to choose 3 foodies for the same. Since we had the opportunity to choose 3 people, in no particular order the winners of the giveaway are:

1 Surabhi Malhotra

2. Shruti Nargundkar

3. Anjali Koli

Congratulations ladies!! Neha Kaku loved your innovations in creating the recipes!! Hurry up ladies please send me your addresses.   I will make arrangements to parcel the books to you all!!

The major support has come all the way from Pune, in India!! Mehta Publishers who have published the Marathi version of this book Ruchira, have offered to sponsor the books to the winners!! What more could any Ruchira fan want?  I am grateful to Mr Sunil Mehta, Asmita, Parul and Chinmaya from the publishers to have helped in this cause.

Please do check Mehta Publishers website. Mehta publishers are a treasure of all the gems of  many authors.  They can boast of 1000 titles in print and 300 reprints!! They now have such a fantastic facility for online readers. Check it out yourself folks!!

Madloah with berries

This is an amazing dessert which my family relished last spring. This morning I was going through my drafts and found this recipe. How on earth did I forget to publish this!! I am writing this note as per Sawsan’s instructions. This is a middle Eastern dessert which will be everyone’s favourite once a spoonful is eaten:) Spring is just knocking on our doors and I look forward to visit to our local berry farms to get a basket full of them to make this divine dessert.

Here is the recipe for Madlouah

4 cups milk

1/2 cup shredded coconut

2/3 cup semolina

2/3 teaspoon ground mastic

Place all the ingredients in a pot and stir continuously on medium low flame till the consistency thickens, pour it in a serving dish, allow it to cool and then place it in the fridge before serving spread some heavy cream on top of the madlouah and sprinkle pistachios and sliced fruit,drizzle it with rosewater syrup (2 cups of sugar 1 cup of water, place them in a pot and bring them to a gentle boil, allow to boil for 5 minutes, turn off the heat and add a table spoon of orange blossom water). I did not have mastic, so did not use it.

Croissants

This month I am baking Croissants for We knead to Bake by Aparna Balasubramaniam. I am absolutely terrible when it comes to baking. However, Aparna’s event has helped me gather the courage to venture into this category of baking.

Normally when it comes to cooking or baking other stuff, I always like tweaking them or adding my own touch. However, with this recipe, I thought  it’s best to rest my adventurous mind and follow each and every step Aparna has stated. However, I ended up creating a rather sticky dough.  However, hard I tried but I could not stop the dough sticking to my hand. I used some butter on my hands and rolled the croissants. But the shapes made me sad. Hence I resting my dough again in the freezer and baked couple of the croissants for the deadline tonight.

 

Aparna, I am not giving up! I will try again with the same dough again tomorrow. Hopefully this resting period will give it time to be firm enough. Or else, I will start from the scratch. I checked the inside by cutting them in half…the taste I must admit is amazing!! The warm buttery croissants just melt in your mouth!!

Please do visit Aparna’s page and check her bakes. So here you go:

Classic Croissants

(Adapted from Jeffrey Hammelman’s recipe at Fine Cooking)

Ingredients:

For the dough:

4 cups all-purpose flour, and a little more for dusting/ rolling out dough

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp cold water

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp cold milk (I used 2%)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

40gm soft unsalted butter

1 tbsp plus scant 1/2 tsp instant yeast

2 tsp salt

For the butter layer:

250 gm cold unsalted butter

1/4 cup of cold milk (or 1/8 cup of cream + 1/8 cup cream) to brush the dough

Or 1 egg for egg wash(I did not use)

Method:

 

Day 1:

Make the dough (and refrigerate overnight)

Combine all the ingredients for the dough in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook.  You can also use a food processor with the plastic blade, or do this by hand.

Mix everything on low speed for 3 minutes, scraping the sides of the mixing bowl once if necessary. Then mix further on medium speed for 3 minutes. Lightly flour a 10-inch pie pan or a dinner plate.  And place the ball of dough on this.

Gently shape the dough into a flat ball by pressing it down before storing it in the fridge, this makes rolling out next morning easier. Making a tight ball will strengthen the gluten which you do not need. Lightly dust the top of the dough with flour and wrap well with plastic so it doesn’t dry out. Refrigerate overnight.

Day 2:

Make the butter layer

The next day, cut out 2 pieces of parchment or waxed paper into 10” squares each.  Cut the cold butter into 1/2-inch-thick slabs. Place these pieces on one piece of parchment/ waxed paper so they form a 5- to 6-inch square. Cut the butter further into pieces as required to fit the square. Top with the other piece of parchment/ waxed paper.

Using a rolling pin, pound the butter with light, even strokes. As the pieces begin to stick together, use more force. Pound the butter until it flattens out evenly into a square that’s approximately 7-1/2”. Trim the edges of the butter to make a neat square. Put the trimmings on top of the square and pound them in lightly with the rolling pin. Refrigerate this while you roll out the dough.

Laminate the dough

Unwrap and lay the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Roll it out to a 10-1/2-inch square, and brush off the excess flour. Take the butter out from the refrigerator —it should be cold but pliable.  If it isn’t refrigerate it till it is. This so that when you roll out the dough with the butter in ti, neither should it be soft enough to melt, or hard enough to break. Unwrap the butter and place it on the square of dough in the centre, so that it forms a “diamond” shape on the dough.

Fold one flap of dough over the butter toward you, stretching it slightly so that the point just reaches the middle of the butter square. Bring the opposite flap to the middle, slightly overlapping the previous one. Similarly repeat with the other two so that the dough forms an envelope around the butter. Lightly press the edges together to completely seal the butter inside the dough to ensure the butter doesn’t escape when you roll out the dough later.

Lightly flour the top and bottom of the dough. With the rolling pin, firmly press along the dough uniformly to elongate it slightly. Now begin rolling instead of pressing, focusing on lengthening rather than widening the dough and keeping the edges straight.

Roll the dough into an 8” by 24” rectangle. If the ends lose their square shape, gently reshape the corners with your hands. Brush off the excess flour. Mark the dough lightly equally into three along the long side. Using this as a guideline, pick up one short end of the dough and fold 1/3^rd of it back over the dough, so that 1/3^rd of the other end of dough is exposed. Now fold the 1/3^rd exposed dough over the folded side. Basically, the dough is folded like 3-fold letter before it goes into an envelope (letter fold). Put the folded dough on a floured baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze for 15 to 20 minutes to relax and chill the dough.

Repeat the rolling and folding, this time rolling in the direction of the two open ends (from the shorter sides to lengthen the longer sides) until the dough is about 8” by 24”. Once again fold the dough in thirds, brushing off excess flour and turning under any rounded edges or short ends with exposed or smeared layers. Cover once again with plastic wrap and freeze for another 15 to 20 minutes.

Roll and fold the dough exactly in the same way for the third time and put it baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap, tucking the plastic under all four sides and refrigerate overnight.

Day 3:

Divide the dough

The next day, unwrap and lightly flour the top and bottom of the dough. Cut the dough along the longer side into halves. Cover one half with plastic wrap and refrigerate it while working on the other half.

“Wake up the dough up” by pressing firmly along its length with the rolling pin. Don’t widen the dough but simply begin to lengthen it with these first strokes. Slowly roll the dough into a long and narrow strip, approximately 8” by 22”. If the dough sticks as you roll, sprinkle with flour.

Once the dough is about half to two-thirds of its final length, it may start to resist rolling and even shrink back. If this happens, fold the dough in thirds, cover, and refrigerate for about 10 minutes; then unfold the dough and finish rolling.

Lift the dough an inch or so off the table at its midpoint and allow it to shrink from both sides and prevent the dough from shrinking when it’s cut. Check that there’s enough excess dough on either end so that when you trim the edges to straighten them, you have a strip of dough that is 20’ inches long. Now trim the edges so they’re straight.

If you’re good at “eyeballing” and cutting the dough into triangles, then forget the measuring rule, marking and cutting instructions.  Otherwise, lay a measuring rule or tape measure lengthwise along the top length of the dough. With a knife, mark the top of the dough at 5-inch intervals along the length (there will be 3 marks in all). Now place the rule or tape measure along the bottom length of the dough. Make a mark 2-1/2 inches in from the end of the dough. Make marks at 5-inch intervals from this point all along the bottom of the dough. You’ll have 4 marks that fall halfway between the marks at the top.

Make diagonal cuts by positioning the yardstick at the top corner and the first bottom mark. Use a pizza wheel/ pie wheel or a bench scraper and cut the dough along this line which connects each top mark to the next bottom mark and then back to the next top mark and so on. This way you will have 7 triangles and a scrap of dough at each end.

Shape the croissants

Now work with one piece of triangular dough at a time. Using your rolling pin, very lightly roll (do not make it thin but only stretch it slightly) the triangle to stretch it a little, until it is about 10” long. This will give your croissants height and layers. You can stretch it by hand too, but if you don’t have the practise, your stretching could be uneven.

Using a sharp small knife, make a 1/2- to 3/4-inch-long notch in the centre of the short side of each triangle. The notch helps the rolled croissant curl into a crescent.

Place the triangle on the work surface with the notched side closest to you. With one hand on each side of the notch, begin to roll the dough away from you, towards the pointed end.

Flare your hands outward as you roll so that the notched “legs” become longer. Roll the triangle tight enough but not too tight to compress it, until you reach the “pointy” end which should be under the croissant.

Now bend the two legs towards you to form a tight crescent shape and gently press the tips of the legs together (they’ll come apart while proofing but keep their crescent shape).

Shape all the triangles like this into croissants and place them on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet leaving as much space between them as they will rise quite a bit.

Proof the croissants

Brush the croissants with milk (or a mix of milk and cream). If you use eggs, make an egg wash by whisking one egg with 1 tsp water in a small bowl until very smooth. Lightly brush this on each croissant.

Refrigerate the remaining milk/ milk+cream (or egg wash) for brushing the croissants again later. Place the croissants in a cool and draft-free place (the butter should not melt) for proofing/ rising for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  They might need longer than 2 hours to proof, maybe as much as 3 hours, so make sure to let croissants take the time to proof. The croissants will be distinctly larger but not doubled in size. They’re ready if you can see the layers of dough from the side, and if you lightly shake the sheets, the croissants will wiggle.

Bake the croissants

Just before the croissants are fully proofed, pre-heat your oven to 200C (400F) in a convection oven or 220C (425F) in a regular oven. Brush the croissants with milk/ milk+cream (or egg wash) a second time, and place your baking sheets on the top and lower thirds of your oven (if regular) or bake one tray at a time in the convection oven.

Bake them for about 15 to 20 minutes till they’re done and golden brown on top and just beginning to brown at the sides. In a regular oven, remember to turn your baking sheets halfway through. If they  seem to be darkening too quickly during baking, lower the oven temperature by 10C (25F). Cool the croissants on the baking sheets on racks.

Serve warm. This recipe makes 15 croissants.

 

Friends, I am sad at failing in making the perfect dough, however, I will try and correct myself and come up with the best croissants!!

Sandesh for Bloggers’ Buzz

For the last six months, I have been a part of an exciting venture, Bloggers’ Buzz.  This event is to be held on Saturday 23rd Feb 2013 in London. Bloggers’ Buzz is a platform for like-minded people to come together to share their passion for one thing- FOOD. The one day event will cover food-blogging related masterclasses such as food photography, food styling, monetising blogs and copyright infringement issues. The event will also provide networking opportunities for those attending.

As for us, that is Nisha, Nupur, Suchi and me, it has been a huge learning curve. We have had our ups and downs in this process. Poor Suchi could not fly back from India. However, she kept her promise by being in the team by giving us all the support from India.

When we met early last year, we talked about cooking, food photography, recipe development, product reviews, restaurant reviews and other things food and blogging related. We then decided to coordinate an event on a larger scale for food bloggers from all over UK and Europe. The response has been thoroughly encouraging and we are expecting around 25 bloggers at the event. Visit our Event blog and facebook page for more details.

Now my entry for the event. The contest rules and the theme is here.

I have a Sandesh platter for this event.

4 cups of whole milk

2 tablespoons of lemon juice, with a tablepoon of water

2 tbsp of confectioners sugar

Saffron for the yellow colour I want.

I used rice paper cut butterflies which I painted with edible food colours.

Preparation of Chena:

Bring the milk to boil. Turn of the heat. Add in the diluted lemon juice slowly into the boiled milk. Stir the milk slowly while you add the lemon juice. When the cheese/chena/paneer separates from the whey, drain it in a muslin and wash in cold water. This will do away with the any lemon juice and it’s smell. Squeeze out the water nice and tight. Place the chena under some weight for about an hour. I placed a 5kg rice bag on it.

Knead the chena with hands if you can. I used my small blender and made my chena into a nice soft chena.  Add in 2 tablespoon of confectioner’s sugar and knead well. You may flavour your sandesh with few drops of rose water. Here I have used saffron soaked in a tiny amount of warm milk. This adds both the desired flavour and the yellow colour I need for the theme. Roll the chena into truffle sized balls.  Alternatively, you may grease the sandesh moulds and press the chena to make your desired shaped sandesh.

For the drizzle, I made a blueberry sauce to drizzle on top. For this, I cooked a few berries with 2 tbsp of water and 1 tbsp of sugar.  A squeeze of lemon juice and I thickened it with 1tsp of cornstarch.

When the desired consistency is achieved, switch off the stove. Strain and cool the sauce. Drizzle each of the sandesh with the sauce. Place the butterflies and gobble the soft, melt in mouth dessert!

Here is what I would say a sandesh truffle made to fit for the Bloggers’ Buzz contest theme!

Finally! ILoveSabji!

Jamie Oliver rightly states in his food campaigns ” there is a lost generation of people who cannot cook, don’t know where their food comes from or how to eat a balanced diet!”

I completely agree with him. Most of us are bound in the routine of visiting the supermarkets every weekend, with a chalked out list of all the grocery, veggies and fruits we plan to use during the week ahead. As we walk down the aisle, the trolley is loaded in no time with varieties of packed vegetables, ready to use leafy vegetables and loads of others with deals on them. I have even ventured buying vegetables and fruits which are not in season!! Half a week later, we notice is some of the vegetables either rotten as they emit gas or cause other vegetables in the fridge to rot! The vegetables bought on deal end up in the bin because their shelf life had reached the end when purchased. In a nutshell there has been a wastage of both food and money. An average family ends up throwing 30 percent and sometimes 50 percent of their weekly vegetable purchase! If you are thinking that I would suggest canned food, well, I could, had I not got an option for fresh fruits and vegetables locally. ILoveSabji has come to my rescue!!

Dal Vange and a Marathi Grocery review

Once you are away from home, all you seek is memories to cherish from home, a set of good friends,  and of course good food. Finding the right resources and the grocery to prepare the traditional family recipes can be daunting when travelling. Although London has all the possible outlets for different Indian communities say Gujrati, Punjabi, South Indian and Bengali. However, being a Marathi, I had to struggle initially to get hold of the right spice blends to satisfy my family’s palate for “assal”(true) marathi food. Although we have adapted out eating habits to suit the availability of the resources in English market, yet, a bowlful of  ambat varan(dal), fiery chutney or thecha and the soft ghadichi poli(folded chapati) is so much comforting and gorged by my boys in no time with no fuss at all.

Amsulache Saar: A warm winter soup

Ask a Marathi about a warm winter food, khichadi -saar will be a prompt and apt reply. For me this is the most comforting meal all through the English Winter. I make saar quite occasionally when the days become shorter and the streets are covered with a thick blanket of snow. Tonight, I decided to have the same meal again as the northerly cold bite is sweeping in again. Sayantani’s is having a giveaway on her blog and is about Cuponation. I am sending this recipe of our saar to this giveaway. This saar has Amsul as the main ingredient. Amsul has medicinal benefits and adviced both in Winter as well as in Summers. I have checked the recipe out of my cooking bible Ruchira:)

This saar needs:

4-5 soaked Amsul(mangosten)

ghee 1/2 tsp

cumin seeds 1/4 tsp

salt to taste

sugar or jaggery(I used jaggery)

4 cups of water

chopped coriander for garnishing

In a pan, temper ghee with cumin. Add in the soaked amsul and water. Let this mix boil. Add in salt to taste .  Take a spoon and check the taste…don’t forget to say”masta, masta!!:)”Add sugar or jaggery as much your palate desires. This brings out a nice combination of tangy and sweet saar.

Garnish this saar with chopped coriander and serve piping hot with khichadi or just sip through a cup, wrapped up warm as you watch your favourite food show:)

As I send this recipe to this giveaway, may I remind about my giveaway too on my blog. Please do join in. This I am doing as my positive fight against plagiarism..this is to spread the sheer joy and sense of ethical blogging. I am linking this recipe to the same event. It is categorised into styling of my saar for a modern table:) I hope you all like it.

Yes, recently when I had a terrible tiff with a case of accidental plagiarism as the person claims, I have seen a monstrous side of this lady’s co-helper. She asked me why in the world did I step in when it had nothing to do with me? and do I work as a lawyer as a proffession to preach legal matters about ethical blogging.

She thinks I am stuck to  the internet, day and night and own fancy phones to surf at my leisure. The duo claim themselves from working class with a family to look after.

Frankly, I own a humble Nokia phone from India which I treasure a lot. I work in a special needs school, where the work is rather challenging yet rewarding!! And family ..yes, beautiful family I have. I still find to blog ethically. Take all the pains to create and develop recipes and click photographs with my own camera!! To read more about the recent gallata…please check Anjali Koli’s post for the fight against plagiarism.

I would like to request all the food enthusiasts who plan to blog, please do your homework well, before you start blogging.

A quick post on Clarified Butter/Ghee/Tup and Ruchira Giveaway!

I love the whole process of churning cream..back at home, ravi/ghusal did the job. Here I use my cake batter blender to do the honours. I used 2 packs of double cream(each 284ml).

It is quite easy, as the blender does the job in no time. In no time the cream is whipped up nice and thick….Once the cream is whipped and butter separates, add in a cup of cold water. Spoon out the butter into a pan to cook. I like using my hands to scoop the butter out. Let the whipped butter cook in a thick bottom pan.

This needs about 40 mins to cook and get the clarified butter. It crackles, foams and froths, so make sure you use a large pan.

Once done, strain the butter in a jar/ any vessel you normally store ghee. You may flavour your ghee with herbs or cardamom…well this is optional.

I have seen my in-laws adding a pinch of salt to the butter when it is heating in the pan. This helps with the ghee’s shelf life. I make a very small quantity, hence do not add salt.

I love the aroma and the granular texture this ghee has after it solidifies!

I have a giveaway of my favourite book Ruchira by Kamalabai Ogale. This giveaway is open to anyone(bloggers/non-bloggers) staying in India, UK and across Europe, USA and Australia. This giveaway is open for a month and both vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian entries are allowed….and of course any number of entries are allowed! These are the images of the books from the internet just to help you know how the books look like.

You will win a Ruchira book of your choice(either Marathi or English). All you need to do it is follow the rules out here:)

The rules are:

1. Create a unique Marathi dish which you enjoy. Style it to present it on a modern table.

2. Or create and stylise a dish that is Marathi but resembles another dish in a different cuisine eg. Tarts are but marathi Mohanvati. Hence you can create and stylise them.

3. Spread the word about this giveaway and send your entries to isingcakes@gmail.com by the 2nd March 2013

4. Let us know how you follow us. Is it our blog Isingcakes & more or are following our pages on facebook – Ruchira Videshini and Isingcakes. Leave a comment.

5. Let us know which book would you like to win as a giveaway, the Marathi version or the English version of Ruchira. And the winner will be picked from the best stylised Marathi Food presentation.

Please note: You must send in the recipe and the photographs clicked by you. If you are sourcing the recipe from other place, please do give due credits. This is to bring out the creative you and to stop plagiarism!

I am linking this to Patty’s weekly party after ages:)

Assorted Pull Apart Bread

For the last few months, I was trying to make up my mind about my blog. I was thinking of keeping my blog and my facebook pages private. If you were to ask why? Well, recently, I had a very face to face argument(read harsh from the plagiarist’s side and polite from my side). When I reverted with reasons why they can’t use photos from other pages and of course google, I was asked to hunt down the rest of the plagiarists in the Marathi food bloggers world and then approach them. My page they think does not deserve those many people. It is such a challenge when you get a harsh revert from such robbers..after a hard days work, we cook or bake and photograph till we get the best picture, all our content and rights definitely deserve to be respected!! I had about 4-5 marathi pages which I thought were good..but no it was just a crowd of people stealing pictures from internet. So I am not following any of those. There are just a few of  marathi food bloggers who will remain my friends along with the rest who work hard towards this passion. My husband adviced me not to back off, ” it is them who need to back off and not you!” and hence, here  I am posting again. It is my humble request friends, if you see any such plagiarists, please report them to google/ facebook and dislike their page. Your support in this cause will help us fight them.