Rosemary and Sundried Tomato Focaccia

Ever since I moved into the present flat of ours I have become kind of a plant aficionado. Most of the things around look edible in my eyes. I pluck few leaves and sniff them to see if they give out any scent, pluck berries, fruits etc and research on their details with some vague information. It wasn’t a waste of time at all. Among quite a few other stuffs, I also discovered that the outrageously growing bush all around our estate is Rosemary! Wow. I was quite exited and have been looking out for recipes that use rosemary. Talking about rosemary, it is a herb with quite hard and spiky leaves and that has a mint-like smell.

Among the entire set of recipes that I came across, focaccia was something that really fascinated me. I have also come across some lamb shank recipes that use rosemary for flavouring. Rosemary grows wildly like any grass or bush you see anywhere. I thought I have to use into something before I shift from here and decided to give a go with focassia. I referred James Martin’s recipe for the basic dough but tweaked it much by adding Sundried tomatoes in olive oil

Focaccia is an Italian staple which is enjoyed by old world bakers as a snack between laborious efforts of bread baking. Focassia has ever since made a name for itself as a premier sandwich loaf. This rustic recipe with rosemary and sundried tomatoes through out can be made into 2 smaller loaves or one large loaf and used in sandwiches ~ Sandwiches Panini and Wraps by Dwayne Ridgeway.

I made a swiss oatmeal soup to go along with it and it tasted great. I read focassia is something like a pizza base, but I thought it had its own difference. The bread was slightly chewy and crumbly rather than soft and tear-apart kind of texture. You can try your own variations of it like adding black olives, cheese, tomatoes, different herbs etc. Here is the one that I baked last week and this goes to 5th World Bread Day.

Ingredients:

500g Bread flour (3 cups plus 6 Tablespoons)

1 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast

1 tsp salt
1 teaspoon castor sugar

2 teaspoons finely chopped rosemary leaves

300 mls tepid (Lukewarm) water

3 Tablespoon olive oil (I used flavoured oil from the sundried tomato Jar)

75g (1/2 cup) chopped sundried tomato in flavoured olive oil

Few extra twigs of rosemary

Preparations:

1. In a large bowl sift flour, salt, sugar, yeast, chopped rosemary and mix well.

2. Add 2 Tablespoon of oil and rub well. Gradually mix in the water and knead for about 8-10 minutes until a soft, smooth and elastic dough forms. When the dough is smooth, smear the dough with the remaining tablespoon of oil. The dough should be elastic but not sticky at all.

3. Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover it loosely with oiled cling film. Leave to rise in a warm place for about 1-2 hours or until the dough has risen well and has doubled in size.

4. Knock back the dough by punching it down with fist. Add chopped sundried tomatoes and knead for couple of minutes to incorporate them well into the dough.

5. Lightly flour a work area and roll the dough into ¾ inch thick and 9” round. You can also divide the dough into 2 smaller loaves instead of a making a single massive loaf. You can also make it in rectangle. Place it on a greased baking tray and leave it to rise for 30 minutes, or until doubled in size. If the weather is dry, like in the UK, cover it loosely with oiled cling film (If the cling film is not oiled, dough will stick to it and make a mess).

6. Meanwhile heat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Take off the cling film and make several indentations with your fingers all over the surface of the dough. Lightly brush with olive oil (I used oil in the sundried tomato jar) and lightly insert few rosemary twigs into the indentations.

7. Bake for around 20 minutes or until golden brown all over. If you tap the underside of the bread at this point, I should sound hollow if it is well cooked. Cool on a wire rack and slice into wedges if made in circles or squares if made into large rectangles. Serve alongside your favourite soup or use it in sandwiches.

Notes:

1.I used plain flour instead of bread flour.

2. It is important to oil the cling film as the dough sticks to it otherwise.

Simple Vegetable Pulao/Pilaf

Here is another simple rice preparation that I made recently. Easy to put together and tastes divine. Recently I was watching Master chef program where the contestants had to prepare pulao and none of the participants go it right! Some were undercooked, some were chewy and some were soft outside and crunchy inside. Most of the mistakes would have occured as they were preparing it under pressurised circumstances and the nerves would have just got better of them. Anyways, preparing rice is one of the easiest thing to do if the instructions are clearly followed, and something that can be messed up easily if not prepared appropriately as well. It can be intimidating to many and it can take quite a few trials to get it right. But you will get there one day.

My initial attempts of rice making were a disappointment to see as well as eat. My first rice used to be cakey, something that could b easily cut into shapes. Sometimes it took the other edge being like porridge or a soup. Sometimes undercooked and sometimes overdone. Nothing seemed so hard than preparing rice. I am not talking about the complex biriyani or pilaf here, it’s just the plain rice. Oh, it was a hard time. It took me umpteen trials to perfect it. But once you get the hang of it, it is just a piece of cake.

What I learnt from all these years experience is that while cooking rice, heat adjustment is one of most significant factor. It should be adjusted at the right time. Then comes the water quantity. Water quantity slightly differs depending on if you have soaked the rice prior to cooking or if you are using rice right out of the packet (Well, you have to wash before using). You can use lot of water to cook, and then drain rice once they are cooked, or add just enough water for the rice to cook in without having water to be drained. Rice can be cooked in number of ways; every one would have their own means of cooking. But this is one method that I come back to all the time, as it gives me just the right outcome, just the way I want it. Soft, fluffy and each grains separated. Just follow simple steps, do the flame adjustment properly, if you don’t get it right for the first couple of times, you sure will get it right quick. Believe me, this method would be one of the easiest way to cook rice once u get the hang of it.

Simple Vegetable Pulao/Pilaf

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

2 cups Basmati Rice

3 cups boiling water

Salt to taste

1 large carrot finely chopped (3/4 cup, 120g)

½ cup frozen peas, thawed

¼ cup onion finely chopped (optional)

Whole spices:

2 whole black cardamoms

2 bay leaves

4 cloves

3 small pieces (1” long) cinnamon stick

¾ teaspoon cumin seeds

4 Tablespoon clarified butter (Ghee)

Preparation:

1.Wash rice and soak it for about ½ hour - 1 hour. Place a wide, non-stick saucepan on low-medium heat and add ghee. When ghee has melted, add whole spices and sauté for 30-40 seconds or until it leaves aroma.

2. Increase the heat to medium and add vegetables and sauté for 3 minutes stirring frequently.

3. Add drained rice to these vegetables and sauté for further 3 minutes.

4. Add boiling water and required amount of salt and stir well. At this point of time, it is important to turn the heat up to high. Keep the pan open and cook until you see NO water floating in the bottom of the pan when you part rice with a ladle. Make sure rice doesn’t get really dry here as it needs moisture to get it cooked. As soon as you see no water is left in the pan, reduce heat, cover the pan tight to hold in all steam and cook on very low heat for 10-15 minutes or until rice is perfectly cooked. Once it is completely done, toss rice with a spatula once or twice to avoid rice grains sticking to each other.

Serve hot with any spicy curries.

Notes:

You can use your own choice of vegetables here, including green beans, cauliflower etc..

Kakkiri Pacchadi (Cucumber in Tempered Coconut and Yogurt Sauce)

Kakkiri pachadi is something like cucumber Raita. But Raita is grated or chopped vegetables of any kind, mixed with yogurt and generally no coconut is involved. Here in kakkiri pachadi, uncooked, green cucumber is mixed with coconut which is ground along with few other ingredients to impart fresh flavours. It is then mixed with yogurt for a refreshing tangy taste. And then tempered in coconut oil. Here mustard is used in two form, one while grinding and other is used to splutter while tempering. Pachadi can also be made with other vegetables like beetroot, mango, pineapple, carrot, Okra, Indian cucumbers etc. Most of these vegetables are cooked prior to adding the ground mixture though and are integral part of Kerala Onam Sadya menu. This is my mother’s version of kakkiri pachadi and she normally serves it along with some fish curry, fried fish and pappadum.

Kakkiri Pacchadi (Cucumber in tempered coconut and yogurt sauce)
Serves 2-4

Ingredients:
1 cup grated cucumber
A tiny piece of ginger
1 medium size clove of garlic
1/3 cup grated coconut, fresh or frozen (not desiccated)
¼ tsp mustard seeds
½ - 1 green chilly (Omit if you don’t like it spicy)
½ cup creamy yogurt

For tempering:
2 teaspoon coconut oil
¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
1 twig of curry leaves
1 dried red chilly, broken into 2*

Preparation:

1. In a bowl tip in the grated cucumber. If wished, you may chop them into tiny pieces as well instead of grating.

2. Grind coconut, green chilly, ginger and garlic into smooth paste by adding 2 Tbsp of curd.

3. Crush mustard using pestle and mortar and add to the coconut mix. You can also add mustard directly to the smooth coconut paste and just whizz them just to crush. But make sure that you don’t over-do mustard as the flavour is very strong and overpowering. So to be on the safe side, crush it on pestle and mortar.

4. Add the whole ground coconut mixture to grated cucumber. Add yogurt and salt and mix well.

5. In a separate small pan, heat oil. When the oil is hot enough, crackle mustard seeds and add chilly and curry leaves. Sauté for few second until it leaves aroma. Add it to the prepared mixture and mix well. Serve with hot plain rice and curries.

Notes:

1. My mom uses round dried red chilly for tempering, I am not sure what it is called though. I have never come across that kind of chilly here , so I use long twisted Dried kashmiri chillies instead. I am sure any dried variety should work fine.

Pudina ki Chutney (Mint Chutney)

Mint chutney is one of the favourite chutneys and quite a popular condiment in the Indian sub continent. It is normally served alongside any mail meal like hyderabadi biryani’s and pulaos, naan bread and curries or as a dip for samosas and even used as spread in sandwiches. I first had mint chutney on a get together at friend’s place which was prepared by her Mother in law. This was one of the many things that she prepared that day. Her food was simply amazing and tasted so good. This chutney’s recipe was given to me by that aunty and I thank her with all my heart for sharing her wonderful recipes. She gave approximate measurements as any other mom would do. I adjusted it accordingly and the outcome was real good. I served it alongside a spicy vegetable pulao and some chicken curry. You can add few tablespoon of water or dilute it with yogurt and serve as dip for samosas, spring rolls, tortillas, veggies etc.

Pudina ki Chutney (Mint Chutney)
Serves 8

Ingredients:
¼ cup chopped Pudina (Mint leaves)
¼ cup chopped coriander leaves
1 ½ teaspoon tamarind pulp
½ of a green chilly (Add according to taste)
½ cup grated coconut
2 medium size cloves of garlic
2 Tablespoon water (30ml)
Salt to taste

Ingredients:

1.Add all the ingredients except salt to grinder and grind until smooth by adding little bit of water. When it is ground to smooth paste, add salt.

Notes:

1.Mint and coriander was washed prior to use and I discarded the thick stalks of coriander and used only leaves for mint.

2.I added 2 tablespoon of water as I like thick chutney to serve along with rice. But if you want to use it as dip, dilute it by adding couple of tablespoon more of water to make a smooth paste. You can also try adding yogurt and a little sugar to make sweet mint chutney.

Peach and Blackberry Crumble Cake

These days weather is changing as frequently as it could manage! It started getting cold, windy, cloudy and rainy ans sunny mornings are becoming a rare sight. It’s all giving me a warning alarm for winter. Before the winter strike us again, let me share this beautiful cake before the summer fruits and berries completely vanishes from the supermarket Aisle. I know it’s way past late to submit this recipe but I could still see blackberries in the shops, so If you could manage to grab some bake this cake. It would make you famous;).

 Blackberries also called as ‘Brambles’ in the UK are deep purplish, soft berries that look like clusters of small juicy balls. Wild blackberries are generally smaller in size and tarter than the commercial ones which are really sweet . When i came across these for the first time, I thought they were something wild and inedible. All I did was plucking and squishing them to squirt out the purplish juice of of it.  And this happned every time I came across them just for the fun of doing it. It was when I saw this gorgeous Blackberry cake prepared by Archana that I realised it was an edible berry. There were loads and loads of them growing wild in the bushes on the way to our local library and my son’s nursery and hence I get chance to pluck few of them every once in a while. As these grow on thorny bushes and there are quite a lot of spooky spiders all around, it was a bit of pain gathering them...There were quite a few peaches sitting in the fridge and quite a lot of wild blackberries which had to sacrifice their freshness in one way or the other. So I threw them into this cake and I am glad I did. As there was a get together that was to be held the very next week I thought of baking a bigger cake to take away for the potluck. Everyone who had a piece of the cake absolutely loved it!

The cake was super moist, perfectly balanced by all means, had the right amount of sweetness, and the crumble on the top gave it a light cookie-like bite. I loved the slight tartness that came through blackberries and the soft and sweet peaches in the cake. My son screamed “Jam” as he took in the first bite! I couldn’t wait for the cake to cool down completely before I cut them, so blackberries were very soft and almost like jam! You can see that in the picture. It had the perfect buttery cake base which was rich and fluffy at the same time. One of the best cakes I ever made! If I make this cake again, I would add more peaches, may be one more as I loved the peaches in the cake much. I personally hate peaches as they are, but when it comes to desserts and sweets, they are real good!!

If you don’t find blackberries try substituting them with raspberries, blueberries or chopped strawberries. I haven't done that, but if I were you, I would do that.  And if berries are inaccessible, add 2 cups of peaches instead of berries and peaches. I am also looking forward to try the same recipe with apples, pineapples, plums etc.

Peach and Blackberry Crumble Cake

Serves 8-10

Baking time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients:

100g soft unsalted butter

¼ teaspoon salt

220g (1 cup) granulated sugar

2 large eggs (133g)

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (Maida)

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ cup whole milk

½ Tablespoon vanilla essence

1 cup fresh and firm peach, cut into 8 segments and then halved. (1 large Peach, 140g)

1 heaped cup of fresh blackberries (160g)

1 ½ Tablespoon castor sugar

 

For Crumble:

45g cold butter, cubed

½ cup plain flour

3 Tablespoon granulated/castor sugar

A pinch of cinnamon powder

Preparation:

 

1.Preheat oven to 180°C. Butter an an 8 " deep round pan and line it with baking paper.

2.Prepare crumble Topping: In a bowl combine all the ingredients and rub using fingers well to get coarse breadcrumb like mixture. Keep it aside.

3. For the cake: Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add granulated sugar, beating well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. (I used wooden spoon for all mixing).

4. Combine flour, baking powder and salt (Avoid salt if using salted butter); add to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix well using a wooden spoon until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Pour batter into a greased and floured 8 inch pan, preferably spring form tin.

5. Top with sliced peaches and blackberries and scatter crumble topping all over.

6. Bake at 180°C for 1 hour and 10 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack and Garnish with fresh blackberries and sliced peaches if desired.

Notes:

If blackberries are unavailable, just use peaches. Add an extra cup chopped of peaches substituting for the blackberries.

Lime Rice (Elumichham Pazham Saadham)

Lime rice is also mostly known as lemon Rice where lemon and Lime is considered or mistaken for other. This is a very popular and flavourful rice preparation of Tamil Nadu, South India. It is tempered with lentils, nuts, chillies, leaves etc, leaving behind all its flavours in the rice. It can be served on its own, or have it with yogurt, pickle and Pappadums. You can also serve with some spicy non-vegetarian curries like Malabar Chicken Curry  , Chicken Fry Masala , Beef Ularthiyathu ,  Mutton Buhari , Mutton Ularthiyathu, and my favorite combination  Chicken Chettinadu .

Lime Rice (Elumichham Pazham Saadham)

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

3 cups (600g) Basmati rice (Kolam Rice is used in the traditional preparation.)

Salt as required

Boiling water-

1 ½ tbsp Channa Dal, soaked in hot water for ½ hour *

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 ½ teaspoon ground turmeric **

3 dried red chillies

2 green chillies

2 teaspoon Urad Dal

½ cup broken cashew nuts or peanuts

2 sprigs curry leaves

¼ tsp asafoetida/hing/Kaaram

1/3 cup coconut oil/ghee

2 Tbsp lime juice***

Preparations:

1. Wash rice well. Bring a large pan of water to boil and add required amount of salt. Add rice and cook by keeping the lid open until done. Make sure there is lot of water for teh rice to move around and  take care not to overcook. Drain rice in a large colander.

2. In a large non-stick saucepan (I used the same pan that I used for cooking rice, used it after washing it.) heat oil. Fry broken cashew nuts or peanuts until golden. Take them out using a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen towel. Similarly fry the soaked and drained channa dal until golden and keep them long with fried cashews/peanuts.

3. In the same oil, splutter mustard. Add urad dal and fry till golden. Add curry leaves, red chillies and sauté for few seconds.

4. Add turmeric and asafoetida and sauté for 30 seconds on low-medium heat.

5. Add rice, fried nuts and dal and mix well.

6. Add lime juice and mix well. Cover and cook for 1-2 minutes. Serve hot/ warm with any spicy curry or along with curd and pickle.

Notes:

* Channa dal is normally added without soaking and is hard when fried dry. To avoid the hard bite, it can be soaked for sometime, drained and then pat dried before using.

** You can reduce turmeric to ½ teaspoon or 1 teaspoon to make it less yellowy.

*** Lemon juice can also be added instead of lime. Increase it as per your taste. The amount of lemon juice gives it just a milder lemony taste.