Whole wheat and sorgum focaccia (atta and jowar) recipe

Whole wheat and sorgum focaccia (atta and jowar) recipe

Once upon a time when I bought few cherry tomatoes I just crushed few and put in my pots. Been religiously watering the pots without but my expectation of seeing the tomatoes had died. But to my surprise after a couple of months I started seeing the saplings and one fine day I see my cherry tomatoes have showed up.

Now when someone has surprised me so well, I wanted to treat them special and hence this recipe. I wanted them to show them up, yea, I agree salads are one option but unfortunately I am not a salad person. Hence thought of making a focaccia since I got about a dozen of those cutie pies. But then again thoughts will try whole wheat and jowar focaccia. Why not, when you want to make someone feel special, take an extra step always J

Alright so I am eager to share the recipe now

Ingredients

Whole wheat flour – ¾ cup

Jowar flour – ¾ cup

Water ¾ cup

Yeast – 1 tsp

Sugar – 2 tsp

Salt – ½ tsp

Olive oil – 2 tbsp.

For the topping

Cherry tomatoes – 1 dozen

Oregano, chilli flakes, basil (seasoning of your preference)

Olive oil – 2-3 tbsp.

Method

• The temperature of the water for the yeast to work is crucial, I have mentioned this every bread baking post. So for this measurement I microwaved the ¾ cup water in high for about 30 seconds. 
• After removing the glass proof bowl I sprinkled the sugar and the yeast into the water and stirred well. After 15 mins it would have frothed up.
•  Sift in the flours and salt and knead well (I use the dough hook of my egg beater attachment) once the dough has come together, add the olive oil and start kneading with your hands for a while.
• When  you get the soft dough let it rest in a well-greased bowl for about an hour or until the dough has risen and doubled in size.
• Preheat the oven at 200 degrees Celsius for about 10-20 mines. Meantime, knock down the dough and flatten in a preferred pan and make a lot of holes by using your finger. Pour in some olive oil and half the tomatoes and place in it. Sprinkle the seasoning all over and leave it to puff up again until the oven is preheated.
• Once the oven is heated place this pan in the oven and bake for about 20 – 30 minutes or until you see a nice golden brown crust on top.
• Remove and let cool.
• Serve it with some extra virgin olive oil or a garden salad

Thanks

Chaithanya

Homemade ketchup - easy recipe

This is something which have been in my mind for a really long time and just got postponed and as they say every thin has a time I just happened to make this today. But no, I like to believe I really wanted to make it today and hence made. 

Ketchup is a product which is sometimes inevitable in a household, its a taste enhancer for kids and adults equally! And trust me its really easy to make and when we do it we can make our own combinations too.. Today I have made a simple one by keeping the taste buds of my kids in mind. Since there is no preservatives I doubt it will stay good for more than 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator.

I asked my son to taste the sauce, he came and smelled it and his eyes gleamed and I kept telling myselves it has come out right. He tasted it and confirmed it .. Happy meeee :)

Ingredients 

Olive oil - 2 tspns

Garlic cloves - 2-3 , chopped

Onion - half

Tomatoes - 1/2 kg ( coarsely chopped)

Good quality vinegar - 1/4 cup

Salt - 1 tspn

Ground black pepper - 1/2 tspn

1/4 cup - brown sugar

Method

Heat the olive oil in a wide heavy-bottomed non-reactive pan over medium heat. 

Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about one minute, stirring constantly. 

Add the tomatoes, vinegar, salt, black pepper, and cook until the tomato pieces fall apart, about 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and blend.

I used a hand blender to puree the contents in the pan or blend in a mixer in batches  and strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Stir in the brown sugar return the mixture to the stove and cook again over medium heat, stirring often, until it thickens a bit more, between 15 and 30 additional minutes .Taste for seasoning.

Let the ketchup cool to room temperature, where it will thicken a bit more, then transfer it to jars with tight-fitting lids. Will keep refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. 

Tips : adjust the seasoning to your taste. You may add pepper, oregano, ginger, or any other seasoning of your choice. Add red chillie powder or saute chillies along the tomatoes and puree it if you want it hot.

Enjoy home made ketchup!

Thanks :)

Sweet and spicy tomato carrot jam

This is a great way to celebrate the tomato and red carrot season of the year. All you need is a kg of tomato and half kg of carrots. This jam/preserve can be used for sandwiches, chappathis and even dosas. It has that sweet and spiced tangy taste. I would say the tangy taste is very subtle in this jam. Easy to make and easy to taste.

Following is the recipe for the same
Ingredients 
Tomatoes - 1 kg ( remove the skin and puree - would come up to 4 cups)
Red carrots - 1/2 kg ( peel and finely chopped - would come upto 2 cups)
Sugar - 3 cups
Spices- cloves, cardamon, cinnamon , pepper corns, star anise.


Method
Mix the tomato puree/paste and the finely diced carrots( I used food processor) in a wide thick bottom pan. Sprinkle the sugar and mix well. Keep it on flame and keep stirring it. Be very careful as it releases a lots of water, hence bubbles up a lot. Add in the spices, to your level of taste, and you have the option to omit if you don't like any of all of the spices. But adding spices gives it a distinct taste, flavor and aroma.
Keep stirring until the jam thickens and store in sterilized jar while it is still hot. Close the jar once the content is cooled.

Your jam is ready!!!!

Tomato garlic and herb bread

Breads can be incorporated with various flavours and one flavour among them being tomato :) , this bread is easy to make provided you know the importance of yeast and 'rising of the yeast'. Once you have crossed that part successfully bread making is as easy as any other baking, oh yea another thing you need is patience to give the dough to prove, that obviously will happen , again if you know the importance of yeast in the bread, So good luck with bread baking !!. Following is the recipe and yea the recipe calls for all purpose flour and I am always naughty when it comes to flour, have always been substituting with 100 percent wheat flour, be it cakes or cookies or pies or tart. But for breads I do include all purpose flour/maida in a ratio of 40-20 percent at least depending on my gut feeling. I am yet to see success in baking a 100 percent whole wheat bread. Will let you all know once that happens. So, yea here is the recipe 

Ingredients

2 cups tomato juice
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 tablespoons butter
6 to 6 1/2 cups all−purpose flour ( substitute in the above mentioned ratio)
2 packages (2 tablespoons) dry yeast
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground rosemary
1/4 teaspoon ground fennel
1 garlic clove, crushed

Method
Heat tomato juice, sauce and butter to 120 degrees F.
In a large bowl, combine 3 cups flour with yeast, sugar, salt, basil, oregano, rosemary, and fennel; add warmed tomato mixture and garlic. Mix with dough hook (or by hand) 3 minutes or 300 strokes,scraping bowl frequently.
Add 3 to 31/2 cups additional flour, until firm enough to handle; turn out onto floured board. Add
enough flour that dough is not sticky; knead until smooth and elastic.
Place dough in a greased bowl; cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Punch down; let rest 15 minutes. Shape into two loaves; place in greased 9−inch bread pans. Cover loosely; let rise until nearly doubled, about 45 minutes.
Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes; reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake 30 minutes longer, until loaves sound hollow when tapped. Remove from pans; cool on a rack.

 Enjoy!!!

Tomato Jam

I guess tomato season is on, streets are filled with tomato carts and fresh cute little tomatoes are quite inviting. I once tried tomato pickle so this time decided to try something sweet.. so why not jam. But dint want to pour in all those huge amount of sugar into it. So I decided to use sugar candies. I Kerala sugar candies ( kalkandam ) are generally used in the food of babies instead of sugar or else jaggery is used. Kalkandam is usually white in colour, but we also fine yellow coloured sugar candies in some grocery stores, mainly those stores which sells ayurvedic raw materials and other stuffs. It is costly compared to the white ones because of its medicinal values. I made this jam using a mixture of the above said white and yellow sugar candies. The recipe is as follows

Ingredients

Tomato pulp - 2 cups ( I took almost 10 medium ones)

Yellow sugar candy - 1 cup

White sugar candy - 1/2 cup

Water - 1/3 cup

Lemon juice - 1 tspn

Cardamom powder - a pinch

Method

Wash the sugar candies in fresh water and then add 1/3 cup of water and melt the candies. Strain in a towel or fine sieve to remove the impurities in the candies. Add this to the tomato puree, add in the lemon juice and cardomom powder too. Stir occasionally in med flame till the contents thickens. Remove from flame when the contents reduce to a jam consistency.  Pour into a sterile jars while the jam is still hot, close the lid tight and refrigerate for longer shelf life.

Note : You are free to replace the sugar candies with white sugar.

Done! :)

Tomato tofu parathas

Ingredients


Tomatoes : 4 med ones
Tofu : 200 gms
Turmeric powder : a pinch
Ajwain : a pinch
Salt :as reqd
Jeera powder : a pinch
Asaofetida  : a pinch ( optional)
Atta : 1.5 cups
Coriander leaves : finely chopped


Method
Puree the tomatoes and keep aside.
Mash the tofu with a fork and add in the other masalas and mix well.
Add in the atta in this mixture and knead the atta with the tomato puree.
Knead well to a soft dough and keep aside for some 10 minutes.
Make balls of the dough, roll out the dough balls and cook in a tava flipping the sides with little ghee , oil or butter. 
Serve hot with a raita, or curd and pickle !  

Idli with sama rice

Sama rice is not a rice, it is a millet and quite rich and healthy like most of the millets. It can be consumed the way we consume rice, I just tried making idlis with the same. Easy to make and tasty to be eaten. Following is the recipe for the same


Sama rice idli

Ingredients - 1 cup sama rice
buttermilk - 1.5 cups
Salt 

Soak the rice in buttermilk for 5-6 hrs. Mix in salt and steam in Idli moulds like usual idlis for 15- 20 mins. Scoop out the idlis using a spoon dipped in cold water. Enjoy with tomato peanut chutney.

Tomato peanut chutney

Tomatoes - 3 
Peanuts - a handful
Chilli powder- a pinch
salt

Roast the tomatoes in little oil , Blend with other ingredients to a smooth paste. 

Tomato pickle

Been to a local  'chantha' (vegetable fair)  recently and got hold of some cute little fresh tomatoes, priced cheap too. Thoughts of jam, sauce and pickle came in my mind and just to avoid the sugar/sweet part I tried pickling those lovely tomatoes. It did come out fine except a little high on salt, but I am fine with it as they say salt is a good preservative too and anyway we are going to have it as pickle and not as a side dish.So here  is the recipe for the sweet and sour tomato pickle. 


Tomato pickle


Ingredients


Tomatoes- 1 kg
Methi seeds ( fenugreek seeds) 1 tspn
Mustard seeds- 2 tspn
Sesame seeds- 2 tspn
Green chillies - 4 -5 ( or to your taste)
Turmeric powder-  1 tspn
Asafoetida powder- 1 tspn
Lemon - 2 med size
Salt - as required
Sugar- 1 - 2 tspn
Sesame oil - 2 tspn


Method


Wash tomatoes thoroughly, chop and keep aside.
Dry roast methi seeds, mustard seeds and sesame seeds , let it cool and powder in a coffee grinder and keep aside.
Heat 2 tspns of oil in a pan and add in the chopped tomatoes. Keep stirring till the tomatoes becomes soft. Add in the turmeric powder, asafoetida powder, slit green chillies, lemon juice, salt and sugar.. Keep stirring again . Then add the ground powders and let everything come together. Remove from flame after around 10 minutes. Let it cool, store in a sterilised glass jars and refrigerate. 
Can be served with rice, parathas, chappathis.

Rasam

Rasam

1) Tomato- 4-5 no.s
Ginger- 1 inch piece
Garlic peeled - 2 tbspn

2 ) Coriander seeds- 1/2 tbspn
Jeera- 1/2 tbspn
Whole pepper- 1/2 tbspn


3) water- 2 cups
Turmeric powder-1/2 tspn
Red chilli powder- 1/4 tspn - 1/2 tspn
Asafoetida- a pinch
powdered jaggery - 1 tspn
Salt
Lemon-2
Coriander leaves


4) Mustard
Fenugreek seeds
Dry red chillies
Curry eaves
Sesame oil

Method
Make a paste of (1) , strain and keep aside
Make powder of (2) and keep aside
Keep a pan on the stove ( preferably a mud pot), add few spoons of sesame oil, splutter ingredients mentioned in (4)
Add the powder of (2) and stir it. Add on the paste of (1) and cover the vessel. Let it cook and the oil will rise on the sides. Add all the ingredients mentioned in (3) except lemon . Once the water comes to boil switch off the stove and squeeze the lemon , less lemon if u dont want it sour.

Note: You  can squeeze one lemon instead of tamarind and you may add veg stock or dal water instead of plain water.

Spicy green oats dosa

Spicy green oats dosa

Ingredients

Oats- 1 cup

Semolina -1/3 cup

Spinach - One bunch

Green chillies- 2

Onion - I med size

Tomato - 1 med size

Ginger garlic paste- 1 tspn

salt

Method

Soak oats and other ingredients in a mixie jar /blender with required amount of water. Grind/blend well the ingredients to a smooth batter . Being a very short and simple recipe make dosa instantly with this batter and enjoy the tasty spicy green dosa.