English Muffins with Strawberry Butter !!!

 

It took a few tries before I could perfect these bad boys . The recipe which I was trying to follow was not up to mark so had to tweak it a little .

So here I am presenting you English muffins along with home made strawberry butter .

English Muffins

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45
degrees C)
1/2 cup melted shortening
6 cups all-purpose flour
1+1/2 teaspoon salt
DIRECTION
1. Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Mix in the sugar, stirring until dissolved. Let cool until lukewarm. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, combine the milk, yeast mixture, shortening and 3 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Add salt and rest of flour, or enough to make a soft dough ( mine was done in 4 1/2 cups ) Knead. Place in greased bowl, cover, and let rise.
3. Punch down. Roll out to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut rounds with biscuit cutter, drinking glass, or empty tuna can. Sprinkle waxed paper with cornmeal and set the rounds on this to rise. Dust tops of muffins with cornmeal also. Cover and let rise 1/2 hour.
4. Heat greased griddle. Cook muffins on griddle about 10 minutes on each side on medium heat. Keep baked muffins in a warm oven until all have been cooked. Allow to cool and place in plastic bags for storage. To use, split and toast. Great with butter and jams .

Now lets go onto making Strawberry butter .
I used
2 sticks of room temperature unsalted butter
1/2 cup or to taste confectioner’s sugar
1 cup washed , hulled and coarsely chopped fresh strawberries .

IN a medium bowl or stand mixer mix butter and confectioners’ sugar until light and fluffy , Fold in the crushed strawberries and combine.
Transfer the butter in a container and refrigerate , Alternatively yo can even roll it into a log .

Taking these English Muffins to Sarika’s Bread collective ..

“Cooking is like love: It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.” — Harriet van Horne

Khasta Kachori / fried APF Dumplings with Spicy Moong Filling ..

Festival times are not complete without savory snacks to go along with the sweet ones.
Khasta means “flaky” and this flaky Kachori is a crispy snack that is stuffed with spiced moong fillings & deep fried.Though a little time consuming to make Khasta Kachori is well worth the effort .

These crispy and delicious kachoris are best served with Aloo Tamater / potato and tomato gravy . For Aloo tamater recipe click HERE ….

For the Dough

Ingredients Needed:

All purpose flour / Maida – 1 cup
Oil – 2 tbs
Salt – 1/2 tsp
Water for kneading

Method :

Mix the flour and salt, Add the oil/ghee and mix till you get bread crumbs like texture.
Slowly add water and make a soft dough. Knead well .
Cover and keep aside to rest for 30 mins .

Ingredients for the filling :

Split Moong Dal (yellow) – 1/2 cup
Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp
Hing / Asafoetida – a pinch
Finely chopped Green Chillies -2 optional
Fennel seeds powder – 1 tsp optional
Garam Masala – 1 tsp
Red Chilli powder – 1 tsp
Mango powder / Amchur – 1 tsp
Oil – 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Method

Wash and Soak dal in water for at least an hour.
Drain the water well.
Coarsely Grind the dal without adding water
Heat oil in a pan.
Once the oil gets medium hot , Add cumin seeds & Asafoetida/ hing
Once the seeds splutter Add the coarsely grounded daal .
Lower the heat and keep stirring until the dal stops sticking to the pan around 5 mins .
Cook on medium low heat till the dal turns slightly brown.
Add all the spices/ masalas to the daal .
Cook daal with masala for few minutes till both gets mixed properly .
Remove from heat and keep aside to cool.

Oil for deep frying

Preheat oil for deep frying in a frying pan on medium heat.

After resting the dough , knead the dough just once more to make it smooth. Divide the dough in lemon size equal parts.

Take one part of the dough and flatten the edges and make into 3-inch circle. Leaving center little thicker then edges around.

Place 1 teaspoon of filling in the center. Pull the edges of the dough to wrap the dal filling. Repeat with the rest. Let the filled ball rest for 3 to 4 minutes before rolling.

Set the kachoris on a flat surface with the seams facing up. Using a rolling pin or the base of your palm, slowly flatten them into about 3 inch circle.

Fry these stuffed moong dal kachori’s on medium-low heat. After they start to puff, slowly turn them over to the other side. Fry until golden-brown on both sides.

I like to serve these Khasta Kachoris along with green chutney , tamarind chutney & yogurt .

Bringing these to FiestaFriday for Angies birthday celebration ….

Mathari / Indian Flaky Biscuits….

Mathris are one of all time favorite crispy deep fried Indian crackers. They are one of the most popular snacks in North India & is served with mango, chilli or lemon pickle along with tea.
Their specialty is that you can make them at home and can be stored for more than a month

Yields around 30 medium size

Ingredients

Whole wheat Flour/ Atta – 1 1/2 cups
APF flour – 1/2 cup (Maida)
Black pepper powder – 1/1 tsp (freshly ground)
Ghee Or Oil – 4 tbsp I used Ghee
Carom seeds – 1 tsp
cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Lukewarm Water for kneading – around 1/4 cup
Oil for deep frying

Method :

Mix both the flours, salt ,cracked pepper , carom seeds and cumin seeds in a bowl.
Add the ghee/ oil and rub between your palms until it takes the form of breadcrumbs.
Knead with water and and form a pliable but firm dough .
Cover with the damp cloth and set aside for 30 minutes.
Divide the dough into small balls and roll them into 3 inch circle. Repeat with the rest.
Prick each mathri with a fork in 5 to 6 places both sides, otherwise mathris will puff while frying.
Heat the oil in a kadhai or deep-frying pan on medium heat. Frying pan should have at least 1 inch of oil.
To check if the oil is ready, put a small piece of dough in the oil. The dough should make the oil sizzle and come up slowly.
Fry the rolled mathris in a batch over moderate heat.
Remove and drain on paper towels.

Tips

Mathris can be stored for a month in airtight containers.
If the mathris are cooked on high heat, they will become soft.

Tawa Naan My Way …..

Naan is one of the most popular leavened Indian bread. Today I bring to you An Easy naan recipe which can be prepared at home on tawa , in no time .

This will make 6- 8 Naans

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1tsp.baking powder
1 tsp.salt
1 tbsp.oil
1/4 cup yoghurt/ curd
1/2 cup water (warm)
melted butter for brushing

Method :

In a mixing bowl take the maida. Make a well in the centre. Add in the curd, baking soda, baking powder, salt, oil and mix it nicely.

Knead a soft and smooth dough using little amounts of warm water.

Cover and keep aside in a warm place for 2 hours allowing it to ferment.

After 2 hours make 7-8 equal sized balls of the dough. Dust the balls with dry flour.

Roll out the ball into a circle of 5-6 inch diameter with the help of rolling pin and flour for dusting.

Heat a tawa / griddle till very hot . Apply water nicely on the side of the naan which is to be put downwards.

When the bubbles start coming , then is the time to invert the tawa over the gas flame to cook the naan on the other side and to get those beautiful brown spots.

Make sure to keep the flames in control as we do not want charred or burnt naan .

Use a pair or tongs or a spatula to get the Naan out of the griddle .
Sometimes Naan don’t get unstuck by themselves .

Apply butter or garlic butter and serve hot .

HONEY- OATS – LEMON BREAD LOAF…

I first saw this bread at my friend Garima’s blog and was intrigued by the ingredients . She has used lemon juice in the bread which was something new for me . This is my version of Garima’s Oats – honey – lemon Bread . I did tweak the recipe a little and added lemon zest & rosemary & instead of APF I went for white whole wheat Flour and little APF …
Thank you G for such a nice recipe 🙂

Check her blog at cafegarima .

Original recipe by Garima can be found at HERE .

Ingredients :

Whole wheat flour 2 cups
APF 1/2 cup
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2 teaspoon dried rosemary
oats 1/4 cup
Instant yeast 1 Tsp/Fresh Yeast 10 grams
Honey 1 Tbsp
Salt- 1 Tsp
Butter – 1 ½ Tbsp
Milk- ¾ cup + 2 TBs for brushing the top of the bread before baking .
Lemon juice 1 tsp
Warm water ¼ cup
Grated cheddar cheese 1/2 cup ( or any cheese of your choice )
Coarse salt for topping ( optional )

Method :

Make sure the water is warm to the touch. If you can’t comfortably hold your finger in the water for several seconds, wait for it to cool. Pour the water into the bowl of a standing mixer or large mixing bowl . Add the honey and sprinkle the yeast over the top. Let this stand for 10 minutes until the yeast has proofed .

Add the lemon juice to the milk and keep aside for 5 mins . Melt the butter in the microwave. Stir in the milk , lemon zest and salt. Pour flour and the milk mixture over the yeast .
Using the dough hook attachment on a standing mixer, knead the dough for 8-10 minutes. Alternatively, knead the dough by hand against the counter. If the dough is bubble-gum sticky against the sides of the bowl or the counter, add extra flour a tablespoon at a time until it is no longer sticky. The dough is kneaded when it is smooth, feels slightly tacky, forms a ball without sagging, and springs back when poked.

Clean out the mixing bowl and film it with a little oil. Form the dough into a ball and turn it in the bowl to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm spot until doubled in bulk, about one hour.

Grease 1 loaf pan or film them with non-stick cooking spray. Shape dough into a loaf and transfer to the loaf pan. It’s important that the surface of the loaves be stretched taut; this helps them rise and prevents an overly dense interior. Let the loaf rise a second time until they start to dome over the edge of the pan, 30-40 minutes.

Heat the oven to 400 F about halfway through the second rise.

Brush the top with milk, sprinkle some oats , dried rosemary & grated cheese and bake for 20 – 30 minutes, till the top browns.

Finished loaf will be golden-brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove the loaf from the pans and let it cool completely before slicing.

Bread loaf can be kept at room temperature for several days. Bread loaf can also be wrapped in foil and plastic, and frozen for up to three months.