Jeera biscuits - savoury cumin flavoured cookies

The local trains of Mumbai are a world of their own.  Getting into the local train every morning is an exercise in dexterity and street smartness. Not only do you have to make sure you are properly positioned on the platform to make your entry into the exact compartment that you want to get into easy and quick, but you also have to deal with people who elbow their way through the crowd, walking into the thick of things and then standing right in the middle of all the seats. All quirks of humanity unfold along those railway tracks, in a compartment where humans are packed like sardines. Some smell like sardines too, but then, you learn to ignore and move away. The quirkiness of some of the regulars is enough to merit a post of its own. So I'll leave that for another post and move on to the subject of this post - salt biscuits that taste great with tea or on their own. Spiced with cumin, ajwain and methi, carrying these with you will also give you something to look forward to in case you get stuck next to someone who thinks that deodorant is an insult in a foreign language. You might elicit strange looks, though, if you keep opening your dabba and smelling these, but then, who cares?


What you need:
Whole wheat flour - 1cup
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp (adjust to taste)
Cumin seeds/jeera - 1 tsp
Ajwain/omam/carraway seeds - 1 tsp
Kasuri methi - 1/2 tsp
Ghee/clarified butter - 1 tbsp
Curd - 3-4 tbsp

Take the whole wheat flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda and ghee in a large mixing bowl. Mix with your finger tips until the mixture is crumbly. Add cumin, ajwain and kasuri methi. Add curd, starting with 1 tbsp and then adding as needed, and knead to a smooth dough. Set aside for 15-20 minutes.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees celsius for 10-12 minutes until the bottom starts to brown.
These cookies will be a little soft when you take them out, but become crisp as they cool down.
Store in an air tight container once completely cool.
This post goes to PJ who is hosting Valli's Kid's Delight themed on Baked Treats.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 37

Herb and cheese pull apart bread

To bake good bread has been a dream of mine for  a while now and so, when Aparna who blogs at My Diverse Kitchen and is an accomplished baker called for people to join her in baking a bread a month through this year, I did so without thinking twice about it. The very first bread that our group which is called We Knead to Bake has baked is a herb and cheese pull apart bread. Aparna gave us the basic recipe and the freedom to alter the ingredients as per our taste. I am glad that I didn't do much altering and that the bread proved to be quite a hit at home.

 What you need: 

For the Dough: 

Warm milk - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1 tsp
Instant yeast - 1 tbsp
All-purpose flour - 3 cups
Salt - 1 tsp
Butter, soft at room temperature  - 25 gms which is approx 2 tbsp
Garlic paste - from 7 or 8 cloves of garlic
Milk - 3/4 cup + a couple of tbsp to brush over the bread
For the Filling:
Melted butter - 1 to 1.5 tbsp
Finely chopped corrainder/cilantro - a handful
Crushed ajwain/omam/caraway seeds - 1 tbsp

Grated cheddar cheese - 1/2 cup (I used cheese that was flavoured with pepper....if using plain cheese, you could add crushed pepper to the filling if desired)

Method:

In a small bowl, mix the sugar, instant yeast and the 1/2 cup of warm milk. To this, add the flour, salt, softened butter and garlic paste. Mix well and knead to a smooth, pliable dough.

Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a well-oiled bowl, turning the dough to coat it completely with oil. Cover and let it rise for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until almost double in volume.
Dust your work surface lightly with flour. Deflate the dough, shape it into a square and roll the dough out into a larger square that is about 12’ by 12”. Brush the surface of the square with the melted butter.
Evenly sprinkle the chopped corrainder, ajwain and then the grated cheese. Gently run a rolling pin over the topping to ensure that it doesn't fall off later when you are stacking the bread.
Using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter, slice the dough from top to bottom into 6 long and even strips.
Lay each strip on top of the next, with the topping facing upwards, until you have a stack of the strips
You can put the 2 strips cut from the sides in the middle of the stack so it looks neater. Usinga pastry scraper or a sharp knife, cut straight down through the stack dividing it into 6 equal pieces (6 square stacks).
The stacking of strips is what I was not able to do, mainly I think, due to the fact that I had not dusted my work surface with enough flour and the strips were at risk of getting torn. So I decided to roll the strips from one end to the other, making six humongous rolls. I then arranged these rolls side by side in a round baking pan.

Cover the pan with a moist towel and allow the dough to rise further for an hour.
Lightly brush some milk over the top of the rolls. Bake the dough at 180C (350F) for about 30 to 40 minutes until it is done and the top is golden brown.

Taste wise, this is a wonderful bread, and paired with soup, makes for a filling meal. I will definitely be baking this again, and hopefully, will get the stacking part right this time so that the bread will look as good as it tastes.

Diwali Savouries 2 - Omapodi

This diwali treat is very, very addictive. Like a popular ad says, no one can eat just one.......

What you need:
Besan - 3 cups
Rice flour - 1 cup
Water
Salt
Butter
Omam/ajwain - 1/4 cup
Oil - enough to deep fry

Soak omam in just enough water to cover it for 20 minutes. Grind this in a mixie and extract the thick juice. Repeat this process 4-5 times and keep the juice aside.
Sift together the besan and rice flour. Add butter and mix well until you get a crumbly mixture which holds its shape when pressed in your hands. Mix in the omam extract, salt and water if necessary and knead to a smooth dough.
Take a little bit of dough in your murukku maker. The mould/achu to be used is the one with lots of tiny holes. Press directly on to hot oil to make a large, circular shape. When both sides are golden brown, drain excess oil and remove on to absorbent paper.
When cool, store in an airtight container.

This is my second entry to Purva's Diwali Dhamaka.