Category Archives: Easy Baking

Learn how to make Gobi Manchoorian/ Gobi Manchoori

Gobi Manchoorian/ Manchoori is an Indo Chinese food which is quite popular in India. It is said to have been developed by the tiny Chinese community that lived in Kolkata for over a century. It is nothing but fried cauliflower tossed in a sweet and chili sauce. There are two different variants of it, dry and gravy. If I were frying I would use all purpose flour and cornstarch to make a thin batter; dip the florets in the batter and then deep fry. Once that is done follow the below mentioned sauce recipe. Few recipes even call for Ajinomoto (MSG) to increase the taste however I try to avoid it due to health reasons. Some add food colors to give the florets a bright red color, which is quite common in restaurants. I avoid that as well.

In the past I have baked the same dish using different flours - chickpea,all purpose and even whole wheat flour. The problem was it wasn’t as crispy as I had expected it to be also there would a thin layer of batter stuck in the base of the florets. This used to put me off. That’s when dusting cornstarch came to my mind. I actually used about 3-3.5 tablespoon of cornstarch. The cauliflower florets baked beautifully, ending with a crispy texture. But the only thing was I could feel the cornstarch even after baking ( I realized I added a lot).The next time I would work with 1.5-2 tablespoons only. I know fried ones are the best but I wanted to try something that I could enjoy whole heartedly without worrying about calories. Making junk food healthy is a very smart idea .

To me these tasted great, not as crispy as the fried ones but slightly close to it. Once they are coated in the sauce, I don’t see much of a difference. A good sauce is the key! If you plan to use them just as plain fritters, do season them with salt, pepper, cayenne and some turmeric (for the color) before baking. Also broil it for about 2-3 minutes towards the end to make it more crispier.

If you are thinking of gravy please add some water mixed with very little cornstarch towards the end and then a quick boil will result in a semi gravy Manchoorian sauce. Serve as an appetizer or along with fried rice/noodles. Spring onions are a great choice too, if you have some handy do add it right at the end.

Enjoy guilt free!

 

Aparna’s pick for March’s Bread was simple rolls called the Kummelweck Rolls(Kimmelweck Rolls).They are made from basic ingredients – flour,yeast,milk,honey ,egg white and oil. Kummelweck is a hard roll with a crusty top sprinkled with sea salt and caraway seeds. I believe they are German in origin. Kummel means “caraway” and weck means “roll”.

These rolls are great for Sandwiches or Burgers.They are best eaten fresh ; soft inside and crusty outside. The below mentioned recipe makes eight large burger bun sized rolls. I made four buns and six Salt & Pepper sticks.

I used the buns to make a simple Burger with Beets & Chickpeas Patties. I wanted to keep the patties as healthy as possible. So I pureed a can of chickpeas in my food processor along with cooked Beets, cilantro, garlic, salt and cayenne pepper. I also added some cumin and coriander powder for flavour. Since it was a bit sticky I added some chickpea flour. I should have actually pan-fried the patties with a little oil, that way I could have retained the moisture and juiciness from the beets.Baking made them slightly dry.

This recipe is adapted from - Adapted from http://www.jewishfood-list.com/recipes/bread/rollskimelweck01.html

The Salt and Pepper Sticks make a perfect snack. My little one loved them.I also sprinkled some crushed pepper on the buns for an extra kick:)
Just when you are about to serve Slice the buns into half, spread some mayo on the bottom. Place sliced onions, cucumber, tomatoes, one patty, Cheese slice and close it with the other half. Enjoy!

Nina

Aparna chose “Sheermal”for the “We need to Bake”group few months back. I finally got to bake it last week. I didn’t have enough flour in hand so halved the below recipe and made just two Sheermal’s.

Sheermal or Shirmal is a saffron based traditional flatbread which is a rare Lucknow and Hyderabadi delicacy. They are also made in Bangladesh,Iran and Pakistan. This mildly sweet bread is made with simple ingredients – Flour, Sugar, Egg, Milk, Ghee(clarified butter) and not to forget the key ingredient “Saffron”.

According to Aparna - incorporating the ghee into the dough slowly by adding a little at a time ensures that the fat is dispersed evenly through the dough, and gives a better texture to the Sheermal. Make sure your dough is soft, elastic and well kneaded as this will produce a superior Sheermal. The hallmark of good Sheermal is the glistening finish on the flatbread from brushing it with melted ghee or butter, so do not skimp on that, even though this flatbread is already rich as it is. The egg gives the dough a little extra richness, texture and flavour, but you can leave it out if you don’t use eggs.

Traditionally these are cooked in a Tandoor, but oven is a good choice too. Some recipes call for leavening agent but this version uses yeast. I did not have “Kewra” ( screw pine extract) so used rose water. But to be honest I couldn’t feel the rose water flavour in the bread. You can also try using cardamom instead of Kewra/ Rose Water. You can garnish it with raisins, poppy seeds, slivered almonds etc.

This video is a film showing how Sheermal is made in smaller commercial bakeries - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-6gZYWUrEo

This video gives a good demonstartiuon on how to make/ shape Sheermal - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD_74g36bJI

Serve them warm with any spicy curry,vegetables,jams or pickles. My little one loved it with some Nutella Spread.

Enjoy!

QUINOA is called a complete protein. It’s one of the few grains which contain nine essential amino acids. These seeds are coated with a compound called “saponin” which makes it taste a little bitter. Saponin can be easily removed by rinsing it with water. Although some brands have the saponin already removed. It provides outstanding protein quality and is also a great source of fiber ;not to forget it is GLUTEN free. I have made a switch to Quinoa and it hasn’t been difficult at all. I am finding it hard to get him(husband) to start liking it. I try making different recipes….this one was by far his favorite.He said “ Quinoa never tasted this good”.

I was planning to mix all the ingredients along with some breadcrumbs and bake them in a small muffin pan. That’s when I came across Wendy Polisi’s beautiful blog where she uses the shell itself to stuff the quinoa. So that’s what I did. Instead of regular cheddar, I crumbled two cheddar string cheese. Lemon juice, jalapeno and cilantro gives it a nice taste. The other great thing is it smells DIVINE!

I like Avocados…I simply adore this delicious green fruit. With its buttery richness and subtle flavor, it pairs great with quinoa and cheese. This is just perfect!

Enjoy

Nina!