Easy Homemade Bread

Somehow baking has always given me immense pleasure. Cakes, cookies and my latest passion of baking breads touches some internal cord. It is sometimes difficult to express such feelings.

I got hooked on to baking cakes at a very young age, probably in my teens. Bread baking I discovered recently on Pinterest. I read many recipes and tried a few and developed the following after trying out some.
I tried several recipes but liked some by iheartnaptime.net some artisan no knead breads.I was somehow skeptical of baking breads, always of the opinion that my bread would not come out as it should. I felt it would turn out hard.
 I decided to try out a no knead artisan bread. The result was simply awesome. I was encouraged and tried some more and every time the result was good.

Recipe :

All purpose flour              3 cups
Dry active yeast               21/2 tsp
Sugar                              11/2 tsp
Salt                                 1/2 tsp
Cooking oil                      2 tbl sps
Butter                              1 tbl sp
Luke warm water            1/2 cups
Luke warm milk               1 cup

Method :

In a cup pour warm water, yeast and sugar and keep it aside to proof for 10-15 minutes.

The water should not be hot otherwise the yeast will not rise. After proofing your yeast should look like it is in the picture above.

Next, in a bowl put flour, salt and the cooking oil. Mix well. Pour the warm water with yeast and sugar into the flour and knead well. Slowly add the warm milk and form into a nice dough. If using a stand mixer put it on speed 1 and knead for about 7-10 minutes. Take it out and keep it a well greased bowl. Cover with a plastic wrap and keep it in a dry warm place to rise for an hour.

The second picture shows what the dough should look like once it has risen.

Take out the dough and roll it into a rectangle approximately 9'' long and 8''wide.

Then start rolling it into log shape.

Pinch the sides nicely and put the rolled dough in a well greased 9.5'' pan. Cover again with a plastic wrap and keep it aside to rise for another hour.

When it has risen well preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Brush the top with the melted butter and bake it for 20-25 minutes till the top crust is nice and brown and when tapped sounds hollow.

Nothing smells better than the smell of a cake or bread being baked in the oven, specially when it is bitterly cold outside. The temperatures are frigid and there are piles of snow outside and guess what.......some more predicted in the coming days, practically every alternate day. In such conditions I hate stepping out, stuffing myself with heavy woolens.
So, today I decided to bake a nice loaf of bread and maybe some sweet buns.These buns are readily available in India in some small bakeries in small towns. As a kid I used to love having these buns with a hot cup of tea. Dunking them in tea gave me immense pleasure.
I normally knead enough dough to make two loafs of bread. Today, I shall bake one loaf of a sandwich bread and make a few buns.

Achari Masala

Like most Indians, I too mostly cook by eyeballing most of my ingredients. Now here is a recipe for the Achari masala that I use to make my Achari Chicken ( Pickeled Chicken)

Ingredients:

Fennel seeds              2 Tblsp
Onion seeds               1 Tblsp
Fenugreek seeds       1 Tblsp
Mustard seeds           1/2 Tblsp

Method:

Put all the ingredients in a grinder and grind them to a fine powder. Store in an airtight bottle.

Chicken Koftas

Ingredients:

Ground Chicken                                                             2 lbs

Onions Finely Sliced                                                     2

Ginger Garlic Paste                                                        2 Tsp

Yogurt                                                                                1 Cup

Finely Chopped Green Chillies                                 2-3

Green Corriander Chopped                                       4 Tbl sps

Salt to taste

Red Chilly Powder                                                          1/2 Tsp

Turmeric Powder                                                            1/2 Tsp

Corriander Powder                                                        2 Tsp

Garam Masala                                                                   1 Tsp

Canola Oil                                                                            3-4 Tbsp

Water                                                                                     2 Cups

Method:

In a mixing bowl put the ground chicken, 2 tsp salt, a pinch of red chilly powder,chopped green chillies, 2 tblsp chopped corriander and 1/2 tsp of garam masala. Mix everything together and make balls, the size of a golf ball and set aside.

In a pan heat oil fry onions on a medium flame till translucent and slightly brown. The onions should be soft in consistency. Add yogurt a spoon at a time till all is incorporated. Now add 1 tsp of the ginger garlic paste. Cook till the raw smell of the ginger garlic paste has evaporated. Add all the dry ingredients and mix well. Add a few drops of water so that all the spices get mixed properly and the masala has a nice color. Now add to this the chicken balls. Cover the pot and let simmer for a few minutes. Add water. Increase the flame and bring it to a boil. At this stage donot touch the chicken balls. Once it starts boiling reduce the flame and cook till the gravy thickens and the meat is cooked through. This should take roughly 15-20 minutes.

Sprinkle the remaining garam masala and the green corriander. Serve hot with rice, roti, naan or paranthi.

Instant Gratification

Cooking,crafting in other words anything that you make ......create gives a lot of satisfaction. it gives you a sense of achievement when you see the end product. From my personal experience, as I am avid crafter and just love cooking and creating new flavors while cooking.

Cooking gives instant gratification as the results are quick. You not only feel good looking and tasting yourself but satisfaction is even greater when you see the satisfied and appreciative expressions of the people around you.........your family members, relatives or friends.