Ciabatta

Ciabatta 

It means slipper bread is an Italian white bread made from wheat flour, water, salt, olive oil and yeast. Ciabatta is somewhat elongated, broad and flat and is baked in many variations.

Ingredients

3 1/2 + 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour

2 cups Lukewarm Water

1½ tsp salt

1 1/2 tbsp Dry a Yeast

1 tbsp Olive Oil

Method

Take a mixing bowl. Add in 3 1/2 cups of flour, make a well in the centre. Add yeast and water. Mix the flour with the help of a wooden spoon. The dough will be quite sticky.  Leave the dough covered for 6 hours or over night if possible.  Add salt and 1/2 tbsp oil to the dough and mix it.Add 1/2 cup of flour on the dough and mix the dough for few minutes. Add 1/2 tbsp oil and cover the dough and and let it rest for 2 hours. Sprinkle some more flour, take the dough and divide the dough in to 2 portions. Grease a baking tray. Apply oil on the palms as the dough is a soft dough. Take one portion of the dough flatten and stretch the dough and give it a longish cylindrical shape. Give folds from all the sides. Turn the dough. Then with the help of the knuckles, press it to flatten the dough a bit. Do the same for the other dough. Cover and let the dough to rise for a hour. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celcius. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. During baking, spritz loaves with water every 5 to 10 minutes for a crispier crust.They sound hollow when you tap the bread. Cool the bread completely before cutting.

Vegetable Sweet and Sour Pasta with Olives , Dill and Parmesan cheese

Vegetable Sweet and Sour Pasta with Olives , Dill and Parmesan cheese

Ingredients 

1 packet of Pasta (Farfella)

1/2 cup diced Carrot

1/2 cup diced Onion

1/2 cup diced Capsicum 

1 cup diced Tomato

2 tbsp Dill chopped 

1/4 cup Black Olives chopped 

1/2 cup Tomato purée

6 Garlic crushed 

1/2 cup Vegetable  stock 

1/2 cup starchy water for the boiled Pasta

Salt to taste 

1/2 tsp Pepper powder

2 tbsp  Sugar

2 tbsp Parmesan grated or powder

1 tbsp Oilve oil

Method 

Take a pan. Add oil. Let it heat. Add garlic. Sauté it for few minutes. Add the onions. Stir it and cook the onions till translucent. Add capsicum and carrots. Stir it and cook for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes. Cook for 5 more minutes. Add the tomato purée and the vegetable stock. Cover the pan and let it simmer for few minutes till the vegetables are half cooked. Add the sugar, salt and pepper powder. Cover and keep on simmer for 5 minutes. Switch off the flame. Keep it aside.  Meanwhile take the pasta, follow the packet instructions and cook the pasta. Drain the pasta... Retain 1/2 cup of the water while draining the pasta. Add the pasta to the gravy. Add the pasta water and dill leaves. Mix the pasta with the gravy on medium flame till the gravy has mixed with the pasta well. Add black olives and Parmesan cheese on top for garnishing. Sprinkle with some dill leaves. Serve it hot. 

Option for non vegetarian... Add any boneless fish pieces, prawns, squids, chicken pieces....while cooking the gravy. 

Mutton OR Chicken Liver Pâté

Mutton OR Chicken Liver Pâté

Ingredients

250 grams  Liver (Mutton Or Chicken) cut into pieces

1 large Onion sliced

2 tbsp Oil 

2 Garlic cloves crushed 

1 tsp  All Spice Powder OR

2 Pinches of each Cinnamon powder, Clove powder and Nutmeg powder

Salt to taste 

1/2 tsp Pepper

Method 

Take a pan. Add oil. Add onions, fry the onion till light brown, add the crushed garlic and sauté it for few minutes.Add the liver and sauté it for 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water and cook the liver till tender. Add salt, pepper powder and all spiced powder. Mix it. Let the liver cool down a bit. Add the liver and the juices of the liver into the food processor. Blend it until smooth. Eat it fresh... Spread it on bread or chill it... Or to make it into big cubes and slice it... Add the pâté in to a cubed greased container. Chill it, slice it and use it for sandwiches.

Chicken Kabiraji Cutlet

Chicken Kabiraji Cutlet

For Marinating the Chicken 

Ingredients 

500 Grams Boneless Chicken Cut in to pieces and beaten and flattened with a blunt knife

1 small Onion paste

1 tbsp Coriander paste

1 tbsp Mint paste

2 Green chilli paste

1 tbsp Garlic paste 

1/2 tsp Ginger paste

1 tsp Lime juice 

1/2 tsp pepper

Salt to taste

1 tsp Garam Masala powder 

Method 

Marinate the chicken with all the above ingredients for 2 to 3 hours. 

For Making the Kabiraji

Ingredients 

Marinated Chicken 

Oil for deep frying

1/2 cup Bread crumbs 

8 Eggs

3 tbsp Cornflour 

1/2 tsp Pepper powder

Salt to taste

Method 

Take a bowl. Take the eggs, beat it. Add salt and pepper powder. Take the chicken pieces. Dip the chicken pieces in the egg and coat the chicken pieces with the bread crumbs. Repeat the same process with the rest of the chicken pieces. Take oil for frying in a fry pan. Heat the oil. Meanwhile take the remaining egg batter, add corn flour. Beat it again. Deep fry the cutlet the hot oil until the both sides are  brown.Push the cutlet on one side of the pan. Carefully sprinkle the  egg batter in the oil until it covers the whole surface of the oil. Take the cutlet and place it on the sprinkled egg. Fold or wrap the fried cutlets in the egg and fry. Remove it from hot oil and  place it on a paper towel to drain excess oil. Repeat the same process with the other cutlets. Serve hot with some Kasundi and a salad.

Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate Cake and Eggless Italian Meringue VanillaButtercream

Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate Cake

Tried making this Gluten free  -- Vegan Chocolate cake with Almond flour, Rice flour , Corn starch and coconut milk and icing with
Gayathri Kumar's recipe Eggless Italian Meringue Buttercream.... Thank you Gayathri... It came out superb... Just loved it.

http://suskitchenbysumitra.blogspot.com/2015/07/gluten-free-vegan-chocolate-cake-and.html

Ingredients 

1 cup Almond flour (to make the Almond flour just take a cup of Almonds and grind it) 

1 Cup Rice flour

1/2 cup Corn starch or Potato starch 

2 tbsp of Coco powder 

1 cup of Castor Sugar 

1 tsp Baking powder

1 tsp Soda bicarbonate 

1/2 cup Oilve oil

250 Ml +(more if required) Coconut milk or Soya milk or Almond milk 

2 tbsp Apple Cider vinegar 

Method 

Take a bowl. Sift in Almond flour, Rice flour, Cornstarch or Potato starch, Baking powder, Soda bicarbonate and  Coco powder and keep it aside. Take a bowl add in  250 ml of Coconut milk or Soya milk or Almond milk, mix in the vinegar and keep it aside. Take a mixing bowl add oil and sugar. Beat the oil and sugar till the sugar incoperates with oil. Add 1/2 the coconut milk or what ever milk in used and 1/2 the flour mix, beat the batter, add rest of the flour and Coconut milk. Beat the batter till smooth, glossy  and of thick dropping consistently.. Add in more coconut milk little at a time if required... Grease in a baking tray, add the batter in the baking tray. Bake at 190 degrees celcius for 35 to 40 minutes or till the cake is done in a preheated oven. Check the cake by pricking in a tooth pick. If it comes out smooth then the cake is done. 

Cool the cake before icing the cake. 

Eggless Italian Meringue Vanilla Buttercream

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Chickpea Brine / Aqua Faba/ Boiled Chickpea Water 

1 cup + 2 tbsp Sugar

1/4 cup Water

1 1/2 cup Butter

1 tbsp Vanilla Essence 

Method 

Take the Chickpea water and start to whip. It takes around 10 to 15 minutes. Meanwhile while the whipping is on, take the sugar and water and add it in the sauce pan. Keep the sauce pan on a low flame, mixing the sugar and water so that it melts completely. Cook the sugar and water syrup till the sugar syrup starts to boil on a high temperature for 1 minutes. If you are using candy thermometer the temperature should reach 248 degrees Fahrenheit. Take the sugar syrup off the fire. Now at this stage the meringue will also get stiff peaks. While keeping the mixer running, slowly pour the syrup inside the meringue. Keep on mixing. Make sure that the hot syrup doesn’t come in contact with the wall of the bowl or the beater. Once all the syrup has gone inside, keep on beating the meringue until the bowl is cool to touch. It will take around 10 minutes to cool down. Keep on beating and the meringue will become whiter and shiny. Once cool, start adding butter one table spoon at a time. Add a table spoon of butter and beat until incorporated before adding the next spoon. Keep on adding until you finish with all the butter. At this stage the mix will be like a curdled soup. Keep on beating. After some time you will see that the mixture transforms to light fluffy butter cream. Once the cream is fluffy and there is no water left, stop beating. Vanilla essence should be added once the butter has become fluffy and creamy and no water is left. This can be used frost and pipe. If the climb is very hot.. It can start to melt... Keep it in the fridge till it is workable for piping.