Umm Ali .....

Umm Ali .....

Umm Ali, also called Om Ali, is a very popular sweet dish of Egypt. This dessert is a version of bread pudding from the West. It is made from freshly baked puff pastry. This dish can be made in various ways... This dish has a long history. Om Ali is named after Sultan Ezz El Din Aybak’s wife, back in the 13th century.  She made it for a victory celebration, and distributed it among the people of the land.

 Here I have made it with a healthy twist... I have used Cornflakes...this dish can be served as a sweet dish during Ramadan... 

Ingredients

2  cups Cornflakes 

1 cup Milk 

1 cup Amul cream 

6 tbsp or more Sugar 

1 tbsp Icing Sugar 

1 tsp Kewda or Vanilla essence 

1 cup mix Dry Fruits  (chopped Almond, Pistachio,Walnuts, Cashewnuts and Raisins)

1 tbsp Dessicated Coconut

Method

Heat the milk in a pot, add the sugar and the essence into the milk. Bring it to boil. Keep it aside. Spread the Cornflakes in the baking dish. Pour the milk, after 10 minutes sprinkle half of the dry fruits. Warm up the cream and pour it on top. Sprinkle rest of the dry fruits, coconut and  icing sugar. Bake in preheated oven on 190 degree celcius for 15 minutes.

Oats ar Chana diye Gurer Payesh (Oats and Paneer Payesh with Date Jaggary)...

Oats ar Chana diye Gurer Payesh (Oats and Paneer Payesh with Date Jaggary)...

This is a Bengali sweet dish made out of the Date Jaggary, Milk and Paneer. Here I have given it a twist by adding in Oats. It has a rich and creamy texture and delicious in taste. 

Date Jaggery are usually found in the shops during winter. But I always keep a stock of it in the fridge to be used through out the year.. In case date jaggery is not available then you can also use Sugar... 

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups of Milk

4 tbsp Oats roasted 

1/2 cup Paneer crumble

1/2 cup Date Jaggary grated

Pinch of Cardamom

Pinch of Salt

Few Broken Cashewnuts

Few Raisins

1 Bay Leaf

Method

Take Milk in a pot and add the bay leaf. Keep it on low flame and let it simmer till the quantity reduces to half. Add the paneer, oats, salt, cardomom powder, raisins and cashewnut. Stir it and cook for 5 minutes more on low flame. Add the jaggery and stir it till the jaggery dissolves and simmer it for 10 minutes. Switch off the flame. Garnish it with some more cashewnuts and raisins. Serve it hot or cold.

Stirred Cottage Cheese and Veggies with Jew's - ear Fungus....

Stirred Cottage Cheese and Veggies with Jew's - ear Fungus....

During my husband's recent visit to China, one of his Chinese business associate had gifted him this dried Fungus... I was curious to try it out..loved the spongy.. rubbery texture. 

Auricularia auricula-judae, also known as the Jew's ear, wood ear, jelly ear or by a number of other common names, is a species of edible Auriculariales fungus. It has ear-like shape and brown colour, it grows on elderly woods. The name derived from the belief that Judas Iscariot hanged himself from an elder tree and is known as Judas's ear... And eventually became Jew's ear, while today jelly ear and other names are sometimes used. The fungus can be found throughout the year in temperate regions worldwide, where it grows upon both dead and living wood. It is popular and used in many Chinese dishes, such as hot and sour soup, and also used in Chinese medicine. It has a rubbery texture and no flavour of it's own... 

Ingredients

1 bowl  Cottage cheese cut into cubes

12 Jew's ear Fungus soaked it hot water for 2 minutes, till double in size, drain out the water and then slice it

1 Onion cut into cubes

1 tbsp Garlic cut into strips

1 tbsp Ginger cut into juliennes

2 Green Chillies slit into to half

1 cup Mix colour Capsicum cut into cubes

Sauce

2 tbsp Oil

Method

Heat oil in a wok. Add the garlic and chillies. Sauté it for a minute. Add onion and stir fry it for 2 minutes. Add the capsicum. Sauté it for a minute. Add the fungus and the cottage cheese. Stir it. Add the sauce and ginger. Stir fry it for 2 minutes. Serve it hot. 

To make the Sauce

Ingredients

2 tbsp Soya sauce

1 tbsp Chilli Vinegar

1 tbsp Honey

1 tbsp Tomato Ketchup

Salt to taste

1 tbsp Corn Starch

1/4 cup Water

Method

Mix all the above ingredients in a bowl.

Potato Garlic Chessy Buttery Pull apart Buns ...

Potato Garlic Chessy Buttery Pull apart Buns ...

Bread making is so... so.. therapeutic. Plus home made breads are healthy too. When ever I am down.. bread making has boosted up my energy. I love using my hands for kneading. It is easy too. Once you have the techniques of making basic bread.. you can innovative your own breads...

 

Ingredients
4 cups Whole Wheat Flour
2 tbsp Dry Yeast
1 tbsp Sugar
1/4 cup of Lukewarm Water
1 cup Lukewarm Milk
1 tsp Garlic Seasoning
Salt to taste
1 Egg (Optional)
2 Potatoes peeled, grated and excess water squeezed out
1 cup Cheddar Cheese
2 tbsp Butter
1/2 cup Melted Butter
1/2 cup Mozzarella and Cheddar cheese mix
Egg wash or 

Butter and Milk wash

Method
Take 1/4 cup lukewarm water, add sugar. Stir it, add yeast. Stir it and keep it aside to rise. Take a mixing bowl. Add flour, salt, garlic seasoning. Mix it. Make a well in the centre. Add yeast water, milk, egg, potatoes and cheese.  Mix it and start kneading the dough. Add extra water little at a time till it forms a soft dough. In the beginning it will be bit sticky.  Add a tbsp of butter and knead it. Take the remaining 1 tbsp of the butter little at a time and keep kneading for 10 minutes. Rub butter on the dough, cover and keep it to rise. Sprinkle little flour, punch and knead the dough.  Make lemon size equal balls. Grease a round baking tray. Dip the balls in the melted butter and arrange the balls in the baking tray. Cover and let it rise for 30 minutes. Apply egg wash on the dough.  Bake it at 180 degrees celcius for 15 minutes in a preheated oven. Take it out from the oven. Sprinkle mozzarella and cheddar cheese. Sprinkle some seasoning too. Bake it for another 10 minutes. Once done remove it from the oven. Cool a bit... Have it with any dips...   

Eggless Fruity Nutty Sweet Bread Loaf.... Using Tangzhong made from Custard powder...

Eggless Fruity Nutty Sweet Bread Loaf....

Using Tangzhong made from Custard powder... 

Normally “tangzhong” or “water roux,” is made mixing water and flour, some times milk is also used instead of water. It is cooked and stirred until it forms a paste. Then, this paste is removed from the heat and allowed to cool, and added to the flour and yeast. By doing so it enhances and improves the texture and moisture in the bread. It stays soft and fluffy. 

Here I have used custard powder instead of flour and milk instead of water and added vanilla essence and sugar. The bread has turned out to be soft and has a rich and enhanced taste. 

This is an experimental recipe from my kitchen.

For the Custard Tangzhong

Ingredients

4 tbsp Vanilla Custard Powder

1 1/4 cup Milk

1/2 cup Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla essence

Method

Take a pan, add a cup of milk, on low flame let it simmer. Take the remaining milk in a cup. Add the custard powder and mix it. Add sugar to the simmering milk. Stir it till the sugar dissolves. Add the custard paste to the milk, stirring it continuously cook it till it thickens. Add the essence, stir and switch off the flame. Stir the mixture till it cools downs a bit. Keep it aside till it cools down completely. 

For the Bread

Ingredients

3 cups of All Purpose Flour

3 cups Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 cup lukewarm Milk

2 tbsp Dry Yeast

1 tbsp Sugar

Salt to taste

Custard Tangzhong

Few dried Cranberries

Few Raisins

Few dried Blue Berries

Few Broken Cashewnuts

Few Almond Flakes

2 tbsp Butter

1/2 tbsp Butter + 1/2 tbsp Milk for Brushing

Method

Take the yeast in a cup. Add sugar and lukewarm milk. Stir it and keep it aside to rise. Take a mixing bowl. Add the flours (keeping 1 cup flour aside) and salt. Mix it. Make a well. Add the yeast water and the custard. Mix all the ingredients together to form a dough. The dough will be sticky so add little of the remaining flour while kneading the dough. Knead it for 5 minutes. Add a tbsp of butter and knead it well for 5 minutes more. Grease the dough. Cover and keep it till it rises double in size. Once it is double in size, sprinkle with some flour and punch and knead the dough. Add the dry fruits  (cranberries, raisins, cashewnut and almond). Mix it with the dough. Take a bread loaf pan. Grease it. Shape the dough and place it in the pan. Keep it aside till it rises again. Brush the loaf with butter and milk wash.   Bake it at 180 degrees celcius for 25 to 30 minutes in a preheated oven. Take it out and cool it completely before cutting.