Semolina bread/rava bread

Bread using rava/semolina is a bit surprise to me. When I saw few bloggers about this bread, was quite surprised about how the texture and taste of bread will be. Finally decided to bake it one for me on one fine day. To my surprise, it turned out awesome as other bloggers say. Whoever tries to bake bread, try this first to gain a little bit confidence of baking bread at home.

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

 Water - 1 1/2 cups

Instant Yeast -2 tsp

Semolina/rava - 3 1/4 cups - fine variety
Sugar - 1 tbsp
 Extra-Virgin Olive oil (or any other oil) - 1/4 cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp

How to bake bread:

1. If not using instant yeast, proof it by warming water and add sugar and yeast for about 10 min or until frothy.

2. Add everything together in a mixing bowl and mix it well.

3. Now comes the kneading part.

(A).  If using stand mixer, turn on the mixer to medium speed and mix for about 4-5 minutes. At first the dough will be little sticky and after kneading for about 5 min you can see a elastic dough.

(B). If you don’t have a stand mixer, knead the dough using hands for about 10 min as like a chapathi dough until it becomes elastic.

4. Now grease a bowl with oil and transfer your dough into it and close it tightly using a cling wrap or towel and keep it in a warm place for about 1hour or until it doubles in volume.

5. Grease a loaf tin with oil. I used 9”*3” pan.

6.  Now dust some semolina on the kitchen counter. Take the dough out and make it into a rectangle. Make triple fold as a loaf so that it fits your loaf pan and press the seam.

7. Keep the seam side in your loaf pan and cover it with a cling wrap or towel and proof it again for for 45 min to 1 hr.

8. Preheat the oven to 190 C/ 375 F.

9. Place the tin in the middle rack of the oven and bake it for about 35-45 min or your loaf turns deep golden brown on the top and leaves the sides on the pan.

10. Remove the pan from the oven and remove the baked bread and place it in a cooling rack for further cooling.

11. In order for the top of the bread remaining soft, place a wet towel on the loaf and cover it. Leave it to cool completely for about 2 hrs. This step is compulsory to get neat slices.

12. Then slice, serve and enjoy.

Ragi roti

Ingredients:

Ragi flour- 3 cups

Red chili powder- 11/2 tsp

Salt-1 tsp

Onion-1-medium- finely chopped

Coriander leaves- 1/4cup- finely chopped

Curry leaves -2tbsp- finely chopped

Carrot- 1- finely grated

Oil-2tbsp

How to make:

1. In a mixing bowl, mix everything adding water into a soft dough.

2. Take an aluminum foil/banana leaf, apply oil and spread it.

3. Take a big size Ragi balls and spread using hand with little oil sprinkled in hand.

4. Heat a dosa tawa and reduce the flame to low-medium.

5. Flip the spread roti on the tawa upside down and carefully remove foil.

6. Apply oil over the edges and cook for 3 min.

7. Flip it over and cook on the other side for 4 min.

8. Serve hot and enjoy.

9. Can eat as it is or if you want you can pair it with spicy coconut chutney.

Whole wheat chocolate chip cookies- adapted from New York Times chocochip cookies

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour-1 1/2 cup

Baking soda-3/4 tsp

Baking powder-3/4 tsp

Salt-1/2 tsp

Butter-1 1/2 sticks - 3/4 cup

Brown/cane sugar-1 1/4 cup

Eggs-1

Vanilla extract-1 tsp

Chocolate chips- 1 1/2 cups

How to bake:

1. Sieve all the dry ingredients together.

2. Cream butter and sugar till creamy.

3. Add in eggs and mix well.

4. Add in vanilla extract and mix.

5. Now add in the sieved dry ingredients and mix well. Now this becomes a soft dough.

6. Add in chocolate chips and mix it with a spatula.

7. Store this dough in a airtight container in refrigerator for 36 hours.

8. While before starting baking keep the dough outside for 20 minutes.

9. Preheat the oven @350F/180C.

10. Scoop the dough in a cookie scoop and place it in a parchment paper lined cookie sheet in distances. The dough will expand into a big circle and so keep the scoop so that it doesn’t touch each other.

11. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-17 minutes.

12. Remove from the oven and keep it in tray for 5 minutes and then keep it in a wire rack for further cooling.

13. Keep the next batch of cookies the same way and bake remaining dough.

14. Store it in a airtight container after all the cookies are cool.

Baking spray with wheat flour-Homemade

Whenever we need to bake cakes, we need to coat the tin with butter and add flour, dust it and remove excess flour. It's a big process and to reduce the time i searched for a baking spray.

Baking spray that is available in stores is expensive. And when I searched for the recipe, i got an amazing one from iambaker. That recipe uses all purpose flour and shortening. Now I have replaced with whole wheat flour and butter. I got the same result as of all purpose flour. I am using this spray in all my baking now.

Ingredients needed:

Coconut Oil/Sunflower oil - 1/2 cup

Unsalted butter - 1/2 cup

Whole wheat flour - 1/2 cup

How to make it:

1. If coconut oil is frozen, melt it in microwave for 1 min and measure the required quantity.

2. Let butter be in room temperature.

3. In a mixing bowl, add oil, butter and whole wheat flour.

4. Using hand mixer, mix it such that no lumps are formed and the consistency is smooth.

5. Transfer into an airtight container and refrigerate it.

Can be used as a grease for cakes, cupcakes when you don’t need paper for lining them. Don't grease for bread tins.

Note:

* You can use it to grease your tin by taking directly from the fridge. No need to cool to room temperature.
* If using coconut oil, you don't need to freeze it. Coconut oil will be frozen if it is kept in fridge.
* If you use sunflower oil, oil will be settled down if you don't use for a long time. At that time use a spoon to mix it in the container and then grease your tin.
* Can be stored for nearly 1 year.
* If you are baking occasionally, then take lesser quantity ingredients such that all measurements are equal.

One bowl whole wheat banana choco chip muffins

One bowl whole wheat banana choco chip muffins

How to make buttermilk at home

If a recipe asks for buttermilk in baking, it is easy to prepare at home.

What I need:

Milk-1 cup

Lemon juice/Vinegar-1 tsp

Makes - 1 cup

How to prepare:

To room temperature boiled milk just add lemon juice and stir. Rest it for 10 minutes. You will see curdles of milk. That's it. Done. You can straight away use them which calls for buttermilk in baking recipes. 

Whole wheat chocolate cake

Whole wheat chocolate cake:

Inspired to bake this from: http://sumodtomzcuisines.com

Ingredients:

• Whole Wheat Flour, sifted - 2 cup & 2 tbsp
• Cocoa Powder - 1/3 cup
• Baking powder - 1 1/2 tsp
• Baking Soda - 11/2 tsp
• Powdered sugar - 2 cup
• Salt - 3/4 tsp
• Butter - 1 cup
• Eggs - 6 large
• Milk - ½ cup
• Sour cream - 1 cup 
• Vanilla extract - 2 1/2 tsp
• 
  

How to bake:

1. Let all the ingredients are at room temperature. 
2. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C/350 degree F. Prepare two 9" round cake pans by greasing and flouring the pan.
3. Sieve together all the dry ingredients. 
4. whisk in the sour cream and add in milk to make a smooth cream.
5. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until it is soft and fluffy.
6. Add eggs one at a time and continue to beat by scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl. The mixture will be soft and fluffy.
7. Now add the vanilla extract and mix well.
8. Start adding the flour mixture alternating with the milk and sour cream mix, little at a time. Gently fold in the mixture using a spatula until the flour is fully mixed with the butter, sugar and eggs. Do not over mix. 
8. If the batter is too thick, add 1 tablespoon of milk at a time and fold the mixture. Batter should fall like a ribbon when poured.
9. Divide the batter into 2 pans and bake at 180 C for 45-50 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean and dry.
10. Remove the cake from the oven and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
11. Unmold the cake from the baking tin and let it cool completely. Slice the cake with a serrated bread knife and store it in an airtight container. 

How to prepare sour cream: 
To prepare sour cream at home, mix equal parts of hung curd and thick cream and leave it overnight. 

How to flavor the cake:

You can flavor the cake by adding 2 tablespoons of strong coffee decotion, if u really like coffee flavor.