It seemed to be a day of butterlies. We woke up to a light
drizzle. Cool breeze infused with the aroma of buttery Magnolia flowers and
scent of rain drenched earth, carried the song of the birds. A babbler chasing
a moth raised alarm as she saw our cat. Some more babblers joined her till the
flock flew away to the higher branches of a bush laden with wild orange
berries.
Butterflies swarmed the flower laden trees in extraordinary
numbers.
Some stretching and spreading their wings on neem tree, while a
swallow tail butterfly fluttered in the Ashok tree. Some chasing each other
whilst some flitting from flower to flower.
Perhaps, wet earth, abundance of
flowers and pleasant weather are doing the magic.
We had some late crop of cilantro growing at home. We harvested
it all and I used a big bunch in the Semolina Loaf that I baked yesterday.
The
flavour wasn’t too distinct, but it gave a lovely crumb speckled with green
flecks.
Semolina Cilantro Loaf
Ingredients
3 ¼ cups coarse or fine semolina
1 teaspoon yeast
1 ½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 ½ cups warm water
¼ cup finely chopped cilantro (adjust quantity according to preference)
or any fresh or dry herb of choice
Method
Mix sugar in warm water. Keep aside.
In a kneading plate or a deep bowl, whisk together all the
remaining ingredients.
Add 1 cup water and start kneading. The dough will be gritty
and will not come together initially. Keep kneading and add water in small
quantity. Semolina grains will absorb water and swell up. Let the dough rest
for 5 minutes. Knead adding more water. Repeat till you get a slightly sticky
but very soft and elastic dough.
Transfer dough to an oiled bowl. Turn around to coat evenly
with oil. Cover and keep in a warm place to rise for 1 hour or until doubled.
Grease one 8x4 inch loaf pan.
Punch dough and knead for 2 minutes. Roll out the dough
into a rectangle not bigger than the width of the pan you are using. Roll the
dough towards you, tightly. Pinch seams to seal. Place the roll in the loaf tin
with the seam side down. Cover and keep it to rise for 45 minutes – 1 hour in a
warm place or until it crests above the rim of the pan.
Bake in the preheated oven at 190 degrees C for 25 to 30
minutes or till the top turns brown and the bottom of the pan sounds empty when
tapped. If the loaf is browning too quickly, tent the loaf loosely with a foil.
Remove from the loaf tin after 10 minutes. Cool in the
rack.
Slice next day.