Ambrosia

Whole Wheat Corn Bread is extremely spongy and mildly sweet. It has a very soft crumb. It toasts really well and tastes great with butter and homemade jam.

There are a lot of NGOs in the hills that are doing a magnificent job in encouraging local farmers in the interior of the hills to grow the crops by the old conventional methods. The NGOs are buying their products and marketing them. This gives the farmers their due and saves them from the rigmarole of selling their produce by physically getting their harvest to the mandi. Last week we bought water mill crushed Maize flour from the hills. The gritty texture of the flour makes it excellent for breads and biscuits.

Yesterday we made Whole Wheat and Maize Bread. I got back to my recipe of Multigrain bread and substituted some ingredients with a half cup of maize flour(corn meal) and prepared whole-wheat sponge. The loaf was mildly sweet and soft. We had it for dinner with steamed vegetables and a slice with homemade cherry preserve in the end.

The dough can be shaped as a simple loaf or divide the dough into four pieces and make oblong rolls.

Whole Wheat Corn Bread | Whole Wheat Maize Bread

Ingredients

Whole Wheat sponge

1 ¾ cup whole wheat flour (atta)
2 tablespoons honey
1 ¼ cup warm water

Dough

1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup maize flour/ cornmeal (coarser the better)
2 ¼ teaspoon instant yeast
2 tablespoons of milk powder
2 tablespoons sunflower oil (any neutral oil will do)
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup warm water (depending on requirement while kneading)

Instructions

In a deep bowl, prepare the sponge by mixing wheat flour, honey, sugar, and water. Mix well, cover and keep aside for 30 minutes.
Sift together all-purpose flour, maize flour, and salt. Add oil, milk powder and yeast. Mix well.
Add whole wheat sponge and knead the dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes or until you get a smooth and soft dough. Add more water if the dough feels tight or dry.
Grease a bowl and keep the dough in it. Cover with a kitchen towel and keep it for 45 minutes to rise.
Remove from the bowl and knead for another 5 minutes.
Grease two loaf tins. (7.5 inches x 3.5 inches) or, one large loaf pan. Dust the bottom and sides with cornmeal.
Divide the dough into two equal parts (if making two loaves). Make four oblong rolls from each part. Place the rolls in the loaf tins.
For one large loaf, divide dough into four pieces. Roll each piece into oblong rolls. Place in the pan.
Cover and leave to rise for another one hour or until the rolls are doubled.
Bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees C for 30 to 35 minutes.
Remove from the loaf tins after 5 minutes. Cool in the rack.
Slice when cold.

An unexpected but a very welcome spell of rains in the last week lifted the spirits and magically transformed the dry parched landscape to a verdant green with all variety of vegetation showing up in every inch of the Earth. Rain is an elixir, a magical potion. It infuses a new life in plants, creatures and humans alike. With rain lilies popping out merrily and football lilies rising from their slumber albeit early, the nature resembles a canvass splashed with myriad colour. All the woes inflicted by the unforgiving summer heat have been washed away.

Mildly sweet and delicious!

Mild drizzle, cool breeze and a lovely book with wonderful recipes had to result in something delicious, comforting with a cup of piping hot strong milky coffee that we’ve begun to enjoy lately and the obvious choice was Rock Cakes with cinnamon, almonds and figs.

ROCK CAKES

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

90 gm butter

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1 egg lightly beaten

½ cup milk

¾ cup chopped figs

¼ cup chopped almonds

½ teaspoon cinnamon powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

Method

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Grease a baking tray

Sift all purpose flour, cinnamon, baking powder, sugar and salt.

Rub in butter.

Add figs and almond. Add milk and egg. Stir to mix evenly. Do not over mix.

Drop rounded tablespoons of mixture about 5cm apart onto trays. Sprinkle with extra sugar.

Bake for 15 minutes or till rock cakes turn golden from top. Cool on rack.

My Notes- figs in the recipe can also be replaced by raisins or cranberries.

Sending this recipe to Jagruti's event - My Bowl of Snacks

“Cooking (and eating) for us is truly a stress buster and a common platform that unites our family. The inspiration, teaching and example is best witnessed in our parents who selflessly and passionately make outstanding meals day in and day out”.

This is the belief of Amrita and Vishal, a husband-wife team who share a common passion for cooking. While Amrita loves baking and trying out desserts, Vishal loves to learn and experiment with savoury dishes. Their love for good food, cooking, learning and sharing had to find an outlet and Sweet 'n' Savoury was created in March 2012.

Amrita and Vishal celebrated the first anniversary of their amazing blog. And I was one of the three prize winners. I was overjoyed to receive my prize which is a wonderful book Old Fashioned Favourites by The Australian Women’s Weekly.

This is after years that I’ve won a prize. I felt like a kid in school winning a prize. Extremely ecstatic, cheerful, blissful, exultant, on cloud nine, on top of the world…….

My coveted prize!

This is the first recipe that I’ve made from this book. Many more are on the way!

Madeira cake is a fine-textured plain cake, similar to a creamed sponge cake, made with fat, butter, and flour and served without filling or icing

MADEIRA CAKE

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

1 ¾ cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar, powdered

3 eggs

1/3 cup mixed peel

¼ cup slivered almonds

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind

Method

Pre heat oven to 160 degrees C. Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt.

Beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

Beat in eggs one by one till the mixture turns pale. Add grated lemon rind.

Stir in sifted flour.

Spread the batter into pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove cake from oven; sprinkle mixed peels and almond slivers evenly. Return to oven; Bake for 40 minutes or till a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from the pan after 5 minutes, slice when cold.

Semolina makes a great vegan loaf. The slices are light as air. Toast and enjoy with butter or cheese spread or jam, or, make sandwiches.

I had to make this to believe that Semolina could actually be used to make a super soft deliciously yeasty loaf. When I saw this loaf on Floyd Mann’s site, I was a bit apprehensive to try it out. I thought that the grainy texture of Semolina would not give pliable dough. But step by step as I proceeded, I discovered that semolina is a wonderful medium to work with. All my apprehensions were swept away.

The dough was soft and as good as the dough obtained from flour. It rose beautifully and baked well. It was delicious. The crumb is great. The slices are best enjoyed with butter, cheese spread and jam.

I made Semolina loaf three times. The first time, I thought perhaps it was a lucky coincidence or perchance that everything went fine and hence the amazing outcome. Sometimes it so happens that the first attempt of a recipe gives fantastic results. However, succeeding attempts are not as good. Assuming it to be this kind of a case, I baked Semolina Loaf twice again. Each time it was equally good and we loved it.

Semolina Loaf

Ingredients

3 1/4 cup semolina
1 - 2 cup water (quantity of water can vary depending on requirement while kneading)
2 tablespoons oil
½ tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon instant yeast
½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

Whisk together semolina and salt.
Add sugar to 1 cup warm water. Stir. Add yeast. Let sit for 5-8 minutes to become frothy.
Add water solution and oil to the semolina mix.
Knead for 10 to 12 minutes. The mixture will keep absorbing water. Keep adding more as long as required.
While kneading, the dough will transform from grainy texture to smooth and elastic dough.
Transfer the dough to a greased bowl. Cover with a cling film and let it rise for 1 ½ hour.
Remove from the bowl and knead for another 8 to 10 minutes.
Grease one 8 x 4 1/2 inches bread pan.
Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a rectangle no wider than the loaf tin that you are using. Roll the dough towards you, tightly. Pinch seams to seal. Place the roll in the greased loaf tin with the seam side down. Cover and keep it to rise for 1 ½ hour.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C for 20-25 minutes or until the loaf turns golden brown and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped.
Remove from the loaf tin, cool and slice.

This is a Vegan Recipe

Veganism is a philosophy and lifestyle. The most common reasons for becoming a vegan are spiritual concerns, ethical commitments or concerns for the environment. Proper and planned vegan diets satisfy all nutritional needs and are easy on the system. Being simple and nourishing, vegan diets keeps many modern-day diseases at bay.

My husband had to go to Pondicherry for a project. We could not have missed this wonderful opportunity to visit the Pondicherry again. Pondicherry’s quaint lanes and by-lanes never fail to charm. The beautiful French architectures, the lovely view of the Bay of Bengal with the mighty waves lashing on the shores, nightlife in the Goubert lane, garden restaurants and terrace restaurants with must try multi cuisine menus are the visitor’s delight. There is an air of spirituality and tranquility about Pondicherry that attracts people from all over the world. It was a lovely break!

Lotus

Message at the entry of the garden in the Park Guest House worth pondering over.

Kids enjoying the sea side...

A green frog in the lotus pond.

Having settled after coming back, I made Buttermilk Cluster. Being a self taught baker, I am always on lookout for learning the right know how of baking breads and thus honing my skills. Some of the sites have been tremendously helpful and enriching. I attribute much of my baking skills to them.

Floyd Mann inspires me a lot. He has not received any formal training in baking. He just experiments baking at home. And the assortment of breads that he has baked is unbelievable.

The recipe of Buttermilk cluster comes from his site. I have made some changes. I have halved the ingredients and added whole wheat flour.

I made two rounds of Buttermilk Clusters. This is a fantastic recipe as it does not use oil/fat at all. Oil has been used to grease the baking tin and to shape the rolls. And believe me, you don't miss the oil/ fat at all