Naan

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Naan Dough:

Milk - 1 cup (luke warm)
Sugar - 4 tspn
Yeast - 2 sachets

Mix these and leave it for 15 mins until needed. (please read notes)

Plain flour - 4 cups
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Baking powder - 2 tspn

Mix these in a large bowl .

Oil - 1 tbsp

Mix it to the above flour

Yoghurt - 2/3 cup

Bind these to above flour

Egg - 1 no. (whisk separately)

add this and mix again.

Now add the yeast mixture which you kept aside and bind, use more flour to combine, knead it to soft plaible dough. Keep covered and kept near warm place to double in size takes 6 hrs to rise.

Divide in to 12 equal portions and roll each ball to desired thickness in tear drop naan shapes.

Fry in a very hot dry heavy frying pan until puffed up and turnover for a min.

If you want to refrigerate you can do so, keep the naans in aluminium foil, wrap it up and refrigerate.

For Variations:

1) Garlic Twist:-

melt the butter add garlic paste to it , spread this mixture on naan on one side, keep the buttered side down and heat it on tawa, immediately smear butter on top and turn again and cook for a second, remove and serve.

Serve it with Butter chicken or Paneer dishes.

2) Peshawari naan:-

Carrot - 1 no. (skin removed and grated)
Almonds - 6 no. (grated thinly)
Sultanas - 6 no.
Sugar - 4 tsp

First microwave these 4 mins.

Rose water - 1 tsp

add rose water to the above cooked mixture. mix every thing and keep it cool. Stuff these in naan just like as you do for stuffed paratha. and cook as above excluding garlic paste, smear it melted butter on top.

Notes:-

The more you cook naan second time on tawa it becomes harder.

If you boil milk and add yeast to it, the yeast will die and it won't rise. So you need to heat it until luke warm only. yeast is living organism to live it needs sugar to munch in, thats why you add sugar. If you add more salt yeast won't like it. It's my theory. check it out yourself.

© 2006 by Rajani Rayudu

Asparagus and Silverbeet Fry

Asparagus and Silver-beet Fry

Ingredients:

Asparagus - 1 bunch (cut in to small rounds, keep the last end of asparagus for sambhar or pappu)

Salt to taste

Silverbeet - 1/2 packet (chopped fine)

Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

Oil - 2 tbsp

Red chillies - 4 no. (split in to tiny pieces)

Curry leaves - 1 sprig.

Onion - 1 m (sliced finely)

Ginger and garlic paste - 1/2 tsp each

                                                      

Proceed:

1) Heat oil in flat non-stick pan, add red chillies and curry leaves and fry.

2) Add onions and fry until golden brown.

3) Add gg paste and fry.

4) Add asparagus pieces and fry for 2 mins, add salt and cover 8 - 10 mins.

5) Add silverbeet and fry with out lid. add turmeric.

6) Fry until everything comes together. Switch off the flame. slightly cover with lid.

Serve it with Rice, Tomato Dal , Poppadums and Yoghurt on side.

Note:

Hold the asparagus on two ends snip it at the very end it will break, throw away or just use it in sambhar it just tastes like drumsticks. Cook it as anyother vege., for the triangle shaped things which are on asparagus scrape it with knife.

Meanings:

Silver-beet = Swiss Chard

© 2006 by Rajani Rayudu

Tomato Pappu / Dal

Tomato Pappu

Set 1:

Toor Dal / kandipappu - 1 rice cup

Water - 2 & 1/2 rice cup
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Salt - a pinch

Set 2:

Oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 3/4 th tsp
Cumin seeds - 3/4 th tsp
Red chillies - 4 no (split in to half)
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Garlic - 3 no. (smashed and sliced)
Asafoetida or Hing - small pinch
MTR-Rasam powder - 3/4 th tsp (my twist)

Chopped Tomatoes - 3/4 th tin
Salt to taste.

Proceed:

1) Cook set 1 in pressure cooker until soft.

2) Take a kadhai, heat oil in it. add mustard seeds when it is stopped poping add cumin seeds when it is starting to brown, add curry leaves, red chillies, garlic and fry, add hing and rasam powder in the last, mix well. Immediately follow point 3.

3) Add chopped tomato and salt, cook until mushy.

4) Add cooked and mashed toor dal, mean while pour 1/2 cup of water in the cooked container of toor dal, scrape away any dal that left behind.

5) Add the dal water to point 4.

6) Cook it until starting to boil. Check for salt and serve.

Serve with Rice, Asparagus Silverbeet Fry or Aloo Fry or Okra Fry, Poppadums and Yoghurt on side.


Tip:

after tadka ( i have included 1 tsp urad dal too for seasoning), add 1/2 tsp rasam powder, and next step would be dal add little water in cooker bowl add that too.

do the same as above, but cook chopped tomato 1 tin in 1 tbsp butter seperately until mushy and add it to dal and mix well and bring to 1 boil.

this way tasted very nice. in Telugu we say kammaga vundi.


© 2006 by Rajani Rayudu