Bagels – My 1st Attempt!

What is your experience in baking,  do you enjoy it, do you look forward to bread baking and the whole measuring, kneading and waiting process. I am like that, i love doing breads at home and enjoy the whole part. It is a pleasure to see dough rise and aha the final product fresh out of the oven is a real treat. Here i declare I am in love with baking breads.

Some days back through some random blog, i came across this site Fresh From the Oven, It is a monthly event where in a particular bread has to be baked by all the members, they had started this way back in 2009 and till now the members have baked a plethora of breads. So i jumped in to this and was so happy to be a part of this. This months challenge is bagels and till now i have never seen them here in Mysore or have never tasted them, but took this as a challenge and went ahead with the recipe. 

Here i have to tell that this was my least liked bread  coz according to be it is a very hard and dense bread with a very chewy texture,and it has a completely different method of baking as well, the dough balls are dunked in boiling water and then baked which results in a very dense and chewy bread. But I am happy that i tried some new bread this time and if you have eaten bagels earlier and love the dense and chewy breads do give it a try.

Bagels

Recipe Source King Arthur Flour

Makes 8 small Bagels

Ingredients

For Dough

All Purpose Flour  2 cups

Eagle Active Instant Yeast 1/2 tbsp

1tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

3/4 cup water + more if only reqd.

For Water Bath

3 cups water

2 tbsp Sugar

Toppings

Poppy Seeds

Sesame Seeds

Method.

Add yeast and sugar in 3/4 cup warm water and let proof for 10 mins.

In a bowl mix salt and flour nicely.

Add the yeast mixture and mix nicely to form a dough.

The dough will be a bit stiff when compared to most your regular breads,  it wont be a sticky dough.

Transfer the dough to a clean surface and knead the dough nicely for 5-6 mins.

Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and let rest till it doubles. It took 45 mins.

Divide the dough into 8 balls and place them on a baking sheet. Cover with a damp cloth and let rest for 20 mins.

Heat the water in a wide pan by adding sugar.

Preheat oven to 200c

Keep a baking tray ready and sprinkle cornmeal or semolina all over the tray.

The main part is to shape the bagels, here is how the site mentions “Use your index finger to poke a hole through the center of each ball, then twirl the dough on your finger to stretch the hole till it’s about 2 inches in diameter (the entire bagel will be about 4 inches across). Place each bagel on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, and repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.”

If you find this method a bit difficult,  what you can also do is take the dough ball and roll it into a rope and then tuck the edges,  i did try this but was not very happy with the shape so went ahead with the method mentioned above.

Very gently put the bagels to the simmering water and cook them for 90 secs.

Remove them one by one with a slotted spoon and place them on a baking tray.

Sprinkle the poppy seeds and the sesame seeds on the top and then bake them for 20 mins at 200c

The bagels were seemed to be ready at this time but were not browned on the top very nicely so I usually use the grill mode for 2-3 mins for the top to get a light brown color.

Serve them warm with butter, cream cheese ar any condiment of your choice.

Pinks Notes

This is the basic recipe and you can make it into a sweeter version as well by adding some cinnamon , raisin and extra sugar in the basic dough.

Toppings can also be changed according to your taste.

You can sandwich the bagels and fill them with cream cheese and cucumber with salt and pepper for a savory version.

Whipped cream can also be sandwiched between the bagels.

So have fun eating and trying these.

These are off to  Fresh From The Oven Challenge which is been hosted by Purely Food.

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My 1st Chocolate Tart N 10000 Views.

As I have told before as well blogging has been fun, it is so gr8 to visit so many wonderful blogs and to realize  that people do visit my blog as well. When i started my blog , i dint wanted to achieve anything or you know go famous with my blog, it was just for my love of cooking that i started it.  The  name Recipe Diary was kept only coz I have tons of diaries where in have jotted down my recipes. Like most bloggers i love cooking and love to prepare new recipes as well and it feels great to share it with other people as well. So thanx to all the people who took time to peep into my blog and take some time out to comment on my blog as well. A Special mention has to be given to Harini And Simran, as these 2 ladies are the inspiration for my blog, theirs are the 1st blogs i had discovered on the web and love them for the encouragement they have given with their kind feedback as well. So here’s a toast to my blog for its 10000 Views. 

I cooked these delicious chocolate tarts to celebrate this occasion e a nice base and they stated quiet well in the fridge as well after pouring the filling in it. Bite into these crunchy and flaky tarts an chocolate filling.These tarts have been in my mind from a long time, actually from the day simran had posted this recipe, but dint have tart molds on hand and only recently did i get these mini tart moulds and this is my 1st experiment with preparing tarts. These are  the best tarts for a chocolate lover as the filling contains only Chocolate Ganache. Do try to indulge in these sweet bites.

Chocolate Tart

Recipe Source Bombay Foodie

Ingredients

30 gms butter

1 tsp oil

2 tsp sugar

1 tbsp water

1/3 cup flour

For the Chocolate Filling

1/4 cup Dark Chocolate Chips

1/3 cup Amul Cream

Method.

In a pan mix butter, oil, sugar and water and heat the whole mixture till the butter melts and slightly browns itself.

Take the pan off the heat and add  1/3 cup flour and mix the whole mixture till it forms a ball.

Spoon the mixture into 2 small tart moulds and spread around lightly with a spatula.

When cooled down to handle, pat it on the shell and all around then the edges as well.

Prick it a fork and bake in a preheated oven at 160c for 1 5 mins or until starts to brown a bit.

Let these tart shells cool down in the fridge for an hour.

For the chocolate ganache, add 1/4 chocolate chips into a bowl and place this on a pan filled with water.(the double boiler method)

Add the cream on top of the chips and when the chocolate starts to melt mix the whole mixture till it is nice and smooth.

Pour this ganache over the tarts and chill for some more hours.

Demould from the tart pan and enjoy these sweet delicacies.

Pinks Notes

In the original recipe , simran is specifically called for unsalted butter but as I  didn’t have that on hand, i have used salted butter so increased the qty of sugar to 2 tsp.

I personally loved the flavour of the sweet and salt tart, but if you have unsalted butter go ahead with it.

I can imagine so many different fillings for the tart that you will find many more mini tarts recipes here.

 

This tart is off to Bake fest 4 hosted by Anusha of Tomato Blues  and started by vardhini of Zesty Palette

This is also off to the sweet luv valentine event hosted again by Vardhini of Zesty Palette

     

Chutneys – The Basis of Indian Snacks.

 

Chutneys are a integral part of out daily food and Coriander Mint Chutney, Tamarind Chutney and Garlic Chutney are a main part of indian street food snacks. Without these any snack will lack the punch required in taste. My fav among these is the coriander chutney and it is always there in my refrigerator. Tamarind Chutney and Garlic Chutney is prepared very occasionally depending upon the snacks. So Lets head to the recipes directly. 

Coriander Mint Chutney

Ingredients

1 cup coriander leaves (Cleaned and chopped)

1/2 cup Mint leaves 

3 Medium G.chillies 

1″ Ginger Chopped

Roasted Jeera 1/2 tsp

Jaljeera Powder 1 tsp (You can chat masala as well)

Rock Salt 1/2 tsp

Juice of half a lemon

Method

Add all the ingredients in a blender and make it to a smooth paste. Add little spoonfuls of water if required.

Transfer it to a air tight back and this can be stored in the fridge for upto 2 weeks.

Notes

I never add regular salt in  this chutney as the color of the chutney changes to a darkish color after a couple of days.

Adding rock salt gives it a different taste as well and the chutney will stay in green color for a longer time.

This chutney has a tangy taste due to the addition of chat masala and lemon juice.

Skip any one of these if you want to reduce the tanginess.

Tamarind Chutney

Method

Tamarind  cup

Jaggery 1/4 cup grated

Rock Salt 1 tsp

Roasted Jeera Powder 1/2 tsp

Method

Soak tamarind in warm water for 1/2 hour.

When the tamraind is fully soft remove the pulp by pressing it between your fingers.

Transfer the pulp to a pan add all the remaining ingredients and cook it till it reaches a semi thick consistency.

Cool and transfer to a air tight box and store in the fridge.

This can be stored for upto a month as well.

Garlic Chutney

Recipe Source Tarla Dalal

Ingredients

2 whole garlic pods cleaned

1 tbsp Chilli Powder

Salt

Method

Combine all the 3 ingrediets in a blender along with some water and prepare a smooth chutney.

Transfer to a box and store this for upto a week.

Notes

garlic chutney can be prepared in many different ways , i had prepare this along with a famous gujrathi street food (recipe coming soon)

So try out these lip smacking chutneys and tickle your tastebuds!

These Chutneys are off to “The Big Chutney Chowdown” event hosted by Priya of Now Serving.

A Creamy Curd Dip N My 1st Product Review.

“Briannai Nutrichoice Multigrain Thins” this Is the  goodie bag I won  from Lubna’s Blog somedays back. Winning always makes us happy and I was damn happy to have won something for the 1^st time in the bogosphere. Loved these thins and it has become a regular in my daugters snack box. So I planned that this is a good product for my 1^st Product review.

We all are familiar with Brittania as it is one of the few brands which is there in the market from a long time. Let it be the humble

Britannia Marie Gold Or Good Day biscuits which is a must have on tea time.I love  my tea and love to dunk goodday biscuit in it. As time changes and peoples dietary habits change, Britannia is also taking into view of Peoples eating habits and trying to launch new products based on what people  prefer to snack on.

I loved these thins and they are a great option for snack time. Also that these are non fried also lifts up its selling quotient. We all are opening ourselves to use multigrain in our daily diet and we all are already familiiar with the benefits of flax seeds. These crisp also come with a goodness of Oats, Corn, Ragi , Rice and wheat along apunch of flaxseeds as well. These are not fried and is always a plus point. I received these in  two flavors, ‘Herb N Tomato’ and ‘Mint N lime’. Both are good in taste but I am more fond of th Mint and lemon .

I also love their tag line

‘Snack That Loves You Back”

“Filled with So Much Goodness it Returns Your Love For it”

Disclaimer : This product review is entirely based on my taste and my likeness of the product, I have not been paid to do this”

I prepared a simple dip to go along with thins on a evening snack and here goes the recipe for it. The dip is very simple with no complicated flavours in it. The thins does have a punch of flavors in it and so prepared a simple dip to pair with it.

Creamy Minted and Curd Dip

Ingredients

Curds 250 ml

Mint leaves 3 Finely Chopped

Milk 1 tbsp

Salt

Chilli Flakes

Method

Line the seive with a Muslin clothe and pour th curds into it.

Fold the clothes from all 4 sides and place it in the fridge by tying it to one of the fridge rack.

There is no need of the seive now and just keep a big bowl below the cloth to catch the dripping water.

Let rest like this for atleast 3 hrs or overnight also will do.

When ready to use press th cloth nicely so that if any remaining curd whey is drained.

Tranfer to a bowl add in salt and mint leaves. Mix nicely

Add milk and give agood stir.

Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle with chilli flakes.

Let it rest in fridge till served.

Pinks Notes

Serve these with any chips, crackers or cucumber or carrot sticks.

It is also a good spread on a sandwich and we enjoyed it at home.

 A Good drizzle of olive oil will also taste great.

This Dip is going to Priya’s Event The Big Chutney Chow Down ……Do hop over there to drool over various chutneys and dips in the making.

 

Caramelized Puffed Rice With A Dash Of Spice.

These remind me of my school days where we used to get these kallepuri ball near our school for a mere 50 paise in those old days…i hardly find these now in the store much. After seeing the ingredients for the this months 1st Magic Mingle , i was thinking about preparing either a hot cocoa or a cake by adding these two ingredients…but days passed by and i completely forgot of this. Speaking to one one of my friends i remembered these again and thought of preparing this.

These are very easy to prepare and require very less ingredients as well, and a great munchies  for the kids.

Caramelized puffed Rice

Ingredients

Puffed Rice 1 1/2  cups

Grated Jaggery 1/4cup + 2tbsp

Grated Cinnamon 1/4 tsp

Chilli Powder 1/4 tsp

Water 2 tbsp

1/4 tsp oil to grease

Method

Dry roast puffed rice till crisp.Keep aside.

Grease the back of a plate and keep ready.

Mix water and jaggery and cook nicely till the jaggery melts and thickens.

It has to read a soft ball consistency, to test this add a drop of the syrup to cold water and if it forms a ball and doesn’t spread ll over the water it is ready.

It takes up to 5 mins to reach this.

Add the Cinnamon and Chilli  and mix.

Add the puffed rice and mix nicely and you have to be quick doing this.

Transfer the mixture to the back of the plate and spread evenly all over.

After 2 mins cut into desired shape and start munching!!!

Pinks Notes.

You can prepare balls out of this as well, for this no need of spreading it on a plate, after u mix the puffed rice to the jaggery, grease your hands and start making balls.

This is off to Magic Mingle and also to Kids Delight event started by Srivalli of Spice your life which is Guest hosted by Edible Entertainment