Today's recipe is very popular and common one but we never think of making it at home. If we go to Indian restaurants, along with some veg or non-veg dish, we must order this one too. Nowadays you get them in American retail chains like Costco. I am taking about Naan. I have found several recipes for Naan but never dared to try out at home. Finally I got the courage and went ahead with the experiment. The end result was really satisfying. Didn't imagine that it could be just like restaurant's one.
Naan is a thick flat and soft bread, more like pillow. It is served hot and when brushed with ghee or butter, it tastes too delicious. It can be used to scoop other foods or served stuffed with a filling. Naan has many variations and it may be made in different flavors too. You may use whatever spice or flavors you like and can stuff with your favorite fillings. It may be with your choice of verbs, vegetables or meat. There are number of ways to enjoy this bread. It goes well with different non-veg dishes like Mutton Rogan Josh or Chicken Tikka Masala. At the same time, vegetarians can have it with Matar Paneer or Baigan Bharta. Nowadays western cousins are making fusion dishes based on Naan like Naan Pizza, Naan wrap or Naan burger and they are slowly growing popular.
1. In a medium sized bowl or in a deep mug or in a measuring cup, dissolve the yeast in the warm water ( 115 F or about 45 C, use a food thermometer, but if you don't have one just feel it, quite warm to touch, more than body heat, that is 98- 99 F) . Add the sugar, and stir it until they are dissolved. Let it rest for about 10 minutes or until the mixture is foamy and almost double in size.
2. Take a large mixing bowl, add the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda to it.
3. Once the yeast is foamy, add the warm milk and yogurt to it.
4. Now pour wet mixture to the dry ingredients mixture and mix it with a wooden spatula. Once they are well mixed use your hands and knead to finish mixing together. It should be sticky but form a soft ball.
5. Cover the bowl with a wet towel and let it sit in a warm place for at least 1 hr or until it doubles in volume.
6. Once the dough rises up in double, punch down it lightly and divide it into equal sized 8 portions. First make round balls, use loose flour if needed. Now take a rolling pin and roll each piece of into an oval shape. It should be 5 to 7 inches long and enough thick. Repeat the method with the rest of the dough.
7. Take a cast iron skillet or iron tawa warm it up. Brush both the sides of the Naan with melted butter and sprinkle nigella seeds and place it on the hot skillet. Cover it with a lid and bake for 1 minute. Flip and cook on the other side until large toasted black spots appear on the other side. Brush with more butter, sprinkle chopped cilantro. Repeat the same process for the rest. Serve hot. If you have leftover freeze it or keep in a Ziplock bag for next 1 or 2 days at room temperature.
Wish all my readers a very happy new year and hope 2014 will fulfill all your dreams and ambitions. I am back after a long break. We spent a very relaxed and warm year-end vacation in the midst of beautiful and sunny San Diego weather. It’s so hard to imagine 70 F temperature and people going to beaches in the last week of December. So only way to feel the cold and snow was to visit nearby mountain tops like big bears. It was so refreshing to see snows on the road while driving. My kid had a nice skiing experience for the first time. Like every other years, we celebrated 31st night at residence of our family friend with other members from Bengali community. It was great fun with authentic Indian food and music.
But eventually I had to be back to my old routine and so started preparing myself for new blog post. I was searching for some quick and easy recipe that would be perfect to start the New Year. During the vacation, we tried out different Chinese cousins and today’s idea is influenced by those experiences. Today I will share the recipe of a soup, which is favorite not only at my family, but probably to most of the people who likes soups. It’s called Egg Drop Soup. This is the most soothing and comforting dish that needs only three basic ingredients. It is very simple, flavorful and a healthy choice, if you are looking for a lighter soup. It takes only 15 minutes to be on the table from oven.
It is a Chinese Soup of beaten eggs in boiled chicken broth. The chicken broth is seasoned with white pepper and soy sauce. It is finished by adding a thin stream of beaten eggs to the boiling broth. Once it’s done thin and silken threads of cooked egg floats in the soup. You can add your choice of vegetables in the broth that makes the soup healthier! A warm bowl of protein and vegetables give you that feel good factor at any time. I am sure that it will slowly become everybody’s favorite in your home and then regular refreshment in the evening.
This is my version of Egg Drop Soup. I have no idea how to make the authentic one. But this one is based on the tastes that we used to have American Chinese or Indo-Chinese restaurants.
Spring onion or green onion : ( a handful ) finely chopped ( keep the green part and white part separately).
Vegetables : I used finely sliced carrot ( a handful ), you can use mushroom / bean sprout / celery / tomato / tofu.
1. In a small bowl, mix the corn starch with the water. Stir it well to blend and set aside.
2. Take a medium sized soup pot, pour the stock or broth and add vegetable and the white part of spring onion. Bring it to a boil.
3. Let it boil for couple of minutes. Add white pepper, salt, and soy sauce.
4. Add slowly the corn starch mixture to boiling soup. Cook for about 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Switch off the gas and pour it into bowls. Garnish with chopped green onions and serve hot.