Komaj~ A Persian Date Bread With Turmeric & Cumin

Koma j~ A Persian Date Bread With Turmeric & Cumin

For this month in We Knead to  Bake we are baking  Komaj which is a Persian turmeric and cumin bread that’s filled with chopped dates.

I was skeptical about its acceptance at home and was right. Hubby refused to eat it! Since I suspected as much I made just 5 Komaj the rest I filled with cheese, chilli flakes and oregano. Sorry this I took  just one picture of the big roll I made and managed to delete that too.

Tthis dough has three rises instead of the usual two.

Khushboo Idli

Khushboo Idli

As a part of the Blogging Marathon groups we chat plus there are various recipes discussed, well you cannot be a foodie without that can you?

 In one such chats there were various idlis discussed. One of the  idlis discussed was was Khushboo Idli!  Now Khushboo means a pleasant smell in Hindi, so at the back of my mind I kept wondering what an aroma it must be having.

So imagine my surprise when I was told that the idli was named after Khushboo, the actress!! She was and is so famous is something that I was not aware of. Well my GK in the subject of movies is has always been questionable. J

Masala Dosa

Can you imagine the shock you get when you discover that the basic everyday breakfast items are not on your blog?

Well I am still reeling under the shock of the discovery!

So here is my basic dosa batter. Not the instant kind but what is generally in the fridge for use in case of an emergency.

Basically I love dosa so I am more partial to dosa batter so this container is a tiny bit bigger than the idli batter and given the fact that these batters do not reside in the fridge together anyone notices the difference.

Idli/ Steamed Rice Cakes

 Idli/ Steamed Rice Cakes

I do not believe it. I have no basic idli recipe on my blog?

 The variation is regular idli, yes but the humble everyday idli has no place? 

How has that been possible?

Well let’s have breakfast. Being from Dharwad, a small town in Northern Karnataka where food is the centre of the Universe we shall have breakfast. 

Breakfast in Dharwad never varies, Upit, Avalaki or Poha not the KandaPoha or Batata Poha like we have in Maharashtra but the full bodied Hachid Avalaki, Dosa, idli or Chapatti, bhakri!  At the most we will have poori!!

Tomato, Thyme, Sage and Double Cheese Tart

Tomato, Thyme, Sage and Double Cheese Tart

When Swathi asked me to suggest two baking dishes for the Baking Partners Challenge this tart was my first choice! 

It’s colourful and savoury and well I cannot claim its healthy! 

So it’s liked by the girls and I don’t have to beg them, “please finish that “! In fact I have to post whatever pictures I took before the attack!

Thanks Swathi for letting me choose the bakes else like I said the magazine would have been gracing my kitchen without a page being opened.

Tomato, Thyme, Sage and Double Cheese Tart

Cheddar and Sage Scones

Cheddar and Sage Scones

First I would like to thank Swathi for giving me this opportunity to suggest bakes here at Baking Partners. 

Lets face it I am safe baker I prefer tried and trusted recipes, and a lazy baker for I hardly open the books I buy for baking (or cooking for that matter) for that matter take up elaborate recipes.

Now at Ahmedabad airport I had picked up The BBC Good Food Issue for two reasons one  it was a vegetarian one  and two there was a Gordon Ramsay recipe featured. Boy was I excited! Hardly sat in the plane and that was the first page I opened, but sadly will never make it as the recipe calls for phyllo sheets , something we do not get here and I have no patience to make  the sheets. So I just kept the magazine on the kitchen side shelf. I did not think I will use the magazine at all.

Then at work I saw Swathi’s message asking me to suggest bakes. I just casually mentioned savoury bakes like tarts, scone I was surprised when Swathi asked to make two.

 I panicked!

 Then I realised that at the back of my mind I had these two interesting recipes that I had noticed in the same magazine.  These scones are very simple and the only complaint against them at home was why only 8 pieces or rather make one more batch !   

Neerphanas aa chi Bhaji/ Green or Raw Breadfruit Vegetable

We were on out whatsup talking about Breadfruit. Some of my friends wanted to know the difference between a breadfruit and jackfruit.

Breadfruit looks like this.

Bread Fruit Courtesy:Google

 Somewhat different form a jackfruit isn’t it? A jackfruit looks like this.

Jack Fruit Courtesy :http://raingold.com.my/site/jackfruit

 But unlike a jackfruit a breadfruit is used raw at least in Goa its use raw or green as the Americans say. I understand that bread fruit is  used ripe too in the Caribbean. Bread fruits are common in Kerala, South Tamilnadu, Maharashtra, and Goa. Apparently is used to make sambar etc in the south.

Now in Goa you will find these breadfruit trees aplenty, they will ripen and fall down but once they come to the market they are so very expensive. This season they touched Rs.250/- a piece! The rate varies according to the size and the freshness of the neerphanas as it is known locally.

In Goa the breadfruit or neerphanas is used to make Kappa’s, a shallow fried slice that is relished, in tonak or to make a dry vegetable called Neerphans bhaji!

This bhaji is not much appreciated by my kids so I make it when I have no other vegetable or when I have too much of neerphanas! Too much happens when we are gifted the neerphanas or when hubby cannot resist them and comes home with 2 or 3 of them!

Anyway as  I  said  we were discussing the making of this vegetable with PJ then I decided to make it anyway since I needed to feed my blog baby! :D