Pepper 'n Spice

Happy Mother's Day! Hope you enjoyed the day as much as I did, starting off with a breakfast of pancakes prepared by my daughter. Nowadays, I add nutritional yeast in my food. It is inactive yeast unlike the active yeast used in bread. It is put together by heating and drying a species of yeast called Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Nutritional yeast help boost energy and immunity.     The constituents of the cutlet are... Moth bean - 1 cup Potato - 3 Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp Onion - 1 Garlic - 4 cloves Ginger - 1/2 inch Green chili - 2  Nutritional yeast flakes - 1/4 tsp Salt - 1/4 tsp Garam masala - 1/2 tsp Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp Water - for boiling moth bean, potato and cooking onion Sourdough bread - 2 slices   The recipe... Soak moth beans overnight with 2 or 3 changes of water. Drain water. Boil moth beans with water and a tad of salt. Strain water and set aside. Boil potatoes with water and a smidgeon of salt. Clear out excess water and allow to cool. Peel and chop...

This piquant bread recipe is a fascinating test in patience :-) Prepare the soaker of rolled oats in the morning so that you can develop the dough in the evening and the bulk fermentation can happen overnight. The tart and tangy sandwich bread can be baked the next morning. Enjoy the process :-)   The elements are...   For the soaker, Rolled oats - 100g Water - 105g   For the dough, Sourdough starter - 150g Almond milk - 230g Date sugar - 17g Wheat flour - 400g Salt - 1/2 tsp        The process... In a small bowl, prepare the soaker by adding water to the oats. Set aside for 8 hours or overnight.     In a big bowl, mix sourdough starter and almond milk Add in wheat flour, salt, date sugar and stir with a spatula.          Then mix with hand until all the dry flour is incorporated. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.       Add the soaker on top of the dough and knead wit...

 Sourdough wheat bread is super healthy. My aunt, Sandy shared this awesome recipe.  The bread doesn't rise much even though both sourdough starter and yeast are added. But once in the oven and baked, its incredible. You should try it too. It's as easy as falling off a log :-) The additives...   Dry ingredients... Wheat flour - 3 cups Salt - 1/2 tsp Date sugar - 1 Tbsp Yeast - 2 tsp   Wet ingredients... Water, lukewarm - 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp Sourdough starter - 1 cup The method... In a small glass bowl, mix some of the warm water with yeast and date sugar. Allow 10 minutes rest so that the yeast starts to activate and bubbles form on the surface.           Add rest of the water and sourdough starter into the yeast mixture. Stir.          In a separate, bigger bowl, combine flour and salt. Add the yeast fusion into the dry bowl and bring it together with a spatula. Use your hand to knead, to get a firm dough. Cover with a...

Flax seeds are the protein ingredient of this bread. They are also a rich source of plant-based omega-3 fatty acid called alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). So for a vegetarian, a tablespoon of ground flaxseeds daily provide the required amounts of omega-3's. This wheat bread recipe is quite uncomplicated. The long preparation time is mostly for the proofing of the bread, when you rest the dough so that it doubles in size. Go ahead and give a go in baking :-)    The ingredients of the bread... Wheat flour - 3 and 1/4 cups Flax seed - 2 Tbsp Yeast - 3/4 Tbsp Date sugar - 3/4 tsp Salt - 1/2 tsp Water, warm - 1 and 1/2 cups     The modus operandi... Grind the flax seeds into a powder. Mix it with the wheat flour. In a separate bowl. add yeast, date sugar and 1/4 cup water.            Set aside for 10 minutes for the yeast to activate. You will notice bubbles forming on the water surface.         Add the yeast melange and the r...

Wheat bread is healthful as compared to white bread, which is made from refined flour. Since we prepare the Indian bread called chapati regularly, we always have wheat flour or atta at home. So, all set to bake! :-) Usually, bread making needs cow's milk and refined sugar. I used homemade oat milk and date sugar. And the texture and flavor of the baked bread was just perfect. The elements of the bread...   Wheat flour- 3 cups and 1/2 cup for dusting   Salt - 1 tsp   Date sugar - 2 Tbsp and 1 tsp   Yeast - 1 and 1/2 tsp   Water - 3/4 cup   Oat milk (homemade) - 1/2 cup Olive oil, extra virgin - 2 Tbsp  Sunflower seeds - a few     The modus operandi... Take 1/4 cup lukewarm water, add 1 tsp date sugar and yeast. Mix well. Set aside to rise, 10 minutes. Combine flour, date sugar and salt. In a separate bowl, add oat milk, oil and remaining water. Add this to risen yeast mixture. Add wet ingredients to flour mix, adding little by litt...

Bread is one of the staple foods in many countries. When it is leavened with yeast, the yeast works on the carbohydates in the dough to produce carbondioxide. It is this that creates the air pockets in bread. Bread can be made from different types of flour like wheat, rye, ragi, finger millet and pearl millet. Here, I baked white bread with all-purpose flour. The constituents are... All-purpose flour -  3 cups and 1/4 cup for dusting Water - 1/2 cup Almond milk - 1/2 cup Sugar - 2 Tbsp and 1 tsp Olive oil - 4 Tbsp Salt - 1 tsp Yeast - 2 tsp    The method...   In a bowl, mix 1 tsp sugar and yeast with 1/4 cup lukewarm water. Set aside to rise, 10 minutes.        Combine flour, rest of the sugar and salt. In a separate bowl, add almond milk, oil and remaining water.         Add the oil mixture to the risen yeast bowl.   Add wet ingredients to flour mix, adding little by little, mixing well with a spatula. You will ...

Cutlets are conventionally deep fried so that it is crunchy and crispy. Baking cutlets is an oil free method to make them brittle and crackling. I used leftover moth bean and coconut stir fry, some boiled potatoes and a small grated beetroot to form the patty.  The building blocks... Moth bean and coconut stir fry (Moth thoran) - 5 Tbsp Potato - 4 Beetroot - 1/2 Roasted bengal gram (split brown chickpeas) - a handful Egg, organic brown - 1 White bread - 2 slices The process... Boil potatoes in water with a smidge of salt. Allow to cool. Mash it with the back of a fork's tines. Peel and grate beetroot. Put together bengal gram, potato, beetroot and moth bean stir fry. Make small balls of the mishmash. Flatten them into discs. Grind the bread slices into crumbs. Break and whisk an egg. Dip the hodgepodge discs in egg and roll them on the breadcrumbs. Line a baking tray with baking paper and gently place these discs on them.  Preheat oven to 200C. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes flipp...