I was miraculously spared yesterday from earning those adjectives..... "ten thousand blistering barnacles" to "baboons" which I thought was inevitable after adding that amount of "bhaja mosholar guro" to the veggie dish and that number of "chilli padi" to the chutney. To ease my tension, I even tried one number to another in my broken voice... from "Julie aaaaa I labh you" to "Roop tera mastana".... these two songs our mother did not allow me to hum freely, hence they are my favourites. Someone not only spared me but told the "pav" bread tasted good, I think Captain Haddock has a thing for Bianca at the back of his mind. I do not mind it so long he eats the food I cook with love. I am anyway tired of people expressing their doubt on whether I serve him what I cook at all or all of them pass through my food pipe! His mother too tried to at times but she knows that I have fed him more and more varieties than she did. Oh yes! I do not bother to safeguard the respect of those who pose a threat to mine. Since she is the primary reason why I get to live a good life, I will always take care of her which is called duty and not love. For the man or any, a mother, is a mother is a mother, is a mother! I need not interfere in that!
No, I will not start with that "saas-bahu" saga, I stopped watching television just to avoid those boring soaps with utter lies.... all of a sudden after marriage the daughter-in-law starts loving her "sasural" more than her roots, the maa-in-law loving the "bahu" more than her son and the ladies of the house cutting "gobi & baingan" all day long. Had I have owned that big a kitchen, I would have bought an air fryer, an oven besides my microwave, a hand blender, this & that. That cannot be as ours is a rented 1100 sq.ft. area where you suffer from breathlessness at times. In such a scenario, I do what is required, plant some greens around... they freshen the air and keep me happy. Happier do I feel to cook, Cristine is the major reason who contributes to my energy level while cooking, she helps me immensely in this area. Yesterday, after we came back from the wet market around 12 noon, I thought of baking "pav" initially.... then prepared the dough for it following a couple of recipes but was unhappy with the shape of the balls.... I am miserable even in simple artistry! I preferred preparing a "pav" bread. If "pav" means 1/4 of a bread, may I call it so?
At night I served it with roasted herbed chicken legs, the spicy aloo-mushroom, tomato-chilli padi chutney. I obviously had to have my share of the brown rice while enjoyed me baked bread with Planta spread on it and tea this morning.
The combined platter of CINNAMON FLAVOURED PAV BREAD & BHAJA MOSHOLAI ALOO MUSHROOM was indeed loved by the family. The husband's all time love is "double dimer omelette aar butter toast".... He is still at home today, getting ready to drive to the neighbouring country... so Cristine is preparing his favourite food that includes my home baked bread.
Looking at that omelette, I wished for a single egg one, but I know I will have indigestion until I eat some rice at night.... rice two times a day will turn me into a barrel from a football.
It is raining badly with strong wind, a perfect weather to sing my favourite numbers but a gripping fear has occupied my mind. The son goes to school alone these days instead of the school bus following his brother like friend Spandan.... what if it rains in the afternoon.... when the school gives over there is total chaos at the gate.... until the husband reaches and messages me, I cannot be at peace. The condition I suffer from will never leave me but I will sustain everything that comes my way... to get that strength I chant "Naam Myoho Renge Kyo".... This religion is not so strict as Hinduism... I see them offering noodles, meat, fish, fruits to the Buddha.
I have started recording what I hum with the help of a friend.... however poor my voice is, I am enjoying documenting few numbers in a forum with practically no views. I do not mind, I am not a Shreya Ghosal who does a 6 hours of "rewaz" everyday I heard. If ever I can train myself decently, I will share the information of the space with my readers and friends. So, that has occupied a precious part of my time. If only I could home deliver food to few Indian Homes here who hate cooking! I have to watch movie, listen to music & poems, sing, read.... I cannot turn myself into a machine.... the reason why I left taking reading, speech & drama classes in a school here, what a bore and waste of my time that was. The Day I will perfect the "poori" for "phuchka".... I will write about my first school at work, my experience as a teacher there in Barasat.... of the 5 beautiful years there.... "gondhoraj lebu deoa tetul jol" at Haritola More was the best. I have to get the pooris crisper. Till then enjoy this poor baker's vegetarian, dinner platter CINNAMON FLAVOURED PAV BREAD & BHAJA MOSHOLAI ALOO MUSHROOM .... which is just perfect on an all vegetarian day. I wish to share the recipe of the tomato-chilli chutney in a separate post some time later.
Recipe Sources for the Pav Bread :
tarladalal.com
anybodycanbake.com
mygingergarlickitchen.com [Anupama used to be a friend, use to love her excellent photography & innovative ideas besides few others'.... lost contact.... I got more self centric and keep to myself most of the time]
INGREDIENTS FOR THE PAV BREAD :
REFINED FLOUR : 2 COFFEE MUG
MILK POWDER : 1/2 COFFEE MUG
DRY BAKER'S YEAST : 8-9 GM
BAKING POWDER : 1 TBSP
CINNAMON POWDER : 11/2 TSP
SALT : 1/2 TSP
SUGAR : 1 TBSP
MILK : 1/2 SMALL TEA CUP + 2 TBSP
BUTTER :3 TBSP + 2 TSP [MELTED]
INGREDIENTS FOR THE SPICY POTATO MUSHROOM :
POTATO : 300 GM [I USED A SMALLER VARIETY]
BUTTON MUSHROOM : 8-10
CUMIN SEED : 1 TSP
CORIANDER SEED : 11/2 TSP
DRY RED CHILLI : 4
TURMERIC POWDER : 1/2TSP
BLACK PEPPER POWDER : 1/2 TSP
CHOPPED FRESH CORIANDER : 2TBSP
LEMON JUICE : 1TBSP
GINGER PASTE : 2 TSP
OIL : 2-3TBSP
PROCEDURE :
Let us proceed with the recipe of Pav Bread first.
Warm 1/2 small tea cup of milk and dissolve 1tbsp sugar in it. Add the yeast and stir well. Keep aside for 3-4 minutes till it rises to double.
Now, take the refined flour, milk powder, salt, baking powder, cinnamon powder in a wide mouthed bowl. Mix well & then add the well risen yeast.
Fold in well. Add warm water little by little and prepare a smooth dough. This will take 7-8 minutes.
Add 3 tbsp of melted butter, knead well for another 4-5 minutes.
Did I make the dough overly sticky? Let's see how it goes! Cover it and keep inside the microwave or at any warm corner.
Within 45 minutes it will rise to double. I kept it for an hour!
Remove the cover, dust the kitchen top with some refined flour and place the dough on it.
Knead well again for 4-5 minutes. Make balls & arrange on a cake tin! I fail to give them a smooth finish! Brush oil on their top, cover with a moist towel & keep inside the microwave!The balls would rise considerably!
I preheated my mini toaster oven to 180*C. I baked the Pav bread at 180*C for 20 minutes.
Let us do the vegetarian side of Potato & Mushroom.
I dry roasted the cumin + coriander + dry red chillies for a minute, let them cool down.
Once cool, I dry grounded them to a coarse powder, that will take some 1-2 minutes at intervals.
I washed the potatoes, pricked each of them with a fork. I took them on a plate and microwaved at high for 4 minutes.
Once cold, I halved them.
I washed and halved the mushrooms. I marinated both the potatoes and mushrooms with freshly ground black peppers and some salt.
I heated the oil in a wok, tempered with 1/4tsp of cumin seeds.
Then I added the ginger paste, little salt and the turmeric to it and stirred for 2 minutes. I added 2 tsp of the ground spiced and stirred for 1/2 a minute.
I added the marinated potatoes and mushrooms and folded in well. I cooked covered just for 3-4 minutes.
I removed the cover and added the lemon juice and the chopped coriander. I stirred for 1/2 a minute.
We are done. I served the bread with the Bengali style potato and mushroom dish, roasted chicken, a tomato-chilli chutney whose recipe I wish to share later.
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