CURRY AND SPICE: STOVE TOP VEGETARIAN BREAD

CAKES & BREADS; TWO GOOD THINGS THE WEST GIFTED US!

They say cake & bread is kind of an addiction; in my case it is! I go out for a walk and before heading back home, I would stop near a bakery, grab a bun and walk back home for a full lunch!That I break my fast with a polo bun or an egg tart is a wrong thing to do! Few years back,I stopped eating bread varieties & noodles except for home baked cakes!I keep doing them without the son getting to have them. Baby knows mumma is a hard core foodie, the reason why he calls me "mota pet"! It was his father who taught him to call me "motu mumma" during his vacation trips to home years back!The littler started making fun of mumma following his father. I do not mind to an extent until they shout at me to an extreme! In that case, I go to the silent mode and they look sad! To them both, I am their play toy! What they do not understand is that I cannot always accept to be taken as granted!Now it feels very quiet around, and mumma wants to be disturbed by her weird boy who would often close all the doors & windows and watch television, sitting next to mumma!I am pretty jealous of those parents who get to see their college going kids every weekend, feed them well and send them back to the college on Monday with a lighter heart!The father wanted the son to get independent, the son too wished to run away from mumma perhaps!That is when food; a cake, a bread & a bun become my greatest friend! If that is a disease, be it!

DO I SUFFER FROM EATING DISORDER?

Yes,I do!We are to have a late lunch today, not because I am cooking for a client but because the man who is working from home is on a meeting until 3:30 pm! We will eat thereafter!Beyond 2pm, I cannot fast; see I am having another round of tea with a "naru & muri"!

If I say food adds more of colour to my life, it is true. It is specially true during this pandemic when we practically have nothing to do!I wish I could earn few bucks when I am free after my biggest duty is done and the bird fled the nest! The pandemic left no scope for us non-working dependant pass holders to get a job even in an Indian concern, here in this island!I had a talk with an old colleague today noon who gave me the actual picture, even relief teachers are requiring to have at least a permanent residential status! This girl I know since 2013 when her elder daughter was young, the younger was about to be born. From standard one's class teacher in that concern, she has elevated herself to an academic advisory position in another school by 2021!Look at me! What do I do? At least, let me feel better with good food & fresh bakes at home!Baking a bread on a Sunday morning, after a busy Saturday was not in my plan!I had to go to the market yesterday to deliver food to a client today!And then it happened, the yeast did not rise and I was in a hurry to get two good Taiwan Fulkopi / Cauliflower! I finally managed a VEGETARIAN BREAD WITH BLUE CHEESE because the man did not wish to have Blue Cheese with his drinks, neither me!

WHAT IS THIS STOVETOP BREAD?

It is a bread I cooked on the gas top.I was in a hurry to visit the market, the yeast was not rising but the BREAD had to happen, else the BLUE CHEESE would spoil! I took a drastic step, jo bhi hoga dekha jayega! I mixed together everything, kneaded a dough, put the dough bowl inside the microwave and went out for 2-3 hours!At one point, I even forgot that I had left a bread dough for rising at home. I was roaming at Fair Price Xtra, searching for my lost trolley, a good frozen pizza, this and that! Once I found my trolley, I ran back home; I saw the yeast dough had risen so much that it touched the base of cover!Thereafter,I had this STOVE TOP VEGETARIAN BREAD done in an hour; beyond my expectations!I was happy!

I cooked a Aloo-Matar Curry / Aloo-Motorshutir Shobji with Kulambu spices to go with it for our dinner!

The bread indeed had a Blue Cheese smell, but we could eat it!I will not let anything go waste!

INGREDIENTS :

REFINED FLOUR : 11/2 CUP

YEAST : 1 TBSP

BLUE CHEESE : 50 GM [YOU CAN SKIP]

OIL : 2 TBSP

SUGAR : 1 TBSP [I USED BROWN SUGAR]

SALT : 1/2 TSP

GREEN OLIVE : 7-8 [TO GARNISH]

PROCEDURE :

My start was wrong, you can see the yeast did not rise even after soaking in warm water for 7-8 minutes!

Yet, I proceeded with the recipe!I took the flour in a bowl & added the yeast, sugar & salt, the Blue Cheese and prepared a dough adding a little more of plain water!