Breadfruit (Dhel) with Beef

1 Breadfruit (Dhel)
250g beef
4-5 leaves of Spinash leaves (optional)
4 teaspoons Chilli powder (or to taste)
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 cup coconut milk small amount
salt


Cut the breadfruit into mediam size pieces (1.5" X 2"). Also cut the beef into small pieces and wash well.

Put all the breadfruit and beef pieces into a saucepan and add some water, currypowder, chilli powder, salt and cook in medium heat, until the breadfruit pieces become tender.

Then and coconut milk and cook for another 5-6 minutes (Add more salt and chilli powder if required)

Finally add some Spinash leaves if required.

This is really good with Bread or Rice.

Naan

2 1/2 cups warm water
2 teaspoons dry yeast
6 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon salt
6 teaspoons sugar (Optional)


Add water and yeast to a large bowl. Add 3-4 cups of the flour, a cup at a time. Stir, using a wooden spoon, in one direction for 1 minute. Add salt and sugar. Add remaining flour, a cup at a time, stirring after each addition. Stop adding flour after the dough is stiff (you might not want to use it all).

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough until it is smooth and easy to handle for about 10 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball and put in a well-oiled bowl. Cover with a wet towel and let rise in a warm place until it gets doubled for about an hour.

Punch the dough and divide into 4 equal pieces. Flatten each piece into an 8 x 6 inch oval. Let rest for 10 minutes. Wet fingers with water and "dimple" the bread by pressing your fingertips into the dough and stretching the dough, and make them thin.

Put the bread to baking stone (You can use the Nonstic Pan or Roti Thatiya). Bake until bread is golden on top and brown and crusty on the bottom for about 4-5 minutes.

Naan can be served with a meat and/or gram curry.

Ulundu Wade

Ulundu (Ulundu ata)- 1 cup
Big Onion finely chopped-1 medium size
Green Chilli finely chopped-1 medium size
Curry leaves finely chopped-2 table spoons
Baking soda - 2 pinches
Salt to taste
Oil as required for frying


Soak Ulundu in water for 5 hours.Grind the soaked urad dhal into a fine paste i.e. when you take the batter in your fingers you should not feel the grains (Add water to the batter little by little so that the batter doesn’t go watery). The batter should be thick. It should not flow freely from the spoon when you pour it down.

Mix Onion, Green Chilli, Curry leaves and Salt together. Add the above mixture to the batter and mix well. Add baking soda to the batter and mix well.

Heat oil.

Dip your hands in water.Take the batter of the size of a small ball in your palm and pat it to form a circle.Dip your index finger in water and make a hole in the patted batter in the center.

Fry the patted batter in oil till golden brown on both sides.

Soft and puffy Vadas are tastes good with coconut sambol.


Tips:

To get soft, puffy Vadas the batter should be very fine without grains.

Add baking soda just before cooking. Do not mix baking soda with the batter and leave it for a long time before cooking.

While taking the batter in hand dip your palm in water so that after patting the batter, you can drop it in the oil. If the batter is watery it will not freely drop into the oil.

To check if the Vada is cooked fully wash the tip of a knife, pierce the vada and take it out. If no batter sticks on to the knife Vada is cooked or else more cooking is needed.

Patties

Makes 12-15 Patties

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup butter
5-6 Tbsp cold water (I prefer to use milk)

Meat and/or vegetable mixture for filling


Combine well the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a bowl.
Put the butter to the flour mixture (cut the butter into small pieces).
Add water a tablespoon at a time and mix well by hand and can be formed into a ball.

Flatten on the surface and roll out thinly.

Cut it into medium sized round shapes (You can use a saucer or a Patties cutter)

Put a small amount of mixture (Eg: Table spoon) on to the middle of the round shaped dough.

Pull one end or half of the dough over the other forming a half-circle shape.

Seal edges by pinching with a fork.

Repeat with the rest of the dough and fillings.

If you are using an oven
Arrange the Patties on a lightly greased tray and brush tops with egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tsp milk).
Bake in oven for 15 minutes @ 190 C. Remove and serve warm or cold.

If DeepFrying
You may also deep-fry the Patties instead of baking.

Meat and/or vegetable mixture
You can use fish/sardine or meat and add some vegetables, onions, salt, pepper, chili pieces etc. and cook for some time (Add sauces if required)

Pan Pizza (easy recipe)

Serves 4-5 ppl

750g Flour
1 sachet Yeast (instant)(or 3teaspoons)
Milk/Water (about 2-3 cups) (Milk would make the dough tastier)
3 teaspoons Salt
2 teaspoons Sugar (I used to add about 10 teaspoons of sugar)
100g margarine

Meat and/or vegetable mixture for topping


Mix all the ingredients and knead the dough well and leave aside to rise for 20 minutes. Later divide this into 08 balls and leave aside once again to rise (until the size gets doubled for about 40minutes)

Note that the dough tends to become sour if left out for too long, and should be refrigerated.

Roll out the dough with a rolling pin dusting some flour on the surface to avoid sticking to the rolling pin.

Take a baking tray, apply some oil and put the dough on top of it.
Spread tomato sauce (I like Chili and Tomato Sauce) on the bread and arrange all the meat and vegetables, topped with cheese.

(Cheese is not mandatory)

Put into a pre heated oven bake at 190 c for about 10-12 minutes.



Meat and/or vegetable mixture

You can use sausages or meat and add some vegetables, onions, capsicum etc. and cook for some time (Add sauces if required)