Griddle Fried Mughlai Breads With Almonds And Poppy Seeds Food

ALMOND POPPY SEED BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the sugar, oil, eggs, poppy seeds, lemon juice and extracts; beat until well blended. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to sugar mixture alternately with milk, beating just until moistened. , Pour into two greased 8x4-in. loaf pans. Bake at 350° for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean., Combine glaze ingredients until smooth; drizzle over warm loaves. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

GRIDDLE-FRIED OPO SQUASH BREADS

Steps:

• 1. In a large bowl, add all the dry ingredients and mix well with clean fingers. Add the squash, garlic, oil, and green chili peppers and mix with your fingers in round circular motions, until it starts to gather into a dough. (Add 1 or 2 tablespoons more flour if the dough seems sticky, or some water if it seems too firm.) 2. Knead for about a minute, pressing your knuckles lightly into the dough, spreading the dough outward, and gathering the ends together toward the center with your fingers. Push the center down and repeat pressing and gathering a few times until you have a soft and pliable dough that does not stick to your fingers. (If, while kneading, the dough sticks to your hands, put a little oil or water on them.)3. Cover and let rest at least 1 and up to 4 hours at room temperature. (This allows the gluten to develop.) If keeping for a longer period, refrigerate the dough.4. To make the breads, preheat the tava or griddle over medium-high heat until a sprinkling of the flour immediately turns dark brown. Wipe off the flour and proceed. While the tava is heating, with lightly oiled hands, divide the dough equally into 12 to 16 balls and cover with foil to prevent drying. 5. Working with each ball of dough separately, place in bowl with the dry flour, flatten it with your fingertips, and coat well with the dry flour. Transfer to a cutting board or any other clean flat surface and, with a rolling pin, roll into a 6- to 7-inch circle of uniform thickness. (If the dough sticks to the rolling surface, dust with more flour.) Baste the top of the dough with ghee and fold into a triangle, square, or circle, as per the directions, Shaping Paranthas: To Make a Layered Triangle (see INFORMATION AND SPECIAL TECHNIQUES).6. Place the rolled parantha on the hot tava or griddle. Turn over when it is slightly cooked and dotted with tiny golden spots on the bottom, about 1 minute. When the other side is covered with larger brown dots, turn it over, and brush lightly with oil. Flip it over again and fry the oiled side about 30 seconds. Similarly, baste and fry the other side another 30 seconds. There should be a total of 4 turns.7. Remove from the griddle and serve.From "1,000 Indian Recipes." Copyright 2002 by Neelam Batra. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

BASIC STUFFED GRIDDLE-FRIED BREADS

Steps:

• 1. Prepare the stuffing. Prepare the dough. Heat the tava or griddle over medium-high heat until a sprinkling of flour immediately turns dark brown. Wipe off the flour and proceed. While the tava is heating, with lightly oiled clean hands, divide the dough equally into 10 to 12 balls and cover with foil to prevent drying. Divide it into 10 to 12 portions, about 3 to 4 tablespoons each.2. Working with each ball of dough separately, transfer to the bowl with the dry flour, press lightly to form a disc, coat generously with dry flour, and roll into a 4- to 5- inch circle. Place the stuffing in the center. Bring the edges together, pinch to seal, then shape into a ball once again.3. Flatten and coat this stuffed ball with flour and roll it into a 7- to 8-inch circle of even thickness. As you roll, keep turning and dusting the dough with flour or it may stick to the rolling surface. If the stuffing has excess moisture, the paranthas may develop tiny (or large) holes as they stretch while rolling. If that happens, seal the holes by putting a little dry flour over them (or by pinching them together).4. Place the rolled parantha on the hot tava. Turn it over when it is slightly cooked and dotted with tiny golden spots on the bottom, and 1 minute. When the other side is covered with larger brown dots, turn it over and brush lightly with oil. Flip it over again and fry the oiled side about 30 seconds. Similarly, baste and fry the other side another 30 seconds. Similarly, baste and fry the other side another 30 seconds. There should be a total of 4 turns. Remove from the griddle and serve.From "1,000 Indian Recipes." Copyright 2002 by Neelam Batra. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

AN INDIAN BANQUET

Steps:

• From "1,000 Indian Recipes." Copyright 2002 by Neelam Batra. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

ALMOND POPPY SEED PANCAKES

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 200°F Place the almond paste in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on low speed while adding the milk, a little at a time, to loosen up the paste until it's smooth and not lumpy. Alternatively, you can process the almond paste with a little of the milk in a food processor until smooth (add just enough milk to help the almond paste thin out).
• Add the sour cream, almond extract, and eggs. Whisk or process until well-blended and smooth.
• In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and poppy seeds. Whisk well to thoroughly combine.
• Slowly pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients while gently stirring, and mix just until combined. (Don't overmix or you will activate the gluten in the flour and the pancakes will be chewy, like bread, instead of fluffy.) The mixture will be a little lumpy (and that's OK; if you have pockets of flour bigger than a dime, smash them against the side of the bowl to break them apart without having to stir the batter more). Pour in the melted butter and gently mix just until incorporated. (Sometimes melted butter solidifies when added to cold ingredients. Adding it now helps disperse it evenly in the batter and smooth out some of the lumps.).
• Place a griddle or wide (preferably 14-inch) sauté pan over medium heat for several minutes. If using an electric griddle, set the heat to 350°F.
• Sprinkle the griddle with a few drops of water; they should bounce around before evaporating. If they sizzle away quickly, the heat is too high. If they just sit there and slowly steam, the heat is too low. When the griddle is properly heated, brush with oil or clarified butter, and then wipe with a paper towel so it's evenly greased. (Big spots of oil or butter will promote uneven browning and your pancakes will have dark and light spots.).
• Ladle 1/2 cup of batter per pancake onto the griddle, an inch or two apart. Sprinkle evenly with 1 Tbs. toasted almonds.
• Cook until bubbles begin to pop on the surface of the pancakes, the edges look a little dry, and the underside is golden, about 2 minutes. Flip them over and continue cooking until the pancakes are cooked through, about 1 minute more. (If the undersides of the pancakes are browning or burning before the tops get a chance to form bubbles and dry out, the heat is too high. If it's taking much longer than 2 or 3 minutes for the bubbles to form, the heat is too low.).
• Repeat with the remaining batter. Keep the pancakes warm on a heatproof platter or baking sheet in the oven.
• Serve with whipped butter and maple syrup.

GRIDDLE-FRIED LEAVENED BREADS

Steps:

• 1. In a small bowl, mix the yeast and sugar in the water and set aside until frothy, 5 to 7 minutes.2. Place the flour, salt, and black pepper in a food processor and process until mixed. With the motor running, slowly add the yeast mixture, then the yogurt, through the feeder tube until the flour gathers into a ball and the sides of the work bowl look clean, about 1 minute. (If the dough seems too sticky, add some more dry flour through the feeder tube.) Transfer to a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap or the lid of the bowl, and place in a warm draft-free spot until it doubles in volume, at least 4 and up to 12 hours.3. With lightly oiled hands, divide the dough equally into 8 to 10 balls and cover with foil to prevent drying. 4. Preheat a tava or griddle over medium-high heat until a sprinkling of flour immediately turns dark brown. Wipe off the flour and proceed. While the tava is heating, working with each ball separately, press into a flat disc in a bowl or pie tin with dry flour, and coat completely with flour. With a rolling pin, on a cutting board or any clean flat work surface, roll each disc into 6- to 7 -inch circles.5. Place the discs on the hot tava or griddle. Turn over when it is slightly cooked and dotted with tiny golden spots on the bottom, about 1 minute. When the other side is covered with larger brown dots, turn it over, and brush lightly with oil. Flip it over again and fry the oiled side about 30 seconds. Similarly, baste and fry the other side another 30 seconds. There should be a total of 4 turns.6. Remove from the griddle and serve.From "1,000 Indian Recipes." Copyright 2002 by Neelam Batra. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

GRIDDLE-FRIED MUGHLAI BREADS WITH ALMONDS AND POPPY SEEDS

Steps:

• 1. Soak the almonds in water to cover overnight. Then, with clean hands, peel the softened brown skin off the almonds. In a food processor, add all the ingredients except the water and process until everything is smooth. Then, with the motor running, add the water in a slow, steady stream until the dough gathers into a smooth ball and cleans the sides of the work bowl. (Add more flour if the dough seems sticky and more water it seems too dry.)2. Lightly oil your hands and transfer the dough to a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or the lid of the bowl and let it rest for 1 to 4 hours. (This allows the gluten to develop.) If keeping for a longer period, refrigerate the dough.3. Preheat the tava or griddle over medium-high heat until a sprinkling of the flour immediately turns dark brown. Wipe off the flour and proceed. While the tava is heating, with lightly oiled hands divide the dough into 10 to 12 round balls (depending on the size of the parantha you like.) Cover with foil to prevent drying.4. Working with each ball of dough separately, place in bowl with the dry flour, flatten it with your fingertips, and coat well with the dry flour. Transfer to a cutting board or any other clean flat surface and, with a rolling pin, roll into a 6- to 7-inch circle of uniform thickness. (If the dough sticks to the rolling surface, dust with more flour.) Baste the top of the dough with ghee and fold into a triangle, square, or circle, as per the directions, Shaping Paranthas: To Make a Layered Triangle (see INFORMATION AND SPECIAL TECHNIQUES).5. Place the rolled parantha on the hot tava or griddle. Turn over when it is slightly cooked and dotted with tiny golden spots on the bottom, about 1 minute. When the other side is covered with larger brown dots, turn it over, and brush lightly with oil. Flip it over again and fry the oiled side about 30 seconds. Similarly, baste and fry the other side another 30 seconds. There should be a total of 4 turns.6. Remove from the griddle and serve.From "1,000 Indian Recipes." Copyright 2002 by Neelam Batra. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.