Soft roshogollas

Soft Roshogollas 

 The truth is practice makes things perfect well perfect being subjective. The truth is Kolkata has been known for the longest time as the City of roshogollas, (little cheese balls in thin sugar syrup) but the truth is this delightful sweet-dish was invented in our neighbouring state of Orissa , well they might have invented it but here in Bengal they mastered the art of roshogolla making.

To be fair there are two distinct variants of roshogollas, the spongy ones which are more popular across India but he who has not tasted the extra soft roshogollas does not what what he is missing.

Before we go on we must realize one thing, one cannot have everything. So if a recipe claims to be both ultra-soft and spongy then one should take it with a grain of salt.

As for myself I have never been a fan of roshogollas especially the spongy ones but soft and melt in the mouth especially served hot, well that make sit irresistible to me. Served in the lanes and bylanes of North Kolkata (the old part of calcutta) these soft 'tultule' 'soft as butter' roshogollas are truly divine.

I had originally followed a recipe successfully and then went to adjust it to make it super soft

Here is what you need to understand about 'roshogollas' :-

1. The quality of cheese (homemade cheese by adding an acidic agent to milk) must be super soft 
2. The syrup should be watery 
3. The milk must have the full goodness of full fat. 
4. The acidic agent when diluted yields the softest cheese 

Now I know this might sound a bit complicated but believe me when I say that leftover whey (the liquid left after making paneer) makes the softest new batch of cheese that there ever could be. 

What you need :- 

2 litres of full fat milk 

2 tea cups of sugar (cups which hold 210ml of liquid) 

10 cups of water 

1.5 tbsp semolina 

1 tbsp ground sugar 

6 to 7 cardamom 

400ml whey + 2 tbsp whey 

2 tbsp vinegar 

25 nakuldana/ makhana 

3 ladles of warm water 

Makhana/ Nakuldana

Now I made the 'chana' (the cheese) in batches so I used 1 litre of milk with 200ml of whey and 2 tsp vinegar . I brought the milk to a boil and slowly added the whey + vinegar mixture and then kept stirring the pot to prevent any scorching.

Remember that a little scorching would result in a yellowish colour. When the cheese separated and I was left with an olive coloured liquid I turned off the gas-stove and covered and waited for 5 minutes and then gathered the cheese in a muslin cloth and let it submerge in the whey while I made the second batch of cheese and then tied it in the muslin cloth and washed the cheese to rid it of any lemony smell. There hardly was any lemony smell. 

Now since you have already washed the cheese in water it will not be hot and so tie it in the muslin cloth and squeeze out all the water  . Now I have seen many a recipe where it asks you to hang the cheese for hours and well that never would yield such soft roshogollas. (You must make sure that the cheese is dry yet not fully dry and this is something that you have to understand because if it has some extra whey than required it would make the roshogollas break so trust your cooking instinct) 

Now comes the part for kneading. Knead it well for 15 minutes to 20 minutes with the semolina and ground sugar.Add 2 tbsp whey. It should be so soft that it melts when you rub it between two fingers within seconds. This kneading is very important. 

Now prepare the balls by placing one makhana in the belly and forming balls , take your time to make sure it has no cracks but there will be pores. You should ideally have 25 balls. 

Now bring the sugar , cardamom and water to boil and when it is boiling put gas to low flame and add the balls, they should float and then cover without any gaps and boil on high for 15 minutes. Now open the cover and remove any sacum whcih has formed and add a ladle of warm water (this step is extremely important to make soft roshogollas) and then cover with no opening and simmer for the next 20 minutes. use another lade of water after 10 minutes of simmering and one more time after 7 minutes of having used the previous lade of water. Now let the roshogollas come to room temperature. Do not disturb them. Try one hot roshogolla and if it is not your thing when it comes to room temperature put everything in the refrigerator and enjoy the softest of roshogollas.Once cool there might be a layer of scum, remove it and you are good to go. 

Whole Wheat Bread

  Whole wheat bread 

 I could live on a loaf of bread and some good cheese . Oh well I think I am on what is a bread-high. And why wouldn't I be, I  baked my first 100% wholewheat bread and it was 100% successful. Now I do not even have to quote sources to let people know at this day and age about the immense benefits of whole wheat bread over white bread, the media has taken care of that well enough. No matter which newspaper you read, magazine you love flipping through or television you watch the media has does a brilliant job in educating people about the benefits of wholewheat bread. So the bottom line is you stay healthy and fit. Now being a passionate food enthusiast I for one am obviously part of many a social food groups and the horror stories about working with whole wheat bread did scare me unnecessarily as I might say after my bread puffed while I kept puffing with joy.



Now I had already ventured into the delightful arena of bread-making and with the right recipe in tow there was that Cheddar Bread and Bacon garlic cheddar bread but then again those were the work of white flour. It was tasty , fluffy delicious and utterly butterly unhealthy. Now if I was not a dunderhead when it came to science I could have explained why it is more difficult to work with whole-wheat bread but after reading numerous articles, recipes etc on wholewheat bread what I understand is that wholewheat lacks something called gluten and hence the difficulty . Now some people add extra gluten on but I for one hate recipes that call for an unnecessary ingredient when there is a way of not using it , so there is no extra gluten  but what I did do was follow the ingredients of one recipe and follow my method because I had been so successful with a certain Mr.Lepard's method of baking bread.

Before we even begin lets get one thing clear. Whole-wheat bread is supposed to be denser than white bread. It is supposed to be heavy and what the commercial brown or whole wheat bread does is misguide the customer very dishonestly. If your whole-wheat bread is light fluffy know this for sure that your baker has added a good percentage of white flour so. What might have worked in my proofing could have been the weather of the country I live in. While there are numerous problems with living in a country such as India be it the non-delivery of gas cylinders , the pathetic rashes I develop during the summer months or so many other things if there is one thing that worked in my favour it was the weather which I believe helped in my proofing. Now the process I followed is a bit lengthy but if it works then what is there in a bit of patience because bread-making is one of those dishes where your actual work is minimum.

So here is the recipe

3 cups (cups which hold 250ml liquid ) whole wheat flour + 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
4 tsp fresh yeast / 2 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp salt
1.5 tbsp  honey
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup warm water but not too hot else it kills the yeast . It should ideally be tepid water
2 heaped tbsp curd / unflavoured yogurt
4 to 5 tbsp sesame seeds (optional)

I keep making wholewheat bread and keep playing with shape
A wholewheat sandwich loaf made at some point 

Start by dumping one cup of whole wheat on a work bowl and adding the yeast and then adding another cup of flour before adding the salt and then the final cup of flour. It seems that salt is a hindrance to the work of yeast and so many a recipe suggests either putting them side by side away from each other or layering it. Now slowly pour the warm water. It should not be hot because hot water kills yeast. Mix in the yogurt / curd . Mr.Lepard had taught me that curd makes your bread super soft and delicious and who am I to not listen to an expert.  Mix this with a wooden spoon and form a rough dough and then cover with a tea-towel and leave aside for 10 minutes .

After the 2nd kneading from the 10 minute gap regime 

Now oil your hands , oil the work board add the honey and 2 tbsp olive oil and start kneading the dough. The dough should be 'sticky but should not cling to your hands' is the golden guidance I have received from another recipe.  What I did was I did knead it for 10 minutes and then covered it and left it for another 10 to 12 minutes and kneaded it for a minute and left it for another 10 minutes covered with the tea-towel kneaded it again and finally after the last 10 minutes of resting the dough (it was covered every time it rested) I found that it  was well covered with oil from all sides, exactly what I had wanted . Now I used 1 tbsp flour to knead the bread and used 3 tbsp sesame seeds inside the dough and kneaded it , floured the work board  and put my dough in shaped it , covered it with my tea-towel and then left it to rise for about 30 minutes in the corner of my cabinet . The time needed for the last rise would largely depend on the place where you to stay, temperature, whether condition. I stay in a humid tropical country and so it takes very little time. For others in colder areas it might just take about 1 hour or 1.5 hours.

The rise of the bread 

At the end of it it was perfectly risen. I made three slashes of top to let the steam escape and sprinkled some sesame seeds on top. I preheated my oven ,  to 200C ,placed a tray of water beneath the rack on which my baking floured baking tray went (I do not own a bread pan) and baked the bread for 30 minutes turning it and baking after 20 minutes for an even baked bread. After 30 minutes i reduced the temperature to 180C and baked for another 15 minutes. Now the bread is baked by 35 minutes if using a convection oven or 30 minutes for a regular one but for those who like a nice rustic crust which is a deep hue of brown follow the lowering of temperature and baking it for another 15 minutes.

The tray of water beneath the rack helps in keeping the bread moist and soft

Once done let it cool on a wired rack for 30 minutes and do not be tempted to slice the bread before it cools down. I think this was the hardest part of the recipe. Enjoy it with some extra virgin olive oil and some grilled chicken on top or feta or grilled indian cottage cheese (paneer) or just about anything. What did I do? I rewarded myself with two slices of the fresh bread with very little just melted Emmental cheese on top.

A wholewheat boule made for a friend 

What I most love about the whole wheat bread is that it solves the problem of my tea-time accompaniment. Growing up in a household where the Darjeeling tea is a must as the start of the day and start of the evening  I but naturally grew my palate for that delightful tea sans sugar and milk but the single greatest problem would be finding a suitably healthy accompaniment. I mean sure for principle meals you can have salads, soups , wraps but then there was the problem of the tea-time partner. A thin slice of this bread warmed up with a very little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil is divine.

Dacquoise Cherry Amande Gateau

Dacquoise Cherry Amande 

(My Oval Coffee Cherry Dacquoise Gateau) 

It has only been very recently that I finally got the courage to venture into foam cakes. You see what many of us non-professional bakers do not know until and unless we read about it is that there are two very distinct types of cake bases, the butter cakes which are richer , buttery and make perfect tea-time cakes and then there are the foam cakes which is light , airy and perfect to make layered cakes. They are a bit dry to be taken on their own. I am calling this my 'Oval Coffee cherry Dacquoise Gateau' Basically gateau is the french term for layered cakes and so next time you find that in a bakery you know what it is.

So I have also quite recently discovered the joys of making Cakes with almond flour , the taste and flavour is amazing and this one is surely a winner.

So I had some leftover ground almond after I made an Opera cake and so it was time for a Dacquoise Amande with the leftover coffee butter-cream icing and some chocolate sauce on top . I added a bit of homemade chocolate syrup and some glazed cherries for that extra deliciousness

Here goes the recipe

For the base : -

5 egg whites
A few drops of lemon.
150gm of ground almond (made from blanched and toasted almonds which was cooled down and ground)
150gm icing sugar

For the Coffee French Buttercream frosting please use the recipe for French Buttercream but simply cut down the recipe by half.

For the Chocolate swirl cover

125gm of dark chocolate
100gm coffee syrup made with bringing 100ml of brewed coffee to a boil and adding  50gm sugar to it.
2 tbsp unsalted butter

250gm glazed cherries de-seeded

Prepare by first greasing your pan and using butter paper on it and drawing a circle on it which is about the size of a round baking pan which can bake a pound of cake. Preheat oven to 180 C Then start off by whipping your egg whites to soft peaks with the few drops of lemon (the lemon juice prevents the egg whites from collapsing if over whipped) and then adding the sugar and whipping it to a stage where you can hold your bowl over your head and it stays put. Now fold in the ground almond and then spread half of on one baking tray and the other half on another baking tray. Bake for about 15 minutes for regular oven and 25 minutes for convection oven and let the two discs cool. While the cake base is being baked quickly chop the chocolates and then then place it on a bowl in which water is boiling with the butter and once it melts add the syrup and whisk to form a smooth dark chocolate sauce. Slowly but firmly separate the butter-paper. Now apply a thick layer of buttercream and sandwich the two discs. Put it in the refrigerator to set for sometime and then apply a generous amount of buttercream covering the cake from all sides. Pour a bit of the sauce from top and make swirls for decoration and then let it set for 5 minutes and decorate with glazed de-seeded cherries and let it chill for 5 hours before serving. This light fluffy cake with this amazingly rich icing and smooth chocolate was a perfect hit with my friends and family.

Cheesy egg wrap

Cheesy Egg Wraps 

(A healthy start a healthy you)

Over the years with this battle of eating healthy I have realized that while the wholewheat bread and multi-grain bread essentially take the numero uno position in the world of healthy eats the humble Whole-wheat flatbread is one of the most versatile ingredients for a wholesome meal be it lunch, dinner or breakfast. While most Indians associate a bowl of vegetable curry or pulse or non-vegetarian curry you can let your imagination flow to create some beautifully different and unique food items which are both easy to prepare, tasty to eat and healthy to satisfy the mind.

What you can basically do is make a stack of flat-bread from the night before or at any point of the day and then use it when and where necessary. Living in a family with a grandmother in tow we naturally are usually stocked with more cooked food than required and so flat-bread is always available in the house and so my healthy eating has started again after a few days of dining out from the day before so I was trying to come up with an idea for a satisfyingly salty breakfast when I came up with this idea for a wrap. Now why i call it a salty craving is because eating healthy sweet dishes for breakfast is easy and the options are unlimited. You can have muesli, wholewheat cornflakes, fresh fruits but for me a salty breakfast is the key to a happy day

So here is the extremely easy recipe

Serves 2

4 stale flatbread (made the previous day) You can of course make fresh flatbread
4 eggs
2 medium sized tomatoes de-seeded
1/2 cup chopped leeks
1 tsp dried oregano
Salt and pepper as per taste
80gm of grated cheddar cheese
Pinch of paprika
2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp olive oil

Start by whisking the eggs with some salt, the paprika and the milk. When it forms a frothy mixture well its not time to stop and so whisk till its silky . Heat 2 tsp oil and saute the tomatoes and leek and add the oregano and then transfer this on a plate. Now heat the rest of the oil and slowly add the egg which has already been whisked. Now eggs are extremely delicate and the chances of the base burning is pretty high and so you need to adjust the heat continuously. What I personally do is use medium flame and once parts of my egg start solidifying I add  the cheese and then turn off  the heat and cover the pan and let stand for 3 minutes . In this case you want one side to be almost-set which helps the egg stick to the flatbread. Now simply transfer the eggs and then on medium flame use the chapati on the same frying pan and when it  becomes hot quickly add part of the egg with the almost set side facing towards the flatbread and quickly add a bit of tomato and leek and create an open wrap. make all 4 wraps and serve with a fruit. I usually avoid juices since in that case one misses out of valuable fibre. Enjoy this healthy breakfast which will keep you full for a good 3 hours or so till lunch time and so you do not eat unhealthy snacks and stay fit and active.here is to everybody health . I wouldn't really suggest packing this for lunch for your children or husbands or yourself because eggs gone cold does have a fowl smell :) So enjoy it fresh and hot.