Orange Sweet Buns Recipe

Home-made breads possess unique flavour and texture. The aroma and taste of oven fresh warm breads are unbeatable. Kids absolutely enjoy the whole process - they would love to help you and can’t wait to taste the bread.  You can expect sweet naggings like, is it ready yet?  Is it ready yet, often. When your loved ones enjoy and appreciate your effort in such a loving way, what more do we need as ‘mothers’? Try this and have fun!

Orange Sugar Bun with Jam!

Ingredients:

Freshly squeezed orange Juice

Instant Yeast

Salt

Sugar

Beaten Egg

beaten egg and milk mixture for coating

Bread Improver

Butter

Milk Powder

Bread Flour (Prima Bread Flour) – 2 and ½ Cups

Instant Yeast.

Plain Flour – 2 and ½ Cups

Instant Yeast – 2 tsp.

Milk Powder – 1 tbsp.

Warm water – ½ to 1 Cup as required

Freshly squeezed Orange juice – ½ Cup

Sugar – 3 tbsp.

Bread Improver (Red man brand)

Beaten Egg – 1

(Reserve 2 tsp. of beaten egg mixed with 1 tbsp. of milk for brushing)

Milk – 1 tbsp.

Orange Zest – 1 tsp.

Orange Zest

Glazing:

Sugar – 2 to 3 tsp.

Water – 2 tbsp.

Make slightly sticky syrup by simmering sugar in warm water for few minutes, in low heat.

Method:

Cake mixture and dough hook

In a large bowl, mix plain flour, bread flour, sugar, salt, bread improver, milk powder and yeast.  Add cubed butter and rub in gently. Let the butter combine well with the flour. Toss in the orange Zest, mix well.  Make a whole in the centre and add orange juice and warm water. Knead the dough well, until it becomes elastic and pliable. It will take at least 10 minutes.  Alternatively, you can use a cake mixer, with the dough hook, to knead the dough.  (Usually, for large quantities, I use dough mixer, otherwise I knead it manually) Cover the dough with a towel or plastic wrap and keep it in a warm place. We should allow the dough to ferment and yeast will take care of this.  For the yeast to take action it needs sugar and warmth, that’s why we add warm water. It might take 1 hour or even less, when the climate is sunny, if it’s cold, it may take longer, say 2 hours or more.  But in Singapore, I haven’t had any problems, even during rainy days, thanks to DCL yeast. (I’ve tried few other brands, but nothing can be compared to DCL) With DCL yeast, it’s been a smooth sailing so far. I always make sure I stock up DCL yeast, which I normally buy from Mustafa Centre, Singapore.

Dough ready for 1st raising

Doubled up dough

Punched down dough

Rolled into small balls

After the dough has doubled up, punch it down and knead it again for few minutes. Divide the dough into equal portions (roughly 16 to 20 for the given quantity) and roll them into small balls.  Place them in a greased oven tray (line the tray with baking sheet or aluminium foil and brush it with oil) and cover for second-raising. Second-raising may not take longer than 1/2 to 1 hour.

Preheat the oven (I use convection oven) to 200 degree.

Brush the raised dough with egg-milk mixture, to get a shiny finish.

After 2nd Raising

Coated with egg-milk mixture, ready to go into the oven

When the oven reaches 200 deg, place the tray in the oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes. To check the done-ness, you can hear a hollow sound, when tapped. Slit a tooth pick or skewer into the bun and make sure it comes out clean. If dough sticks to it, you can bake few more minutes.

After taking out, coat the buns with sugar glazing and serve.

Fresh from the oven

Ready to go for Sugar Glaze

Sugar Glazed Shiny Buns



Orange Sweet Bun!

Warm, oven fresh orange flavoured buns are heavenly when taken with Jam! If you prefer less sugar, enjoy just as it is!

.

Vendhaya Congee/Fenugreek Porridge

Vendhaya Congee/Fenugreek Porridge

Fenugreek seeds are very nutritious and are widely used to treat diabetes, control cholesterol level, and for digestion related problems. From Ayurveda we come to know that it’s better to take all the six tastes in our meal.  Among six, salt, sweet, sour, pungent, astringent, and bitter, we often tend to neglect astringent and bitter. At least, we don’t consume these two, as much as the other four.  Fenugreek which is bitter comes in handy. It can be easily added in our meals as ‘Tempering’ in most of our Curries.  I’ll try to suggest more ways of consuming fenugreek and fenugreek leaves in my future posts. But here, I’m giving a nutritious yet very delicious way of consuming Fenugreek seeds.

In our tradition, we use to take Vendhaya Cogee/Fenugreek Porridge, when we have gastric related stomach ache, digestion related stomach ache and to get rid of excess heat from our body. This is typically consumed early in the morning, instead of coffee/tea.

Cooked Rice (parboiled) – ½ Cup

Fenugreek seeds – 1 to 2 tsp.

Salt – to taste

Water – ½ cup

Curd/Natural Yoghurt – 2 tbsp.

Small Onions/Shallots (sliced) – 3 to 4

Spring Onion/Fresh Coriander leaves (Chopped) – to garnish

Salted Lemon Pickle/Narthangai/Elumichai Urukai – little

Fermented Vendhaya Congee

Sliced Onions and spring Onion

Method:

In a bowl, mix rice with water, toss in the fenugreek seeds. Cover and keep overnight.  Early in the morning, the rice would have fermented and the seeds would have become very soft. You can feel a wonderful flavour emanating from the congee. Combine the onions, spring onion/fresh coriander leave, yoghurt/curd and salted lime pickle.  Add little or no salt, since lime pickle would have enough salt.  Relish the congee, trust me it will be delicious.

Salted Lemon Pickle:

Salted Lemon pickle

This is my all-time favourite, which I always make sure to bring from India. In our homes it’s a compelling condiment, which we use to add in Curd/yoghurt rice. Esp. when we have fever or bitterness in our mouth due to some sickness, curd rice with salted lemon will be much more palatable.

Chettinad Clear Chicken soup

 

 

 

Chettinad Clear Chicken Soup!

 

 

 

 



Chettinad Clear Chicken Soup!

You take it from me, Chicken Soup is truly magical in getting rid of running nose and common cold related problems. The combination of chicken stock and the spices works wonders.


Even for young kids you can give chicken soup, it's mild and tasty.

Ingrdeients for clear Chicken soup


 

 

Ingredients:



Chicken Thighs - 1 to 2

Garlic - 8

Small onion - 8

Ginger - 1 small piece

Black Pepper - 2 tsp.

Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp.

Baba's Chicken Kurma Powder - 1 tsp. (or)

Sambar Powder - 1 tsp.

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp.

Lime - 2 to 3 (or)

Lemon - 1

Tomato - 1

Mint Leaves - few

Salt - to taste


Seasoning:

Slit Green Chilli - 1 (optional)

Fennel Seeds/Sombu - 1 tsp.

Cinnamon stick /Pattai - small piece

Star Anise - 1

Slightly crushed Cardamom/Elakkai - 2

Cloves - 4

Ghee - 2 tsp.



How to Clean the Chicken:


Wash chicken in clean water twice.

Add some turmeric powder and juice of 2 limes or 1 lemon. Leave it for 10 to 15 minutes. Adding lemon and turmeric helps to get rid of the raw smell of the chicken.

Wash again and drain. Cut into cubes.

Cleaning the Chicken

 


To Marinade:


Pound 4 garlic pods, ginger, pepper, cumin and 4 small onions in a mortar and pestle or grind them together in a mixer. Add masala powder, salt and turmeric. Toss in mint leaves. Mint leaves give a wonderful flavour.  Coat the chicken pieces with the ground masala and set aside for half-an-hour. Now the chicken is ready to cook.


Method:

Take a large cooking pot, (I use pressure cooker) add 2 tsp. ghee, toss in all the tempering ingredients. Slice the rest of the onion, garlic, green chilli and tomato, sauté for few minutes. Stir in the chicken marinade and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. Add 6 to 7 cups of water and salt. Check salt and add more if necessary.  Cover and cook until the chicken is cooked through. (2 to 3 whistles) It will take about 10 to 12 minutes.


Garnish with chopped Coriander leaves and serve hot. 

Chettinad Clear Chicken soup

 

National Library Board - a boon to Singapore/Oru Varaprasadham!

NLB is a boon to Singapore, 'Varaprasadham' in Tamil. It provides excellent opportunities to create 'Voracious Readers' and 'Readers for Life'.

The first time I visited NLB, years ago - I was speechless. You get the same 'wow' factor time and again, each time you browse through the extensive collection. We get to read numerous books, which are otherwise almost impossible to buy and read. You name it, they have it.

If you become an ordinary Member, you are eligible to borrow 8 books at a time, including CDs. But I always prefer books. You will get 21 days for books and 14 days for Magazines. Now we have renewable facilities, which enable you to retain the books for another 21/14 days respectively. For renewals, just go to the NLB website, go to Check your Account, from Quick links category, log in with your Membership ID or Your IC. You can see your loan status and renew accordingly. During holidays NLB will double up the loan quota, we can borrow 12 instead of 8 books.

To avoid unnecessary fines for overdue books, we can opt for reminder service provided by NLB. Just log in to NLB account and provide your email-id, to get reminders via e-mail or provide your Mobile phone number to get reminders via SMS, or both.

If you would like to borrow a particular book and you are not able to get it, you can book reservation, through your NLB account via Internet or at any of the library. NLB will reserve it for you and inform when it is ready. (If you are not sure about the procedure, you can approach the library staff, they will guide you.)

My son is so obsessed with Geronimo Stilton series, we bought few books for him, then I said get from NLB, we are not buying anymore. Now we visit number of libraries, to find the much wanted collection. He can't even wait to reserve and read. He's almost through the entire series now, thanks to NLB.

Try to visit Library with your kids as often as possible. Make it as an enjoyable trip. Spend at least an hour or two, so that you and your kids have enough time to browse through and choose the books leisurely.

If possible allow some quiet reading time in the library before or after borrowing books. I've seen some parents spend time with their kids for half-a-day, during holidays. Holiday is a wonderful time to inculcate reading habit. Trip to Library can be like any other outing; if possible 2 or 3 friends can join together. But avoid too many friends, because we may lose focus. Children also tend to play rather than read/choose the books.

Initially, you can choose books for them and read to them. Gradually you can allow them to choose 1 or 2. They may not know, but still allow their quota, say you can choose 3 out of 8 Soon it will be time for them to choose more. Still you keep guiding them to pick variety of books. Otherwise they will end up borrowing stereotyped books.
There will be a time, when they are obsessed with one particular Author or one particular series. It's perfectly alright; slowly they will graduate to other types of books.

Soon, they will cover so many series and authors. Once they are independent, they don't want us to interfere. This happens esp. with teenagers. However, we can keep track of their books and their content. We can continue to guide them and introduce new authors. Though they may appear to be picky, they will still be open to new ideas.

We can observe a beautiful transition from their language usage, articulation and style of writing. As a mother I enjoy these phases in their lives. I hope you guys will join me!

For more details about NLB, visit their website:

http://www.nlb.gov.sg/

Enjoy Reading!

Soft Chapati/Flat Whole Wheat Indian Bread

I'd been exploring ways to make soft Chapattis for years together. Almost Iwanted to give up, then finally I found a solution & I'm giving it here. Ifyou follow this method, I'm certain that you can make best Chapattis ever.

This kind of Chapattis are very healthy, because we use very little oil, that too Olive oil. Olive oil gives wonderful texture to the Chapattis, I've tried with ghee and sunflower oil earlier, I never use to get this kind of soft texture. Besides, whole wheat is a welcome change to our usual plain flour bread and other rice based menu.

Ingredients:

Chapatti/Whole Wheat flour/gothumai mavu - 2 Cups
(Ashirvad atta/Pillsbury flour)

Olive oil - 1 to 2 tbsp.
(Extra light Borges Olive oil)

Salt - little

Sugar - 1 tsp.

Warm water - 1 cup (or) as required

Rice flour/Plain flour - 1 tbsp.
(to sprinkle over the dough, while rolling Chapattis)

(Sprinkling wheat flour makes the surface rough)

Method:

In a large bowl, take the Chapatti flour, toss in the sugar, salt. Pour the olive oil, mix thoroughly. Add warm water and knead the dough for 5 minutes,until though becomes very soft and pliable. Remember to add Luke-warm water, neither hot nor cold. Add enough water to the dough, if not it can turn outhard.

Cover and set aside for one to two hours. but a minimum of at least half- anhour. Now divide the dough into 12 to 14 parts. Knead them into small balls;roll out in a Chapatti roller. When you roll out, make sure the dough is even all around, neither too thin, nor thick.

Take a heavy, metal based pan, heat it. Place the Chapatti, turn over in fewseconds, and now wait for the bubbles to appear. Turn again, let it slightlybrown. Take a clean towel or tissue; press the Chapatti firmly, it will puff up a bit.Transfer to a container, which is lined with clean towel or kitchen tissue.This is very important, to retain the moisture, so that the Chapatti remains soft for several hours.

Kids will love these shapes!!

I used a Cookie Cutter!

ForPhulka Roti:

We need a Phulka maker. (My friend bought it from Chennai, India).

Phulka rotis are directly cooked in flame, after cooking in a pan.

In medium flame, cook the slightly browned Chapatti for few seconds, on bothsides. It will puff up like Puri. This will make sure Chapattis are super soft.

Transfer it into the tissue lined container. (Skip this part, if you don't havePhulka maker, even then Chapattis turn out fine.)

The Chapattis we make for dinner will remain soft until next day.
Serve with Kurma/Chole/Raitha.

Chapattis with Jam/Paneer Kurma is my kids' favourite Tiffin-box menu.

Kids Friendly Vegetable Dosa/ Uthappam

Kids friendly Vegetable Dosa/Uthappam

 

Feeding Vegetable to kids is a challenge, faced by many mothers. We always try to find interesting ways to present vegetables to them. One such interesting recipe is Vegetable Dosa.

Ingredients:


 

Vegetable mixture

 
Diluted Idli maavu/Batter/Dosa Batter - 1 cup

Fresh vegetables:

Grated Beetroot - 1

Grated Carrot - 2

Shredded Cabbage - 2 to 3 tbsp.

Finely chopped big onions - 2

finely chopped Curry leaves - 1 tbsp.

Finely Chopped coriander leaves - 2 tbsp. (or)

Finely Chopped Spring Onion - 2 tbsp.

Salt - to taste

Finely Chopped Green Chilli - 1 (optional)

Pepper Cumin Powder - 2 tsp. (optional)

Oil - to pan fry

 
Method:

 
Combine the vegetable just before making Dosas, otherwise the veggies become watery.

Heat a heavy metal based pan, pour one big spoonful of batter and spread thickly. Spread the vegetable mixture over the Dosa and dribble 1 tsp. cooking oil over it. Toss some pepper-cumin powder. When one side is done, turn over to the other side and cook again.

Serve hot with Chutney/Sambhar/Koasamalli or with Dosai podi/powder. Kids will love them.


 

Alternatively, you can combine the vegetable mixture with batter and make Pink Dosa/ Pink Uthappam.