Cooking is definitely going to be a multi-part topic. And I'm sure it will provide a lot of laughs for veteran Indian cooks!
Our microwave oven can also broil and convection bake. Despite the "easy instructions" in somewhat strained English translation from Korean, we did figure out how to preheat and bake. We roasted raw peanuts -- that's a pretty simple start!
Those of you who know me, might expect me to start experimenting with Indian breads. I made some roti last week, and made some naan yesterday. Since I have no pizza-stone equipped oven (most recipes you find are for the North American market), I make-do with a pre-heated heavy aluminum skillet. I wish I had a cast-iron griddle.
Rotis are unleavened bread: just flour and water and salt, if desired (I desire!). Naan recipes usually call for leavening, but I haven't seen any yeast here. I can't figure where I would leave bread to rise without attracting ants (more on ants below). The naan in the restaurants doesn't seem to be leavened, so I just made a dough, and added some garlic and yogurt (that should provide a small amount of "yeasties"). Once I rolled it out very thin, it worked well.
Before starting on the bread adventure, I bought a marble platter and wooden rolling pin. The marble is a miracle surface: the dough just doesn't stick to it. No wonder pastry chefs use a marble surface for rolling out pastry crusts!
More on ants. Apparently, ants are only a big problem during monsoon (or so I've been told). They will go for any kind of sugar or flour. They even manage to get into tightly sealed canisters. They're persistent little beasts! So I now store all of my flours and sugars and nuts, etc. in the refrigerator.
Our microwave oven can also broil and convection bake. Despite the "easy instructions" in somewhat strained English translation from Korean, we did figure out how to preheat and bake. We roasted raw peanuts -- that's a pretty simple start!
Those of you who know me, might expect me to start experimenting with Indian breads. I made some roti last week, and made some naan yesterday. Since I have no pizza-stone equipped oven (most recipes you find are for the North American market), I make-do with a pre-heated heavy aluminum skillet. I wish I had a cast-iron griddle.
Rotis are unleavened bread: just flour and water and salt, if desired (I desire!). Naan recipes usually call for leavening, but I haven't seen any yeast here. I can't figure where I would leave bread to rise without attracting ants (more on ants below). The naan in the restaurants doesn't seem to be leavened, so I just made a dough, and added some garlic and yogurt (that should provide a small amount of "yeasties"). Once I rolled it out very thin, it worked well.
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| First attempt at naan |
Before starting on the bread adventure, I bought a marble platter and wooden rolling pin. The marble is a miracle surface: the dough just doesn't stick to it. No wonder pastry chefs use a marble surface for rolling out pastry crusts!
More on ants. Apparently, ants are only a big problem during monsoon (or so I've been told). They will go for any kind of sugar or flour. They even manage to get into tightly sealed canisters. They're persistent little beasts! So I now store all of my flours and sugars and nuts, etc. in the refrigerator.
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