Category Archives: Yeast Breads

*WHEW* This month went by FAST! So I am a few days late in posting my challenge results but better late than never!

Mary, who writes the delicious blog, Mary Mary Culinary was our August Daring Cooks’ host. Mary Chose to show us how delicious South Indian cuisine is! She challenged us to make Appam and another South Indian/Sri Lankan dish to go with the warm flat bread.

Appam is a South Indian yeasted bread. It is made from rice, yeast and coconut milk. The batter is fermented and then cooked on the stove similarly to a crepe. It is often served for breakfast with stew. Like most Indian foods, it is naturally gluten-free. My family is from the North of India and I have never heard or tasted this type of bread, so I found this challenge to be quite interesting (and difficult). Unfortunately, I don’t think I made the batter correctly (it would not form a crepe-like bread and the smell/taste was too yeasty and full of coconut for me to enjoy). I would like to try this again but possibly use less coconut milk (not a huge fan).

I did however, after seeing that my appam didn’t form, decide to make roti. Roti is a wheat flatbread, made with wheat flour, salt, oil and water. It is rolled out like a tortilla and then cooked on a hot pan. I have watched my grandmother make these breads for years and never tried to make it (She always made so much, there was never any need to make more).To my surprise, after so many years of watching, I was able to mix, from memory, the dough and make enough for 4 rotis. They came out perfect! Only difference is she uses a different textured whole wheat than I used that made it look a little different.  I can’t wait to tell my grandmother about them. As soon as I figure out measurements, I will post the recipe.

The curry I made was a Chickpeas and Spinach curry. I have some friends who are South Indian and they used to make this often. I improvised that recipe and although it came out well, I think I still need to tweak the recipe. It needed some more spice and maybe some potatoes.

Chickpeas and Spinach Curry Ingredients:

2 tomatoes, (pureed)

1 onion, finely chopped

1 cup cooked chickpeas

1 jalapeno, chopped (1/2 seeds removed)

1 teaspoon garam masala

1 teaspoon red pepper

1 tablespoon of oil

10 oz of frozen spinach, chopped

1/2 teaspoon garlic past

1/2 teaspoon ginger paste

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Saute onions in oil until onions start to brown
2. Add garlic and ginger paste and cook for a few minutes
3. Add spices and jalapeno and cook for another few minutes
4. Add remaining ingredients and cook for about 10 minutes.
   

   Chickpeas and Spinach Curry

I don’t often make Indian foods (usually they take too long and since I grew up in an Indian household, I was a bit bored with the normal recipes) I decided to go the extra mile and make Goat Curry (Northern Indian) as well. Goat curry is one of my husband’s favorite foods and since we recently reached our 11th month of marriage, I thought it would be a special treat. It came out well but I think I will not use the crockpot to slow cook this dish next time. Although the meat was very tender, it shredded too easily.

Goat Curry:

2 lbs of goat meat, cut into small pieces

1/4 teaspoon of cumin seeds

1/2 stick of cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon of whole cloves

1 teaspoon of minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon of ginger paste

2 teaspoons of salt

1 teaspoon of turmeric

3 teaspoons of Garam masala

2 teaspoons of coriander powder

2 teaspoons of cumin powder

1 teaspoon of red pepper

1/4 cup of plain yogurt

2 medium onions, finely chopped

1 small can of petite diced tomatoes

Chopped Cilantro

Directions:

1. Pour enough oil to coat the bottom of a large pot.
2. To the oil, add cumin seeds, whole cloves and cinnamon.
3. Heat until the seeds start to pop and then add onions.
4. Cook onions until they start to caramelize.
5. Add ginger and garlic and cook for an additional 2 minutes
6. Add all powdered spices and cook for about 3-4 minutes (dry-frying the spices)
7. Add goat meat to brown.
8. Add tomatoes and yogurt and bring to a boil.
9. When pot is boiling, cover and reduce flame to a low simmer.
10. Cook for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes.
11. Remove from heat and add cilantro leaf and stir well.
    

    Yummy..but alas shredded Goat Curry.

It was fun doing a challenge doing a challenge from India and I enjoyed learning and reading about South Indian foods. I am definitely going to try making more of it. Thank you Mary for the excellent challenge!

For Original Recipes For Challenge, you can download them here:

Appam and Curry

or at

The Daring Kitchens Recipe Archives

Thank you for reading!!!