Karathe-Batate Talasani - 1

Bittergourd has become a latest addition to our diet. Whenever V does shopping at Indian store, he invariably picks up few bittergourds. They have pretty short shelf life, so I have to use them up quickly. Karathe kismuri is the only dish I end up making with it since we love that dish so much. Recently, whenever I fry bittergourd to make this dish, both V and Ishaan keep eating the fried pieces as it is, before even it gets into any dish!. I prepared Aayi’s karathe nonche last time. I was looking for something different again, so I tried this.

I got these small thin potatoes – fingerling potatoes a while back. They taste great roasted just with some garlic and chilli powder. Any potatoes can be used, but these give a nice bite to the dish. A generous squeeze of lemon takes this simple dish to a whole new level. This dish tastes great when made spicy. Serve with rice and simple dal for a comfort meal.

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Pictorial: Fry the bittergourd with salt. Add the potatoes and cumin seeds. Add the spices and cook till done.

Spicy Bittergourd - 12

Spicy Bittergourd-Potato Fry (Karathe Batate Talasani)

Ingredients

  • 2-3 bittergourds
  • 1/2 lb potatoes about 2 cups when cut
  • 1 tbl spn lemon juice
  • 1 tea spn chilli powder
  • 1/2 tea spn cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tea spn garam masala
  • Oil
  • Salt

Instructions

  • Cut bittergourd into thin pieces and apply salt.
  • Heat little oil in a thick bottomed pan (I use cast iron pan) and fry bittergourd pieces till they are crispy and almost black in color.
  • Wash the potatoes well and cut them into bite sized pieces.
  • Add the potatoes, cumin seeds to the bittergourd and fry till they are tender (do not add water, fry on low flame).
  • Add the spices, a little salt, mix well.
  • Sprinkle lemon juice, mix.
  • Serve hot.
Spicy Bittergourd - 13

Spicy Bittergourd-Potato Fry (Karathe Batate Talasani)

Ingredients

  • 2-3 bittergourds
  • 1/2 lb potatoes about 2 cups when cut
  • 1 tbl spn lemon juice
  • 1 tea spn chilli powder
  • 1/2 tea spn cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tea spn garam masala
  • Oil
  • Salt

Instructions

  • Cut bittergourd into thin pieces and apply salt.
  • Heat little oil in a thick bottomed pan (I use cast iron pan) and fry bittergourd pieces till they are crispy and almost black in color.
  • Wash the potatoes well and cut them into bite sized pieces.
  • Add the potatoes, cumin seeds to the bittergourd and fry till they are tender (do not add water, fry on low flame).
  • Add the spices, a little salt, mix well.
  • Sprinkle lemon juice, mix.
  • Serve hot.
Spicy Stuffed Bread - 14

Do you remember the spicy stuffed breads we used to get in bakeries in India? Not sure if they are still available, but I craved for these buns when we moved to US. I used to search for these buns in bakery sections here and would get disappointed to see the sweet breads. Finally I deciced to make them at home. Sometimes with paneer, sometimes with eggs and other times with mixed veggies, they were always a hit.

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Couple of years ago, V got me a KitchenAid stand mixer as a surprise gift. It has become my favorite gadget in the kitchen. I use it to make bread dough, chapati dough, cakes etc. After some trial and error, I have figured out a way to efficiently use this. Fresh breads are on the menu atleast once a week now.

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Last week I bought a oven thermometer (finally!!). I had noticed my breads were not getting baked in the time mentioned in many recipes. I had same trouble with cakes. I found online that some ovens show wrong temperatures. This thermometer costed me about $5. I think it was totally worth it. When I tried preheating my oven to 350F, I noticed the thermometer was showing 325F. So it is off by 25F, which makes a big difference to baking. If you are struggling to get your cakes/breads baked properly, this might be something you would like to invest in.

Now coming to this bread, I try to make them into decorative shapes instead of simple buns. They are always big hits in get togethers. I have started making these instead of chapatis which take a long time to roll. I learn something new with every bread I bake. So this has been ongoing learning experience for me. I make the bread with 50% multi grain flour(the one we use to make chapatis) or wheat flour. I feel the bread gets more dense if I use more of it. But I am working on it, to see if I can decrease the amount of all purpose flour(maida) in it.

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Spicy Stuffed Bread (with Paneer Stuffing)

Ingredients

  • 1 pack active dry yeast
  • 2 cups multi grain flour or wheat flour
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 and 1/4 cup water
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 tbl spn butter
  • 1 tbl spn honey
  • 1 tbl spn + some more olive oil
  • Salt

Instructions

  • Take luke warm water in a bowl and add honey and yeast to it.
  • Keep it aside for 10mins till the mixture becomes frothy (yeast becomes active).
  • Now add milk, butter, multi grain (or wheat) flour, salt and mix till it all comes together (I do the mixing in stand mixer with dough hook).
  • Then add 1/2 cup all purpose flour at a time mixing all the time till it becomes a dough.
  • Add 1 tbl spn olive oil and mix again. (It may take slightly more flour or water based on humidity and other factors).
  • Now knead the dough for 10mins. If you are mixing by hand, take the dough on a clean flat surface and knead for 10 mins.
  • Take a small piece of dough and stretch it. If it breaks easily, you need to knead a little more.
  • Now apply some olive oil on the surface and cover the bowl with a plastic wrap or damp towel and keep in a warm place (I keep in oven with lights on).
  • The dough will double in volume in about 1 and 1/2 to 2 hrs.
  • Punch the dough down and lightly mix the dough.
  • Leave for another 45mins.
  • Now take the dough pieces, stuff them and shape into required shapes (follow the pictures for few different ideas).
  • Shaped into a thin long log, without any stuffing (this I use for sandwiches next day)
  • Stuffed shaped into a easy, beautiful bread
  • Cover the dough over the stuffing
  • Make sure the seam is down and stretch the bread into long log. Then put deep cuts into it making sure the log is intact on left. Then gently lift it and move it into a circle.
  • Stuffed simple braid
  • Cover the shaped dough with plastic wrap or damp towel and leave around 45mins
  • Preheat the oven at 350F for 10mins.
  • Brush the top of the bread with milk (or egg wash), sprinkle some white sesame seeds or chopped garlic or dried herbs on top.
  • I slashed the top with a sharp knife for the bread with no stuffing. Then topped with herbs and sesame seeds
  • For stuffed breads, it was just sesame seeds
  • Bake at 350F for about 20mins.
  • Let them cool for few minutes before cutting.

For Spicy Stuffing

Spicy Stuffed Bread - 22

Spicy Stuffed Bread (with Paneer Stuffing)

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup onion
  • 1 cup chopped paneer or boiled and chopped eggs or mixed vegetables or ground chicken
  • 1 cup green peas
  • 1/2 tea spn cumin seeds
  • 1 tea spn garam masala
  • 1/2 tea spn chilli powder
  • 1/2 tea spn grated ginger
  • Oil
  • Salt

Instructions

  • Heat oil and add cumin seeds.
  • Add onions, ginger and fry till they are translucent.
  • Add garam masala, chilli powder, salt, peas. Cover and let them cook.
  • Now add paneer, mix well and cook for another 5 mins or so.