'Aloo 'Aloo!

What was supposed to be a wallet-restocking halt turned into a rather wallet-emptying spree. You see, much to my husband’s delight, after getting out of the ATM, I took a detour to the shop next door and splurged on these:

• Freshly-baked sweet bread and milk bread
• Puliyogare mix and Chutney powder
• Khaara bun aka Aloo bun

Normally, any detour from the plan deeply agonizes my husband…all but the detour to the local Iyengar bakery. Sareen, being the typical Bangalore-bred person that he is, pines for Khaara buns, pigs out on bakery bread and is delighted to be served Chutney podi with his breakfast Dosas. The above is a list of things that most Bangaloreans croon over.
   

  
So the other day, I headed to the bakery to buy a few loaves of bread, yes you heard me right – these are so good you consume them by the loaves. Anyway, in the bakery, I also bought the staple powders and mixes and the Aloo bun. The Aloo bun is not disgustingly delicious that I’d write raving reviews about it, yet it is one of those things that foodies must try at least once, like visiting the Taj Mahal for travel-junkies.

Every time I buy these buns, I think of trying it out myself. So, as jobless as I am now, I started trolling for Aloo bun recipes. One common recipe that I came across is by using the standard bread/bun dough and stuffing them with spicy potato filling. The one that I decided to experiment was, however, a potato-based dough. I liked it better than the regular dough.

I looked up this recipe and made my own changes. By changes I mean that I did not stick to precise measurements and used shortcuts.

Aloo Bun / Khaara Bun

Ingredients:

Potato - 1 medium

Milk - 1 cup  

Yeast - 1 tsp

All-purpose flour (Maida) – 2 cups

Wheat flour – ½ cup

Salt - 1 tsp

Oil – 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Boil and peel the potato.
2. Mash the potato and mix it with milk. Make sure that the potato milk mixture is warm and then add the yeast to it and let it rest for 5 minutes.
3. Combine the flours. Add salt and oil to it and mix well.
4. Add half the flour to the potato mixture and mix thoroughly. Once the flour is fully incorporated, gradually add the remaining flour and knead the dough for roughly 10 minutes until it is smooth and bounces back when you press it lightly. If the dough is sticky, add a little flour and knead. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and proof it for about an hour or until the dough doubles in size.
5. Once rested, gently punch out the air by kneading the dough for 1-2 minutes.
6. Make a medium-sized ball and flatten the ball to about the size of a CD. The flattened ball should not be more than ½” thick.
7. Spoon some of the filling on the centre of the flattened ball.
8. Bring together the edges of the circle and close it up like a bun. Repeat the same for the remaining dough. You can make about 10 buns with this dough.
9. Place the buns seam-side down on a greased cookie sheet. Cover the buns with a damp cloth and proof it for another 30-45 minutes. When the buns become double the size, bake it in a moderately hot oven (about 200°C) for about 12-15 minutes until the top starts browning. I baked in the microwave oven on medium heat for 8 minutes and then to brown the top I grilled the bun for 5 minutes.
10. In the final minute of baking, baste the top of the buns with oil and milk. You can baste the buns with egg wash for a shiny golden top.

Important: Make sure you seal the seams of the buns properly, otherwise they will open up while baking.
   

     

For a spicy potato filling, you can sauté boiled, mashed potatoes with finely chopped onions and spices like chilli powder and garam masala. I made a veg filling with finely grated carrots, finely chopped beans and mashed potatoes. You can use just about any stuffing; just ensure that it is a dry one. Next time, I plan to use a chicken filling.

After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relatives. ~Oscar Wilde

Shawarma, Maafi Mushkil!

After enduring disappointing experiences eating abysmal Shawarmas over and over again, I finally decided to take things in my own hands. A few months back, I made the Shawarma at home. I was delighted to finally relish something that you could call a Shawarma. This was to be the beginning of a life-long Shawarma-fest.

Last month, we had Sareen’s uncle and family visiting us from Kerala. It was a pleasure making the Shawarma, particularly for Sareen’s uncle who’d been in Saudi Arabia for a while. I made everything from scratch - the pita bread, the chicken filling, the dressing and even the Fries. Need I mention that I got positive reviews?
   
I’m not going to post the recipe here; I just referred to recipes that I found online. The marinade for the meat keeps changing based on my audience; the seasonings range from Arabic spices to green or red chili and the tenderizers range from lemon to vinegar to yoghurt. Since I am, as always, too lazy to preheat the oven, I just roast the meat in a wok. More importantly, it is too agonizing to patiently wait for 45 minutes when the alternative takes just about a third of the time.
    
I like making the Tarator, the tangy bitter sauce in the Shawarma. Besides the catchy name, I like mixing spoonfuls of bitter Tahini with garlic, lemon and yoghurt, the ingredients that I like the most.
Making Khubz is easier than making chapatti; you just need to give the dough some TLC aka kneading. While making the Khubz is not a big chore, I really wish for the abundance and access to the myriad Khubz varieties that we have in the ME.

Assembling the Shawarma is probably the only tedious part of the whole process. The one key element that’s missing from my Shawarma is pickled cucumber. The stores here seem to have only sweet pickles, and I haven’t yet cracked the code to the perfect pickled veggie.
  
Now that I’ve recreated the shawarma, I think I’ll move on to another favorite in our household – Foul Mudammes and Biskoot Khubz.

Food for the body is not enough. There must be food for the soul. ~ Dorothy Day