Amma's Recipes: Hyderabadi Double ka Meetha ( Bread Pudding with Nuts and Raisins) - Revisited

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Amma's recipes is a column on this blog, which is very close to my heart. These are the recipes which my mother perfected over many many years and reflects how awesome a cook she is. It is also fun to just photograph once in a while, without thinking about what and how to make a recipe, worrying whether it would turn out well or not. She Cooks, I Photograph. That is the deal. :-) If you guys have any question, do drop in a line or comment on this post. My mom will be more than happy to answer all of them.

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller

Such is the case with photography too. You see the same vegetable, do the same chore, visit the same place, but every single time you will find something new, something unique to photograph - the same notion with which I did Project 365 last year. Though, I find little time these days to pick up my camera and click random shots, I do miss Project 365 terribly. That's when, I secretly admire all the lovely shots by fellow 2012 Project 365-ers - Sharmi, Smitha, Lubna, Nithya, Usha and many others. They are doing a splendid job by posting something new everyday. All the very best to all of them and Hope to see you till the very end. :-)

Hyderabadi Double Ka Meetha

Milk Bread from our nearby bakery

There is a certain charm in revisiting the classics. Isn't it. Especially today's recipe is quite old made new, history scrubbed of loads of nostalgia. Ask any Hyderabadi about their favorite dessert and guaranteed most of them will say - Double Ka Meetha. Such is its legacy and a gastronomic delight devoured by all, forgetting about counting calories for a moment.  Even today, no Hyderabadi dawat is complete without a generous serving of meetha at the very end.

Fresh Khoya

When in US, atleast in places where I stayed fresh khoya is a rarity, hence my previous version makes use of heavy cream. But, now that we are in India and almost every nook & corner has a doodhwala, my mom's version is rich, creamy and sinfully indulgent.

Bread slices, shallow fried in ghee

the Ensemble - bread, milk, fried dry fruits, sugar syrup and milk with khoya

{ Recipe} Hyderabadi Double ka Meetha ( Bread Pudding with Nuts and Raisins)

Ingredients:

1 loaf milk bread
ghee - for shallow frying
3 cups milk
1/2 cup khoya
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
a pinch of cardamom powder
saffron strands or orange food color (as I was out of saffron)
1/2 cup or more dry fruits and raisins - I used cashews, raisins and almonds

Preparation:

1. Slice bread into thick pieces.

2. Heat ghee in a wide pan and shallow fry bread pieces until slight golden brown. Drain them on paper towels. In rest of ghee (add more if needed), fry the dry fruits.

3. In a sauce pan, boil milk and add khoya. On a low heat, reduce it to half. Add saffron (or food color) and cardamom powder.

4. In another sauce pan, add water and sugar. Boil for 12-15 mins to make sugar syrup.

5. In a wide bowl, arrange the bread slices, sprinkle dry fruits, pour sugar syrup and reduced milk. With hand gently break the bread into small pieces while mixing everything. Make sure its not too mushy.

Serve warm or chilled with vanilla ice cream.

Note: Refrigerate if any leftovers. On the next day, heat up some milk, add the meetha and then serve.

until next time,

Cherry Tomato Focaccia with Garlic and Basil

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"The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight." ~ M.F.K. Fisher

Until few years ago, the term "homemade-freshly-baked-bread" was non-existent in my food dictionary. I never knew bread can me made at home. Well, that does sound silly today, but at that time that's what I thought. Over and above, I suffered from what I call "yeast-o-phobia". All you bread-bakers know what I mean. At first, bread making may sound like a daunting task, quite intimidating too. It seems difficult just for the fact that - at any step one could go wrong and end up with a chewy, inedible bread. Trust me, it happened to me too!. After couple of batches of bread dough ending up in the trash can, I conquered my fear almost four years ago. It was an exhilarating experience and there is no looking back since then! :-).
 

nothing beats the taste of freshly baked bread - house smells divine. that's for sure! 

One of my all time favorite bread recipes with yeast  is - No Knead Pizza by Jim Lahey. From New York Times to Huffington Post, almost everybody featured it. My personal experience with recipe gave awesome results and it works for its sheer simplicity. If you are a novice bread baker, then I would go for Jim's recipe and fall instantly in love making bread at home!

Let the magic of yeast begin..

....and if ever you want for a bread which rarely fails and very forgiving, perfect to dip in olive oil sprinkled with salt or balsamic vinegar, then this is it: Focaccia. I tried my hand for the first time with Roasted Sweet Pepper Focaccia Bread in a cast iron skillet. Oh my, the taste still lingers in my mouth. It was that good to be one of popular posts on this blog and got featured on food52 as well.

bread dough...after two hours, doubled in size

Today's recipe - Focaccia with cherry tomatoes, fresh basil and hint of garlic is an ultimate classic combination. One could easily take this idea and come up with other topping such as - rosemary, roasted garlic, mixed herbs, caramelized onions, olives etc. In any form or shape, I promise you will end up with an absolutely delicious piece of bread.

cherry tomatoes with basil..

The trick here in this recipe is to let the tomatoes, basil and garlic sit in olive oil as long as possible to get an excellent infused oil, which works best as a topping for focaccia. If fresh herbs are not available, use dried ones. It is important to use olive oil (extra virgin, if possible) and  please note that such flavored oils mostly depend on personal taste and involves some trial and error to get the right amount of zing that suits one's palate.

cherry tomatoes, fresh basil leaves and garlic induced in extra virgin olive oil

focaccia .. fresh out of oven..

Cherry Tomato Focaccia with Garlic and Basil

{Recipe} Cherry Tomato Focaccia with Garlic and Basil

Ingredients:

Makes 2 medium sized loaves

For Bread Dough:

1.5 cups of milk
1 tsp sugar
2.5 tsp of active dry yeast
3 cups of all purpose flour
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or just olive oil works too)
1 tbsp cornmeal or semolina (coarse sooji)

For Topping:

20-25 cherry tomatoes, halved
10 basil leaves, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil  (or just olive oil works too)
salt

Preparation:

1. In a sauce pan, dissolve sugar in milk. Heat until luke warm and transfer in a small bowl. Add active dry yeast and let it proof for 10 mins. (it will form foamy bubbles and slightly  increase in volume)

2. In a large bowl, add 1.5 cups of all purpose flour and salt. Add in the yeast mixture with olive oil. Mix. Add in rest of the more flour little by little until the dough is slightly sticky. Transfer on a floured surface and knead for 4-5 mins. the dough should be smooth and elastic. Place in a greased large bowl. Make sure there is enough room for the dough to double. Cover with a plastic wrap or damp towel and leave in a warm place for approximately 2 hours.

3. For the topping - heat olive oil until warm in a pan. Add garlic, basil and cherry tomatoes. Cover and let is stand for atleast 30-45 mins.

4. On a greased baking sheet, sprinkle some corn meal or semolina. Slightly punch down the risen dough and divide into two portions. Gently roll into desired shape. Transfer onto the baked sheet and gently stretch. Cover again with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let it rise for another 45 mins.

5. Preheat oven to 425 F or 220 C. Poke indents on the dough and generously drizzle tomato-basil-garlic olive oil. the oil must pool in the indentations. Sprinkle some salt and bake for 20 minutes. Once done, let it still for 5 mins and Serve with olive oil or balsamic vinegar on the side. Yum! :-)

~*~Have a great week ahead folks!~*~

until next time,

Black and White Photography: Bread and Wine

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A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou. ~ Omar Khayyam

Original Photograph

Posted for Black and White Wednesdays hosted by Susan

until next time,