And life begins ... again

Old things change.... new choices made.... memories retained .... Life anew...

Spring - that time of the year when new decisions are taken, the closets cleaned out, unwanted junk thrown out, life restructured... in short, turn over a new leaf...

I am back and many ways I intend this blog to change a new leaf. Ideas are still shaping up in my head and I will keep you posted.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with this simple tart with frangipane, lady apples and a chocolate pastry crust.

Chicken Curry Puffs

The British left behind many legacies when they quit India. The most perceived is, of course, the pervasive presence of the English language in the average Indian's life, which, has largely contributed to the country being catapulted as a significant player on the global scene.

I am indeed thankful for the many other subtleties that are not always mainstream. Being married to a Parsi, these little things are brought much more often to my notice. Parsis were the most anglicized during the British Raj and perhaps, even maligned for their adoption of many English traditions. But, they are a lot more clued into the Queen's culture than most Indians. Besides being originally Persian also helps!



One of the little things that I am glad was a fallout of colonization, is tea with pastries. Bakeries are a true delight to me and the smell of fresh, baking bread and pastries is the best ever mood booster! And, I love the fact that the bakeries have savory and sweet treats for the so inclined.

Tea, as you all know, is my favorite time of the day. Since I was a kid, I have loved having something warm with my tea. At home, mum would make a simple snack, like upma or more exotic stuff on weekends, like masala vadai. And, some days, when she stepped out for errands she would stop by a bakery and pick up fresh Puffs!! Those were my absolute favorites!



Chicken or Egg puffs;spicy stuffing encased in flaky pastry. Hard to ask for more pleasure in life! In India, making pastry isn't that easy but here it's a simple joy, especially with frozen pastry sheets so easily available. I made these puffs on a cold day recently with leftover chicken curry, spicy, aromatic and warming. The curry itself makes for a great main course with rice or roti...



Chicken Curry Puffs

2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 egg yolk whisked with 1 tsp milk for egg wash

Chicken Curry
(you won't need all of it for the puffs but you can make a meal of it with rice/bread/roti)

1/2 kg boneless chicken thighs
1 large onion, diced fine
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3/4 cup whole milk yogurt
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp garam masala or curry powder
2 T fresh cilantro, chopped
salt per taste

Cut the chicken into bit size pieces and marinate in the spice mix, salt and yogurt. Refrigerate for an hour.

Saute onion and garlic in oil until soft. Add the chicken and saute uncovered for five minutes. Cover and cook stirring occasionally, until the meat is cooked through. If there is a lot of water, cook uncovered till the sauce/gravy is thickened.

Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with rice/roti or use as stuffing

To Assemble:

Roll out the pastry to one inch wider on each side. Cut 3 inch circles of the puff pastry. Place a bit of filling in the center. Brush the edges with egg wash and cover with another circle of pastry. Crimp the edges with a fork.

Bake at 400 F for 15-20 minutes until puffed and golden brown. Cool for a few minutes but serve warm. Store in an airtight container. They are yummy cold too :D

Baked! Homemade Croissants

If I ever go on a diet, the one thing that I would really find hard, if not impossible, to give up would be the flaky, buttery, mood boosters, Croissants. And, I am willing to gamble that this delicate French pastry evokes similar allegiances in many. A friend of mine who recently decided to turn vegan still cannot give up these delicacies, neither does he plan to! :-)

I remember reading somewhere on the blogosphere that this particular pastry has been ranked high on the list of the Most Difficult Recipes. Since then they have been on my mind, tucked away in a corner, but never forgotten.

Then, a few days back, I came across Tracey's gorgeous blog listing her top 10 favorites from 2010. And, the pride and joy of the list was.... you guessed it, flaky Golden Croissants. I decided then and there that these beauties would be one of the first things I baked this year!



So, I did! That is, once I was done balking over the copious amounts of butter needed in making these pastries as flaky as they are meant to be. :)

I had made puff pastry for my first Daring Bakers challenge, Vols-au-Vents, which, was a fun adventure in itself. The technique to make the croissant dough is pretty similar, actually. So, I was rather comfortable with it.

The layers of flakiness in a perfect croissant (as also puff pastry) comes from the even distribution of the butter into the dough. The method to do that is to tuck a flattened slab of butter into the rolled out dough, fold like a business letter and re-roll. Then, you repeat the process over about 4 more times.



The trick here is ofcourse make sure that the butter stays cold throughout the process and if ever, you find the warm sun streaming in or an overenthusiastic heater cramping your style, pop the dough into the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour to allow the butter to harden up sufficiently but still remain pliable.

Now, a good question to ask is, if the technique is really the same, what is the difference between the croissant dough and puff pastry? Can one not interchange the two? The only difference I noticed is that the croissant dough has yeast in it. But, unlike typical bread dough, you don't see a significant rise in volume before the dough goes into the oven.

I don't know how the chemistry works, and if someone can explain, I am all ears, but the amount of yeast is really low and even while proofing the rise is just barely there. But, once the shaped dough hits the oven, it rises beautifully creating height and a lot more airiness during the baking process. I also think that the yeast contributes to the softer and cake-ier texture of croissants compared to the crunchier puff pastry.



I pretty much followed Tracey's recipe, who in turn used the one by James Peterson, except I used a tad less butter and hid a stick of chocolate in some of the croissants, just to make it a guessing game when I pick one for breakfast :)