Aloo-r Nimki from Maa's kitchen

This past week I was at home, chatting with Baba, Maa, shopping in Gariahat and eating food that evoked memories from my childhood.

You know there was a time when I hated anything that was deep-fried. My favorite meal used to be "sheddho -baat," steamed rice and boiled vegetables with a generous helping of butter and that I could eat even for breakfast. Back then, before leaving for parties, Maa would always remind me, "Ja deoya hobe khabe" that is 'try what ever is served,' and me being the sweet obedient girl that I was, would begrudgingly try the samosas, pakoras and puris which the kakimas would prepare with care and diligence... until one fine day I began to like what I was eating and was doomed for life... :)

Whole Wheat Coconut Muffin Buns

I am not sure if in some other world these whole wheat coconut muffin buns are standard. They ought to be.. They are cute, tasty and delicious. They are everything  you would want to wake up to on a Sunday morning or for that matter any other day of the week. I have a feeling that with a glaze of coconut syrup they might make the ultimate breakfast muffin buns... but I am yet to verify the latter..

As many of you might have recognized, these buns were inspired by the famous Dilkhush Buns. Literally translated, Dilkhush means "makes you happy" and the traditional Dilkhush buns do just that... make you happy with their pillowy soft milk bread casing and coconut-dry fruit-and-tuttti frutti stuffing.  

My muffin buns do the same... though they have a whole wheat potato bread casing rather than a white milk bread. 

Irish Whole Wheat Potato Pull-Apart Rolls

Around St Patrick's day, when I was looking for something Irish to make, I came across the Whole Wheat Potato Bread in Beth Hensperger's Bread lover's bread machine cookbook. Apparently in the late eighteenth century, potatoes or spuds as they called them, became a staple in the Irish diet. One-third of the population then, solely relied on this cheap crop.  Lack of genetic diversity, left the crop vulnerable to diseases and in 1845, the rapid spread of a plant disease called late blight resulted in the crops failure in the poorer communities of western Ireland. That led to the Great Irish Famine, also known as the Irish Potato Famine, in which approximately one million people died and a million more emigrated from Ireland. The Irish immigrants apparently brought the tubers to New England, a region were potatoes are grown even today.  

Now about these rolls... They are fairly easy to make and taste great with soup, curry, bhaji... you name it. I believe, the potato in the dough basically does what eggs generally do to the bread, make them soft and light. These rolls are much softer and less dense that most whole grain rolls. Again, I am inclined to believe that the mashed potato is the reason for it.... In any case they are a great addition to a meal and have recently become my go-to recipe for dinner rolls... 

Puneri Aloo (Potatoes with Peanuts n' Curry Leaves)

Earlier this year, while working on the recipe archive of the blog I realized that I haven't shared too many Indian recipes. Weird. Because I am an Indian. Grew up eating Indian food all my life. Love my spices and enjoy their aroma and flavors in all that I cook. Yet when it came to blogging I shared so little of my food and culture. So I decided to share at least one Indian recipe each week..

Keeping with the spirit I chose to share Puneri Aloo with you today. It is a traditional potato preparation flavored with curry leaves and peanuts. The name suggests that the dish is from the city of Pune in Maharashtra. Must be so. But I haven't  had this dish in Pune.  I have only tasted the version that came in "The Samsung Book of Indian Microwave Cooking by Tarla Dalal," the book that I often referred to in my early days in kitchen.

You see, I began to cook on a regular basis only after marriage. My mother believed that anyone who appreciates good food will eventually learn to cook. So she neither encouraged me to experiment in her kitchen nor assist her as a sous-chef. Later when I went to college, the hostel canteen took care of all our meals. In India, hostel accommodations always come with food, meaning there is always a canteen associated with every hostel, and the multi-tasking "bhaiyas" there take care of all the kitchen ordeals.. shopping, cooking, serving and washing... You only have to appear in the canteen in time and eat your meals. Being part of the system, which we all took for granted,  I never learnt to cook until I was forced to. As a result my initial kitchen-days were quite a ride. Back then,  rolling a "round" roti used to be a big accomplishment and a compliment from husband on my cooking a big achievement. The latter came in easily with this dish.. Thus it remained one of our favorites for a long time and then became part of a happy memory...

Salty-Sweet Potato Far # French Fridays with Dorie

Bacon, Eggs & Potato baked into a cake with prunes and raisins.... 

now what can there be not to like about this dish... I had thought while reading the recipe... but somehow it did not appeal to me much. It was different and tasted nice with the simple chicken stew I had prepared to go with it.  However it wasn't great. Definitely not as good  as Dorie has described it to be. 

I had halved the recipe but did not adjust the baking time. Neither did I tent the far with a foil while it was baking. All that might have contributed to its browned surface and crusty edges... but that part did not bother us at all. The only complain my husband had was about the raisins. Though I had put the full measure of bacon in half the measure of batter, my husband thought that the raisins were overpowering the taste of bacon. He said that he would prefer the far with less or no raisins. I did not mind the raisins or the prunes... they were okay.. though I think I might like them better in this sweet version of potato far.

Overall this dish was a bit too French for us. I had been intrigued by the name and the list of ingredients in the far and I am glad I tried it once... but I will probably not bake it again.

Visit French Fridays with Dorie to know what the other members thought about this "savory far".

 For the recipe order your copies of Around the French Table from Amazon or from The Book Depository and join us as we cook our way through the book.

Stuffed Whole Wheat Naan

I made these whole wheat naan a week back. Had planned to put it on the blog sooner.. but this week everything just went out of sorts. anyway... now that i am here let me quickly tell you what i did. how they were. and how well they compared to their bread flour(BF) counterparts. 

Adapting the recipe from Beth Hensperger's Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook, I made the dough for the naan in my bread machine and stuffed it with mashed potatoes and spinach. then buttered them generously and baked them in the oven. even though wheat is considered a healthier choice, in our opinion the BF ones taste much better. however with the stuffing these taste pretty good with a side of dal and yogurt. like their BF counterparts these are quite heavy, so unless you have a big appetite you'll probably not manage beyond one and a third for a meal. at least i find it difficult to have more, though Mr MN chomps down at least three every time i bake them..