Gozleme

Have you heard of these delicious Turkish Anatolian flat breads known as Gozleme?

They sounded familiar but I hadn't had one until this summer when we happened to be in gorgeous Sydney for the Vivid Sydney light festival. The festival sees the entire city light up every night in the most creative, gorgeous way and it is a sight to behold. While the festival is on the for the week, the streets are filled with lovely street stalls and one of them sold Gozleme. It seemed to be a hot favorite and so we stood in line for a good 20 minutes to get a hot, steaming Gozleme fresh off the pan.

It was delicious, crispy, flat bread stuffed with spinach and feta, full of flavor.

Back home in India, we wanted to have it one more time, and like most international foods, if you want to have something a little bit out of the ordinary, you have to make it yourself. Chennai is behind most cities in India in the diversity of its cuisine. It is getting more adventurous every year but still very far away from other cities in India.

Anyhow, I decided to make the gozleme. Having got the recipe off the web, here goes. (a small note here: I got the recipe from a website called Ozlem's Turkish Table. This website is quite a gem. She has step-by-step instructions for most recipes and every single item on there looks do-able and delicious! Do take a moment to go through her website. I've bookmarked half her savory pastries!!). It came out quite perfectly. Do give it a try. Its easy and even the kids love it.

Gozleme
(recipe from Ozlem's Turkish Table)

For the flat bread:
3 cups All-Purpose Flour, sifted
8 g Dry Instant Yeast
3 tbsp Olive Oil
2 tbsp Plain Yogurt
260 ml Warm Water
A pinch of salt

For the filling:
200 g Spinach Leaves, finely chopped
1 Onion, finely chopped
230 g Feta Cheese
1 tbsp Olive Oil
Crushed Red Pepper, or Chilli Flakes, or Red Pepper Paste, to taste (optional - you can make the filling as spicy as you'd like or omit it completely)

Combine about half the warm water, salt and yeast in a bowl and leave aside for 5 minutes until the mixture is frothy. Now combine the flour, yeast mixture, olive oil, yogurt, salt and the rest of the water. Combine all the ingredients and knead until a soft dough is formed.

Divide the dough into 5 balls and keep aside, covered in a damp cloth, until doubled in size.

Meanwhile prepare the filling.  Combine all the ingredients for the filling and knead well to release the flavors and make the onions softer. I ended up sauteeing the onions and blanching the spinach leaves.

Now roll out each ball into a thin, flat round. Fold the top and bottom edges of the round until they meet in the middle.

 Spread the filling in the center and then fold the left and right sides until the filling is covered.

 Press the edges together to seal.

 Repeat for the remaining dough.

Heat a non-stick flat or griddle pan. Brush one side of the gozleme with olive oil and place, oil side down, on the pan and let cook for 5-6 minutes until browned. Brush the other side with olive oil and flip over and cook until both sides are brown.

 Repeat for the remaining gozleme.

Serve either cut up into squares or rolled up. Attack! :)

Savory Cookies

So on Day 2 of cooking from my bookmarked cookies recipe this week, I chose savory cookies from my friend Aparna's blog, My Diverse Kitchen. I've been lusting after these cookies ever since I saw it on her blog.


The taste was delicious and flaky - not spicy but with just a hint of cheese and pepper. You could add more if you'd like to bring some zing to it, but since I was making this with and for my daughter, I didn't go overboard with the spice. But this recipe is so versatile that you could any flavors that you'd like. The only thing I did different was omitting the egg - I was happy to use it but didn't have any and wasn't running to the store for one ingredient.

Savory Cookies
(original recipe from My Diverse Kitchen)

1 cup cold Butter
1 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup Cheese (I used fresh grated Parmesan)
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/2 tsp Pepper
1 tsp mixed dried Herbs (I used Herbes de Provence)
1-2 tbsp cold Water, or enough to bring the dough together

Preheat the oven to 190 deg C.

Rub the butter into the flour to resemble breadcrumbs. Add the cheese, baking powder, pepper and herbs and combine. Add enough water to bring the flour together to form a kneadable dough.

Roll the dough out and use your favorite cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Since my daughter got to choose, we made lots of stars, butterflies, moons, diamonds... basically anything she fancied!


Bake for 15-20 minutes or until browned slightly on the bottom and edges.


Cool completely on a wire rack.


This was a fantastic recipe, Aparna. Thank you so much!


This is off to Ashwini of Ashwini's Spicy Cuisine for MBP: Snacks and Savories. MBP was originally started by Coffee of the Spice Cafe.

Buns

I'm always trying to take part in the Bread Baking Day organized by Zorra. This month it's hosted by Notitie van Lien, one of the most beautiful photographers in the blogosphere. This month the theme is Potato Breads. I've been wanting to make savory stuffed buns for a long time, and I took this opportunity to do just that.


The buns have mashed potato added to the flour. And the buns are also stuffed with a spicy potato filling. I also did some spicy chicken ones for my family. Both were very well received. The nice part is the combinations/ fillings are endless. The bread can be flavored. The fillings can be altered to suit your tastes. And its really simple.


Buns

For the Bread:
4 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tbsp Yeast
2 tbsp Sugar
1 1/2 cups warm Water
1 tsp Salt
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 large Potato, peeled, chopped, boiled and mashed
2 tbsp Crushed Red Pepper (optional - I just wanted a spicy bread. You could add any herbs/ greens of your choice like fenugreek/ cilantro/ cumin/ fennel/ za'atar).

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl, until it comes together as a ball. Empty the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead the dough for 8-10 minutes until it becomes soft and elastic. Put the dough into an oiled bowl and cover with a muslin cloth. Keep in a warm place and leave aside for an hour or until doubled in size.

Divide the dough into 10 or 12 equal parts (I got 10 but depending on the size of the buns you want, you could get 12). Flatten each ball into a thin circular shape, with your fingers. Put about 2-3 tbsp of the filling in each (recipe follows). Bring the edges around the filling until it is fully covered. Pinch the seams together to seal. Place seal-side down on a baking tray. Repeat for all the balls.


Cover the buns with muslin cloth and leave aside for approximately an hour. Bake at 180 deg C for 25-30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway for even baking. Remove and brush with melted butter when warm (optional - this just gives the buns a softer crust).

For the Peas and Potatoes Filling:
6 small Potatoes, peeled, chopped and boiled
1/2 cup Peas, boiled
2 Onions, chopped
1 Tomato, chopped
1 tsp Chilli Powder
2 tsp Coriander Powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder

Tempering:
1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 small piece Cinnamon
2-3 pieces Cardamom
1/2 tsp Fennel Seeds
2 cloves Garlic, chopped

Heat some oil and add the ingredients for tempering. When the mustard seeds begin to splutter, add the onion, garlic and tomato. Saute until the onions are brown. Add the potato, peas and the powders and salt. Continue to saute until well browned and mixed through. Sprinkle with a few teaspoons of water and cover and cook for 10 minutes.


For the Chicken Filling:
1/4 kg boneless Chicken pieces, shredded
1 Tomato
1 Onion, chopped
2-3 cloves Garlic, chopped
1" piece Ginger
(Grind the garlic and ginger together to a paste. OR use 1 tsp readymade ginger garlic paste)
1 tsp Chilli Powder
2 tsp Coriander Powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder

For the tempering:
1 Bay Leaf
1 small piece Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Fennel Seeds
1-2 pieces Cardamom

Heat some oil and add the ingredients for tempering. Saute for 1-2 minutes. Add the onion, garlic, tomato and continue to saute for 3-4 minutes or until the onion is translucent. Add the shredded chicken. Stir fry for a few minutes. Add the ginger garlic paste and the powders and saute well until the raw smell of the paste disappears. Add 1 cup of water and continue to stir fry until the water has been completely absorbed. Keep aside.


Enjoy the buns! Next time I'm going to try a cheese and broccoli filling. Or maybe even some cottage cheese and veggies. The possibilities are endless.

This is off to Notitie van Lien for Bread Baking Day #17: Potato Breads. And to Susan @ Wild Yeast for YeastSpotting.

Savory Kozhakattai

Usually made on special festival days, Kozhakattai or Indian spiced rice flour balls, are wonderfully steamed and spicy. The dough is traditionally used to make a sweet version stuffed with jaggery. This spicy kind was made with the leftover dough. I personally prefer the savory version! (Sometimes, you've got to be glad there are leftovers - often they make a better dish than the original!).


Savory Indian Rice Flour Balls (Kozhakattai)
(Inspired by Laavanya's post on Cookery Corner)

1 cup Raw Rice, soaked for 3-4 hours
1 tsp Urad Dal
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1/2 tsp Chilli Powder
a pinch of Salt
a pinch of Asafetida
1 tbsp Grated Coconut

2 tbsp Dosa Milagai Podi (Here's a link to make it at home - it can also be found in most Indian stores - look for the MTR brand)
OR 1 tbsp Crushed Red Pepper

2 tbsp Oil + 1 tbsp for mixing
2-3 Curry Leaves

Grind the soaked raw rice with lots of water into a very watery consistency.

Heat 2 tbsp oil on a pan and pour in the batter. Keep stirring until the batter starts to come together and becomes thicker, almost like a dough. Remove from heat. Add 1 tbsp of oil and the milagai podi or crushed red pepper. Combine into the dough and knead for about five minutes until it is smooth and elastic.

Shape the dough into tiny balls (the size of small marbles). Steam for about 5-7 minutes. The balls will acquire a lovely shine. Keep aside.

Heat some oil in a pan and add the urad dal and mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds start to splutter, add the curry leaves and coconut. Stir fry for a minute.

Add the steamed rice balls, salt and chilli powder to the pan and combine the ingredients. Remove from heat after 4-5 minutes when the balls get slightly browned.

This is a perfect tea-time snack.

Related Links:
A lovely recipe with great photographs for the sweet version of Kozhakattai from Delectable Victuals.
Here's another savory version that is more commonly made, from Saffron Hut.