Thursday, March 17, 2016

Broa de Milho - Portuguese Corn Bread | We Knead to Bake #36

Broa de Milho is a slightly sweet crusty Portuguese bread made from a mix of rye, wheat or corn. It is a dense bread which goes well with soups and stews. The method of cooking is slightly different with the corn or maize flour paste being made with hot water and then added to other ingredients.

I had tried out Aparna's version of broa adapted from KAF site last month itself for We Knead to Bake. I had used Makai ka aatta / Maize Flour available in India. But thanks to exams, couldn't post it till today. I am forcing myself to post it today when I took a break from exam and mommy duties else I will forget my blog itself.. As usual I have halved the recipe and baked a beautiful bread.

Ingredients:
Maize Flour/ Makai ka aatta: 1/2 cup
Boiling hot water: 6 tbsp
Warm milk: 4-6 tbsp

Instant Yeast: 1 tsp
All Purpose Flour: 1.1/4 cup + more for dusting 
Salt: 1/2 tsp
Honey: 1 1/2 tsp
Olive Oil: 1 1/2 tsp

Preparation:
Put cornmeal in a bowl and add hot water to it.Mix together with a fork and then add 4 tbsp of milk. Mix everything to get a paste adding more milk if needed. Let it sit until it cools a bit.

To this add the remaining ingredients and knead together to form a smooth and slightly sticky dough. Mine was not sticky -- just very lightly sticky..

Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turning it once to coat well. Cover loosely and let it sit until it turns puffy and risen for abut 1-1.5 hrs.

Turn out the dough onto a dustled counter and shape it into a round ball after kneading it lightly for few times. 

Place the ball onto a lined/greased baking sheet and let it sit under a loose plastic wrap or kitchen towel for an hour or so until it becomes more puffy.

Just before baking, you can optionally make 3-4  slashes about 1/4" deep on the top of the dough. Spritz the top lightly with water and bake in a preheated oven at 230C/ 450F for about 10 minutes. After which reduce the temperature to 200C/400F and continue baking for another 15-20 minutes until the top is golden brown.

Take out. Cool. slice and serve with soups preferably..



A healthy bread which is yellow in colour thanks to the corn flour /maize flour. You can replace half of the all purpose flour with wheat flour which will make it more denser or heavy.

Lets see how Aparna did her broa.



Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Goli Vada Pav | India's Vada Pav No. 1

Fast Food is something we associate with videshi or foreign cuisine, something not related to Indian cuisine. Generally we feel these are the best and a matter of prestige even though we have tough time accepting the taste of these unhealthy items despite their attempts at Indian variations.

But have we ever thought of an Indian snack or food being provided as  fast food? This concept has been brought to reality by Goli Vada Pav - Indias leading ethnic fast food brand.

Our quest for different tastes and flavours allow us to enjoy both road side chaats and upscale franchisee driven fast food.We enjoy both and try to be modern as well as traditional. We never think of combining the concept and try to have an ethnic food as a big chain with franchisees across the states and even in small towns. This was made true by Venkatesh Iyer and Shivdas Menon who had the crazy idea of making vada pav the talk of the nation.



A simple spiced potato fritter sandwiched between two pav bread slices and served with green chillies or spicy chutney is a popular street food of Mumbai. Now for this simple snack to become a talk of nation  or in filmy terms - a pimple faced , pig tail wearing spectacled just out of school girl to become the glamourous heroine was not so simple. Ofcourse this took little time since 2004 when the first Goli store came up in Mumbai. The makeover of a street side food to gourmet delight at the same time keeping an eye on the authenticity, hygiene and variety is definitely a story worth knowing. Giving tough competition to foreign brands in fast foods, Goli is one of the top ethnic food chains in India with its 350+ franchisees across India--. a true "Make in India" brand.

I have not tasted a Mumbaiya vada pav from chowpatty. But I have heard friends vouching for a Goli vada pav. I had my first taste of Goli when it opened in my apartment complex. I had my first taste of Goli vada pav when it opened in my apartment complex. Since then I visit it off and on. Though I am not a fan of the classic vada pav, I pretty much like everything else. Whenever they introduce new things I make sure I try it . Its also good to see the friendly and professional approach in customer handling and service.And a sizeable
variety of vada pavs to choose from. The menu boasts of original Mumbaiya or classic vada pav, Schezwan vada pav, makai palak etc along with cheese fingers, saabudana vadas, and varieties of kulfis and juices to choose from especially during summer. They have also introduced a lunch dabba for the office goers and also party combos for small to big parties.Topped with mayo or white butter and served with fried spicy green chillies, the meal is very satisfying. My favourite till date has been a spinach corn (makai palak) vada pav.  Till date ie.. till I tried the new Paneer Surprise.


Goli has come out with few new additions to the menu like Maharaja Vada Pav, Paneer Surprise etc each one better than the other.Maharaja vada pav as the name says is a bigger size veggie vada between pav along with dollops of mayo. Whereas the paneer surprise has square pavs stuffed with crumbed and fried paneer squares spiced to perfection.Yum.. its heaven.

Why am I telling you all this? The vada pav sells itself..

Goto a Goli store and check out.. try to find your own flavour. There a Goli store in every locality and a Goli vada pav for every one. The taste is standardised across all the franchisees as the vadas or patties are shipped frozen from a central manufacturing facility. These are freshly fried based on orders and have a shelf life of around 9 months.The company ships the patties every 2-3 days to all the franchise stores.

That I feel is good as the taste, hygiene and quality can be controlled. But from a customer point of view, its inconvenient. I have seen the Goli store in my complex closed from several days and even weeks as the patties had gotten over and several customers disappointedly turning back. I do hope it was just a teething trouble with every new store and that the management will look into this issue.

Do check out the Goli website and also read the Goli story.


Goli + Vada Pav + Chai = Awesomeness

Thanks for visiting my Blog

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