Assorted Donuts / Doughnuts

Recently I have been hearing about many outlets selling donuts in Bangalore and people going "mad over donuts" :-).....So, I decided to try making these donuts which turned out to be relatively simple. There is no baking but deep frying involved in this recipe (of course we can make baked donuts as well but I deep fried them). Donut can be termed something in between bread and cake....Bread because yeast is added and cake because butter is added. We can enjoy donuts anytime of the day, be it breakfast, snack or even meal by itself! 

Ingredients:

For Donuts - 

Plain flour (maida) : 3-1/4 cup + for dusting
Powdered Sugar : 1/4 cup + for dusting
Active Dry Yeast : 2 tsp
Milk : 3/4 cup
Eggs : 2
Softened unsalted butter : 110 gms
Vanilla Essence : 1 tsp
Oil for deep frying

For Glaze - 

Granulated sugar : 1/4 cup
Milk : 6 tb sp
Dark chocolate : 50 gms (tempered)
Rainbow sprinkles

Method:

1. In a bowl, sprinkle active dry yeast over luke warm milk. Add 1 tsp sugar to help activate the yeast. Keep it aside for 10-15 minutes until yeast foams well
2. In another big bowl, sieve the flour so that it gets aerated well. Add to it 1/4 cup of sugar and mix well
3. Beat two eggs lightly with the help of fork and add it to the flour. Add vanilla essence and mix it well with spatula
4. Add well foamed milk and yeast mixture and also softened butter. Mix well and bring all the ingredients together
5. Knead the dough for 5 minutes until it is forms a soft ball and no longer sticks to the bowl
6. Keep in a warm place for 1 to 1.5 hours or until the dough doubles up in volume
7. Punch the dough to take out the air from dough and allow to rise the dough again for 30 minutes
8. Once again punch the dough and then keep it in freeze for 30 minutes so that the dough becomes pliable for rolling
9. Lightly dust the floor with some flour and then roll the dough using rolling pin in 1/2 inch thick round. (For small / mini donuts, keep the thickness to 1/4 inch)
10. Using donut cutter, cut out the donuts and arrange it in tray / plate. Keep covered using plain cloth at a warm place for 30-45 minutes until these donuts rise again
11. Deep dry donuts in oil on medium until these turn golden brown and place these in a plate
12. Dust the powdered sugar on the hot donuts
13. For chocolate donuts, dip the cooled donut in tempered chocolate and take it out. Take rainbow sprinkles in a plate. Dip the wet chocolate side of donut in the sprinkles so that it gets coated well. Arrange it in plate
14. For sugar glaze, mix granulated sugar and milk in pan and boil until sugar dissolves and mixture thickens a bit. Allow it cool. Dip the donuts from one side in the glaze and arrange it on the plate
15. Serve the donuts either warm or even cold

Fluffy Pancakes

Now a days, our Sunday also starts very early since my younger son has his classes in the morning. Today I decided to make simple but healthy breakfast of Fluffy Pancakes served with honey and maple syrup. Pancakes can also be served by garnishing it with fresh fruits, fruit crush or jelly etc...

Ingredients

Flour / Maida - 1 1/2 cup (approx. 185 gms)

Milk - 1 1/4 milk (approx. 300 ml)

Egg - 1 no.

Baking powder - 4 tsp

Salt - 1 tsp

Sugar - 1 tbsp

Butter - 3 tbsp (melted) (approx. 42 gms)

Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp

Makes around 10-12 medium sized pancakes 

Method

1. In a large bowl, mix together flour/maida, baking powder, salt and sugar
2. Add to it melted butter, egg and milk
3. Mix together with hand blender until it is smooth
4. Add vanilla essence and mix well
5. Keep aside for 15 minutes
6. Take a non-stick pan. Grease it with little butter / oil and heat it on low to medium heat
7. With the help of ladle, pour approximately 3-4 tbsp of batter on the hot pan and spread evenly to form around 5 inch diameter circle
8. Cover the pan with lid and allow to cook for 3 minutes so that bottom is golden brown
9. Turn the pancake over and cook covered for another 3 minutes so that other side also becomes golden brown
10. Take out from the pan and serve with honey, maple syrup, cut fresh fruits or jelly

Chicken Ghee Roast

Being weekend, we have to have non-veg food; at least that is the expectation of both my sons. Today, I decided to try chicken ghee roast. It is one of the most popular dishes from Mangalore. This dish is supposed to be spicy and usually served with Neer Dosa or Ghee Rice. Large amount of ghee goes into making of this dish but that is what brings the flavor to this tasty Chicken Ghee Roast.......

Ingredients:

Chicken - 1 Kg (cut into smaller pieces)

Ghee - 4 tbsp
Sugar - 11/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 5 to 6 for garnishing

For Marination:

Curd - 1 cup

Lemon juice - 1 tsp

Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder - 2 tsp

Salt - To taste

For Spice Paste:

Corriander Seeds (dhania) - 2 tbsp

Cumin Seeds (jeera)- 1 tsp

Black Peppercorns (kali mirch) - 6-7
Fenugreek Seeda (methi) - 1/2 tsp

Garlic - 10-12 flakes

Tamarind - small lemon sized ball

Dry Red Chillies - 6-7 (if using "byadagi" chillies, then use 10-12)

Water - 2 tbsp or as required

Method:

1. Wash chicken pieces well. Marinate it with curd, lemon juice, red chilli powder and little salt. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours (I did it for one hour).
2. In a flat pan, dry roast red chillies on medium flame for 4-5 minutes. Keep aside to cool.
3. In the same pan, take 1 tsp ghee and roast corriander seeds, cumin seeds, black peppercorns on low flame for 4-5 minutes (make sure not to burn these spices). Keep aside and allow to cool.
4. Grind the roasted spices, red chillies, garlic flakes and tamarind together with 2 tbsp water to form a fine paste. Add little more water if paste is still too dry and difficult to grind.
5. In a non-stick pan, heat 2 tbsp ghee, add chicken pieces and cook covered on medium to high flame until chicken is almost cooked (it took around 8-10 minutes). Transfer the chicken pieces to another vessel and released juices / liquid to a separate bowl.
6. In the same pan, add remaining ghee, add ground spices and saute on medium flame for 5 minutes until ghee leaves the sides of the pan.
7. Add to it cooked chicken and reserved juice / liquid from the bowl. Add salt to taste. Saute well for 3-4 minutes. Make sure that all the chicken pieces mix well with spices.
8. Add sugar and mix.
9. Cook for 10 minutes on low to medium flame until chicken is cooked, juices are almost dried up and all chicken pieces are coated well with masala.
10. Remove in a bowl. Garnish with curry leaves.
11. Serve with white rice, ghee rice or Neer Dosa