Jeera biscuits - savoury cumin flavoured cookies

The local trains of Mumbai are a world of their own.  Getting into the local train every morning is an exercise in dexterity and street smartness. Not only do you have to make sure you are properly positioned on the platform to make your entry into the exact compartment that you want to get into easy and quick, but you also have to deal with people who elbow their way through the crowd, walking into the thick of things and then standing right in the middle of all the seats. All quirks of humanity unfold along those railway tracks, in a compartment where humans are packed like sardines. Some smell like sardines too, but then, you learn to ignore and move away. The quirkiness of some of the regulars is enough to merit a post of its own. So I'll leave that for another post and move on to the subject of this post - salt biscuits that taste great with tea or on their own. Spiced with cumin, ajwain and methi, carrying these with you will also give you something to look forward to in case you get stuck next to someone who thinks that deodorant is an insult in a foreign language. You might elicit strange looks, though, if you keep opening your dabba and smelling these, but then, who cares?


What you need:
Whole wheat flour - 1cup
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp (adjust to taste)
Cumin seeds/jeera - 1 tsp
Ajwain/omam/carraway seeds - 1 tsp
Kasuri methi - 1/2 tsp
Ghee/clarified butter - 1 tbsp
Curd - 3-4 tbsp

Take the whole wheat flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda and ghee in a large mixing bowl. Mix with your finger tips until the mixture is crumbly. Add cumin, ajwain and kasuri methi. Add curd, starting with 1 tbsp and then adding as needed, and knead to a smooth dough. Set aside for 15-20 minutes.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees celsius for 10-12 minutes until the bottom starts to brown.
These cookies will be a little soft when you take them out, but become crisp as they cool down.
Store in an air tight container once completely cool.
This post goes to PJ who is hosting Valli's Kid's Delight themed on Baked Treats.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 37

Torcettini - Yeasted cookies

The fourth bake chosen by Aparna for We Knead to bake is a yeasted cookie called Torcettini. Before reading the recipe that she sent out to the group, I had no idea that a cookie made using yeast as one of the ingredients even existed. This cookie, from the town of Saint Vincent in Valle d'Aosta, a small mountainous region in Italy, is quite easy to make and tastes crisp on the outside and chewy and soft on the inside. It is not overly sweet and makes for a wonderful tea-time snack.
 

What you need: (Original recipe adapted by Aparna from A Baker's Tour by Nick Malgieri)  

All purpose flour/Maida - 1.5 cups
Warm water - 1/2 cup
Active dry yeast - 1 1/4 tsp
Unsalted butter - a little less than 2 level tbsp, cold and cut into small pieces
Lemon zest - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Sugar - 1/3 cup

Dissolved the yeast in warm water and keep aside, covered for about 10 minutes until frothy.
Mix the maida, salt and butter together in a large mixing bowl, until crumbly. Add the lemon zest and yeast mixture. Knead to a smooth, pliable dough. Place the dough in a well oiled bowl, turning over so that the dough is well coated with oil. Cover and keep aside until the dough rises. This dough doesn't really double, but looks puffy, and when you pinch out a small bit, the inside looks like a honeycomb. Punch down the dough, transfer it to an airtight container or cling wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour or for upto 24 hours. Mine was in the fridge for close to three hours.

Shaping the cookies
Take the dough out of the refrigerator and roll out into an approximately 6 inch square. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into four strips of roughly equal width. Cut each strip further into six pieces, making 24 pieces in all.
Roll each piece into an approx. 5 inch rope. Sprinkle a little sugar on your counter top and roll the rope on the sugar, taking care to coat the dough on all sides uniformly. Make a loop with the rope, crossing it over before the ends.
Place the torcettini on an ungreased baking pan, leaving an inch between them. Keep aside for 15-20 minutes until they rise a little.
Bake in a preheated oven at 160 degrees centigrade for about 25 minutes until golden brown. Cool completely and store in an air tight container at room temperature.


Note: The original recipe asks that you bake the cookies in a pan lined with parchment paper. However, after reading comments from others in the group about how the caramelised sugar from the bottom of the cookies made them stick to the parchment, making it difficult to remove, I decided to bake them directly in the pan. The cookies could be removed easily from the pan once they had cooled.
These are crisp on the outside the day they are baked, but become softer from the next day. I actually liked them better the day after they were baked.

Eggless oats cookies

Recipe source : Nirmala's kitchen
What you need:
Oats - 1.5 cups
Whole wheat flour - 1/2 cup
Raisins - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1/2 cup

Mix all the ingredients together to a soft dough. I had to add about 2-3 tbsp more of flour to get a smooth mixture. If you find the dough too dry, add a little milk while kneading.
Pinch out small balls of dough. Shape into round cookies and bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until the cookies start to brown on the edges.
This is my 5th post for the blogging marathon and my theme for the day is eggless baking.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#6 hosted by Srivalli

Eggless almond cookies for Sweet Punch

This month's A Sweet Punch features eggless almond cookies The recipe has been chosen by Ria and is from Manjula's kitchen.
The recipe is very simple and the cookies turned out to be melt in the mouth good. It is really hard to stop eating these cookies. Though the original recipe says that you will get around 24 cookies, I got only 17 medium sized ones.

What you need:
Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
Sugar - 1/3 cup
Almonds - sliced, 1/4 cup
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Butter - 100 gms softened to room temperature
Milk - 1 tbsp (if needed)
Cardamom powder - 3/4 tsp

Take all the ingredient except butter and milk in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and knead well to a smooth dough. If needed, add some milk to make a soft dough. Pinch out medium sized balls of dough, shape it into a circle and flatten slightly between your palms.
Bake at 175 degrees for 18 minutes or until the bottom turns golden brown. Let it cool for 2 minutes in the pan and then remove on to a cooling rack.
Store in an air tight container.









Check out the bloggers doing the Blogging Marathon, along with me..30 Minutes Meals:Priya Mahadavan, Pavani,Seven Days of Salad: lla, Divya Vikram,For Ongoing 7 Events: Priya Suresh, Suma Gandlur,Harini,Kids Friendly: Vatsala, Jay,Kamalika