Skip to main content

No ICC here


Did you come hear after reading about moong dal halwa for this month's Indian Cooking Challenge? After all, we picked my mother's recipe and it's natural for you to wonder how the original tastes like. And I did have every intention of making it, until about three days ago. Then I thought; no matter what I do, it's never gonna taste like what mom makes. So why bother.

Instead, I have a focaccia to share. Many years ago, when I first started baking, focaccia was the first bread I tried. I didn't know then of bad quality yeasts, and varying rising times so what I ended up with was a focaccia brick. This time around, I referred to those fine folks at King Arthur Flour whose recipes have never failed me.

As you can see, I omitted the olive oil on top and the mandatory sprinkle of rosemary to come up with my low fat version. It was delicious nevertheless. Looks like there's nothing you can do to mess up this crunchy yet light bread. Once you're done eating the halwa, try this one out!
Labels:

Comments

CurryLeaf said…
Yum,its great. I too had seen the KAF golden focaccia.
January 15, 2010 at 2:06 PM
lata raja said…
Hey Simran, I came looking for halwa to reassure myself that mine had turned out fine and you give us this feast? Wow!Looks great!
January 15, 2010 at 5:51 PM
Medhaa said…
Hey Simran, I know how you feel, moms will always taste best. Please thank you mother for the recipe it was delicious
January 15, 2010 at 11:20 PM
Keri said…
Fabulous blog food here. Facoccia is one of my favorite things. You do nice work. Keri (a.k.a. Sam)
January 16, 2010 at 2:04 AM
Unknown said…
I was looking for the halwa wen I found your title! Thanks for the recipe Simran!
January 16, 2010 at 3:38 AM
Desisoccermom said…
Aha! so you are responsible for the halwa mania on blogosphere. But I have to agree with you, I have grown up eating moong dal halwa, being from North and all that, but I have and will never make it at home. Mom's or in my case the halwai's is the best.
Enjoying the focacia myself. :)
January 17, 2010 at 11:03 AM
Srivalli said…
Hey I came here thinking abt it..and you say this..I told you na??..anyway facaccia looks delish!
January 23, 2010 at 11:22 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I've found my perfect cookie

It's a bite sized cookie, with flavors of a pie, shape of a croissant and a pretty, pretty name. It's Rugelach. I first heard of this cookie when it became the baking pick for Tuesdays with Dorrie a couple of months back. The looks, the concept - everything was fascinating. And I've dreamed of making this cookie ever since. I ditched hundreds of recipes floating around and went straight to the master. It's Dorie Greenspan's recipe that I used, and ain't I glad I got it so perfect the very first time. So what's rugelach? It's cream-cheese pastry dough, rolled then cut into wedges, spread with jam and sugar and fillings of choice, rolled into crescents and baked. First the dough. Dorie did it in her processor, but I just went and did it by hand. Put 100 gms cream cheese and 100 gms butter out of the fridge until they were soft but still cold. Added both to a cup of plain flour (I omitted the salt because I use salted butter). Rubbed the flour and but...
10 comments
Read more

Mystery Fruit

This only happened a few times every year, just when the rainy season kicked in. A street hawker will come by, straw basket on head. He will yell "kaul chapni" and I will run out to buy a bundle of these. Stuck together like flowers, they looked like a bouquet. Every hole contains a little fruit. You break out the package, peel the tiny fruit that pops out and eat it. Done slowly, it can take you an hour to eat an head. Or did, when I was about 12 years old. That was the last time I saw this fruit. I've never seen it again, didn't even know what it was called or where it came from. Three weeks back, Vikram Doctor wrote about a store in Khar that sells Sindhi foods. He described this fruit and I knew it came from my vivid childhood memories. And finally, I knew we were talking about lotus fruit. Now talk about coincidences. Last weekend, I was passing by a lane in Bandra and for the first time in many, many years I saw the straw basket filled with my mytery fru...
14 comments
Read more

Of Brun and Bun Maska

There is more to Bombay's breads than the pao that goes into pao bhaji and vada pao. There's Brun. and there's bun. We will get there. First, you have to get to know the city's Parsis. And Iranis, who are also Zoroastrians, but came to city a little later, in the late 19th or early 20th century. And when they came, they brought with them these little cafes that dot the city. I am no expert on Irani chai cafes. And I can't tell you whether Yazdani Bakery will provide you the best experience or Kyani's. But I can tell you a few things you need to ignore when you get there. Appearances don't matter; so ignore the fact that the marble/glass top tables and the wooden chairs look a bit dilapidated. Also ignore the rundown look the place sports. Instead, get yourself settled. And order a bun muska. This one's familiar to you as a first cousin of the soft hamburger bun. It's similar, but just a tad bit sweeter. Maska, of course, is the generous dollop o...
13 comments
Read more