How to cook Indian cakes?

For Hindus, bread is part of their culture. He is loved, respected and generally treated with great respect. It is worth noting that the bread in this country is the famous Indian tortillas.

Types of bread

Indian cuisine is very diverse, so even such a simple product as bread, there are several types. The most famous Indian cakes:

• 
  puri
• chapati
• rays
• naan
• buzz,
• mumps
• paratha
• appam
• dos,
• samosa, kulchi,
• papadam
• rumali roti.

In national cuisine there are dozens of different ways and options for their preparation. Every woman in India must be able to bake bread. I must say that the lesson is not easy. First you need to know that Indian cakes are prepared mainly from certain types of flour:

• maida (a product of fine grinding of soft wheat ),
• atta (durum wheat coarse grinding),
• rice
• bean.

For each product a specific flour is used. This further determines its appearance and taste. There are even certain rules that govern how, when and with what you need to eat certain cakes. Interestingly, Indians sometimes use their unusual bread as original cutlery. This habit has been preserved among many eastern peoples.

Basic cooking rules

Typically, Indian cakes are cooked in deep pots, on hot metal sheets, in a clay oven or in a huge frying pan. Each type of bread has its own specific method. And the process of preparing some of them resembles a real ritual. For example, the dough for “rumali roti” is rolled out first with a rolling pin, and then with your hands, smoothly turning it in the air. The result is a very thin round billet of a rather large diameter. Probably from here the name of this tortilla came. In Hindi, the word “rumali” is translated as “handkerchief”. Indeed, it turns out very similar. Such a “scarf” is put on a pan turned upside down and baked on low heat. It is not difficult to do such a procedure, since the dough for these flat cakes is usually made very soft and elastic. It practically flies in the air, and then, like a thin film, is applied to the pan and cooked in literally a few minutes.

Puff Envelopes

Everyone is able to try Indian cakes at home . You can choose any recipe . It all depends on the taste of the cook. Take, for example, a crispy paratha. To prepare the test you will need:

• 300 grams of wheat flour of two varieties (200 grams of coarse and 100 grams of fine grinding),
• a teaspoon of salt
• 150 milliliters of water (necessarily warm),
• a couple of tablespoons of melted butter.

Cooking process:

1. Pour all the flour into a wide container.
2. Add oil and grind food together.
3. Gradually adding the remaining components, knead the dough, cover it with a damp cloth and leave to ripen for 25-30 minutes.
4. Divide the finished dough into several equal parts, each of which is rolled into a layer.
5. Grease the resulting workpiece with oil and fold in half.
6. Repeat this procedure again.
7. Thoroughly cook the prepared semi-finished product with a rolling pin, put on a very hot pan and fry well on both sides.
8. Then grease the top coat again with oil. After that, the cake will swell a little.
9. Turn it over and do the same with the other side.

Now you can serve Indian golden cakes to the table. The recipe involves consuming them hot. And if guests are delayed, it is better to wrap it with a cloth for a while so that the product stays warm.

Ball of dough

“Puri” - Indian flat cakes in the shape of a ball — look very impressive on the table. Cooking them is easy. To do this, you need to have the simplest foods at the rate of: on a glass of flour - ½ cup of water, a teaspoon of vegetable oil and half a teaspoon of salt.

And you need to cook as follows:

1. Mix flour with salt.
2. Add water and knead a sufficiently thick dough.
3. Pour in oil and mix well again.
4. Cover the finished dough with cling film on all sides and leave it alone for 30 minutes.
5. Divide the ripened mass into parts, each of which is rolled into a bun, and then crushed with a rolling pin.
6. Bring vegetable oil to a boil in a pan. Spread cakes in it one by one and fry on both sides, carefully turning over with a slotted spoon. The oil must be large enough so that the preforms are completely coated with it, that is, deep-fried.

After a few minutes, you can safely lay ready-made “puri” on a napkin. Indian cakes of this kind are perfect as a hearty breakfast. And the side dish is best served with stewed vegetables.

A simple recipe for your favorite bread

The most popular among the population is still the Indian chapati cake. And this despite the fact that its composition includes only water and flour. Even salt is added exclusively to taste. But this does not make the famous tortilla worse. It can be cooked at home without much effort. It is only necessary to observe the following ratio of products: for 160 grams of wholemeal flour, you need to take half a glass (i.e. 100 milliliters) of water.

Further, everything goes according to the standard scheme:

1. From the prepared components, knead the dough with your hands. Cover it on all sides with a towel and leave for half an hour.
2. Then sprinkle the workpiece with flour and repeat the batch.
3. Divide the dough arbitrarily into pieces, roll them into a ball, and then flatten into a flat cake.
4. Sprinkle flour on both sides of the cake mix. Each gently roll into a thin cake of a larger size.
5. Heat the frying pan and put the billet on it without adding oil. Fry on both sides for 3 minutes until characteristic brown spots appear.

Chapati should be eaten hot, greased with butter. Cured cakes can be used to make sandwiches with filling.

Delicious Naan

According to local residents, the Indian naan cakes are considered the most delicious. They are prepared very simply and do not require any exquisite ingredients. So, the list of necessary products: for 3 cups of flour - 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil (or other fat), dried yeast and sugar, salt, 1 cup of water and milk (or yogurt).

Cooking sequence:

1. In warm water, dilute the yeast with sugar and leave for 10 minutes.
2. Add the remaining products and knead soft but very sticky dough.
3. Put it for a couple of hours in the oven for proofing at a temperature of 35 degrees.
4. Divide the finished dough into portions and leave it under the towel for another 30 minutes.
5. Put the blanks on a baking sheet, stretching each of them along the length.
6. Bake on high heat on both sides.

The bread is soft and airy. You can sprinkle it with seasonings, and then dip the slices of such cakes in a specially prepared sauce.

Topped Bread

Indian cheese cakes are another kind of national bread. Outwardly, they are very similar to the Georgian "khachapuri". But in taste, the difference is palpable. To prepare such a specific product, you will need: 3 cups flour - 2 eggs, one teaspoon of sugar and salt, a cup of kefir, a teaspoon of soda, 50 grams of butter and cheese, 15 grams of vegetable oil.

Cooking:

1. 
   In a separate container, place kefir, sugar, soda, salt, 1 egg and vegetable oil.
2. Add a glass of flour and mix well.
3. Gradually adding flour, knead the dough. It should stick a little to the hands, but not spread.
4. Close the container with a lid and set aside for a while.
5. Prepare the filling by mixing the grated cheese with the egg.
6. Now roll the dough in the form of a sausage and randomly divide it into several parts.
7. Mash each piece into a flat cake. In the center, put the filling and pinch the edges in the form of a bag.
8. Roll the workpiece again so that the filling is evenly distributed inside.
9. Fry in a pan under the lid in vegetable oil.

Lightly grease the finished product with oil so that the cake is softer.

Culinary secrets

Not everyone has the opportunity to go to India and try real national bread there. No problem. Experienced professionals tell you how to cook Indian cakes in a typical home-made cuisine. For example, the Indian "paratha" with potatoes. As you know, most Indians are vegetarians, so such a recipe is just what you need. For work you will need:

• 1.5 cups flour
• 4 potatoes
• ½ cup boiling water,
• half a teaspoon of salt
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil,
• a bunch of greens (feather onions, dill and parsley),
• some garlic and ground black pepper.

Making vegetable paratha is easy. To do this:

1. Mix the salt with flour, add oil, and then, gradually adding water, knead the dough. The result should be an elastic bun. Set it aside for 20 minutes.
2. Boil the potatoes. During this time, chop the greens. Connect the components together until a homogeneous mass is formed. If desired, you can add a little chopped garlic.
3. Divide the dough into pieces, each of which is rolled into a thin layer.
4. Put the filling in the middle of each sheet and collapse in the form of an envelope. Then roll it with a rolling pin into a cake.
5. Fry the billet in a pan.

Indians usually eat vegetarian paratha with spicy sauce.