How to Make a Statement with Dinner Rolls

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me five times, shame on me. In other words, I tried another Martha Stewart project/recipe.

Martha Stewart's version:

our weird version:

To be fair, I knew it would be tough. I knew that those flour letters weren't going to look as clean and pretty on my dinner rolls. What I didn't count on were flat, dense, square rolls. What went wrong exactly? I'm still not sure.

The dough doubled in size. I rolled it into balls, and it doubled again.

But then, this came out of the oven.

The butter and Q-tip method didn't work out so well. If making your own lettered dinner rolls, I'd definitely recommend larger stencils.

Still, we got it done. Sort of.

Win some, lose some? I wish!

Recipe via Martha Stewart

Ingredients
(Makes 30)
1/4 cup warm water (115 degrees)
2 packets (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm whole milk (115 degrees)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for bowl and pans
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs
6 to 6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for work surface

Directions
Place water in a small bowl; sprinkle with yeast, and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk together milk, butter, sugar, salt, and 2 eggs. Whisk in yeast mixture.

Using a wooden spoon, stir in 6 cups flour, 1 cup at a time, until you have a soft, shaggy dough (if necessary, add up to 1/2 cup more flour). Turn dough out onto a floured work surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 5 to 10 minutes. Butter the inside of a large bowl; place dough in bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; let stand in a warm spot until dough has doubled in size, about 1 1/4 hours.

Butter two 13-by-9-inch baking pans. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a 15-inch rope; cut each rope into 15 1-inch pieces. Press each piece into a disk, then shape into a ball. Arrange dough balls in prepared pans. (To make ahead: Wrap pans well, and freeze, up to 2 months.) Cover pans loosely with plastic; let stand in a warm spot until rolls have doubled in size, about 1 1/4 hours (2 hours more if frozen).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. In a small bowl, beat remaining egg until blended; brush onto rolls. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes, rotating pans back to front and top to bottom halfway through. Let rolls cool 15 minutes before serving.

More Silicon Bakeware from Chennai, India

Remember the Silicon Bakeware in Chennai that Divya shared with us a few days back? Well, my sis found some more awesome silicon bakeware in Chennai so check out what she has to say:

"I was on the look out for a shallow silicon bundt pan and came across these cute ones sitting pretty on the shelves of the home products section @Home Centre, EA Mall, Chennai.

The 24 ×13.5 × 7cm rectangular tray would be ideal for baking cakes and cookies in any kind of oven and is claimed to withstand the temperature range of -40C to +220C / -40F to +430F.

I am yet to lay my hands on this quality assured, chocolate coloured, refrigerator friendly product and will get back to you soon with my baking experiences!"

Price of the Silicon Rectangular Loaf Tray (size MIX 12) = INR 345

Location Purchased:
Home Centre,
Lifestyle International Pvt Ltd,
Express Avenue Mall,
49, 50L - White's Road,
Royapettah,
Chennai- 600 014

Website - www.lifestylestores.com

Huge thanks sis, for the contribution to MMKT :)

Kathirikkai Kariamudhu Recipe / Curried Brinjal from Hebbar Iyengar Community

When it comes to recipes from Chandra Padmanabhan, I mostly follow them blindly, except to suit spice levels to our taste. This very interesting recipe from one of her books had me thinking though, and I adapted it by adding some curd in the end. Very tasty and very South Indian!



The ingredient list and method may look long but its really a very easy recipe to make


Kathirikkai Kariamudhu Recipe 
Adapted from Chandra Padmanabhan's Simply South
Serves 4 as a side

Ingredients:
1 small marble-sized ball of tamarind
10-12 baby brinjals, cubed
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp grated coconut
1/4 cup curd / yogurt (optional)
Salt to taste

For Spice Powder:
1.5 tbsp channa dal / husked Bengal gram / kadala paruppu
1.5 tbsp urad dal / husked black gram / ulutham paruppu
2 dry red chillies
3 tbsp coriander seeds (or use 1 tbsp coriander powder)
1/2" stick cinnamon
1 clove

For Tempering:
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal
1 tsp channa dal
1 dry red chillies, torn into half
A few curry leaves

How I Made It:

1. Soak tamarind in 1/4 cup water for 10 mins. Extract juice and discard pulp.

2. Lightly fry ingredients for spice powder in a dry skillet over low fire. Toss gently till dals are golden brown, take care not to burn them! Cool and grind to a fine powder.

3. Heat oil for tempering and the rest of the ingredients in given order. When the mustard seeds start popping, add the cubed brinjal pieces and saute for 2-3 mins. Then add tamarind juice, turmeric powder, and salt.

4. Sprinkle some water and cook closed over low heat for about 5-7 mins or until the brinjal is tender. Cook open for a minute until all the extra moisture is absorbed. Then add the grated coconut and the spice powder. Stir well to combine, adjust salt, and finally mix in the curd before removing from fire. (For authentic Kathirikkai Kariamudhu recipe, avoid the curd).

5. Serve hot with steamed rice or roti.