Hello people,
Monsoon is here, the season of waterlogged streets and ever-grey sky and bad lighting and mood swings and long drives and khichri with begun bhaja.
We celebrated the monsoon a little bit differently last weekend; with oven-fresh garlic bread-sticks with cheese dip and trust me it was exactly like the Domino's.
It is not only super yummy but a sure-shot way to impress your friends who would never guess how easy it is to prepare this beloved snack item.
I am sorry that I was so busy admiring my handiwork and then I was too busy to pounce on it before others could grab it that I did not get a good picture. I promise to upload a picture series later explaining the process step by step.
As of now, here is what I have:
Pretty impressive, huh?
Enough patting on my own back, let us get back to the actual recipe...
Ingredients:
500 grams of plain white flour
2 tablespoon of olive oil (Extra Virgin) of any good brand
3/4 cup of melted butter
Salt and pepper to taste
10/12 pods of garlic (finely chopped, please resist the urge to blend them or to mince them)
1 tablespoon of Domino's oregano seasoning (or make your own seasoning by combining Italian Seasoning mix, salt, pepper and dried oregano)
7 grams of dry active yeast
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 and 1/2 cups of warm water (around 100 to 120 degree Celsius)
Semolina or suji (the super-fine variety), roasted on low flame for a couple of minutes [you should use cornmeal for that is what is traditionally used. I couldn't find it in the market and so I substituted it with semolina.]
Preparation:
Prepare a mixture of warm water, yeast, sugar and a teaspoon of flour. Mix and set aside. After ten minutes or once bubbles start appearing and the mixture thickens up, add oil and butter (keeping a tablespoon of butter aside for basting the bread later), the finely chopped garlic, salt, pepper, half of the oregano seasoning and flour and mix with a wooden spatula. After a couple of minutes or when everything is combined well, tip the dough on a floured surface and knead with fingertips for at least ten minutes. If the dough keeps sticking to the surface, keep flouring it generously. Now make a smooth ball (it can be somewhat sticky) and place in a well-oiled bowl (olive oil, of course). Cover and put aside for one hour for rising.
After an hour or so, the dough should increase in volume, If not, let it rest for another half and hour. Now punch the dough to knock out the air and knead it for a few minutes again. Divide into two equal portions. Make a smooth ball out of each portion and let them rest for another fifteen minutes.
Now sprinkle semolina flour on a surface or a large plate and place one ball of dough. With your fingertips, start to flatten it out. You should aim for a round shape, just like a pizza, but not so thin.You may roll them out with a rolling pin too, but for me the fingertips method worked better.
Once you have achieved a roughly round shape, fold it into half. The semolina flour/cornmeal that is stuck to the bottom and the upper surface will give the bread a good crust. Grease a baking tray with butter and place the semi-circle breads on it. Now slather them generously with melted butter and sprinkle the rest of oregano seasoning on top. If you like it spicy, you may also sprinkle some red chilli flakes on top along with the spice mix. Now with the help of a sharp knife cut grooves on the bread (1/2 inch apart), like the ones you can see on the Domino's garlic bread.
Now bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degree Celsius for ten minutes. You will see that the bread has risen, but the colour is still whitish. So crank up the heat to 200 degree Celsius and bake it for five more minutes. If it still looks under-cooked (which it shouldn't), bake it again at 180 degree Celsius for five minutes more. Again, remember if you overcook the bread, it will be very dry.
After you take it out of the oven, let it rest for five minutes. Then serve with the cheese dip and impress your friends :)
Cheese dip:
Combine 4 grated cheese cubes, 3 tablespoon of milk,1/2 a tea-spoon of milk powder and a tablespoon of melted butter in a large bowl. Place a saucepan with half a cup of water on the gas oven and bring to a simmer. Place the bowl on top of the saucepan in such a way the water simmering in the saucepan doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl. Now stir the cheese mix with a whisk (Now you will probably ask me if a fork will do. The answer is 'no'. You must invest into some kitchen essentials and TRUST me, a whisk is almost a magic utensil and I will rave about it at some later date).
Stir, stir, stir...
Stir, stir, stir..
Stir, stir, stir...
Go on....keep stirring...
I know your arm is hurting, but...
Still keep stirring...
Until the cheese melt (believe in yourself, it will melt eventually and please refrain from increasing the heat for you will end up with and inedible cheese mixture).
Finally after fifteen minutes of stirring the cheese mixture will reach a smooth, velvetty texture. Even if there is a single small lump, you need to keep on stirring.
Your cheese dip is ready!
Enjoy :)
Monsoon is here, the season of waterlogged streets and ever-grey sky and bad lighting and mood swings and long drives and khichri with begun bhaja.
We celebrated the monsoon a little bit differently last weekend; with oven-fresh garlic bread-sticks with cheese dip and trust me it was exactly like the Domino's.
It is not only super yummy but a sure-shot way to impress your friends who would never guess how easy it is to prepare this beloved snack item.
I am sorry that I was so busy admiring my handiwork and then I was too busy to pounce on it before others could grab it that I did not get a good picture. I promise to upload a picture series later explaining the process step by step.
As of now, here is what I have:
Pretty impressive, huh?
Enough patting on my own back, let us get back to the actual recipe...
Ingredients:
500 grams of plain white flour
2 tablespoon of olive oil (Extra Virgin) of any good brand
3/4 cup of melted butter
Salt and pepper to taste
10/12 pods of garlic (finely chopped, please resist the urge to blend them or to mince them)
1 tablespoon of Domino's oregano seasoning (or make your own seasoning by combining Italian Seasoning mix, salt, pepper and dried oregano)
7 grams of dry active yeast
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 and 1/2 cups of warm water (around 100 to 120 degree Celsius)
Semolina or suji (the super-fine variety), roasted on low flame for a couple of minutes [you should use cornmeal for that is what is traditionally used. I couldn't find it in the market and so I substituted it with semolina.]
Preparation:
Prepare a mixture of warm water, yeast, sugar and a teaspoon of flour. Mix and set aside. After ten minutes or once bubbles start appearing and the mixture thickens up, add oil and butter (keeping a tablespoon of butter aside for basting the bread later), the finely chopped garlic, salt, pepper, half of the oregano seasoning and flour and mix with a wooden spatula. After a couple of minutes or when everything is combined well, tip the dough on a floured surface and knead with fingertips for at least ten minutes. If the dough keeps sticking to the surface, keep flouring it generously. Now make a smooth ball (it can be somewhat sticky) and place in a well-oiled bowl (olive oil, of course). Cover and put aside for one hour for rising.
After an hour or so, the dough should increase in volume, If not, let it rest for another half and hour. Now punch the dough to knock out the air and knead it for a few minutes again. Divide into two equal portions. Make a smooth ball out of each portion and let them rest for another fifteen minutes.
Now sprinkle semolina flour on a surface or a large plate and place one ball of dough. With your fingertips, start to flatten it out. You should aim for a round shape, just like a pizza, but not so thin.You may roll them out with a rolling pin too, but for me the fingertips method worked better.
Once you have achieved a roughly round shape, fold it into half. The semolina flour/cornmeal that is stuck to the bottom and the upper surface will give the bread a good crust. Grease a baking tray with butter and place the semi-circle breads on it. Now slather them generously with melted butter and sprinkle the rest of oregano seasoning on top. If you like it spicy, you may also sprinkle some red chilli flakes on top along with the spice mix. Now with the help of a sharp knife cut grooves on the bread (1/2 inch apart), like the ones you can see on the Domino's garlic bread.
Now bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degree Celsius for ten minutes. You will see that the bread has risen, but the colour is still whitish. So crank up the heat to 200 degree Celsius and bake it for five more minutes. If it still looks under-cooked (which it shouldn't), bake it again at 180 degree Celsius for five minutes more. Again, remember if you overcook the bread, it will be very dry.
After you take it out of the oven, let it rest for five minutes. Then serve with the cheese dip and impress your friends :)
Cheese dip:
Combine 4 grated cheese cubes, 3 tablespoon of milk,1/2 a tea-spoon of milk powder and a tablespoon of melted butter in a large bowl. Place a saucepan with half a cup of water on the gas oven and bring to a simmer. Place the bowl on top of the saucepan in such a way the water simmering in the saucepan doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl. Now stir the cheese mix with a whisk (Now you will probably ask me if a fork will do. The answer is 'no'. You must invest into some kitchen essentials and TRUST me, a whisk is almost a magic utensil and I will rave about it at some later date).
Stir, stir, stir...
Stir, stir, stir..
Stir, stir, stir...
Go on....keep stirring...
I know your arm is hurting, but...
Still keep stirring...
Until the cheese melt (believe in yourself, it will melt eventually and please refrain from increasing the heat for you will end up with and inedible cheese mixture).
Finally after fifteen minutes of stirring the cheese mixture will reach a smooth, velvetty texture. Even if there is a single small lump, you need to keep on stirring.
Your cheese dip is ready!
Enjoy :)
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