Tomato Flatbread – Lagana Me Domates Ke Votana

Continuing my expedition of the Greek kitchen, I put together another very interesting recipe from Vefa’s Greek encyclopedia – Tomato Flat Bread. I am always very scared of baking bread – I muster courage and cross my fingers hoping all goes well! To ensure good bread you need to ensure you are using good yeast and you give it the right amount of time to rise. This bread is a little dense but full of flavours. I call it a mini Greek pizza! The recipe seems long and time consuming, but the results are worth the wait!

This recipe is a modified version of the one in the book replacing some ingredients based on availability and taste.

Ingredients

Dough

2½ cups all-purpose flour (Maida)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp mixed herbs – oregano, chilli flakes, rosemary, thyme and roasted garlic
1 tsp honey
1 tsp sugar
5 tbsp olive oil
3 tsp active dried yeast (I prefer to use Tesco Dried Yeast)
½ cup luke warm water

Topping

8 garlic cloves crushed
2 table spoon finely chopped olives
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 cup finely chopped tomatoes
1 tsp whole grain mustard
½ tsp pepper powder
1 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp red chilli flakes
Salt to taste

 

Method

The Dough

·         In a deep plate put together the first four ingredients of the dough

·         In bowl, take the luke warm water and mix the yeast, add a 1 tsp sugar and mix well. If the yeast is good, you will start seeing it activate (bubbles start to appear in the mixture)

·         Add the olive and yeast mixture to the other ingredients

·         Sift the ingredients together and make  a soft elastic dough

·         Make a ball of the dough and let it rest in a warm place till it doubles in size. This would take about 30-45 minutes (this is called proving)

 The Topping

·         Whilst the dough is proving we can prepare the topping.

·         In a pan heat olive oil and add the chopped tomatoes. Continue stirring occasionally till the tomatoes are cooked (have softened).

·         Add the all other topping ingredients and continue stirring over medium heat. Continue stirring till the liquid evaporates and you are left with a thick pasty mixture. This would take about 5 minutes.

·         Let it cool

Putting it all together

·         Preheat oven at 200F

·         Now take the dish in which would bake the bread. On the kitchen counter, spread a little dry flour, and flatten the dough in a round/ square shape (with your hand) ¾ of an inch thick (depending on the shape of your baking dish)

·         Transfer this to your baking dish. Ensure that the dough is about ½ cm away from the sides, this allows the space for the bread to expand during the baking process.

·         On this roughly spread the tomato paste leaving about ½ inch off the sides. Similar to the way you would spread pizza sauce on a pizza base

·         Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes till you can see the bread starting to brown from the sides.

 

Sprinkle some dried herbs and olive oil before serving

  

Post Script

I have added olives to this recipe. You could add capers as well.

This post is 3^rd of the 3 posts documenting out the meal I put together yesterday for dinner. 

Chicken in Yogurt – Kotopoulo Giaourtava

Chicken in Yogurt – Kotopoulo Giaourtava

Until I got my hands on the “Phadion” guide to Greek Cooking – Vefa’s Kitchen, for me Greek Chicken meant Chicken Souvolaki. Turning the page after page, I discovered the variety of chicken preparations. This recipe caught my eye, and I had to try it out. An unusual combination of yogurt, egg and cheese caught my fancy. However, strange it may sound to some of us, the alchemy of simple ingredients, delivers one of the most mouth melting chicken dishes I have ever had!

 

This recipe is a modified version of the one in the book replacing some ingredients based on availability and taste. Greeks are known to use herbs and spices judiciously not like us Indians more the masala tastier the dish! Well, I did throw in some chilli flakes as I thought it needed that zing ..!

 

Ingredients

 

550g skinless boneless chicken breast/ thigh

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1¼ cup strained or thick Greek yogurt (chakka dahi)

¼ cup processed cheese

¼ cup parmesan cheese

3 tbsp finely chopped mint

½ tsp pepper powder

Marinade

1 tsp garlic paste
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp dried oregano
Salt to taste

Method

Marinating

Mix the ingredients of the marinade and the chicken. Let it marinate for about an hour.

Cooking the Chicken

·         In a pan take 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil now add the onions. Sauté till they change colour to light brown.

·         Add the chicken and cook over medium heat stirring occasionally till it’s changed colour and you can see a few pieces start to turn very light brown. This will take about 5-6 minutes. Don’t over cook the chicken at this stage; it will tend to get rubbery.

·         Take off the fire, mix in processed cheese, parmesan cheese, mint, pepper and adjust salt. Don’t worry if the meat has left a little water.  Transfer to a baking dish.

·         Pre-heat oven to 200F

·         In a bowl break the eggs and mildly beat them. Now slowly whisk in the strained yogurt. Cover the chicken with this sauce.

·         Put the chicken to bake for about 15-20 min. Once done the chicken will have a light yellow custard glaze, like in the picture below. If you prefer you could leave it on a little more till it browns on the top.

 

Post Script

I keep experimenting with the recipes. I was determined I had to cook it yesterday with whatever I had in the fridge. The original recipe called for Gruyere Cheese –it’s a Swiss cheese used for baking. Still perplexed about with its inclusion in this recipe though! In the absence of this I just used the good old Amul processed cheese. Additionally the recipe called for way too much cheese I have reduced the quantity more than 70%. I can only imagine how heavy it would have been! Also I love garlic and chilli flakes, so added some to add the zing!

This post is 2^nd of the 3 posts documenting out the meal I put together yesterday for dinner. 

 

Greek Marinated Vegetable Salad – Lahanika Marinata

I had been eyeing the Greek cooking bible, Vefa’s Kitchen for years, finally got my hands on it!

In her book Vefa details out the importance of vegetarianism in their cuisine. It is said the staples of Greece today are the same as they have been for centuries, cereals, beans, greens, herbs, the olive and its oil, figs, grape, wine and cheese. Greeks ate very little meat until the second half of the 20^th century. For thousands of years meat was consumed only during feats and festivals in the honour of the many gods and goddesses of the Greek pantheon. In addition, the long history of fasting in the Greek orthodox religion which insisted upon abstention from animal products for almost a third of the year has resulted in a rich tradition of vegetable dishes cooked with olive oil. And believe me olive oil is never enough, the fresh taste of extra virgin olive oils especially in salads takes the flavours to another level.

I first tried Greek food during my days in hostel at Warwick - whatever my flatmate Aristae would put together. I was amazed to see how some of the cereals which we ate were staple food for her as well. When I started working in Delhi a quaint restaurant called “Its Greek to Me” in started in Delhi, which I would frequent, owing to light and delectable food, good cocktails and great music. Have fond memories of it. Unfortunately it shut down about a year ago.

This salad is apt for the summer season. This vibrant salad packed with freshness of mint and lemon is light on the stomach. An absolute delight!!!

This recipe is a slightly modified version of the one in the book.

 

Ingredients

1 red bell pepper cut into cubes

1 cup boiled carrots
1 cup French bean cut into small pieces
1 cup boiled cauliflower florets

Marinade

¼  tsp black pepper powder
½   tsp red chilli flakes powder
¼ cup mint leaves finely chopped
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp honey
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3-4 cloves of garlic (crushed or finley chopped)
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste

p.s. even though I have used honey its only to balance the tartness of the vinegar – it’s not sweet at all, just a little note for all of you who steer away from sweet food!

 

Method

Marinade

·         In a mixing bowl add vinegar and lemon juice. Take a hand whisker, and whisk the mixture and slowly incorporate 3 table spoons of oil.

·         In a small pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil and add garlic. Once it has changed colour (ensure that its not brown), and turn off the fire. Now add the chilli flakes.

·         Incorporate the remaining ingredients into the marinade mixture – whisk well.

Now mix the vegetable into the marinade. Let them marinate in the refrigerator for about 3-4 hours. The traditional recipe calls for them to be marinated overnight. And the salad is ready to serve.

 

Post Script

Boiling vegetables – you don’t want to over boil vegetables. They become limp, lifeless and colourless. You want the salad to be crunchy yet not raw. I take a vessel, bring the water to boil. Add good amount of salt. This allows salt to permeate in the vegetables as well as helps retain the colour of the vegetables. Once the water has boiling, add the vegetable. It does not take more than 45 seconds to maximum a minute for hard vegetables. Take them out of the water immediately. Run them under cold water. If you leave them in water they continue to cook. Ensure you don’t cook all vegetables together. All vegetables have different times of cooking depending on the texture, and shape and size of the pieces.

You can add other vegetables as well – mushrooms, zucchini and broccoli. Please don’t boil the mushrooms and zucchini, just sauté them in a little bit of olive oil if you like them slightly cooked.

My next few posts are detail out the meal I put together yesterday for dinner. This is the first of the three posts.