Plachinda (Moldovan Breads With Cheese & Leafy Greens)#EatTheWorld

Plachinda is a round flat bread that is commonly stuffed with cheese. This flatbread is a stuffed bread what we call here in India a paratha. In this flatbread no yeast is used instead it is leavened with baking soda or baking powder. I have seen so many recipes on the internet some make it round and some make like a turnover. I have watched YouTube video's and decide to adapt one with which I can get ingredients readily available here. Most of the recipes use sorrel leaves as one of the ingredients and kefir to make this stuffed flatbread. But I couldn't find it in market as this is not the season for this leafy green here instead went with spinach and used buttermilk instead of kefir to make the dough.

Also subbed the all purpose flour with little freshly milled whole wheat flour to make it healthy.
Makes 4
Ingredients
For The Dough
1 Cup Kefir / Buttermilk
½ Tablespoon Olive oil
½ Tablespoon Caster Sugar
½ Teaspoon Pink Himalayan Salt
250 Grams All Purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
100 Grams Whole Wheat Flour
½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
½ Teaspoon Baking powder
For The Filling
200 Grams Feta cheese - crumbled
200 Grams Homemade Cottage Cheese / Paneer - crumbled
50 Grams Sorrel or Spinach leaves - finely chopped
4 Spring Onions / Scallions - finely chopped
2 Tablespoons Dill Leaves - finely chopped
½ Teaspoon Black pepper powder
¼ Cup Olive Oil - for frying
To Fry
¼ Cup Olive Oil
Method
For The Dough 

In a large kneading bowl add in ¾ cup buttermilk, oil, sugar and salt in a large bowl and mix together well with a fork.

Sift the flour with the baking powder & baking soda, then sift again into the buttermilk mixture and mix in start to incorporating to make a soft and smooth. If it’s still slightly sticky, incorporating more flour into it & if it is stiff then add the remaining buttermilk a little at a time to make a nice soft smooth dough. Take this on to lightly floured work surface and start to knead the dough till it should stop sticking to your hands and forms a soft smooth dough. Cover the dough and let it rest for 20 minutes.
In the meantime Let's Make The Filling

Mix the feta, cottage cheese spinach, spring onions and dill together, making sure that the feta is finely crumbled. Divide this into 4 parts.

Divide the dough into 4 part. Flour the work surface really well and roll out each piece of dough, one by one, into a 20 cm (8 inch) diameter circle.

Moisten the surface of one dough circle with your finger tips with a little bit of oil and place one part of the filling on the center of the circle.

Next, take edges of the circle and fold it into the middle ( like a moneybag) pinching them to the top well. 

Then flatten it in the center. The dough should resemble a flattened moneybag.
Now flour the top lightly and gently flatten it with the rolling pin flouring the work surface till it form a thick circle 6" - 8" circle. The filling will be breaking at the edges but no worries this flatbread does taste so good.
Repeat the process with the remaining dough and filling.

Heat the a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan on medium low flame until hot and gently lower in each flatbread, one at a time. Fry for 2–2½ minutes on each side.

Enjoy these with ketchup!

Labels: Feta Cheese, Eat the World, Paratha, Scallions, Pan Fried, International Cuisine, Dill, Cottage Cheese, Moldova, Spinach, Stuffed Flatbreads, Breads

Check out all the wonderful Moldova recipes prepared by fellow Eat the World members and share with #eattheworld. Find out how to join Eat the World here and have fun exploring a country a month in the kitchen with us!

• For Eat The World we are sharing recipes of Moldova

• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Moldovan Roasted Eggplant Salad 
• Sneha's Recipe: Plachinda (Moldovan Breads With Cheese & Leafy Greens) 
•  Culinary Cam: Sarmale (Moldovan Cabbage Rolls) 
•  Amy's Cooking Adventures: Zeama (Moldovan Chicken Soup)

Moroccan Rghaif#BreadBakers

Rghaif is a squared flatbread usually eaten in Morocco for breakfast or tea time. You can have them plain or stuffed, sweet or savory, their texture is very soft. It’s richer, but also crispy and super comforting. I have made a vegan version of this bread. This is also made with a meat, caramelized onions filling and there’s many ways to prepare this bread. Traditionally they are individually pan-fried but we can also bake them.

Ingredients

For The Dough
1 Cup Heaped All Purpose Flour
2 Tablespoons Semolina
¼ Teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoons Oil 
For The Stuffing
2 Tablespoons Oil
1 Cup Sliced Onions
Salt to taste
2 Chopped Olives
2 Chopped Jalapenos

Method 
Prepare The Dough

Mix the flour and semolina together. Add oil and mix well, then keep adding little water at a time and knead to a stiff dough. Keep aside covered for at least 15 minutes.
In the meantime let's make the stuffing

In a pan heat oil, add the onions with add a pinch of salt and sauté until light golden brown/caramelized. 
Transfer the onions in bowl add olives, jalapenos and mix well.

Divide the dough into 4 parts and roll each into a round circle about ¼ inch thick. 

Place the filling in the center and now fold it like an envelope to make a square. Lightly roll it to make it slightly thin and to even out the stuffing.

Fold it into a square parcel.

Roll this square rghaif to flatten it a little.

Heat a skillet with oil and fry these on low flame until golden on both sides. 

Serve hot with pickle.

Labels: Moroccan, Middle Eastern, Stuffed Flatbreads, Caramelized Onions, Breads, Bread Bakers, Vegan, Pan Fried

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. http://www.pinterest.com/flpl/bread-bakers/ Links are also updated after each event on the BreadBakers home page. https://www.foodlustpeoplelove.com/p/breadbakers.html 

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. 

• French Onion Soup Rolls from Food Lust People Love
• Garlic Cloverleaf Rolls from Passion Kneaded
• Garlic Confit Focaccia from What Smells So Good?
• Gluten-Free Millet Chives Flatbread (Bajra chives Paratha) from Cook with Renu
• Moroccan Rghaif from Sneha’s Recipe
• Onion and Bay Loaf from A Messy Kitchen
• Onion Garlic Loaf from Ambrosia
• Onion Lover Rolls from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Scallion and Sesame Rolls from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Whole Wheat Onion Kulcha from Magical Ingredients 

Gulachi Sanjyachya Polya With Whole Wheat Flour

These are good for travelling stay's well for 2 -3 days. Festival sweet for Ganapati or Dassehra puja. This is a famous Maharastrian recipe.
1 Cup = 200 Ml
Ingredients
For Stuffing
1 Cup fine Semolina
1 Teaspoon Desi Ghee
¾ cup Grated Jaggery - I used organic Jaggery
A Pinch of Salt
1½ Cup Water
1 Teaspoon Cardamom Powder
For The Outer Covering
A Pinch of Salt
2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 Tablespoon Oil
Water as required to make a dough

Method

In sauce pan add 1½ cup water on medium high flame let is come to a boil, add the jaggery and stir till it melts. Strain this mixture and then pour this into the same pan again. Bring this to a boil.

On medium low flame heat a pan add a teaspoon ghee and roast semolina till it starts to release an aroma, add a pinch of salt. 

Pour the strained jaggery water and stir continuously till there are no lumps . Cover with lid and let it cook for 5 minutes or till the water gets absorbed in semolina(do not cook it too long or else the jaggery will harden and you will not be able to roll the polya). Switch off the flame. Add cardamom powder and stir nicely. 

Cool and then knead this well till forms a soft ball and keep aside. 

Divide into 6 equal round balls.

Let's make dough for the outer covering

Sift wheat flour in a large bowl. Heat a tablespoon of oil on medium high flame. Pour this hot oil into flour, with a spoon mix it well. Add little water at a time and knead dough to medium soft consistency. Keep this covered for 20 minutes. Then divide it into 6 equal balls.

Take one dough ball and flatten it with your finger to make small round dish . Fill a semolina ball in the center and cover it tightly to make ball. 

Close all the edges and cover stuffing ball with the dough.
Dust this ball with some wheat flour, and lightly flatten it, roll it gently with rolling pin. 

Keep turning the chapatti, so that it doesn't stick to the work surface. The hand should be light while rolling, if you use too much pressure it with start to break and the filling will ooze out while baking.  

Here it's perfect.

Heat a griddle/ tawa, when it just warm, place the roti on it

cook till it become golden spots on one side and it puff up.

Drizzle a teaspoon of desi ghee and flip it with a spatula and let it cook till golden brown. 

Now drizzle a teaspoon or more of desi ghee, on and around the polya while it's baking. This will give nice ghee taste and flavor to Sanjyachi Poli.

Here it's perfectly baked, soft like cotton..lush lushit!!

                              

Like wise make the rest of the Sanjyachya Ploya!!

Serve hot!! 

We had with our hot cup of tea. 

Labels: Maharastrian Cuisine, Jaggery, Wheat Flour, Fine Semolina, Sugar Free, Cardamom Powder, Stuffed Flatbreads, Breads, Breakfast, Sweets & Desserts, Festival Sweets

Puran Poli

March 18, 2014

Puran Poli is a Maharashtrian speciallity prepared for Holi Festival. This is also called Holige or Obbattu in Kannada. This is difficult to make and requires a lot of patience but once you make it 2 -3 times and master it, this is a pleasure to make. While you are preparing the stuffing called puran the aroma of it fills the house and I sure the neighbours also know that Puran Poli is being prepared in someones house. The aroma and flavour is so strong and delciious, one just waits till the Puran Poli is ready. H loves this so much that all the effort put into making this gives you joy seeing him eat and relish the Puran Poli.

Ingredients
For the dough
1/2 cup Maida (All purpose flour)
1/2 cup Wheat flour
1 Tablespoon oil
1/2 Teaspoon salt
Water to knead dough

For the stuffing
1 Cup Chana dal (Bengal Gram)
1 Teaspoon Cardamom powder
A pinch of nutmeg powder
A pinch of salt
1 Teaspoon Ginger powder
1/2  Cup Jaggery - grated
1/2  Cup Sugar

For the rolling
1 cup Rice flour

Ghee for smearing

Method

For the stuffing

Wash the chana dal thoroughly, soak it for 15 minutes and cook in pressure cooker with sufficient water soft and paste-like. Strain and drain all the water and grind it in a mixer till it forms a smooth paste. In a kadai place the paste jaggery, sugar, salt, cardamon, nutmeg and ginger powder and place it on a medium flame stirring continuously till it forms a ball (see pics ). Remove it on a plate and let is cool. The Puran it ready. Make equal 10 equal balls and keep aside.

For the dough
Place the both the flours in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Add a little water and knead this into a smooth, medium-firm dough, adding more water as required and knead it . 

In a another bowl add oil salt and 3 tablespoon water and mix it well till the salt melts then add the dough and knead well till it is smooth and form a string like dough (see pics).
Divide the dough into 10 equal portions and keep aside. The size of dough should smaller than the filling (see pics above).

Rolling the PoliClean and flour a rolling surface. Take one ball of dough and flatten it with your fingers. Roll it out into a small circle. Now place a ball of stuffing into the center of this circle. Fold the edges of the circle over the paste and pinch together to seal. Remove the excess dough. Flatten this ball gently with your fingers and thus make rest of the balls with the stuffing and keep covered.
To roll this ball take a newspaper and cut it into a big circle, and place it on the rolling board, take rice flour for rolling and roll it like you make chapattis, roll lightly using very light pressure or else all the stuffing will spill out. Keep on rotating the newspaper as you are rolling do lift the poli with your hand. When rolled lightly dust with soft cloth and remove the excess flour from the top.

Heat a tava till hot, on a medium flame. Place the rolled out poli with help of the newspaper on the tava again with the cloth remove the excess flour and let it cook till brown dots appear on the bottom. Flip with a spatula now, cook till small brown dots begin to appear on the lower surface. The Puran Poli will begin to give of a lovely cooked aroma now. Remove from the fire, place it on a butter paper and smear it on either side with ghee. Serve with a dollop of ghee.

Labels: Breads, Festival Sweets, Healthy, Indian, Sweets & Desserts, Vegan, Puran Poli, Maharastrian Cuisine, Maharashtra, Chana Dal, Stuffed Flatbreads