Comments | a_boleyn: Thoughts on Kneading, Pizza and Gulab Jamun

a_boleyn

Thoughts on Kneading, Pizza and Gulab Jamun

Feb 26, 2012 19:51

I decided to make a pizza for supper today and while kneading was reminded again of the quest for a no-knead bread recipe which comes up periodically on food blogs and LJ posts ( Read more... )

dessert, picspam, indian, pizza, cooking

Comments 18

isiscolo February 27 2012, 04:24:56 UTC

I totally agree about kneading! Way to get out one's frustrations.

a_boleyn February 27 2012, 04:58:09 UTC

I know! I just don't get some people. :)

anonymous February 27 2012, 18:15:59 UTC

I too like kneading for the same reason, Maraia, it's great for a release. I've made gulab jamun before, quite an interesting taste.
Eva kitcheninspirations.wordprese.com

a_boleyn February 27 2012, 18:54:09 UTC

Gulab jamun is my favourite Indian dessert followed by jalebis and ragulla(h). After that, several of the different burfis (fudge). :) Have you had it flavoured with the cardamom or rosewater syrups?

ext_870394 February 28 2012, 06:05:41 UTC

Oh wow! Your pizza looks delicious! Well, you know me I don't bake. I'm scared of dealing with dough/yeast. It looks fun from reading/looking at it but I get so nervous if I'm doing the right thing or not. Maybe I didn't grow up in a baker's family. I just didn't have a chance to see someone bake at all. I'd love to make my own pizza dough one day though. It will be so much fun with the kids. So much to do!

a_boleyn February 28 2012, 06:54:54 UTC

My mom did a lot of amazing cooking but she could never handle yeast well so breads and pizza were not one of her strengths. I started to do it in my late teens when I began to be interested in cooking and found it really easy. I think you could handle it and would be happy to send you my pizza recipe if you ever want to give it a try.

anonymous February 28 2012, 15:47:27 UTC

The pizza looks gorgeous! I have never tried pizza with goat cheese, but it sounds like a wodnerful idea. I'm sure I would love it.
As for the kneading problem, I hated it when I didn't have a food processor because I had flour all around the kitchen, my clothes, hair, everywhere... I also don't have very strong hands, so it didn't help. Now it's no longer a problem!
Your nephew's dessert is very intriguing (and very sweet? and fat?). It looks quite complicated, he seems very skilled. Sissi (http://www.withaglass.com)

a_boleyn February 28 2012, 16:01:06 UTC

Thank you for the compliment on my nephew's gulab jamun. They're made with dried milk powder and a bit of flour, deep fried at a low temperature and then soaked in the sugar syrup. Pretty straightforward in theory but fiddly in execution. :) You can eat them cold, at room temp or even warmed just a bit in the microwave.

I haven't been using/eating goat cheese very long but it's quite tasty ... more like a feta cheese than a mozzarella in its lack of meltability. :)

I started out doing the pizza dough by hand, then I used the bread machine my SIL gave my mom and now that it died, I've gone back to doing the kneading by hand. I don't think you need very strong hands to knead but I know people with arthritis and other similar medical conditions have problems with it and they should certainly take all the mechanical help available.

I'm surprised your flour went everywhere ... I start in a bowl and then put the dough on a large flexible plastic sheet to do the kneading. :) Then I just have to rinse that off rather than washing down my

anonymous March 1 2012, 12:01:26 UTC

Haha! You don't know me! I'm able to make my kitchen look like a battlefield in five minutes, regardless the recipe, so if there is some flour, the danger is bigger ;-) Sissi

a_boleyn March 1 2012, 20:24:43 UTC

That's hilarious. I can picture the flour storm you leave in your wake when you're baking. :)

ext_877277 February 28 2012, 19:28:13 UTC

I love kneading - seeing this scrappy dough turn into smooth, elasticity in your hands is wonderful.

I still didn't try gulab jamun - they look really nice... what are they like in the end? Crispy on the outside, or does the crispness disappear once you add the syrup?

a_boleyn February 28 2012, 19:43:37 UTC

The gulab jamun ends up being moist and tender. If you fry them at too high a heat, as you may be tempted to, the outside becomes too hard to allow the syrup to penetrate and the inside will end up still raw and gummy. They will double in size as they absorb the syrup if done properly but still have enough substance not to fall apart.

By the way, have you ever considered making churros out of your choux paste instead of chouquettes? Instead of baking the batter, it's piped out into hot oil and fried and then coated in cinnamon sugar. I don't deep fry so I don't do it but they are amazing, especially when dunked in chocolate sauce or drunk with hot chocolate. I forgot to mention it at the time but your post reminded me.

http://aboutspaintravel.com/tribute-churros-con-chocolate-best-spain-dessert-ever