Most bookmarked

Here is a recipe that I tried a while ago, but wanted to share with this community. It is new and different for me, and I thought it might be for many others as well. I also wanted to see whether anyone knows of any similar breads (using a similar starter, but maybe different shape or cooking method). 

This is a traditional recipe from Multan, Pakistan. It uses a special type of yeast water made with black cardamom, fennel, poppy seeds, sugar, and chana dal (split hulled chickpeas). I'm no expert with yeast water, so I don't know how it compares to other types, but the spices really seemed to give a special flavor and fragrance to the dough. Making the yeast water was the hard part--my first attempt didn't work, and my second attempt took longer than the recipe specifies (maybe temperature wasn't warm enough). After that, the procedure is simple. You make a simple dough, roll it into small rounds, and fry it. I let the dough rise a bit after it was shaped, although the recipe doesn't require this. 

I tried both the filled version and the plain version. The ones in the photo were filled, but the plain ones also puffed up nicely. As I recall, I preferred the plain because I didn't want distractions from the flavor of the dough. I also tried both 100% whole wheat and a 50-50 white/WW mix. Both were good.

Although I haven't tried it, I suspect that you could adapt the recipe for baking instead of frying. Maybe the simplest thing would be to bake the rounds on a hot stone like pitas. I may try this next time. 

Here is the recipe: https://www.archanaskitchen.com/doli-ki-roti-recipe 

Friday night, less is more pizza pie. Three  kinds of Italian cheese  Locatelli Pecorino Romano, Grande East coast blend Mozzarella, and a hit of Parmigiano Regiano finishing cheese, (post bake) 

 Now That's-A-Nice-A-Pizza pie! 

Hi! I'm Bookish and I'm an amateur baker. I just bought a Zojirushi Virtuoso Plus because my cat killed my beloved 31-year-old DAK bread machine by shoving it off its shelf. I'm on a low sodium diet for medical reasons so I'm always looking for low sodium recipes. (Not NO salt; just a lot less salt.) I have arthritis, hence the need for a machine to do the hard part for me, but I do make breads that don't need much kneading.

Yesterday I made the 12-grain bread from the Virtuoso Plus recipe book, reducing the salt and the yeast just a little bit, and it came out almost perfect. Next time I'll reduce the salt and yeast further and see how it goes.

I'm a big fan of Peter Reinhart, Kenji Lopez-Alt, and especially Donald (Don) Gazzaniga whose low sodium cookbooks have been very helpful.

I look forward to participating here in the forums.

I'm renting a house in Colorado that was built in the late 1800s. It's been updated. But the heaters are actually air conditioners that heat by drawing air from outside. They work for the most part, but more often than not the kitchen is less than 70 degrees. 

I had a lot of trouble with my SD starter. Even with the stove light on, it didn't do well. Then, I read a post from @Janknitz who recommended heating water, then putting both water and SD in the microwave. I put them in a small cooler with the lid shut. It worked great. Now, I want to bake, I find I have the same issue with rising. Dough rises, but not as much or as fast as I think it should. I read in a post (not sure by whom) about putting it in the oven with the light on. The light in my rental oven is burned out.  It's snowing. And I don't feel like trudging out in it. But I want to start my baking process today.

Any ideas how to keep my dough warm while rising? I suppose I could do the same as I did with the starter, but with a larger cooler.  Guess it's a good thing I'm planning to make smaller loaves this time. Thoughts?