Bread Bondas

After making the baked bean and egg toasties, I had some leftover bread and some leftover potato curry. So I thought I would make a few Bread Bondas.

This recipe I learnt from a family friend, Sathyavathi aunty. She actually deep fried it and it tastes much better fried but the fat content hits the sky. And since I had the toasties going on I thought I would see what happens if I make it in the oven. Well it isn't golden brown and the bread pretty much became a biscuit but it was OK. If you want to splurge a bit then definately try it fried.

Bread Bondas

Ingredients
Some curry/filling- I used potato curry but any dry curry will work.
1 bread slice- a day old is preferred with crusts removed. Btw 1 bread slice per bonda. So depends on how much curry you have.

Method

1. Like the toasties, wet the bread and squeeze the excess water.
2. Now take a bit of the curry, rolled in a ball and carefully wrap it with the bread.
3. Take care that all the joins a properly covered.
4. Deep fry until golden brown or bake until the bread is dry on the outside.

Baked Bean and Egg Toasties

When Nandita's (of Saffron Trail) WBB#7 theme was Baking, I scratched my head. Because I like baking and have a few muffins, breads and cakes up my sleeve but I didn't think I would eat any of it for breakfast. Even the savoury ones I couldn't really see myself getting up in the morning and baking (and of course eating!).

Then I remembered! I had come across this recipe ages and ages ago (from an unremembered source) but I had modified it to suit my indian snacking needs. Instead of the baked beans and egg, I would make them with whatever curry was leftover in the fridge for unexpected guests. This was impressive enough for my guests! :)

So I thought I shall come back to the original authentic Aussie recipe. Baked beans is a true Aussie icon. So much so that when Shane Warne went to India in 1998 for World tour he couldn't live just plain old Indian food (please note the sarcasm!) that he had to get a pallet of baked beans to keep him happy. It is a typical Aussie breakfast to have this with toast. Baked beans is nothing much more than cooked navy beans in tomato sauce. So I guess this a twist to the average baked bean breakfast. Enjoy! :)

The recipe below is for one toasty so just make as many as you need. I used a muffin tray for this, but hindsight is a beautiful thing, and I think you are better off using small souffle bowls or a texan muffin pan.

Baked Bean and Egg Toasties

Ingredients
1 bread slice- a day old is preferable and crusts are to be removed.
2 tbsp baked beans- from the can or cooked navy beans mixed in tomato sauce.
1 egg
salt and pepper- to taste.

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celcius.
2. Wet the bread and squeeze out excess water. You may want to roll it out lightly othewise just pat with your hand.
3. Now carefully line the souffle dish or muffin tray with the bread.
   
4. Put in oven for about 15 mins or until the bread has started to regain its original texture.
5. In each shell (still in muffin tray or dish), place about two spoons of baked beans and then crack an egg on top. Alternatively you can put some left over curry.
6. Place in the oven for another 15 mins or until the egg has cooked. Or the curry has warmed up or crispy on top.
7. Remove from dishes/muffin tray and serve with salt and pepper.

Kanpur Chapathi

I know what you are thinking. It is just like all the other adventures I embark upon. After the inital 'honeymoon' phase of about a week, and the excitment dies down, another hobby of mine gets put onto the shelf of unfinished projects. I guess food blogging isn't really a project, but an ongoing hobby, I thought I would stick to it for more than I have.

Don't get me wrong, when ever I have time I will read all the other blogs but writing mine is bit of a pain. As I don't have access to this blog at work, my options are limited to writing all of this from home. And I have to admit I am a big couch potato. Thus I usually just come home and sit in front of the TV. However now that I have a laptop I am doing this whilst sitting in front of the TV.

But I'll admit to the real reason that I have continued to write these blogs. Actually there is two. It is a brilliant way to index all the recipes that I have and like. Currently I have a big folder that I have just printed off recipes for various sources and stored them in. This is good as I can also search for recipes I like.

But the more important reason is that even though I have written only a few posts, I am getting apprieciation from people that I know and people that I don't know. Friends are using the recipes I put up and strangers (well my new 'friends' from the blogging world' are giving me encourgement. People like Saffron Hut thought my choice of blog name was good! :)

Anyway the real purpose of this blog, Kanpur Chapathi. The point where my mum wants me to make a dish as she thinks I can make it better or doesn't know how to make it, is the point that I truly believe that I have mastered the skill of cooking (well not mastered but aleast I can say I can now cook!) This is one dish that my mum loves.

I came across this for the first time when I went to India. I had visited many of my husband's family (for the first time) and we visited one my husband's cousin's who made this for me. And I just ate as many as I could with no hesitation (in Telugu there is a saying, "siggu ley kunda"). I soon found out that even my mother in law can make this. So when she came over to visit, it was the first thing I asked her to make.

So back to the actual dish. It is a quite a simple dish if you think about. It is a bit fiddly but worth it. And as a bonus you don't really have to make a curry to go along with it.

Kanpur Chapathi

Ingredients
2 cups Wholemeal flour (Atta)
1 cup fresh fenugreek leaves- chopped.
1 cup fresh or frozen coconut
1 1/2 cups onions - finely chopped. When I mean finely I mean finely as you won't be able to roll it out the chapathi if it is not finely.
salt
chilli powder
oil

Method

1. Mix the atta as would for normal chapathi. This means add a bit of salt and enough water to make a firm dough.
2. Mix salt, chilli powder and oil into a smooth paste.
3. Mix the onions, fenugreek leaves and coconut in a bowl.
4. Roll out two lumps (about the size of lemon) of the dough into a puri size (this is probably about the size of a CD)
5. Spread the salt, chilli paste onto the two puris.
6. Put a little bit of the fenugreek leaves, coconut and onions mixture onto one of the puris.
   
7. Now take the other puri and put it on top of the filled puri and seal it. This part is a bit tricky but with a little practice it ain't too bad.
8. Now roll it out and toast it on a pan over a low heat on both sides.
   
   And after making this, it was sooooo inviting that I forgot to take a photo of the finished product!
9. When eating it, you can split it and put some lemon juice. It is sort of up to you. I like it with though.