Bruschetta with Tomato & Basil Recipe

Appetizing and Delectable- Bruschetta Recipe

Bruschetta with tomato & basil

 

I love Bruschetta, the tinge of olive oil, the aroma of basil, the freshness of tomatoes leaves one craving for more. Served as brunch on a Sunday morning, they make perfect appetizers. Icing on the cake….your husband makes them to perfection for you! 🙂

Ingredients

Time for preparation- 10 minutes

Time to toast less than 10 minutes

Serves 4-5 as an appetizer

• 5 or 6 ripe tomatoes (~300 gms)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (We used garlic flavoured bread so I did not add garlic)
• 1.5 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped (alternatively dried basil)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper & oregano to taste
• 1 baguette French bread or any bread of your choice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Cheese (optional)

Method-

Prepare the tomatoes first.  Chop the tomatoes finely.

Turn on the oven to ~ 230 C(450°F) to preheat. Now while the oven is heating, put  tomatoes, garlic, 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, vinegar in a bowl and mix. Add the chopped basil. Add salt, oregano and pepper to taste.

Slice the baguette or the bread on a diagonal about 1/2 inch thick slices. Coat one side of each slice with olive oil or butter. Now  spread the topping prepared above on the bread. And then grate cheese evenly over the bread (optional)

Once the oven has reached 450°F, I placed the tray of bread slices in the oven on the middle rack. Toast for ~ 8 minutes, until the bread just begins to turn golden brown.

Alternatively, you can toast just the bread (olive side up) and then either place the tomato topping in a bowl separately with a spoon for people to serve themselves over the bread, or place some topping on each slice of bread and serve. If you top each slice with the tomatoes, do it right before serving or the bread may get soggy.

Once done, munch away 😉

 

 

Shakarparas- Deep fried, sugar coated flour recipes

Arnav enjoying the Shakarparas

Shakarparas- Deep fried, sugar coated flour recipes

This is my second post this year…. is something amiss…or maybe not….we have a cook this year & he is a pro. I have been busy putting those extra pounds and enjoying the yummylicious dishes that he prepares.

Moving on, Mom is here for a month, can I ask for more…NO! Mom here means, endless hours of chit chat, gossip, I don’t need to do any laundry, no cooking….she looks after me, Arnav & home. Bliss!

My Mom got along these Shakarparas with her…Shakarpare are sugar coated flour pieces which are deep fried. And they can be stored for 2 -3 weeks. I loved them, the sugar was just right. I finished them soon enough, Mom being Mom, made more of them and here is the simple recipe.

Ingredients-
All-purpose flour – 500 gms
Ghee – 100 gms
Water to knead
Oil for frying
For Sugar Coating
Sugar – 500 gms
Water – ~200 ml

Preparation-

Add ghee to the flour and mix it until it resembles breadcrumbs. Now add water required to knead this into a stiff dough. Keep Aside.
Heat oil in a kadai or a saucepan. Divide the dough into four to five long rolls.
Roll each portion to ~6mm inch thickness and cut in a criss cross with knife into 1/2 inch diamond shaped pieces.
When the oil gets perfectly hot (120 – 140 C) fry the pieces for a couple of minutes on high flame then medium flame for ~10 minutes or till the pare are crisp and light golden. Drain them on a paper tissue and fry the remaining pieces in the same way.

To make the syrup (coating)-

In a pan boil the water and the sugar till the sugar dissolves and it reaches one-string consistency – I don’t really measure- however the amount of water that I took was enough to cover the sugar.

Add the pare all together (or in batches) and coat the pare evenly with the help of a flat spoon.
Do not mix too much, as the sugar will harden. Take them out and let them dry for a while. Store in airtight container. Enjoy!