Sunday 25 September 2011

Chilli, ginger and coriander focaccia

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Its unbelievable that we are having awesome weather and apparently it continues on to next week. We have been enjoying it thoroughly and as we do every year we also went for the open air movies at the London Scoop. We have one more coming up on Wednesday and that should officially end our summer sojourns :)

I am also super thrilled, I've managed to post another recipe without much of a gap, thanks to a 'no working on weekends' rule Ro has come up with. So while he's spread out on the sofa reading Asterix and watching the F1 highlights, here I am typing out a recipe. Its been ages since we've spent a weekend at home and today also would have been no different if it wasn't for the Greenwich marathon that passes through our place and they've shut down all transport and even the tube station.
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So all day we lazed around, got drunk and the initial plan was to just not do any cooking, but the past few days we've been eating out and so I got down to it and cooked. This focaccia was the outcome and we dunked it in olive oil and munched away with a chicken roast. Discovered this fab website with a lot of baking tips and recipe ideas and I have already bookmarked a few. Do head over and check it out when time permits.

I must admit that the first time I tried out a focaccia recipe, it flopped on me, big time. This time however, I was determined to follow instructions properly and although a couple of ingredient substitutions did leave me confused, I managed to pull it back together. The coriander leaves add a great flavour to the bread and you know the chillies are present, but not in an over powering sort of way.
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Recipe has been adapted from here
Plain flour- 200 gms
Sea salt- 1/2 tsp + enough to sprinkle
Chillies- 3, finely chopped
Coriander leaves- a small bunch, finely chopped
Ginger- 1/2 tbsp, grated
Active dry yeast- 3.5 gms
Water- 112ml (roughly 4oz), warm
Olive oil- 1/2 tbsp
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Slightly warm the water and add the yeast. Whisk to dissolve and leave aside for 6 to 7 minutes to reactivate.
In the meantime whisk together the flour, salt, half of the chillies and coriander leaves and ginger in a mixing bowl.
Once the yeast has frothed, add it to the flour mix and knead using a dough hook attachment for about 5 to 6 minutes or if using your hands, flour the work top and knead well for 10 minutes, till the dough is no longer sticky, but smooth and pliable.
Lightly grease a bowl, place the dough in it, cover with a wet cloth and set aside in a warm place to rise.
After about 2 hours, the dough would have doubled in size, so punch it down, knead for about 2 to 3 minutes and make it into a presentable round shape. Roll it out if you cant really stretch it, but don't thin it a lot.
Place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and dimple it at intervals with your finger.
Top with the remaining coriander leaves and chillies and keep aside for an hour or so to proof again.
Once the dough has risen again, brush with olive oil generously, sprinkle some sea salt and place in an oven preheated at 190C.
Bake for 17 to 20 minutes or till golden brown.
Take it out, cool on a rack for about 5 minutes and then slice and serve.
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Notes: The ginger was a wee bit over powering for my liking, so id go easy on it or maybe even avoid it altogether next time.
The original recipe called for a mix of very strong and strong bread flour. Didn't have any, so used plain flour instead. I'm sure the outcome would have been much better if I'd used bread flour.
If using instant yeast, then add everything together to the mixing bowl and knead. You can also go directly to the second proofing stage if using instant yeast.
Replace the toppings with garlic, sun dried tomatoes, olives etc. if you want variety.

28 comments:

divya said...

wow..looks super delicious...very beautiful clicks..

Anonymous said...

This looks good! It should be amazing with a big bowl of soup.

Torviewtoronto said...

yummy the green gives a beautiful touch looks wonderful Nisa

Prema said...

wow i can feel,how delicious the flavour will be...amazing recipe...

turmericnspice said...

looks super yum !!!!!!

KrithisKitchen said...

Chilli and cilantro is a great combo.... that too on a bake.. should be irresistible...
Krithi's Kitchen
Event: Serve It - Steamed

Monet said...

If at first you don't succeed...try, try again! What a beautiful creation you have here. It looks almost as good as I'm sure it tastes! Thank you for tempting my tastebuds and bringing a smile to my face. Blessing as your week begins!

Neetz said...

i simply cant taske my eyes off them!! they look so nice and fluffy :)

Indian Khana said...

Looks fab and with ginger n coriander flavour...tht's wonderful

Rekha shoban said...

looks perfect n delicious!!nice click!

Unknown said...

Flavourful and yummy looking focaccia

Swapna said...

Beautiful clicks as always Nisha!

Suhaina said...

love this beauty..looks so tempting and love the combination that you have used...
perfectly captured.

sanjeeta kk said...

The Focaccia looks gorgeous and like the spicy ingredients!
Lite Bite

Umm Mymoonah said...

Focaccia is my all time favourite, love that spicy kick in it.

Priya Suresh said...

Thats a flavourful focaccia..super inviting and gorgeous..

TheYummyMorsel said...

It looks absolutley perfect and wonderful pics to highlight it.

Vineetha Sush said...

I am also super thrilled about the weather.Friday its going to hit 26 !
This looks good and the pic as alaways is brilliant :)

Prathima Rao said...

Perfect & gorgeous Focaccia!!!
Prathima Rao
Prats Corner

aipi said...

Wonderful flavors in there n I love the texture ~ beautiful bake!
USMasala

Nitha said...

This is something that always had in my "to cook " list and never had the courage to take that up. Your looks so perfect...

Raks said...

Very nice recipe for focaccia. Has turned out so good and looks tempting!

MyKitchen Flavors-BonAppetit!. said...

Supergood recipe and easy to do recipe dear.Luv all ur recipes in this Yumm Blog.Happy to fFollow U.

Manju said...

thats some spongy deliciousness!

Anonymous said...

Nice job on that! I suck at baking bread ... always land up throwing it and that is because I also suck at following recipe to the point which is not good when it comes to baking ..right ?
Glad you took some time off to relax at home. :)

Julie said...

Yummy focassia bread.. Looks tempting , dear!!
Glad to follow you :-))
Do drop by my space too
Erivum Puliyum

Sarah Naveen said...

Hey great job gal!!!! nalla perfect ayittundallo!!
loved the recipe and clicks :)

JishasKitchen said...

that looks so perfect and delicious...definitely going to try this....yumm!!