Life 'n' Such

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Buttery, flaky, yummy! I visited Ulfet, and she made this pogaca (bread). Katmer means layers, cos its flaky, because of lots of butter!

Ingredients:
For the dough:
1 cup warm milk,
1 turkish tea cup oil,
1 egg white,
1 tbsp yeast,
1 turkish tsp salt,
1 and half tbsp sugar,
flour as much as needed

1 stick softened butter

Optional:
1 egg yolk for brushing the top of the bread before baking, and/or sesame seeds

For the filling:
turkish /feta/mozarella cheese and parsley, or meat filling, or potato and onion filling

In a large mixing bowl, put the yeast and sugar and the warm milk. Cover and keep aside for 15 mins, till it rises. Add all the remaining ingredients listed for the dough except the flour. Put the flour little bit at a time, till you get a soft dough. Let it rise for a few mins, then divide the dough into 8 parts. Roll out into flat discs about 7 inches in diameter, one at a time. Keep the softened butter ready, and apply to each layer as you start stacking them one on top of the other. (Basically, roll one disc, apply butter, roll out another disc, lay it on top of the first one, apply butter, and so on, till you reach the last one. Do not apply butter on top of the 8 disc)

Now with a thin rolling pin, open the stacked discs into a bigger circle, about the size of a large pizza (maybe a little bit larger). Now with a pizza cutter, cut to make small pieces (triangles).

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Put your desired filling on the narrowest side, then roll (as you would to make croissant rolls). Lay it on the tray. Repeat, till all done. Now wait till they become almost double their original size. Brush the top with egg yolk. (Sprinkle sesame seeds if you like). Preheat the oven at 350 deg F. And bake till almost done. (Few mins). Turn your oven setting to broil. Again broil till the top is reddish brown in color.

Pull out the tray from the oven, cover it with a cloth or a towel for a few mins. Thats it. Now dont wait, grab a plate, and enjoy delicious yummy katmer pogacas.

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Mixed vegetable stir-fried or cooked with indian spices is a great way to add vitamins and anti-oxidants to your diet. Just use the recipe on making basic vegetable and add different vegetables to it, the only rule of thumb is add the veggies that take the longest to cook first.

Some combos that go good together:

These are just a few combinations. Try various combinations and if you have a winner, share it with us. Have fun, eat healthy, stay healthy.

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Another fantastic side dish eaten with rice or roti (indian bread) by Madhu aunty.

Ingredients:
Papad- 4 medium side circles
Yoghurt (dahi) 1 bowl
Salt as per taste
1 tsp Red chilli powder (mirchi powder)
quarter tsp turmeric (haldi)
1 tsp corriander powder (dhania)
half tsp whole cumin (jeera)
oil for cooking
cilantro for garnishing

Heat the oil in the pan, and fry the jeera in it. Mix all the spices, in yoghurt and add this to the oil. After a few minutes, add a glass of water to this. After this boils, break the papad into pieces and throw it in. Simmer for another few minutes. Garnish with fresh cilantro (fresh dhania)

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