DELICIOUS Flat Bread

So I was getting a serious craving on for some bread and being that I can't eat Yeast, that's a tricky issue to address. Yeast free bread is hard to keep fresh, wraps are a strong option but have underdeveloped gluten (not stretchy) so that they don't go hard, but they just AREN'T bread. They don't make a sandwich, whatever I may have told you in the past;

1. They aren't fluffy, doughy OR stretchy like bread should be. 
2. They don't absorb the butter/spread, it just sort of slides off onto your "sandwich" filler.
3. THEY AREN'T BREAD (well they are, but this was a pretty serious craving!)

In the summer at a family barbeque I had a serious bread revelation when my Uncle made some awesome flatbreads with just self-raising flour, salt and water. So gloriously simple. I rang him and asked him for the recipe the next day but it being 6months later, I forgot the quantities, so I took to the internet and searched it up. Luckily, Jamie Oliver came to my rescue. Not a sentence I get to write every day. The following is a concatenation of my Uncle's recipe and the results of my search.

Makes 6 (the size of small pizzas, quarter inch thick)

Ingredients

• • 400g self-raising flour, plus a little extra for dusting
• • 1 tablespoon sea salt
• • 1 tablespoon baking powder
• • 400g natural yoghurt/ soya yoghurt (400ml)
  
  I didn't have any yoghurt so I mixed just under 200ml Soya, just under 200ml of Lactofree Semi-skimmed milk and a splash of Lactofree Cream and stirred in a tablespoon of lemon juice ( acid to react with the raising agent).

The method is at the Jamie Oliver Website but essentially just throw everything into a bowl and mix it all up with your hand, then "knead" until it all comes together then for a minute or so longer, tip out on to a floured surface and knead until smooth, roll into a cylinder and slice into the size you'd like. I honestly wouldn't bother with the mixer for this. Mostly because the mess isn't worth fiddling about with, but also because the supple, silky dough feels just wonderful in your hands, plus its much easier to feel the gluten get to the right consistency and that's an important skill to practice.

Whilst the Bread is resting between sheets of baking parchment fry a couple of onions with some balsamic Vinegar and a few sprinkles of sugar, until they are tasty and let them rest whilst you cook your breads. Either as per Jamie Oliver, or as I did, in a scorchingly hot oven (240 C, ish) in lightly oiled pans. I can't give you a cooking time, as I wasn't paying attention, but grab them out when they look delicious. Really though! Chuck the onions on top and ENJOY!

Follow-up:
Most flat-breads don't keep at all well but these were still glorious by the next evening, I just popped them in the toaster (oven would work too I guess) and they were fab; crispy, chewy (not too chewy) and not at all stale. I'm going to try again today and see when and if they give up the ghost!

From left to right - Un-oiled flat-bread, oiled flat-bread and flat bread with Kalonji seeds (Nigella/Onion Seeds)

(Indian) Mango Pickle

I have a lot of mangoes. When I say a lot, I mean 15 mangoes. I bought them for £2. I think that's a pretty great deal.

So I needed to make some Tomato Chutney and not being able to get hold of green tomatoes, I settled on three massive punnets of red cherry tomatoes for £1, which makes the whole enterprise a lot more cost effective. Then I grabbed some standard onions (40p a pound) a couple of chillis, some courgettes and spices etc.

I followed the recipe found here because frankly, Elise is FANTASTIC, plus I've made it before. I added a whole chopped courgette because the first time I made this recipe we were in the midst of a Courgette glut and I had a rather unruly 'marrow' to use up, so in it went and it was great. I also macerated the tomatoes, onions and courgettes before I started, with 30g of salt and a bit of sugar. I don't think I'll do this again as the results are too salty, the whole batch tastes like ketchup, which is fine except I was making relish, not ketchup, so boo to the recipe that recommended that technique.

So I finished brewing that concoction and had cored and chopped 10 mangoes in the interim (what better to do on one's birthday?) and figured I'd try making Indian mango pickle. My Grandad eats this like a fiend and gets it from his neighbours. I'd always wondered how it was made so I looked it up. If you follow the recipe below with a couple of underripe mangoes (aren't they always, in the UK!?) then you'll get delicious results but I didn't want to risk this uncooked pickle as a gift. To get around this I've totally bastardised the recipe, (scuse language).

http://www.tarladalal.com/Mango-Pickle-(-South-Indian-Recipe-)-32879r


My recipe

Ingredients


1 to 2 medium sized raw mangoes cut into thin slices

1 Onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp salt
1 Lime, juiced
1 inch of fresh ginger, grated
1/2 Cup of Vinegar (cider or your preference)

1 tsp chilli powder
1 tbsp mustard seeds ( rai / sarson)
A Pinch of fenugreek (methi) seeds
1 tbsp turmeric powder (haldi)
1 tbsp Onion Seeds (also known as Kalonji/Nigella)
1 tbsp Garam Masala
1 tbsp Smoked Paprika
1 cups sesame (til) oil or whatever is on hand
1 Onion grated
1 Courgette Grated
1 chilli (mild)

Marinade the Mangoes in lime, ginger, salt and vinegar.Dry roast all the spices then add the oil to the hot pan, once its hot quickly add the grated onion, chilli and grated courgette to cool the oil, let stand a while.Add the mango mix and heat on medium (gentle bubble) until you start to see the grated vegetables disappear and the larger mango and onion softer (30 minutes)I added around a cup of the liquid from the macerated tomatoes and onions (see above) but water should have the same effect.Once the oil starts to separate out and it seems to have the right consistency, place in hot jars and seal.