KOCHI: The best part about any festive season is the sweets and pastries that come with it. Cakes, pies and everything nice is the way to go. For Goa-bred, city-based chef Nirmal Kutty, his Christmas baking list has all the conventional items like plum cakes, gingerbread cookies yule logs, and also some of his experiments.
Nirmal started his journey with food during his upbringing in Goa. The sights and aromas of the Sorpotel’s (spicy Goan pork curry) and fried Recheado (masala stuffed and fried mackerel fish ) were inspiration enough for him to take up the art of cooking. “My ideal baking basket would be a random assortment of stuff like Raspberry cheesecake, Hazelnut and rum chocolate tarts, sugar-glazed cinnamon rolls, hand-rolled assorted chocolate truffles (rum, dulce de leche, almond hazelnut) spiced focaccia bread, smoked tomato, bacon spread and blueberry pies,” he says.
But baking at home is not an easy job, he adds. “You have to understand that knowing the basics of baking or cooking chocolate is important. You can always play around with recipes or alter ingredients to your liking,” adds Nirmal.
He has some important pointers for beginners who want to embark on baking journeys this season. Firstly, make sure you have a good oven (a decent OTG oven is more than enough). Next comes the most common mistake that most beginners make, using the microwave for a quick fix. “Microwaves aren’t suitable for baking.
They help us heat food, or in thawing or melting or pre-processing the ingredients. I don’t prefer the quick fix microwave recipes that take all the joy away from baking your Christmas goodies. Love and patience are the most important ingredients,” he concludes.
Apple Strawberry pie.
Ingredients
For the Crust:
■ 1 cup all-purpose flour
■ 1/2 teaspoon salt
■ 1/4 cup butter (chilled)
■ 3 tablespoons water (ice-cold)
For the Filling:
■ 3 cups regular simla/gala / red delicious/ fuji apples cut into quarters and deseeded
■ 1/2 cup strawberries, halved and cleaned.
■ 1 tablespoon lemon juice
■ 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
■ 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
■ 2 tablespoons butter
■ A pinch of cinnamon powder.
Method:
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt.
Cut in the chilled butter, using two knives or a pastry blender.
Sprinkle in the ice water into the mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing with a fork after each addition.
Using your hands, form the dough into a ball.
Roll the dough into an 11-inch circle between two sheets of plastic wrap or a zip lock bag.
Place the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes so it becomes slightly firm and uniform.
Preheat the oven to 425 Fahrenheit or 215 degrees Celsius.
Remove the top sheet of plastic wrap. Turn the dough over into a 9-inch pie plate, (available commonly in any bakery supplies store in town or use an aluminium baking foil tin) coated very lightly with vegetable oil with a brush, and remove the remaining layer of plastic wrap.
Using your fingers, press dough into the pie plate and flute the edges.
In a large bowl, toss the apples and berries with lemon juice.
In a separate bowl, combine the remaining sugars and flour.
Combine the sugar mixture with the apples and berries and toss the mixture lightly with a fork.
Pour the apple and berry mix into the pie crust.
Use a knife to cut the remaining butter into small pieces, and distribute the butter pieces over the top of the pie. Bake at 425 F for 10 minutes, then turn the heat down to 350 F and bake an additional 30 minutes.
Demould it on a plate, let it cool, slice it and serve it warm with some cream or ice cream or by itself.