In commercial baking they talk about bakers formula and that makes life so much easier rather than trying to remember a recipe with exact details.
I will give you an example of a simple bread formula using bakers percentage. In this the flour is Always taken as a100%.and everything else is taken in proportion to the flour .
Flour 100%
Water or liquid -65%
Active dry yeast -2%
Sugar 2%
Salt2%
Oil/fat-5%
So I were to put a weight on this I could say
Flour 1000g
Water 650g
Yeast 20g
Salt 20g
Oil/butter -50g
The method stays the same . Mix flour with water sugar and yeast then add in the water .add salt and oil in the end .
Heat oil, add butter and whole spices
then add 500 gms chopped onions and saute on low heat till light brown.
Add ¼ tsp coriander pdr, 1/8tsp cumin powder, pinch turmeric powder.
Add in about 20 gms of ginger and garlic paste. continue to saute.
Add in 400 gm tin of chopped tomatoes , and slow cook till the oil starts to separate out.
Then can add about 1 kg of chicken on the bone which should ideally be marinated with ginger and garlic paste about 20 gms and about 100 gms of plain / greek yoghurt.
at this stage you can also add in chilli powder to your taste or 2-3 green chillies.
let is simmer on low heat with a lid for about 30 minutes.
Season with salt and some garam masala powder. Also a small pinch of nutmeg. Add some fresh coriander and mint for the oomph factor.
We would get a chicken curry or masala like this maybe once every few months when we were growing up. Even chicken was a treat not for daily eating. Aai would take us to the butcher I still remember the name Prakash where they would take a fresh chicken and cut it up and wrap in newspaper to take home .
To get your knives sharpened and in tip top condition here are some handy tips .
Keep away from the dishwasher and handwash only ..the corrosive chemical and high temp ruins the metal to a point where they just cannot be rescued anymore.
Buy a decent brand of a knife ,does not have to be a ken onion shun or a hand made thing but a victorinox is a good starting point or a similar by FDick .
Learn how to sharpen the blades . Remember also that the knife is meant to cut vegetables and tomatoes and so on not shave your arm – that’s just vanity/ sharpening snobbiness.+ You need sharpening stones which are 6000 grit or similar..and they are not cheap. There is a blog post here which tells you how to do this.
You also need a good stone not one of the pull through gadgets which they sell everywhere .They really ruin your blade not as much as the dishwasher but still not good practice. Get a 400/1000 stone . That’s enough for a normal person. I’ve got a dozen or more between 120- 12000 grits and several diamond ones too
The angle between the stone and the blade is important and some companies sell decent angle guides,which could be a worthwhile investment after the bomb you will send on the stone/s . I use only water or a little soap water to do the stones .the other blog post has videos on this.
Or if you are in Sydney you can contact me on gordoyash@gmail.com to make a time for this .
May you live in interesting times with your knife journey. Be safe and don’t drop the knife on your foot, that can hurt. If it’s falling let ita , better than cut yourself and slowly bleed to death.
stories of foods from the world over, laced with a hint of sarcasm and some black humour, its not for everyone, but then never was meant to be..