Steamed Indian bread with tomato relish and curry-leaf butter

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"This delicious Eno bread recipe was inspired by a magnificent one I ate at Spice Emporium in Durban," says Abigail. "It's a traditional Mumbai street food, often eaten on the beach."

Ingredients

145 g chickpea flour
1 x 2 cm ginger piece, finely grated
1 green chilli, finely chopped
1 t ground turmeric
1 t ground cumin
1 t ground coriander
1 t salt
3 T sugar
½ lemon, juiced
¾ cup plain yoghurt
½ cup water
1 T Eno fruit salts
Fresh shaved coconut, to garnish
For the tomato relish:
2 T butter
1 T olive oil
200 g Rosa tomatoes, halved or whole
1 x 2 cm ginger piece, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped
8 curry leaves
Salt, to taste
For the curry-leaf butter:
4 T butter
1 t black mustard seeds
12 curry leaves
½ lemon, juiced

Cooking Instructions

Place the chickpea flour, ginger, chilli, turmeric, cumin, coriander, salt, sugar, lemon juice and yoghurt in a large bowl. Whisk while slowly pouring in the water.

Whisk the mixture until slightly voluminous, then allow to rest for 4 minutes. Add the Eno and fold gently into the batter. Cover with clingwrap and set aside until doubled in size, about 35–40 minutes.

While the batter is rising, prepare the relish. Heat the butter and olive oil in a pan over a medium heat. Add the tomatoes and allow to char slightly. Add the ginger, garlic, chilli and curry leaves and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring continually to ensure the mixture doesn’t burn. Season with salt to taste, remove from the heat and set aside.

Line a 20 cm steamer with nonstick baking paper. Gently pour in the batter and cover with a lid. Place over a saucepan of simmering water. Steam for 20–25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Serve with the relish and curry-leaf butter and garnish with the coconut.

To make the curry-leaf butter, place the butter in a pan over a medium heat. Add the mustard seeds and cook until slightly toasted. Add the curry leaves and cook for a further 30 seconds, then add the lemon juice. The butter should be a nutty brown.

Cook’s note: Eno fruit salts are an unusual but effective raising agent for this bread, but you can use baking powder as a substitute.

First published in the June 2014
issue of TASTE magazine.

Discover more brilliant bread recipes here.