I have just had a little play with a quick bread recipe, as I am out of same and didn't want to get wet going to the local corner shop for white!

I made a soda bread based mix, with )) flour, potato flaour and barley flour, a little baking soda, salt, some black pepper, and some powdered turmeric, as it was next to the pepper, and I ad been reading about how a new drug is being developed from curcumin, the yellow colouring in turmeric. Must have been on my mind!

Anyway, when I put some rolled dough in the pan to cook, to my surprise it turned a mottles orange/red colour!! Thinking about this, I have decided that the curcumin is responsible, as it turns red in alkaline conditions, which is what you get in soda bread! Very attractive, the bread I mean.

I'm going to a friend's house, soon, where they have had a very recent addition to the family. I said I would cook an Indian meal for them, they said a lamb for main course and fish to start (they aren't Indian food buffs, like us!) I have them both covered, but would like to use bread for one of the dishes as a carb source. But I want to make it something special, silver foil on the fish dish, and gold leaf on the lamb. The fish course will have sliced edoes in with the sauce, with a little rice (a tiny biryani with quails' eggs), so the bread will go with the lamb, with bhindi and fresh chana. Should work.

Sweet will be fresh fruit salad, in fresh fruit juice.

Hello Lapis

I make a bread with turmeric, very nice it is too; Yellow Bread

How about some Yellow Parathas or roties?

If you are in the mood to work a bit harder, you could do a selection of breads and serve them in a basket, like they do in restaurants in India. Make a few chapatties, parathas, naans, missi roties, some with turmeric and dry methi leaves, even a couple of Potato or cauliflower stuffed parathas/roties. Heat them before serving and serve in a basket, wrapped in a napkin.

sounds really good lapis. i bet your kitchen is more like a science lab lol. i read about the drug they are developing from turmeric. i came across it on yahoo news this morning. i had no idea that turmeric was such a healthy spice to use. it just so happens to be one of my favourite spices and i think it has to do with the fantastic colour it has.

i read somewhere that if you mix turmeric with lime juice the mixture will turn red. i have not tried it though so i dont know...

Forgot to say about your red soda bread; yes turmeric does turn red when mixed with soda. If you try to take stains off your work top with a kitchen cleaner or Cif, the mark turns red before disappearing. Same thing happens to stains on clothes when you wash them with soap. It is a lovely idea, I might try it. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a yellow, red and green bread? LOL!

thanks for the suggestions, Mamta, but |I am going to have to shift all the food and utensils by hand across London, so the less I take, the better.

Sid,

lime juice will be acidic, so it will not turn turmeric red, only alkalis do this, pH around 10 if I remember correctly (which isn't often!)

On Tuesday I gave blood, and I rewarded myself with a snack from a snackwalla in Green Street, Upton Park. I have had it before, but I still don't know what it is. Maybe you might have an idea. Its probably of Pakistani origin, though. It is like a stuffed bread, stuffed with keema, but then deep fried. The end result is a bit like a flat pasty, and quite chewy, but very pleasant. It has a name, but I couldn't make out what the vendor was saying. Its not just stuffed something or other, it has a proper name.

Was it a keema bhatura/bhatoora Lapis?

Hi Lapis was it a Katlama?

http://www.cookingmela.com/katlama/

I used to love them but i can't seem to find them anymore!

that would seem like it, but I can't confirm that is what the man who sold it called it. Of course, he could have been trying to tell me the price, although I am OK on Hindi numbers (since I was 10!). Lol.

Next time, I'll ask if they are bhaturas. Thanks :?)