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By Root 580 0

one week. You still have to feed the desem, but do you have to throw out the extra starter? No, no, what a pity to do that, especially when you can use it in one of these scrumptious recipes: crackers that take about 20 minutes; dosas that take maybe half an hour to cook, after standing overnight; and yeasted desem buns that can be on the table in four hours (well, that’s less than the desem’s seven, and they are good buns).

Desem Crackers

Use a rolling pin to flatten the ripe desem on a well-floured board. Roll as thin as you can; paper thin is best. Sprinkle with salt and use the rolling pin to press the salt into the dough so it will stick; lightly brush with oil if you want. Cut into squares and transfer to a well-oiled cookie sheet. Prick each cracker with a fork.

Bake until delicately brown. Any oven temperature between 275°F and 425°F will do, but watch them—the thinner they are, and the hotter the oven, the more quickly they will be done. Take them out before they are really brown.

These crackers are marvelous with sesame seeds sprinkled on them along with the salt.

You can cut them into circles or any shape, but if the dough will have to be rerolled, using pastry flour on the board will help keep them from getting tough.

They will stay crisp several days if stored airtight.

Yeasted Desem Buns

½ teaspoon active dry yeast

¼ cup warm water

½ cup desem, approximately

⅓ cup warm water

1 teaspoon salt

1 ⅓ cups of flour (fine grind is nice)

This recipe makes tasty buns with either prime desem or desem that is somewhat over the hill.

Dissolve the yeast in ¼ cup warm water. Dissolve the desem in the ⅓ cup warm water. Mix the salt and flour, and add the liquids, adjusting with more water or flour as necessary to make a slightly stiff dough.

Knead well. Let dough rise in a warm place, about 80°F. If the dough is not ripe—not dry to the touch—deflate and let rise again. Deflate and cut into thirds, then cut each third into thirds so you have 9 pieces. Round like tiny hearth loaves, and place in a greased and floured 8″x4″ baking dish. Cover well or use your covered casserole. Proof thoroughly, at least one hour in a warm, humid place. A long proof is the secret of getting a light bun.

Preheat the oven to 450°F or as hot as you can. Paint or spray the buns with warm water. Bake covered or in a steamy oven until they begin to brown, about five to ten minutes (see this page). Reduce heat to 350°F and bake for another 20 minutes or so, until done.

The dough from this recipe will also make a good hearth loaf, or an 8″x4″ pan loaf. Bake in a steamy oven until the crust browns nicely, then reduce the heat and continue cooking as above until the loaf is done.

Desem Dosas

1 ½ cup water (355 ml)

1 cup whole wheat flour pastry flour is good (150 g)

2 tablespoons oil (optional) (30 ml)

Dosas (pronounced doh’ shez) are paper-thin South Indian pancakes, rather like a tasty, savory crepe. These Desem Dosas are surprisingly reminiscent of the authentically fermented rice-and-gram version—certainly enough like the real thing to serve with chutney, and even with masala potatoes. In fact you can serve them with nearly anything—they are good with saucy marinated tofu, piping hot; with any soft cheese; with cottage cheese and fruit—or just plain.

Stir the desem into the water, mix in the flour and oil and let stand at least half an hour. It can stay as long as two days in the refrigerator. If you like extra zip, you can mince a teaspoon of fresh ginger and onion and even a bit of fresh garlic (cut all of them tiny!) and add them to the batter. Chopped coriander leaves are good too, though none of the above make cooking the dosas any easier.

When you are ready to cook, add more water to make a very thin batter—a little thinner than a good crepe batter. Pour onto a hot seasoned or lightly oiled skillet or griddle, tilting the griddle so that the batter spreads evenly, and as thin as possible, exactly as if you were making a crepe. It should cover the pan with a hundred tiny lacy holes. Turn