Rosemary and Black Pepper Oatcakes !

Made n Enjoyed
Hello readers,

In my everyday cooking I am not accurate, it's just approximate ( we call it andaza ) that's the way how I learnt from my mum and now my daughter learnt from me. For me it is very hard to cook dish with accurate measurements every time, however perfect taste is always there and people can tell that's my cooking if they have tasted my food, and that's the beauty of an Indian Cooking !

In olden days there were no measuring spoons and cups available for ladies, everything added by hands and measurement was called like chapti ( pinch ) Muthi ( fist ) or jyada ya kam ( more or less ). I love it, but that doesn't mean I use my hands, I do use spoons and cups it just that every time no accurate measurement.  I would like to stick to andaza style cooking, when you give a recipe to someone or if you use someone else's recipe it is far more easier to cook that recipe, because many times if you follow same measurements it can get tricky as most of the time ingredients plays a big part. If someone tells me use 1tsp red chilli powder, what if that person has used Kashmiri red chilli which is less spicier and I use Resham Patti chilli powder which is very spicy, definitely I'm going to blame that person :D

But I know that my andaz style will not work in baking, In baking all the measurements and methods must be followed very strictly. Now you know , why my blog doesn't have many baking recipes !

It is believed that Baking has therapeutic that is beneficial for mental health, baking helps to lift any depression, your negative energy can be turn into something constructive. People say baking helps them when they measure exact amount of sugar butter or flour,  they feel that they are in control. But for me these are the same reasons where I find baking very stressful and tedious. Also, I prefer eggless baking, it is more tougher than baking with eggs. Most People say while baking put little "Love" into your baking and it's just turn out as good..Lol, I might say with love keep your measurements precise and wait for better luck !

That doesn't mean I totally avoid baking, sometimes I do put my finger in a pie ! So this time not a pie but I have oatcakes. I followed recipe to precise, oat cakes came out perfect, beautifully baked and delicious. In 3 days I baked my second batch, first batch I baked with Butter and they were excellent and in second batch I added Sunflower Oil to make it little healthier.

I would say there was a slight difference in taste in second batch, but my family approved both. Then why do I worry ?? So here I am today with Rosemary and Black Pepper Oat Cakes ! These oatcakes are very simple to make, delicious to eat and put into fabric-lined boxes, cover with a lid and tie with festive ribbon, make a wonderful gift for friends and family.

An Oatcake is type of a flatbread or similar to a cracker and made from Oatmeal. You can find sweet and savoury versions were developed to be served with jam or cheese. In UK Scottish oatcakes are more popular, I simply adore them as well as our Queen typically has for breakfast and Our PM David Cameron named Scottish oatcakes his favourite cake.

Recipe adapted from here with little variation
You will need :-

• 225 grams rolled Oats
• 60 g whole meal flour
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tsp. rosemary leaves finely chopped
• 70 ml sunflower oil
• 1 tsp. castor sugar
• 180 ml hot water

Method :-
Preheat the gas oven to mark 5.
Lightly oil 2 baking trays.
Place oats and flour in a mixing bowl and add salt, sugar, rosemary and pepper.
Mix together and add oil and add water little by little and form a soft dough.
Lightly dust a clean work surface with a little flour and roll out the dough to about 5mm (1⁄4in) thick. Stamp out 32 x 6cm (2 1⁄2in) circles using a pastry cutter.
Arrange on baking sheets and bake for 35 minutes until very light golden.
Turn the cakes over in the oven after 25 minutes.
Let it cool completely.
Enjoy with cheese or cuppa.
We had half of them with Cheddar Plum cheese.
Can be store in a air tight container and stays fresh up to one week.

Happy Cooking :)
Linking it to Made with love Mondays !