Pot Pourri
Prawn Nuggets
Ingredients: 6 sandwich bread slices 15 medium prawns (cleaned) (if required can be substituted with 250 gms of chicken mince) 10 cloves Garlic finely chopped 3 celery sticks finely chopped One sprig parsley finely chopped One medium sized onion finely chopped White of one egg 8 drops of tabasco sauce (optional) 10 drops of Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp white pepper powder salt to taste Method:Finely mince the prawns to a smooth consistency using the sharp edge of a knife and mix in chopped garlic, onion, parsley, celery, Worcestershire sauce, tabasco sauce, white pepper powder, salt and egg white (do not use a blender for mincing). Cut small roundels of the sliced bread using a cutter. Apply the mixture on the roundels approximately 3mm thick and deep fry in hot oil until they turn golden brown.
(Courtesy The Times of India 5th Oct)
Rice Rolls
Ingredients: 1/2 cup rice flour 1/2 cup maida 1/2 cup boiled rice 1/2 cup boiled rajma 1 tbsp soya sauce 1 tbsp chilli sauce 1 chopped capsicum 1 onion 1 tbsp oil 1 chopped tomato 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp red chillies oil for fryingMethod:
Make a soft dough with maida, rice flour, oil and salt, and put it aside. Add a pinch of haldi to rice and mash. To make the filling, mash rajma a little Mix the rajma, rice, soya and chilli sauces, capsicum, tomatoes, salt and chilli powder together. Divide the dough into 8-10 portions. Make balls and roll them little like puris. Fill these with the filling. Make them into long rolls. Deep fry all the rolls and serve with sauce. Cooking time: 30 mins For 2-3 persons.
(Courtesy The Women's Era )
Poori Ingredients (for about 6 members)
Wheat flour - 1/2 Kg Maida - 1 Cup Oil for frying SaltMethod Mix wheat flour, maida and salt and adding water, make into a tight dough. Roll into round shapes. Heat oil in a kadai and deep fry the rolled out pooris. Serve it with potato sagu or chutney.(Courtesy South Indian Cookery - Vasanthi)
Potato Sagu
Ingredients: 4 potatoes (boil with salt and cubed) 1 onion (medium sized) 3 chillies (sliced length wise) Coriander leaves, mustard seeds, urad dhal, half channa dhal, turmeric - a little of each.Method
Pour oil in a vessel, add a pinch of turmeric, mustard seeds, urad dhal, half channa dhal, chillies and onions into it. After it is fried brown add the cut potatoes. Add a little water. Add salt to taste. Serve it with poori or idlis.
Pot channa Ingredients :
10 large and oval shaped potatoes 100 g channa 4 tomatoes pureed 2 onions, chopped fine A handful of coriander leaves for garnishing 1 tsp turmeric powder 1 tsp lime juice 1/2 tsp chilli powder 1/2 tsp garam masala powder Salt to taste 6 tsp butterMETHOD
Wash and peel the potatoes. Cut a small slice lengthwise from the top. Scoop the potato to obtain a cup shape. Bring plenty of water with salt to taste to boil. Switch off the gas. Immerse the potato cups in the hot water and keep aside for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the water and keep aside upside down to drain out the water thoroughly. Steam cook the scooped out potato with salt to taste till done. Mash well. Keep it aside.To prepare the filling :
- Pressure cook the channa with salt to taste and a little water till done.
- Heat butter and fry the chopped onions and green chillies till brown. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder, salt to taste and garam masala powder. Saute lightly and add tomato puree and the cooked channa. Cook till the gravy thickens. Sprinkle coriander leaves and lime juice. Keep the filling mixture aside.
- Smear the potato cups with butter from inside and outside. Put enough channa mixture in each potato cup. Keep all the filled up potato cups in a greased plate. Seal the potato cups with the mashed potato.
- Put a blob of butter over each potato cup.
- Bake the potato cups for 15 to 20 minutes in a preheated oven till done.
- Garnish with leftover channa filling, coriander leaves, onion slices and tomato slices. Serve with tomato sause or coriander chutney.
- Serve as breakfast or as a snack.
(Courtesy Femina - April Issue)
Besani Uttapam (5-6 persons)
Ingredients :METHOD
11/2 cup gram flour 11/2 cup curd (sour) 1 cup semolina (suji) 2 tomatoes (finely chopped) 3-4 green chillies (chopped) 1/2 cup water salt to taste 1 tsp coriander powder 3/4 tsp turmeric powder 1/3 tsp thymol seeds (ajwan) For topping :
3 cups mixed vegetables a mixture of finely chopped carrot, capsicum, cabbage and onion 3/4 tsp ginger paste salt to taste 1/4 tsp garam masala powder To garnish :
11/2 tbsp grated cheese 11/2 tbsp grated chopped coriander leaves
- Sieve gram flour and semolina. Make a thick paste by adding the weel-beaten curd, water, all the dry ingredients, finely chopped tomatoes and green chillies. Keep it aside.
- Prepare a mixture for topping by mixing ginger paste, salt and garam masala in the finely chopped mixed vegetables. (Cabbage and carrot can also be grated instead of being chopped to prepare the mixture for the topping). Heat a non-stick, shallow frying pan or griddle (tawa) aand grease it well. Pour 2 big spoons of the mixture onto it and spread it into a round shape. Spread about 2 tbsp vegetable mixture on top of it and press it with the flat side of the spoon. Pour some oil from the sides and cook the uttampam on both sides, on medium heat. Serve the uttapam at breakfast, garnished with grated cheese and green coriander leaves accompanied by green chutney or tomato ketchup.
- Cooking time: 20-25mins.
(Courtesy Women's Era - August issue)
Rice Upma (For 3 persons) Ingredients: 2 cups of rice flour 1 1/2 tbsp oil 2 green chilli (chopped) 2 red chilli 1 onion 1 tsp salt 1/4 tsp rai To garnish: Tomato, onion, green coriander and green chilli Method: Take a pan, put oil into it and keep it on the gas. When the oil gets heated, put rai, curry patta, red chilli, potato pieces and onion paste into it. Fry them well for 5 minutes on low heat or until the onion turns brown. Then, add rice flour and salt to the masala. Stir the mixture for 5-7 minutes and then add 1-1 1/2 cups of water. Stir the mixture well till it is dry. Serve it with curd sprinkled with finely cut coriander leaves.
(Courtesy Women's Era)
Cheesy Corn Potato green peas in puff pastry (6 puffs) For the puffs: 1/4 kg flour 2 tbsp (30 g) rice flour salt to taste 2 tbsp (30 g) butter 3 tbsp (45 g) ghee For frying: oil for deep frying For the filling: 2 (150 g) potatoes 100 g paneer 3 tender corncobs 100 g fresh green peas shelled 30 g cheese 15 g coriander leaves chopped 1 tbsp (15 g) cashewnuts powdered green chilli and ginger paste as required 1/4 tsp (1 g) garam masala powder salt to taste 1 tsp (5 g) butter Grate the cheese and corncobs. Cut the paneer into small pieces. Boil the green peas in sufficient water on high heat till done. Boil, peel and cube the potatoes. Apply a little butter to the potato cubes. Add all the remaining ingredients. Mix well. To prepare the puff:
Mix flour, a pinch of salt and ghee well. Add enough water to bind a smooth dough. Knead well. Divide the dough into three portions and roll out thin chapatis on a floured board. Apply a little butter on one chapati and sprinkle a little rice flour over it. Put one more chapati over it and apply a little butter. Sprinkle rice flour over it. Repeat the process with the third chapati. Trim the edges to obtain a square shaped chapati. Place one tbsp. filling on the roti in one corner and fold over the diagonally opposite end to form a triangle. Seal the edges with a little water. Press the two edges a little inside the border. Deep fry in hot oil on a low heat till crisp. Serve with green chutney and tomato sauce.
(Courtesy Femina)
(Courtesy Entertaining Indian-Style Shehzad Husain)
(Courtesy Entertaining Indian-Style Shehzad Husain)
Grind mint, coriander leaves, green chillies, ginger garlic and amchoor into a fine paste. Heat the remaining 2 tabs of oil, add ground paste, and fry till raw smell disappears. Add beaten curds little by little and fry till well incorporated. Add cream and potato or soya chunks and fry till the masala coats them well. Serve hot on tooth-picks.
(Courtesy Easy Gourmet Cooking by Usha Bail)
(Courtesy The Times of India July 17)
Soak rice and urrad dhal together, overnight. Next day wash well, add washed puha and grind into a smooth batter adding enough water. Allow to ferment overnight.
Next day adding minimum oil, make thick dosas, cover and cook on one side only-remove, and keep aside. These taste delicious when cold too. Serve with vegetable stew.
Vegetable Stew Ingredients: Coconut 1 Milk 1 cup Beans 1/2 cup Carrot 1 Potatoes 2 Onions 2 Oil 4 table spoons Maida 1 table spoons Coriander leaves 1 table spoons Salt 1 1/2 tea spoons Mustard 1/2 tea spoons Pepper 1/2 tea spoons Ginger 3 cm Green Chillies 4-6 Curry leaves little Vinegar 1 tea spoon Cloves 3 Cinnamon 2 small sticks Cardamom 3 METHODChop all vegetables into 3 cm pieces. Slit green chillies. Chop ginger and coriander leaves. Take out thick and thin milk of the coconut - about 3 cups in all. Crush cloves, cinnamon, pepper and cardamom coarsely.
Heat oil in a pan, add mustard and the crushed ingredients. When mustard splutters add vegetables, ginger green chillies and curry leaves. Fry well, till you get a nice aroma. Add maida and fry till maida is well roasted, add thin coconut milk and salt and simmer on a slow fire till the vegetables are cooked. Add the thick milk, ordinary milk and vinegar, simmer just once, and serve hot garnished with coriander leaves. This dish has to be semi-thick as you need lot of gravy with the dosas.
Culinary Tips
When deep frying murukkus, pakodas etc., do not put the fried items on top of each other - otherwise the crispness gets reduced. Each time take out the batches of fried food on a separate platter and then add to it the previous batch of fried food when absolutely cold. (Courtesy Easy Gourmet Cooking by Usha Bail)
Add the chicken tikka and roast adding 1/2 cup of water along with tomatoes and curd.
Simmer on slow fire adding salt and freshly ground masala.
Add butter and remove from fire.
(Courtesy Step By Step Cooking by Sangeeta Khanna)
Soak tamarind in water. Cook the rice but let it not over-cook. Let it get cold. Mix in 2 tabs of raw gingelly oil in it and keep aside. Roast dry and powder the coriander seeds and 6 red chillies.
Strain the tamarind juice and boil with salt, jaggery and a pinch of turmeric till thick. Let it cool. Mix the rice, the powder and tamarind paste together. Heat 3 tabs of gingelly oil add mustard and the remaining 6 red chillies. When mustard splutters, lower flame, add gram dhal, groundnuts and curry leaves. Roast a bit and add to the tamarind rice. This rice is good while travelling - does not spoil.
(Courtesy Easy Gourmet Cooking by Usha Bail)
2. Grind onion, ginger, garlic and fry in oil (1/4 cup oil).
3. Add ground mint leaves and coriander leaves, and green chillies to it and roast well with one cup of water.
4. Add paste of cashewnuts, poppy seeds and coarsely ground peppper, also chicken pieces, salt to taste and ground garam masala.
5. Add two cups water and simmer on slow fire till thick gravy is obtained.
(Courtesy Step By Step Cookery - Sangeeta Khanna)
