Meat Puffs

I had tried Chicken puffs early this week and it was a huge hit. So i tried making the same with meat stuffing inside and it turned out even better. The folds and the crust came out quite perfectly this time and im super thrilled. So now, the next on the list is an egg puffs. But try out this recipe now. Enjoy.

Ingredients

Puff Pastry – 4 square sheet
300 grams Minced meat
1/2 small onion chopped fine
1 small garlic minced
1/4 inch piece ginger minced
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Paprika
2 tbsp Chopped Cilantro or parsley
1 tbsp Lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 beaten egg
Oil

Method:

Ensure the puff pastry is thawed but kept cool in the fridge

Make the filling –  Start by sauteing the onions, ginger, garlic in one tbsp oil.
Then add in the meat mince and spices.. Break the meat well and cook on medium heat. You do not want large chunks of meat in the pastry.
Once the meat is cooked and almost all the liquid is absorbed (don’t make it too dry) – add in the salt, pepper, lemon juice and chopped cilantro.
Give it a taste test.
Cool the mixture completely before you proceed to filling it.
Now  place the filling in the center of each  puff pastry square. Fold from all four sides
Not too much filling just enough so you can fold over and not too little because once the pastry is baked it will puff up and the filling will be lost inside.You should have a good balance of meat and pastry.
Brush egg wash on the folds.
Preheat the oven to 200 C/400 F – for 10 minutes.
Place the puff pastry in the oven on the middle rack and bake for about 12 to 15 minutes until golden and puffed up.

Fruit Bread

The idea of this fruit bread emerged literally out of the blue. I had made some homemade tutty fruity the day before and it was visibly and neatly kept on my kitchen shelf. Today i had plans of making bread for dinner and immediately i caught sight of my tutty fruity. Plans changed all of a sudden and within minutes, my tutty fruity bread was ready to be baked in the oven. It reminded me of the tea time snacks i used to have during my childhood days. My little boy  had great fun plucking out the tutty fruity from the bread slices and eating it first( just like how i used to do)

Ingredients

3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tsp edible Yellow food colour
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/4 cup shredded apple
1 cup tuttifruity
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one loaf pan.
Mix flour, Food colour, baking powder, soda, salt, sugar, oil, eggs, apple, tuttifruity, and vanilla only until dry ingredients are moistened.
Bake in greased loaf pan at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 to 40 minutes.

Chicken Shawarma

This is the favourite of almost everyone who preserve a passion for junk food. This was rarely eaten in my family because in my opinion , a shawarma stands on the pedestal of this genre called junk food. But I still have to admit that it tastes awesome. So why dont we make it at home and thus get rid of all the uncertainity issues of cleanliness behind it. Now that is a good option. So try this out in the comfort of your kitchen using neat and clean ingredients. Enjoy. 

Ingredients

10 cloves garlic, chopped

2 lemons, juiced

1 cucumber sliced.
1/2 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon ground pepper
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 pieces Roti or patotta or nan
1 tomato, chopped
Shawarma Sauce, recipe follows

Directions

To make the marinade: In a medium bowl, whisk together the garlic, lemon juice, and oil. Add curry powder, salt, pepper and whisk to combine. Add chicken and coat with marinade. Marinate chicken overnight in the refrigerator.

Preheat a grill to medium heat. Remove chicken from marinade. Grill chicken for about 10 minutes on each side or until fully cooked through. Serve chicken on roti or roll it in roti with tomatoes, cucumber and Shawarma Sauce.

Shawarma Sauce:
3 cloves garlic

1 cup store-bought tahini

3 cups water

1/2 cup lemon juice

Salt

Add garlic to the bowl of a food processor and process until chopped. Add tahini and pulse to combine. With the machine running, slowly add cold water until frothy. Add lemon juice and mix until creamy. Season with salt, to taste.

Milk Peda

Everyone with a sweet tooth clearly relishes this sweet delicacy. This one is easy to make and it just melts in our mouth. I can never think of an instance where ive seen this one for sale in the bakery and I didnt end up purchasing it. So you can guess this was, is and always will be my favourite sweet dish.

Ingredients

Condensed Milk - 1/2 tin (200 gms)
Milk powder - 1 cup
Melted Ghee - 2 tsp + to grease
Saffron - 4 strands cut into small pieces
Pistachios - 8 chopped finely

Method:
Soak saffron in warm milk and set aside.Chop the pistachios finely, keep aside.In a non stick pan add condensed milk,milk powder and saffron milk.Whisk it well so that there are no lumps, this should be done even before switching on the flame.
How to make doodh peda - Step1
Not switch on the flame and keep cooking. I used my whisk for a while to avoid lumps.Keep cooking until it starts to leave the sides of the pan.Once it starts leaving the sides of the pan, add ghee and give a quick mix.
Keep cooking until you see a thick mass slightly sticky, try to take a small portion roll it and check, you should be able to form a ball.This is the correct stage.Switch off and let it cool down for 10mins.When it is still warm, pinch  small lemon sized portion and make a ball, slightly flatten it.
Make a small dent in the center, add chopped pistachios and arrange in a clean plate.Repeat the same until the entire mixture finishes.Leave it to set atleast for an hour.You can even refrigerate it for a while.It will look moist for a while then will become dry after an hour or so.

Tutti Fruity

I never thought that I would make tutty fruity in my life. I usually buy it from the stores for my recipe. But today when I checked, it was almost finished and I thought ill just check out the recipe. The recipe was found to be very easy and very tempting too. So i thought ill make it by myself this time and it was a huge success. I have it perfectly stored in an airtight container.  Hope it will last long enough for me to try in other recipes before being finished by my dearest foodie family.

Ingredients

200 gms Raw Papaya
2 cup Sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
edible food color – red, yellow and green, Dark blue(each one pinch)
water as needed

Method

Chop Papaya and remove the seeds along with the white part. Peel off the skin of papaya and chop it into small cubes. It yields around 2 cup of raw papaya. Keep it aside.
Boil 4 cup water in a pan. Once it starts boiling, add chopped raw papaya and let it cook for 3 mins on low-medium flame. Remove from the heat and let the papaya remain in the same water for another 5 mins.

Meanwhile, Cook 2 cup sugar and 3-4 cup water in a pan. Once sugar is completely, add blanched & strained papaya cubes in syrup. Switch to low-medium flame.

Cook until the sugar syrup turns sticky and forms a thin one-string consistency, which may take another 15-20 mins. Follow this time approximately since the time may vary according to the utensil you use. The sugar syrup will turn thick and you can guess easily with that. Switch off the stove and remove pan.
Add few drops of vanilla essence to it. Take 4 bowls and divide sugar syrup into 4 portions.

Add a pinch of each color in 4 different bowls filled with syrup. Mix well and keep it aside for 12-24 hrs.

After 12-24 hrs, take out the papaya cubes from syrup and strain them properly. spread those papaya cubes over a wire net placed on top of a plate. Let them dry till the stickiness is totally absorbed. Store tutti frutti in an airtight container and use whenever needed.

Papaya-Lemon Halwa

This one is the best of the halwas that ive ever made. Making a halwa is a difficult task and it makes our kitchen too messy and utensils hard to clean. But i consider these as the minor sacrifices I  make to enjoy its final outcome. I usually make it in bulk quantities and store it in the refrigerator to  eat it whenever i feel like eating. But this time i had only 1 small ripe papaya and the quantity that i got from it was very less. Enjoyed every bit.

Ingredients

Papaya - 1 no
Lemon juice- half a lemon
Sugar - 5 tbsp for medium sweet Papaya (depends on sweetness of Papaya)
Cardamom (Elakka) powder - 1/4 tsp
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Maida - 1/4 tsp
Cashewnuts - 4 nos

DIRECTIONS

Cut and clean the papaya into small pieces and make a fine pulp of it by using a blender(mixer).
Take a pan and heat it for some time.
Mix the papaya pulp, lemon juice and sugar in the hot pan.
Keep stirring the mixture continuously.In the meantime, add water to maida to make a liquid paste.
After stirring the mixture in the pan for 5 mins, add the maida paste to it.
This help in thickening the mixture to desired level.
Add ghee and cardamom powder to the mixture once it starts getting thick.
Take out the mixture from the pan and spread it onto a flat vessel making a 2 inch thickness of the mixture.
Cool and cut the halwa into pieces as desired.

Goan Chicken Fry

 A chicken fry is definitely not something to brag about. But trust me, this one is awesome. Unlike the usual chicken fry recipes, this special Goan fry uses cumin and tomato puree for its marination. And the outcome is simply out of this world. Trying out this recipe made me to take a new decision in my life- to try out more and more goan recipes. So fingers crossed for that. Anyway, first things first. Here you go...

Ingredients

chicken – 1 kg
kashmiri chilli powder – 2 ½ tsp
cumin seeds – 1 tsp
peppercorns – ½ tsp
mustard seeds – 1 tsp
cloves – 4
ginger – 4 cm
garlic – 1 pod
turmeric powder – 1 tsp
vinegar – 1 tbsp
tomato puree- 1 tsp
salt – to taste
oil – 5 tbsp

Method

Clean the chicken.
Grind all the ingredients from chilli powder to turmeric powder together with vinegar and tomato puree.
Add little water to a smooth paste.
Mix with salt.
Apply this to chicken pieces and keep aside for 1 hr.
Add 1/2 cup water and cook covered till chicken is tender and water is absorbed.
Add oil and fry till chicken pieces are well fried.

Chicken Puffs

Chicken puffs is one of the most commonly found snacks in Kerala. A bakery without puffs neately arranged in a glass case would be a remote sight there. So i am assured enough that everyone would have tasted this atleast once in our lifetime. It can be made as a dessert too with stuffings of fruits or cream or jam in it. But my dish for today is a spicy chicken puffs that would truly tickle the spicy side of your pallette.

Ingredients

Boneless chicken - 1 cup(cooked & shredded)
Greenchillies - 2 nos(finely chopped)
Garlic - 4 cloves(finely chopped)
Ginger - 1 inch piece(finely chopped)
Onion - 1 no(finely chopped)
Garammasala - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Salt - As reqd
For the Dough:
Allpurposeflour (Maida) - 1 cup
Water - As reqd
Salt - As reqd

DIRECTIONS

For preparing chicken puffs, heat oil in a pan and place the shredded chicken in it.Add in green chillies, garlic, ginger, onion, garam masala and salt and allow it to fry for 5 minutes on a medium heat.
When it is done, remove it from the fire and keep it aside.
Knead a soft dough with maida and salt water. Divide into small balls.
Roll out small chapatti`s and make triangle shapes using a mould. Place the chicken mixture in it.
Repeat the procedure for the remaining stuffing.
Place in the oven at 350 degrees till light brown and crispy.

Steamed Chicken Momos

I was a little surprised to read somewhere that a momos is a tibetan dish. I always thought that it originated in the middle east,  it was always in the menu of any arabic restaurant, be it for breakfast, lunch, dinner or even as a tea tine snack. Anyway, this one is a super easy dish and very very tasty too. And ti those calorie counters out there,, good news.. this one is not fried.. but steamed. So try this out and eat without regrets. The filling can be made according to your discretion. The same can be done with tina, sausages and even with simple vegetables.

Ingredients

For Momos
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp oil
1 ½ cup boiled minced Chicken
2 finely chopped onions
1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
3 tsp finely chopped ginger
2 finely chopped spring onions
3 – 4  chopped green chillies
Salt & pepper

Method
1. Mix the flour with some salt, oil and water and knead into a stiff dough. Make sure that the dough doesn’t stick to your hand.

2. Mix the chicken with onions, garlic, spring onions and chillies. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Break a small piece of dough and roll it into a smooth ball. Use a rolling pin to make medium-sized chappatis which are 2.5 inches in diameter. Ensure that the edges are   slightly thinner than the centre. This makes it easier to hold the filling.

4. Use a tablespoon of chicken mix and fold the chappati into half, like a neat half moon. Twist the edges to seal and make sure that there is no opening.

5. Put a steamer to boil and grease the steaming tray with some cooking oil. Place the momos on the steamer and let it cook for 10-15 minutes.

Chicken Empanada

This has become our family favourite. I made it on a trial base and it  became my best ever cooking experiment. I made only two and regretted it because everyone wanted another helping. The blend of chicken and cheese gives the dish a regal touch and the fact that it is fried in oil gives it a unique taste.  It can be made as a perfect starter for any meal. But please make sure that you keep aside a bit incase anyone wishes to fill their stomach entirely on the starter item.. !! Im sure that you are going to love me for this recipe 

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup water, or as needed 

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
Shredded  chicken as needed

Cheese-3 tbs
1 pinch salt
1 tablespoons paprika
1/2 tablespoon cumin 

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 cup raisins 

1/2tablespoon white vinegar
1 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and chopped
1 quart oil for frying, or as needed

Directions

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour and salt and water until the mixture forms a ball. Flatten slightly. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until tender. Crumble in the chicken, and season with salt, paprika, cumin and black pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until chicken is browned. Drain excess grease, and stir in the raisins and vinegar. Refrigerate until chilled, then stir in the hard-cooked eggs and cheese.
Form the dough into 2 inch balls. On a floured surface, roll each ball out into a thin circle. Spoon some of the chicen and cheese mixture onto the center, then fold into half-moon shapes. Seal edges by pressing with your fingers.
Heat oil in a deep-fryer. Place one or two pies into the fryer at a time. Cook for about 5 minutes, turning once to brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels, and serve hot.