Daily Archives: January 16, 2017

Cheese fatayer

Preparation time : 1 hour
Cooking time : 15 minutes
Serves : 4 members

Description

On a holiday in Dubai with the entire family. My NRI nephews, fed up eating Indian and continental food wanted to dine with some middle eastern food. We end up in a restaurant. I am left to place the order as every one else found the menu card to be typed in Greek. I took up the job and did the honours. We were served with a huge platter of raw fresh vegetables, herbs and olives with dips. We started and hubby dear was like no wasting food, as we kept eating and finishing them, they were replaced with more and more. Only after a few replacements we did get to know they were for free. We all laughed our gut’s out as the food ordered had to come there after. Hubby dear was like, no wasting the ordered food now. All of us with stomach full of raw vegetables, herbs and olive were like you eat, you eat, you eat. The bread platter was served and I was blown away with the various types of breads in the basket. But out of the lot, the eye shaped fatayer’s stole my heart. It was stuffed with cheese and herbs. Tasted yum and can be had as it is with no dips or sides. The table and our stomachs were lined with many other new dishes. Every time a dish is being served, hubby dear would give us glares warning us time and again about no left overs . Looking at the table, I was like ” I am going to get bombarded by hubby dear for all the left overs “. When with family on a holiday, I don’t know how on earth our appetites have this always hungry to eat, to hog, to gobble up mode. Believe me, with no left overs the table has clean empty bowls. Hubby dear was like .. gosh all I earned will go by feeding you people. … when I gave my first try at home serving these cheese fatayers.. hubby dear immediately recollected this incident and we had a good laugh .

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Flour / maida	1 and 1/2 cup
Warm water	1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons
Curd	2 tablespoons
Instant yeast	1/4 teaspoon
Olive oil	2 tablespoons
Coriander leaves	few chopped
Grated cheese	1 and 1/2 cup
Sugar + salt	1/2 teaspoon each
Oil	1 teaspoon

Method

Mix grated cheese with chopped coriander leaves and keep aside. Mix flour, curd, warm water, olive oil, sugar, salt and yeast together. Knead well for five minutes.
Cover the dough and set aside to double for forty minutes. Grease a baking tray with oil. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
Punch down the doubled dough and knead well again for a minute. Make lemon size equal balls out of the dough. Roll each ball into a oval shape.
Place 2 tablespoons of the cheese filling in the centre of each oval shaped dough. Fold both the side’s and pinch together the edges of the opposite corners together to get an eye shaped bread with cheese filling inside.
Press the cheese filling in the centre to get a levelled surface. Place over greased baking tray.
Bake for fifteen minutes until the edges start to brown. Remove and cool for five minutes and serve.

Notes

You can add spinach, mutton mince or chicken mince to the filling and do the same.

Afghanistan mutton pulao

Preparation time : 40 minutes
Cooking time : 1 hour
Serves : 3 members

Description

Those days of having just one huge television set at home which was kept in the living room. we could watch the Telly only in the evening’s as doordarshan was the only channel that telecasted programs. We had no choice , you like it or not, you had to watch what they telecasted. In between all this as a kid, I had the last choice to raise my voice if I wanted to desperately watch something on the Telly. I remember getting to see sanjana karpoor ( daughter of actor sashi kapoor) do a program about Afghanistan show casing their culture, arts and food. The food part alone just stuck into me. It’s so fresh in mind how she relished the kebabs from the streets and showed big round rotis made and sold. This was in the mid 1980’s. After that, Afghanistan was a long story in my mind and culinary try list. Years later when I got to be a part of many foodie groups. I come across this Afghanistan pulao recipe that looks colorful with carrots and nuts. I hate rice with nuts so it didn’t interest me at all. I am asked to share recipes for a monthly regional food magazine where they wanted milad un nabi recipes from all around the world. I grabbed the opportunity and made sure to try this Afghanistan mutton pulao recipe. As I was making it, the subtle flavor’s evoked my taste buds. My eagerness to know the final product got more and more. The aroma was of making a biriyani and not a pulao. I tasted my first spoon full and my, my the flavor of the meat was all over the rice. The meat just melted away with the carrot bits and nuts giving a slight sweetness and bite to the pulao. In total it was a dish with all textures and flavor’s. I have added this recipe to my regulars at home to entertain as I am bored with serving the always biriyani and ghee rice as mains. Every time I entertain with this pulao recipe, I have raised eyebrows in the dining table. What more do you need.

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Basmathi rice	1 cup
Mutton	1 kg
Onions	2 sliced
Garlic	3 flakes chopped
Cinnamon	1 inch piece
Cardamom	10
Cumin seeds	2 teaspoons
Cloves	6
Water	3 cups
Carrots	3 medium sized cut into Juliennes
Sugar	1/4 cup
Raisins	1/2 cup soaked in water for ten minutes
Cardamom powder	1 teaspoon
Almonds	1/2 cup soaked in water peeled and sliced
Garam masala powder	2 teaspoons
Oil	1/2 cup + 1 teaspoon
Salt + pepper	to taste

Method

Wash and soak the rice for two hours. Heat a heavy bottomed vessel with 1/4 cup of oil. Sauté the mutton to brown by dividing them into four equal batches. We do this so that the flavour of the mutton gets into the oil.
Remove the mutton and set aside. Add onions to the mutton sautéed oil and fry for five minutes. Then add garlic, cumin seeds, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon and sauté for one minute.
Top with sautéed mutton, cardamom powder, salt, pepper and water. Cover and cook until the mutton is 3/4 cooked. Strain the mutton and spices, retaining the mutton cooked water.
Heat 1/4 cup of oil in another vessel over medium heat. Add the carrot Juliennes and sauté for two minutes. Top with sugar and caramelise to golden in colour. Remove from heat and add 1/4 cup of mutton cooked water, salt and soaked Raisins. Set aside.
Boil 3 cups of water with salt in a vessel. Add soaked rice and boil to 3/4 th cooked for five minutes. Strain and keep aside.
Grease an aluminium vessel with one teaspoon of oil. Mix the rice with remaining mutton cooked water. Now fill 1/2 of the rice at the bottom of the greased vessel. Place the cooked mutton pieces above. Top with carrot + raisins mix. Cover with remaining half of rice on top.
Poke five holes all around the layered pulao with a wooden spatula making sure the spatula reaches the bottom of the vessel. Cover the lid of the vessel with a cloth and cover the pulao tightly. Cook further over very medium flame for five minutes and very low heat for 20 minutes.
Remove from heat. After ten minutes, serve the pulao from the bottom to top over a tray. Sprinkle garam masala powder, almonds and sautéed carrots and raisins over. Serve hot.

Notes
Mutton can be replace with chicken and done following the same recipe
1.You can use apricots instead of raisins.
2.You can add pistachios along with almonds.

Crab Rangoon

Preparation time : 30 minutes
Cooking time : 3 minutes for each batch deep fried
Serves : 8 members

Description

A fusion snack made by the American Chinese inspired by an authentic Burmese dish . It is some thing like a wanton crispy exterior with a cream cheese and crab filling moist inside. I really wanted to try this recipe looking at the flower shape it had but was so confused as to how it was made. I went through so many YouTube videos and finally got the hang of it. While making them, it was more easier than it seemed to be. An apt appetizer to impress guests and loved ones at home . It can be made ahead and refrigerated. Deep fry just before serving. crisp, moist and gooey all in one bite . Serve it with many dips of choice which makes it more interesting. These short eats are a cheats way to melt others. Food is the only source where you get to do so through their stomach with out touching them.

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Cooked crab flesh	1 cup
Mayonnaise	1/2 cup
Cream cheese	1 cup
Onion stem	3 stalks chopped
Egg	1 beaten
Ready made spring roll strips	few
White pepper powder	1/4 teaspoon
Salt	to taste
Oil	to deep fry

Method

Mix cooked crab flesh, cream cheese, mayonnaise, salt, white pepper and onion stem together.
Beat the egg with one tablespoon of water and keep aside.
Cut the spring roll sheets into equal size squares.
Place one teaspoon of crab filling in the centre of each spring roll squar.
Apply beaten egg over the edges of the spring roll squares.
Bring the opposite corner’s of the spring roll squares towards the centre making sure the spring roll has covered the crab filling.
Now press each adjacent side of the spring roll’s together to get an square shaped tiny envelope that’s sealed well.
Do the same to all the squares.
Heat oil to deep fry. Drop the rangoons in batches of six pieces at a time in medium heat.
Once golden brown, remove and serve hot with sweet chilli sauce.

Banana stem salad

Preparation time : 20 minutes
Cooking time : 8 minutes
Serves : 2 members

Description

I always have this myth of using only English vegetable’s for a salad recipe. I was put to shame when I was served a banana stem salad at a naturopathic clinic. I was like.. gosh why didn’t you think of this before you dumb female. well, we learn more and more only through experience and experimenting. A lesson learnt for sure. I did taste it slowly making sure to take note of all the ingredients added to the salad. Back home gave it a try and it was exactly like what I had there. I made one change to the recipe of boiling the vegetable and sprout used which made the salad more tasty but sure with more calories.I had a clean empty bowl in the lunch table which is a good sign of approval from all at home.

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Banana stem	50 grams Chopped and boiled
Moong dal sprouts	2 teaspoons boiled
Grated coconut	3 teaspoons
Lime juice	1 teaspoon
Cumin powder	a pinch
Chopped coriander leaves	1/2 teaspoon
Salt	to taste

Method

Mix all the ingredients together. Taste and adjust seasoning and Serve.

Muhamarah

Preparation time : 10 minutes
Cooking time :5 minutes
Serves : 4 members

Description

Middle eastern food has so much of vegetarian recipes to offer which most of us don’t know about. At a grand buffet lunch in Saudi Arabia at madina. I was blown away with their dips and salad’s spread. They had more than eight dips alone which they have with their breads. The muhamarah was something new which I was getting to know for the first time. I tried my best to guess the ingredients while tasting it but failed royally. I knew I missed out on a few ingredients that I could not get. Back home gave it a try with going through many recipes in the world wide net. Only then did I get to know that I missed out on all the ingredients as what ever I guessed was wrong. Food is so exciting to me because of this one reason of getting to learn everyday where you can never say you know it all. I tried my best to replicate what I had in madina and came close with taste but not the colour. The pomegranate molasses is what I didn’t have and I know that’s why I didn’t get the deep colour too. A must try health vegetarian dip that can be had any time of the day or even packed for kids to school or to office going adults. So save this recipe as it’s for keeps.

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Red capsicum	2
Onion stem ( white portion )	1/2 cup chopped
Lemon juice	1/2 teaspoon
Cumin powder	1/2 teaspoon
Salt	1/2 teaspoon
Pomegranate molasses	3 teaspoons
Red chilly flakes	1 teaspoon
Olive oil	5 teaspoons
Walnuts	3/4 cup
Bread slices	1 slice

Method

Grill the red capsicums over a stove top fire until the skin is black in color and the capsicum flesh is cooked. Cool completely. Remove the skin and seeds of the capsicum, keeping the flesh part alone. chop the flesh .
Grind cleaned grilled red capsicum, onion stem, lemon juice, cumin powder, salt, pomegranate molasses, walnuts and red chilly flakes to a smooth paste. Add the bread slice and grind further to a coarse paste.
Taste and adjust seasoning. Transfer the muhamarah to a serving bowl. Garnish with olive oil, pomegranate molasses, chopped walnuts, red chilly flakes and fresh pomegranate seeds.
Serve as a dip with pita bread or anything and everything.