Posts by OCS | Saute Fry N Bake

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.

Raw papaya and vegetable soup

Preparation time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : 15 minutes
Serves : 2 members

Description :

The papaya tree at home in the back yard falls down with its root due to heavy rain’s here. I end up with having so many raw papayas from the tree.
Raw papaya at home is used to Marinade meats usually to soften. My mother-in-law makes a raw papaya sweet that’s served with biriyani as a side dish. Other than these two dishes,I do know that there’s a Thai salad recipe that I have never tried till date. Hubby dear asks for a soup for lunch,as I was in the middle of making the soup,the raw papaya’s in the counter were like “when are you going to put us into use”. I immediately peeled one and added it to the soup I was making. I was confident that the results will be good as raw papaya has no taste and tends to taste like what other ingredients we have added to it. I just went ahead with what I thought would go well. Asked my cook to do the first tasting. She had a smile in her face and continued saying “amma dhool” which means it’s awesome. My job done with making use of the raw papaya and coming up with yet another new way to cook them too.

Ingredients:

Ingredients	Quantity
Raw papaya	150 grams chopped
Carrot	50 grams chopped
Tomato	50 grams chopped
Gingelly oil	1 teaspoon
Cumin seeds	1/4 teaspoon
Garlic	2 pods finely chopped
Celery	2 stalks finely chopped
Coriander leaves	1 teaspoon chopped
Water	2 cups
Lemon juice	1 teaspoon
Salt + pepper powder	to taste

Method :

De-skin the raw papaya and remove the seeds.
chop carrots and papaya.
simmer cook the papaya and carrots along with tomato in a steam cooker for 2 whistles. Remove from heat and cool completely.
Add one cup water and grind in a food processor until mashed and smooth.
sieve the ground mixture and bring to boil on simmer adding salt and pepper powder to taste.
Temper with cumin seeds, garlic and chopped celery in a teaspoon of gingelly oil. Add to the soup mixture. Remove from heat.
Add lemon juice and garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot.

Notes :

Papaya,carrot and tomato are rich in beta carotene, lycopene and vitamin A. They help maintain glowing,soft and supple skin. They also enhance ones vision.

Koi po / steamed Malaysian buns

Preparation time : 30 minutes + 3 hours for doubling the dough
Cooking time : 10 -12 minutes
Serves : 8 members

Description:

The first recipe that my co-sister Farzana wrote in my first hand written cook book around 20 years back. This is her grand mother’s recipe that I got to know through her. I had never heard of a bun recipe that’s steamed ever before. I remember she being a new bride,we had her relatives visit her very often and every time they would come with some authentic home made goodies. I used to wait to check out what new goodies are gifted each time. Her grand mother is a Malaysian,so their food is dominated with a lot of Malaysian dishes. This bun recipe is also a Malaysian dish. I got to taste a similar steamed bun on my trip to Japan but that had sweet red kidney beans filling inside. Well I guess this concept of steaming buns is a very Asian thing as I got to know even the Chinese steam buns for their new year. The universal bun that’s taken its different avatar’s through out the world. I am happy I got to learn a new technique of steaming buns and the various countries that it’s made. I may have shared thousands of recipes with you all but this one is the most special as it’s the first documented recipe of mine.

Ingredients for sweet filling :

Ingredients	Quantity
Grated coconut	2 cups
Sugar	to taste
Cardamom powder	1/4 teaspoon
Salt	a pinch

Method for filling:

Mix all the filling ingredients together.

Ingredients for the bun :

Ingredients	Quantity
All purpose Flour / maida	1/2 kg
Butter	5 grams
Vegetable oil	5 grams
Milk powder	2 tablespoons
Ice water	1/2 cup
Powdered sugar	2 tablespoons
Salt	a pinch
Instant yeast	11 grams

Method for buns :

Mix all the above mentioned ingredients together and knead to a smooth dough for ten minutes. Cover the dough with a wet cloth and set aside for three hours to double in size.
Punch the dough down to remove air. Knead the dough. Make medium size even balls out of the dough. Keep aside covered with a wet cloth for another one hour.
Flatten each ball to Palm size discs. Place desired filling in the center. Bring the edges of the dough towards the middle and roll to a bun with no cracks. Place the filled buns over cut foil paper squares.
Heat a steaming pot with water. Place the stuffed buns with the foil paper below and steam for 10-12 minutes.
Remove and serve hot,warm or cold.

Notes :

These buns can be filled with savory filling of choice too.

Butter scotch pudding

Preparation time : 20 minutes
Cooking time : 20 minutes + setting in the refrigerator over night
Serves : 8 members

Description:

This pudding recipe that was shared to me by my father-in-laws younger brothers wife sara amma and it is one among the first few recipes,I learnt to make as a new bride. My first few trials were a flop as the custard part always went wrong with me getting lumps and other few times i did not beat the egg whites to stiff which ended up in a mess. My trial and errors sure did help me learn more about making perfect desserts which requires you to be precise with the ingredients used,following the method religiously and having all the required ingredients at room temperature or as mentioned in the recipe. Making a dessert is not like our every day cooking of mixing and matching ingredients together. It’s technically sound and you need a lot of patience to see and taste the final product too. It’s a snap to master. I love the textures in this pudding of its soft and smooth bottom and the crunchy crispy caramelised butter scotch nuts on top. I always end up adding more nuts on top that results in an explosion of different textures. Get ready to experience absolute luxury that’s scrumptious.

Ingredients for the pudding:

Ingredients	Quantity
Butter	1 teaspoon
Sugar	1 teaspoon
Milk	2 tins measured with the condensed milk tin
Condensed milk	1 tin
Eggs	2
Vanilla essence	few drops

Method:

Heat a pan adding butter. Once butter melts,add sugar and caramelize to a golden color. Remove the pan from heat.
Add the milk and mix well. Replace it over heat again and bring to boil for five minutes.
Add the condensed milk and boil further for two minutes. Remove the pan from heat.
Separate the egg yolks and egg whites. Beat the yolks to creamy texture.
Add the beaten yolks to the milk mixture and mix well. Then replace it over low flame and keep stirring until it gets to a creamy custard consistency with no lumps.
Add vanilla essence and mix well. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Beat the egg whites to stiff in a clean bowl with the help of an electric egg beater. Add the stiff egg whites in batches to the cooked milk mixture and combine well.
Pour the pudding mixture into desired pudding tray or bowls. Place in the refrigerator for six hours or over night to set.

Ingredients for butter scotch nuts :

Ingredients	Quantity
Sugar	1/4 cup
Cashew nuts	4 tablespoons
Almonds	4 tablespoons

Method :

Caramelize sugar in a hot pan to golden in color.
Add the nuts and mix well. Pour over a butter greased flat plate. Cool completely for 15 minutes to set.
Break the set butter scotch nuts and crush them coarsely.

How to proceed :

Sprinkle the coarse butter scotch powder generously over the set pudding just before serving. serve chilled.

Devilled eggs

Preparation time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : 10 minutes
Serves : 6 members

Description

Every second person I come across asks me how do you cook like this non – stop. Don’t you get fed up ? Well to me, my kitchen is my play ground. Where I get to play with food experimenting over and over again. The joy when I see others eat and enjoy the food cooked by me is the best reward ever. This devilled eggs were done to bring in some fun element into a dinner feast spread. It did work wonders as every one from kids to adults had their eyes popping out with a smile the minute they saw these beauties. I ended up getting nothing as it was all over before I could start my dinner. I had doubts about these having an eggy smell. I cleared the doubt asking all those who got to taste it and their verdict was no way.. it’s yum. Another easy to make, yummy dish ticked from my playground.

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Boiled eggs	6
Mustard powder	a pinch
Mayonnaise	1 and 1/2 tablespoons
Lime juice	1/4 teaspoon
White Pepper powder	1/4 teaspoon
Chilli sauce	1/4 teaspoon
Coriander leaves	chopped few
Salt	to taste

Method

Cut the boiled eggs bottom a little so that the boiled eggs can stand still. Cut 1/4 inch of from the sharp top and keep aside that’s to b used as a cap later.
Carefully remove the yolk from the boiled eggs making sure not to break the egg whites.
Mix egg yolks, mayonnaise, mustard powder, salt, white pepper, lime juice and chilli sauce together. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Fill the yolk mix into a piping bag. Pipe down a little into the egg white dent making sure it looks like a round ball 1/4 inch above the yolk dent.
Place two pepper corns as eggs and a small “v” shaped carrot bit as nose. Place the 1/4 inch cup sharp edge part of the egg white on top as a cap.
Place in the refrigerator until to be served. Serve chilled garnished with coriander leaves.

Crab Lollipop

Preparation time : 30 minutes
Cooking time : 10 minutes + 3 minutes for each batch deep fried
Serves : 6 members

Description

Every month, I am given a topic and asked to share ten recipes for a tamil monthly magazine. I always play it safe with tried and tested recipes that I have shared with you all here. This time the topic was crab. I had just two to three recipes that I had tested. I was pushed to a situation where I had to come up with other recipes using crab. I wrote a list of all that I could think of. Read it and found nothing new, innovative or interesting was written. Broke my head for some time and tried to re- invent another version of the same recipes that I had listed. The usual crab cutlets were changed to crab lollipop’s that was a spot on genius reinterpretation of its own. Made them, took pictures and were tasted by my gym buddies. They went head over heels with the crab lollipop’s. As I was watching them have so much fun eating it, in my mind I did think if.. I didn’t make this change. They all would be eating a normal cutlet with no enthusiasm at all. Well, food is an art where you get to play visually too. Go ahead, try this recipe and treat yourself and your loved ones tastefully and visually.

Ingredients	Quantity
Crab claws	6 boiled
Boiled Crab flesh	1 cup
Boiled potatoes	1/2 cup
Bread slice	1 coarsely powdered
Onion	1 chopped
Green chilly	1 chopped
Coriander leaves	1 tablespoon chopped
Ginger and garlic paste	1/4 teaspoon
Red chilly powder	1/4 teaspoon
Pepper powder	1/4 teaspoon
Lime juice	1/2 teaspoon
Egg	1 whole beaten with salt + pepper to taste
Bread crumbs	1 cup
Oil	to deep fry
Salt	to taste

Method

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a non stick kadai. Add onions and green chillies and fry to translucent.
Add all the other ingredients one by one except for egg, bread crumbs, lime juice, crab claw’s and oil to deep fry. Sauté till all the flavours infuse together.
Remove from flame add lime juice. Mix well taste and adjust then cool. Make equal round balls of the potato – crab mixture, dip in beaten egg.
Then roll over in the bread crumbs. Place the ball on top of a crab claw. Roll with hands to get a lollipop shape.
Do the same with all the potato – crab mix and crab claws.
Heat oil and deep fry. Drop the crab lollipop’s in batches of two to three at a time.
Deep fry in medium heat for the cutlets 2 -4 minutes to a golden brown colour. Drain and serve hot with tomato ketchup.

Nihari Gosht

Preparation time : 30 minutes
Cooking time : 1 hour and 30 minutes
Serves : 5 members

Description

As a teenager growing up watching a lot of cricket on the television and admiring a few players in sports star magazines that my brother used to buy. I have to admit I was a die hard fan of imran Khan and wasim akram of Pakistan. I guess that liking was forwarded to be so very curious about Pakistani food too. The first time I got to taste typical authentic Pakistani food was in Japan. I know sounds very weird but that’s the fact. My cousin brother ordered as he was a regular to the restaurant. The food was excellent in taste and I didn’t find much difference at all. It was almost like our North Indian cuisine. The nihari gosht that I had there was cooked to perfection with the meat just melting away. Since then, I wanted to try making it at home. Then again in Saudi Arabia I happened to have it again which tasted the same as I had in Japan. I made up my mind.. with no more postponing, I have to try the recipe soon. I did and my boy who is back from London after two years of his education, with his first mouth full of the dish.. was like mom this tastes just like the nihari gosht that I always have in a Pakistani restaurant in London. Only thing is the London version is a bit bland. I was all smile’s that I did cook the dish perfectly as my boy did find out that the dish was nihari gosht even with out me mentioning about it. Nihari gosht a Pakistani dish has taken a roller coaster ride with me through out the world from my childhood day crush’s in ooty, to Japan, to Saudi Arabia, to London and made in Tirunelveli finally.

Ingredients	Quantity
Mutton	1 kg
Cardamom	4
Cinnamon	1 inch piece
Cloves	1
Black cardamom	2
Bay leaf	1
Water	1/4 cup
Ginger and garlic paste	1 teaspoon
Coriander powder	1 teaspoon
Red chilli powder	1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder	1/4 teaspoon
Garlic	3 peeked , sautéd in oil and ground to a paste
Small onion	3 peeled , sautéed in oil and ground to a paste
Curd	3 tablespoons
Garam masala powder	2 teaspoons
Nutmeg powder	1/4 teaspoon
Cardamom powder	1/2 teaspoon
Saffron	1/2 teaspoon soaked in 1/4 cup warm water
Kewar essence	a drop
Chapathi dough	2 cup
Coriander leaves	few chopped to Garnish
Rose water	1 teaspoon
Oil	2 tablespoons
Salt	to taste
Ginger Juliennes	1/2 teaspoon to Garnish

Method

Heat a heavy bottomed vessel with oil. Add Cardamom, clove, cinnamon, black cardamom and bay leaf. Once they crackle, top with mutton and sauté until the colour of the mutton changes.
Add turmeric powder and salt to taste. Sauté for two minutes. Add water, bring to boil covered.
Once the mutton boils, add ginger and garlic paste, coriander powder, red chilli powder, sautéd and ground garlic and small onion paste. Sauté for five minutes.
Top with beaten curd, rose water, garam masala powder, nutmeg powder, cardamom powder, kewar essence and soaked saffron. Mix well and cook covered for three minutes.
Roll the chapathi dough into a long log. Place it around the mutton vessel. Place the lid over and seal the edges making sure the steam does not escape.
Lower the flame to sim and cook for 45 minutes to one hour to done.
Remove the dough seal. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and ginger Juliennes. Serve hot with chapathi’s, rotis and rice.

Sheer chai

Preparation time : 5 minutes
Cooking time : 15 minutes
Serves : 3 members

Description

Sheer chai or pink tea of Kashmir is had during special occasions. The colour of the tea is pale pink that reminds you of all the beautiful faces you get to see in Kashmir with their pale pink cheeks and lips. I didn’t get to taste this tea on my visit to Kashmir but came across this recipe when I was in search of another salted tea ( noon chai ) recipe of Kashmir. The colour of the tea sure did make me want to try it out. I did and the tea was so rich with an inviting colour. The only thing I missed was to sip the sheer chai in Kashmir’s natural beauty. Blessed is that land with abundance of beauty in all means. From nature, people, trees, flowers, snow caped mountains, food to every thing. Peeps don’t miss visiting the paradise on earth….

Ingredients	Quantity
Water	4 and 1/2 cups
Milk	1 and 1/2 cup
Green tea	1 teaspoon
Cardamom powder	1/2 teaspoon
Baking powder	one pinch
Cinnamon	1/2 inch piece
Whole pepper corns	4
Poppy seeds	30 grams
Salt	a pinch
Fresh cream	30 Millie litters
Almonds + pistachio	1/4 teaspoon each chopped
Saffron	a pinch
Sugar cubes	to taste

Method

Boil 4 cups of water with green tea, baking soda and cardamom powder together.
Lower the flame and let it boil further for another eight minutes.
In another vessel Boil 1/2 cup water with pepper, cinnamon, salt and poppy seeds for 2 minutes.
Now, mix both the boiled water mixtures together from a distance at least for 20 times. This helps to give a pink colour to the tea. Strain and keep aside.
Boil milk with cardamom for two minutes. Remove the milk from heat. Add it to the strained mixture and boil again. Strain the tea.
Top with fresh cream, almonds + pistachio chopped and saffron. Serve along side with sugar cubes.