Chick pea curry, rice and naan bread

I got home fairly late after a busy day at work and as I parked my car I was wondering what to cook.   As I opened the front, the scent of lovely food being cooked wafted through.  I was really surprised to see that dinner was ready.  Today's meal was prepared by my better half with the help of my handsome son.  They made chick peas in a tomato gravy, rice and naan bread.   They said that they had followed my recipe which they had printed off to follow!!  But the curry made by this duo turned out to be of a rich colour and full of flavours.  I think it tasted better than mine   The rice was cooked to perfection with lots of butter added to it!!   It was delicious.  It was great to relax and enjoy the meal with them.   I hope they will do this more often.

If you enjoy reading my blog, please click on Follow or become a fan of my page on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

My blog is also available on Kindle.

Punjabi Samosas – To fry or not to fry?

Samosas are available in most places in the world as little triangle pastries filled with a variety of vegetarian or non-vegetarian fillings.  They can be eaten as a snack with a cup of tea or served as a starter with any meal. 

The recipe is easy to make but as with most cooking - preparation is the key to making these.

Ingredients for 30 samosas

6 medium potatoes

6  medium carrots

1 ½ cup of frozen peas

I finely chopped onion (medium size)

A teaspoon of blended ginger

2 or 3 finely chopped green chillies (can be reduced or missed out if you do not like hot food)

Small bunch of finely chopped coriander

1 tsp salt

2 tsps sugar or sugar substitute

1 tbp lemon

1 tsp of garam masala  (optional)

1 litre sunflower oil if you wish to try the samosas

For the pastry

2 ½ cups of plain flour

¼ cup of butter

½ tsp of carom seeds (optional)

½ tsp of rosemary

½  cup warm water

½ cup plain flour to help roll out the pastry

Method:

1. Add butter, carom seeds and rosemary to the plain flour and mix. Add some warm water a little at a time to the flour to make the pastry dough.  The dough should be of a similar consistency to play doh. Cover this dough and leave in a warm place.

2.   Dice the potatoes and carrots into small cubes.  Wash the vegetables and transfer them to a microwave dish with the frozen peas.  Add in the ginger, salt and sugar.  Let this mixture cook for 10 minutes, stir and cook again for 10 minutes.   The vegetables should now be cooked.  Add in the lemon juice and stir.

3.  Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and add in the garam masala , finely chopped onions, green chillies and coriander and mix well.  Allow this mixture to cool. By adding the garam masala and uncooked onions, chillies and coriander at this stage will give the samosas a nice flavour.

To prepare  the somasas  

4.    Knead the dough and divide the pastry dough into 30 small balls.  Take one ball and using some dry flour roll out a circle of about 4-5 inches in diameter.

 5.  One circle will make two samosas.  Cut the circle into two.

6. Place the samosa mixture on one quarter of the semicircle. 

7. Pull the second quarter to cover the samosa mixture.  

8.  Join the edges by pressing them with a fork.  

9.   Finish making all the samosas and save them on a lightly floured surface.

10. You can now choose the healthy option for cooking your samosas by rubbing/spraying  some sunflower oil on the samosas and baking them for 20 minutes at 180 degrees (350 degrees F)  or you be naughty and deep fry them until golden brown.   I baked half and fried the rest. Both tasted equally nice.

This is the baked version:

This is the fried version:

11.  Serve them hot or cold with any dip. 

If you enjoy reading my blog, please click on Follow or become a fan of my page on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
My blog  is also available on Kindle.

Spring Onion Bhajias

I had no plans to make onion bhajias but couldn't resist making them when some friends offered us these freshly grown spring onions yesterday.  This is a quick and easy recipe which makes dangerously tasty onion bhajias.

Ingredients for 2 servings:
Time 30 minutes.

1 bunch of fresh spring Onions
1 cup of chick pea flour
½ cup of fine bread crumbs

1 teaspoon salt 

½ teaspoon turmeric

1 tablespoon mixture of ginger, garlic and green chillies (you can use more if you like hot and spicy food)

1 teaspoon Ajwain (Carom seeds)

1 teaspoon whole coriander seeds

2 pinches of soda bi carbonate

Oil for deep frying

Method: 

1.   Cut and prepare the spring onions.  Wash and soak them in cold water for 5-10 minutes.

2. Chop the onions as finely as you can.

3.  Add the chick pea flour, bread crumbs, salt, turmeric, the ginger, garlic and chilly mixture together with the ajwain and whole coriander.

4.  Add a little over ½ a cup of warm water to the mixture.  You may need to add a bit more if the mixture feels a bit dry. Mix well.

5.  Heat the oil in a wok or something similar.

6.  NOW add the soda bicarbonate to 2 teaspoons of warm water and add to the bhajia mixture.  Mix well as this will help make the bhajias soft.

7.  Add one tablespoon of hot oil from the wok to the mixture and stir again.

8.  Now the mixture is ready to fry.  Using a teaspoon, transfer a small amount of mixture at a time into the oil.

9.  The bhajias will fluff up and rise to the top.  Turn them over and cook until golden to dark brown.

10.  Remove the bhajias onto a kitchen paper.

11.  Serve them with your favourite chutney.

These Onion Bhajias are being sent to Nayna for her Let's cook for Valentines event

If you enjoy reading my blog, please click on Follow or become a fan of my page on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

My blog  is also available on Kindle.  

Khasta Kachori (lentil filled pastry topped with onions and chutney)

This Christmas my sons gave me some really thoughtful gifts – some of which took me by surprise.

The gift I really enjoyed and am still enjoying is a cookery book called “Hansa’s –more than just a restaurant, it’s my life “- written by Hansa Dhabi the owner of Hansa’s restaurant in Leeds, UK. The book takes you through her life’s journey and also shares with the reader- some of her recipes.  My sons said that they hoped that this book would inspire me to publish a book of my recipes.  Only time will tell if I can achieve that ambition.  At the moment, I am having fun trying out new recipes – one of which was for Khasta Kachoris.  

I made these kachoris as a starter for my New Year’s party and served them in Hansa’s restaurant style.  I made some changes to the recipe but I don’t think it made any changes to the taste of the dish. They went down a treat with everyone.

Hot and spicy kachoris are one of my favourite snacks.  Kachoris can be made with lots of different fillings but I usually make them with mung dall. Hansa’s recipe uses mung dall which is soaked and ground but I decided to make them with a variety of mung dalls and frozen peas and not grind the filling.

Ingredients for making 15 large or 25 small kachoris:

Time 60 minutes.

½ cup of dehusked split mung beans

½ cup of a mixture split but husked mung beans

1 cup of frozen peas

1 medium onion

Fresh green coriander

A tablespoon of mixed garlic and ginger paste

2 to 3 green chillies – depends on how hot you like your food!

1.5 litres cooking oil:  you will need some for the lentil mixture, some for the dough and some for frying.

2 cups of plain flour for making the kachori's outer covering

1 teaspoons of dry cumin

2 or 3 sticks of cinnamon

3 or 4 cloves

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon chilly powder or pepper if you like mild food.

1 -2 teaspoons sugar (optional) – I like my kachoris to have a sweet and sour type of taste.

1 -2 tablespoons lemon – again adjust this after tasting the kachori mixture.

1-2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon and cloves mixture (optional)

For serving:

2 cups of sev (recipe here) This is readily available in most supermarkets & Indian grocery stores

1 cup of chevdo (recipe here)(optional) This is readily available in most supermarkets & Indian grocery stores

1 medium onion cut finely

½ cup of green chutney (recipe here)

½ cup of tamarind sauce ( I used Maggie’s tamarind sauce which is available in most supermarkets & Indian grocery stores)

½ cup of Red chilly sauce( I used Maggie’s red chilly sauce which is available in most supermarkets & Indian grocery stores)

Method

1. Wash the two mung dalls and allow to soak for at least 30 minutes (or longer if possible).

2. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil and add in the dry cumin, cloves and cinnamon

3. Strain the lentils and add them to the oil - I usually use a long slotted spoon to gently add the lentils to the hot oil. Whilst straining the dall, don’t worry if it’s not too dry as this will give some moisture to cook the lentil mixture.

4. Add the salt, sugar, chilly powder, ginger and garlic paste.

5. Stir and allow to cook gently for 5 to 6 minutes.

6. Add in the frozen peas and allow to cook for further 5 minutes.

7. As I didn’t want to add water to my mixture, I transferred my kachori mixture to the microwave for 6  minutes, checked it, stirred it and cooked it for a further 5 minutes.The lentils need to be cooked completely so do sprinkle a tablespoon or two of  water if you feel it needs it. 

8. Once the mixture is cooked, add the lemon juice to it, add the ground cinnamon and cloves mixture to it.

9.  Cut the coriander, green chillies and onions finely and add to the kachori mixture together and mix well.

10. Cook it for a couple of minutes in the microwave and transfer it to a mixing bowl.

 

TIP: If for some reason, the lentils are cooked and you have added too much water - allow the water to evaporate.  You can add a couple of tablespoon's of potato mash to soak up the extra moisture. Also taste the mixture and make adjustments.

11. Spread the mixture to enable it to cool.

12.  In the meantime, prepare the dough.

13. Sieve the dough and add in 2 tablespoons of oil and 1 teaspoon of salt. Adding the bit of extra oil to the dough helps to make the outer pastry crisp but nice and flaky too.

14. Using warm water ( I needed a little over half a cup), mix and prepare the dough.. The dough should be pliable and not be too firm.

15. Cover and allow the dough to rest.

16. Now back to the kachori filling-  Divide the filling into 15 or 25 small balls.  For parties, I would suggest making small kachoris.

17.  Mix the dough and divide it  into a similar number.

17.  Now take a small amount of dough and roll it out in a small circle.

18.  Flatten the kachori filling in the middle of the circle.

19. Picking the edge of the circle, try and join all the edges together to form a ball. I tend to go round the circle joining up small bits of the outer circle.

20. The ball should be sealed from all sides or the mixture will leak out when frying.

21.  Now dust your work top with some plain flour and using your fingers press the kachori into a round puri shape.  You can also use a rolling pin if you find this easier.

22.  Heat the oil . Drop a small tiny piece of dough into the oil.  If it rises up, the oil is ready for frying.   Lower the heat and add the kachoris to the oil, and allow them to cook slowly.  Tap them gently with a slotted spoon or a skimmer  and they should puff up.  Cook them until they are crispy and and golden brown.

 

23.     To serve the khasta kachori, take one kachori at a time, open the top layer by cutting a square on the kachori.

24.  Spread some green chutney on the kachori and sprinkle some sev on this.  

25.  Add some onions, topped up by tamarind sauce and chilly sauce and finishing with more onions and a chevda topping.  The sweet and sour taste with all the crunchy toppings was perfect for us. 

26.  Our guests loved topping up their kachoris according to their taste. Some guests even added yogurt to their topping so I hope that you too will try different toppings to pick the best taste for you. 

If you enjoy reading my blog, please click on Follow or become a fan of my page on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.  

My blog  is also available on Kindle.  

 

Chilly Bhajia - March na bhajia

These chilly bhajias (marcha na bhajia) can be as hot or as mild as you like them by choosing the right chillies.  You can choose the Thai sweet chillies or the Indian hot chillies depending on your mood.  


They are simple, easy and very quick to make.  They make a great snack but also good for starters as long as you make a variety of bhajias. I tend to make a mixture of crispy potato bhajias, onion bhajias and chilly bhajias.   


Ingredients for 4 servings:


10-12 large green chillies
2 cup chick pea flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ajwain (Carom seeds)
1 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
Pinch of turmeric
Pinch of soda bicarbonate


Method:


1. Cut and slice the chillies.  Deseed them and wash and dry them on a kitchen paper. You can leave them whole as long as you prick them or they may pop when frying. Also leaving the seeds in the chilly may make them too hot.

2. Mix the salt, pepper, ajwain and turmeric with the chick pea flour.


3. Add a quarter cup of water to this mixture and stir it well. The bhajia batter should be thick at this stage. You can always  add more water if you feel that the batter is too thick.


4. Keep this mixture aside 30 minutes.

5. Start to heat some oil in a wok. Turn the heat high, once the oil has heated, lower the heat. Check that the oil is hot by dropping a couple of drops of the batter in oil. If the batter rises quickly, the oil is ready.


6. Add the bicarbonate of soda, together with a teaspoon of hot oil from the wok to the batter and stir well. If the batter feels too thick – you can add a couple of tablespoons of water to the batter.


7. Dip one chilly  slice at a time into the bhajia batter and fry these bhajias at medium heat to allow them to cook until they are crispy and firm but taking care not to let them get too dark..

8. Serve them hot with some green chutney or tomato sauce.

If you enjoy reading my blog, please click on Follow or become a fan of my page on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.


My blog  is also available on Kindle.  

Chick pea Curry (Chole or chana curry)

Garbonzo beans are also  referred to as chick peas, chole or chana and  are a good source of proteins.  They come in two or three varieties.  The most popular are the fairly large white chick peas often called Kabuli Chana, the small dark brown variety or a strange almost greeny colour..  They can be cooked in lots of different styles and also served with rotlis, puris or bhaturas.  They can also be eaten boiled in salads or bhels or even fried to be eaten as a snack.

Ingredients (serves 2):

2 cups of boiled kabuli chick peas.  Note: If using dry chick peas, you need to soak them overnight before boiling them until soft. Using a pressure cooker makes this process a bit faster.  ( In some countries, like Kenya, we had to add half a teaspoon of  soda bi carbonate to the water while cooking the chickpeas or any lentils.  If you didn't add soda bi carbonate, the lentils would not cook!  Not sure whether it was because of the altitude or the water).  Canned chick peas are also available in most UK supermarkets. I used the large white chick peas  called Kabuli chana.  But the same recipe can be used for the small dark brown variety of chick peas.

half a can of crushed tomatoes ( you can used fresh tomatoes too)
2  tablespoon cooking oil (I used sunflower oil)
1 teaspoon dry cumin, 2 small pieces of cinammon, 3 small cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon chilly powder
1 reaspoon crushed garlic
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons jaggery or brown sugar

For garnishing:

Some curry leaves

Method:

1. Lightly warm the cumin in a wok or saucepan until you get the lovely cumin fragrance

2. Add the 2 tablespoons cooking oil to this, add the cloves and cinammon and allow the cumin to cook until it looks dark.

3. Add the garlic and tomatoes to the mixture and stir.

4. Add all the spices, lemon and jaggery to the tomato mixture. 

5. Cook all the ingredients until the tomatoes go soft and homogenous.

6. Add the boiled chick peas to the mixture and cook for a further 10 minutes on a medium heat.

7. Remove the chick pea curry to a serving dish and sprinkle it with some chopped onions, green chillies and coriander.

8. Some people add tamarind sauce to this curry but this is an acquired taste so only add tamarind if you like  the sweet and sour taste.

9. This curry should be served hot with any of the Indian breads.

10  You can also serve this as a starter by serving it as a topping over Alu tikkis.  (Alu tikkis are potato pattis stuffed with peas

If you enjoy reading my blog, please Follow or become a fan of my page on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.