Category Archives: Cooking indian

Cooking indian

Pakora or Tempura by an Indian name .

This deep fried snacky food is the best when eaten with chai on a rainy day when you dont have to get out and get soggy socks and feet ( tea with milk indian style)- Dont call it Chai tea like a lot of people do because thats tea tea.

Its a very popular street food eaten as is or with a fabulous tamarind dip which is sweet and sour with a bit of spice to liven things up .

What pakora is is typically slices of raw or very lightly cooked vegetables which are dipped in a split peas/ chickpeas flour batter which we call besan. This ive eaten in various parts of Indian when i worked there and it used to be called bhajiya, bajji, and then the Brits  started to call it Onion bhaji..and we dont make something quite like that in India..

Todays recipe is for my new friend  who wants to make this as finger food

  • Besan- 3- 4 T  ( 100 g) More or less depending on how many people you are making this for and how hungry they are.
  • Water to form a semi thick batter  – this is not an exact science but rather more learnt experientially.. more times you make this the better you get.
  • Rice flour – 1 T.. this makes it cripsier( not the typo). Cripsy just sounds better like the Bandra boys who always use it instead of crispy.
  • Ajwain seeds- 1/4 t these are like aniseed and you can find them in an Indian store and in Australia even at Coles/ Woolies. They impart a unique flavor which has not quite a substitute thouse anise seeds could work. They also are anti flatulent which means when you eat a lot of pakoras since they are so tasty you wont be passing gas like a horsey.
  • Salt to taste
  • Turmeric – pinch
  • Chilli powder – pinch
  •  Chaat masala to sprinkle after frying ( Mix of pink salt, dried mango powder , dried pomegranate  powder chilli and a whole bunch of other things its best to buy in  from  Indian store or Indian section in Aussie supermarket.
  • Vegetables- can be lighty blanced cauliflower or very thin slices of raw potato or even spinach leaves , capsicum, mushroom, peppers . There is one version of this where we slice a lot of onions and then add all the spices and besan with no water..the dry miz we then fry till crisp.. The British do a version of this but more rounded like a patty almost which they call bhaji.
  • Oil to fry -and block up any arteries that might still be intact god forbid

The method is quite simple make a batter dip veggies inside they should be well coated but not very thick coating too  . That detracts from the taste . Deep fry in hot / medium hot oil. Drain in a colander / strainer over a steel bowl to collect the oil.  Dust with chaat masala and its your finger food to serve alongside some beer .

There is even a version of this where we make a savory crushed potato mix sandwich it in bread and then fry.  Thats like the potato wada mix which i will now  to put on. another blog post.

Where did this originate , who knows, we all got our chillies and potatoes only in the 15/16 century after South America was overrun by the Spanish Armada .

This is gluten free and vegan by the way if you are that way inclined.

 

Cooking indian, Cooking international, Cooking middle eastern

A Samosa/ Sambousek/Samsa– fried pastry by yet another name

There are various versions of a savoury filling wrapped around with a crumbly/ flakey pastry through the world. The indians have their samosas and kachoris.In the middle east there are the Sambousek/ Fateyers/rokaka. korea the Mandu, South america the empanda..Even Russia has something called a vareniki and the Uyghur Muslims the Samsa-which they bake in a clay oven like the tandoor..So all foods are related or sometimes similar. The lines started to get blurred with all the invasions and migrations..

When i lived in the West indies they would make fried potato pastry called “Aloo(potato) Pie”

Cooking indian, Random bits and bobs ..

The bhatura – dough not pass me by

This gently oil poached bread ( fried) is perfect for clogging up those arteries which aren’t already buggered . Best served with a chick peas curry which will mean another blog post.

These are very similar to the west Indian doubles but eaten fresh and hot and not wrapped to be like a sandwich.

We can make these with multiple kind of flour mixes, but for today’s one I used wholemeal spelt, plain flour and whole wheat flour .

Flour- 250g

Spelt flour- 100 g

Whole meal flour- 100 g

Baking powder-  5 g /1 tsp

Warm water- 240-260 g depends– we want a semi soft dough

Yeast-4 g

Salt- 8 g

Sugar- 8 g

Oil-15 g

  • Mix flours yeast baking powder sugar  and add in the water to make the dough. Add in salt/oil  and leave to rest.
  • When resting keep dough covered to prevent it from skinning
  • After 15-20 mins you will see the dough start to rise .
  • Scale into about 50 g balls and rest for -5-10 mins again.
  • roll out about 1/2 cm thick .Leave for 2-3 mins
  • Gently poach(not really)/fry in hot oil. These should be puffed up and browned after frying.
  • Eat one or many depending on how badly you want to clog up those arteries.
  • Typically served with a chickpeas curry,but you could do other stuff with it..
Cooking indian

Aais chicken masala..

  • oil -10 ml

  • butter15 gm

  • cumin -¼t

  • cardamom green-2

  • cinnamon- 1 small pc

    • cloves 2-3

  • Heat oil, add butter and whole spices
    then add 500 gms chopped onions and saute on low heat till light brown.
    Add ¼ tsp coriander pdr, 1/8tsp cumin powder, pinch turmeric powder.
    Add in about 20 gms of ginger and garlic paste. continue to saute.
    Add in 400 gm tin of chopped tomatoes , and slow cook till the oil starts to separate out.
    Then can add about 1 kg of chicken on the bone which should ideally be marinated with ginger and garlic paste about 20 gms and about 100 gms of plain / greek yoghurt.
    at this stage you can also add in chilli powder to your taste or 2-3 green chillies.
    let is simmer on low heat with a lid for about 30 minutes.
    Season with salt and some garam masala powder. Also a small pinch of nutmeg. Add some fresh coriander and mint for the oomph factor.
    We would get a chicken curry or masala like this maybe once every few months when we were growing up. Even chicken was a treat not for daily eating. Aai would take us to the butcher I still remember the name Prakash where they would take a fresh chicken and cut it up and wrap in newspaper to take home .
Cooking indian, Cooking international

Crab or prawn tortellini

This is a kid of a pleasant fusion recipe i want to make and have made before using prawns..

  • Crabmeat or chopped prawn – 425 g approximately
  • wonton wrappers- 1 small packet
  • egg 1/2 to seal edges of pastry above
  • onion – 50 g/ 1/2 a medium brown / yellow onion
  • oil-10 ml
  • mustard seeds-1/4 tsp
  • curry leaves- 1/2 sprig stripped and shredded
  • ricotta or cream cheese- 30-40 g to bind the meat and keep moist
  • Basil and coriander – to embellish , chop and make your crab even more sexy
  • ,Heat oil, add mustard seeds and crackle them, then add chopped onion and saute with the curry leaves
  • Add your crabmeat or chopped prawns and take off the heat..
  • Add in ricotta and herbs and mix well.
  • The next bit is tricky but with practice easy to do.Take each wonton sheet/ wrapper and brush with beaten egg. Put a small piece of filling in the centre and fold into a trinagular shape and seal the edges. Then turn the two edges of the triangle to the back and stick to each other to form the classical tortellini shape.
  • Poach in boiling salted water and serve as is or with a moilee sauce