The name is just me being cheeky and calling it like how the Thai Chef i trained under would call a curry and how the Marathi peoples (i am half marathi) call this artery blocking snack!!
I first ate this at this hole on the wall bakery called ” Santosh bakery” on Apte Road, where one of my close friends Gautam “gotya” kotwal used to stay. They would have a line of people waiting to get them and would invariably be sold out since they made it only 1-2 times a week.
What made it better was that Santosh bakery packed up their shop and moved to 100 mtrs from our house in Pune .Unfortunately by then, i was away in Dubai i think oor could be Chennai then Dubai..
They used t make this by hand and bake them in a puff pastry / flaky pastry and filled with a spicy mix of potatoes and peas and so on. There are more refined versions available all over the world and in different forms( could be a turnover or a sausage roll or something else wrapped in pastry )
My version is something that anyone of you can make at home, pretty easily. There are more complex versions where you make the puff pastry at home and while i can do it quite easily(or train you to make it too).
Not on this post though we are going to keep this succint and short and easy to accomplish.
The recipe below makes about 20 generous sized ones …
Puff/ Flaky pastry- 1kg—ready made one , look for one made without animal fats.
For the filling
oil-25 ml
onion chopped- 1/ 200 g
cumin- 1/2 t- 2 g
turmeric – 1/4 t- 1g
green chilli chopped- 1-2 or more, if you like to live dangerously like my friend Jatin Nandrajog used to at one point of time.
Ginger and garlic- 20 g
chopped vegetables- 100g(carrot, cauli, beans or whatever you fancy really)
green peas-50 g / 2T
cooked and peeled potato-250 g
coriander chopped-as much as you like usually i add abput 2 sprigs of my favourite flavouring herb…stems and all, just make sure you wash it well
So you heat upthe oil and add cumin and saute the onion and add the chilli, turmeric, ginger and garlic. Also add in your chopped vegetables and peas. Make sure the vegetables are cooked and then add in the potato. Check seasoning( is there any salt written there, no because i was checking to see, if you do read everything)
Cool down your mixture and then add in the coriander . then you make the sheets into triangles or rectangles. Seal the edges well and then refriegrate for 15-20 mins. You need to keep these cool, because the pastry gets very soft otherwise.
Preheat your oven to about 180C/ 400 F and brush these with beaten egg or milk if you dont eat egg.
Bake for about 18-20 ,minutes turning midway through to make sure they get coloured evenly.
You can replace the filling with spinach and ricotta or cooked chicken , or mince and will still be very nice.
Enjoy with some spicy suicide sauce or tomato ketchup or dipping sauce of your choice…ill put down some dip and sauce recipes soon too
or as the fine folk from Cactus climbing and space exploration/ not the companies name anymore but used to be say” Gear that wears in , not wears out”
When i first moved to Nz , i had a backpack, which was about 1.5 yrs old but was wearing out..by a half decent company Jansport, but wasnt as durable as i thought could be. At the point of time i stumbled on this Kiwi company called ” Cactus Climbing “, they are now named Cactus outdoor and they make really great quality backpacks and a whole lot of things.
and this s what i bought from them in 2008 . I was jobless at the time and my wife screamed at me for buying the most expensive bag ever. I went with me everywhere, carrying all the groceries walking back home( to save money for the bus being jobless)
Forward to 2018 and the hydration bladder was getting a bit munted as they say in Kiwi land, and these blokes and gals fixed it for no cost and sent it back to me.
I paid 175 $ then but its 2020 and still showing no signs of giving up, Why put in the bin when it can go on and on..For me thats being eco friendly.
Last week i had inside 1 x 5 kg bag of potatoes, butter, broccoli, one bottle of olive oil,one 1kg carrots , my saw, deo spray and was on my back for about 5 kms..
my only suggestion would be to keep the sternum strap as a fixed accessory and not as an optional.
And no im not getting any freebies from Cactus to promote their stuff, i just think its great quality stuff , and over the years ive added more ( custom made knife roll(10+), messenger bag,( 2nd hand about 20 +yrs ) laptop bag, sleeveless vest (8 yrs +) .Go and get their things, they are great quality and made in New Zealand!
So there was this one time I visited my cousin ,Dharam in Washington DC . At that point of time I was working in Trinidad and Tobago at the Hilton and while trying to play tennis had fractured my wrist in two spots .
There wasn’t much point of continuing to work or trying to so for once in my hospo career I had time off for xmas.
What could I do..i was bored stiff living on the island since it had limited things on offer…so I called Dharam and said I’m stuck here ..he very kindly said come on over . The adventure had just begun with the world worst airline possible American and me landing in Miami late after refusing to eat a damn turkey sandwich or cookie as a main meal.
Delayed arrival meant I would have to run really hard between international arrivals and domestic departure in Miami . Since it was my first arrival and I was handicapped with a cast ..the airport security took extra special care to ensure that I don’t leave on time .
Finally after the finger printing and all the rest was over I run over to Dulles departure and boom I’m late by 1 min and 90 seconds and the pende…wont give me the time of the day.
The next 3 hrs I tried to see if I can take another flight to Dulles but not a chance..so I’m stuck with hardly any money no luggage and no clothes apart from what I was wearing and no clue what to do.
Anyhow I made my own way to the Miami Hilton paid for the room myself and blasted the American Airlines who sent me a stupid letter and voucher which I never used .( I never used the airline either)
So Dharam so a gourmand and knew the way to the best places for the food and took me to the best damn charcoal roasted chicken ever…they would only sell chicken fried with salsa verde and alfajores with dulce de leche . Nothing else nada.but the chicken was finger licking good that I still salivate at the thought of it.
With all the story my Pollo is still crudo.( Raw for the gringos who doesn’t speak Spanish)
So you need a chicken whole is better skin on too doesn’t have to be free range unless you get really deep pockets.
It’s better to have one split in half unless you got a rotisserie and a fancy pants oven , which most of us might not have. If you do..then by all means use it
So we marinde the chicken with salt pepper and some olive oil inside and out..
Then make a paste with
Garlic cloves -5-6 smash them first
Chipotle chilli in adobo -1 or more if you like it hotter..
Chicken stock powder- 1/2 tsp.
Olive oil – 20 ml/ 1 Tb
Lime/ lemon juice- 1-2 Tb depending on how acidic these are.
juice from 1 orange .
salt , pepper , and pinch of cumin ground.
Mariande the chicken under the skin and over it too.. and keep for minimum of 12 hrs , over night is even betterer..( don’t check my spellings that was deliberate to see if you are still awake)
Next you can fire up your bbq / charcoal oven or your regular home oven. Heat it to about 220 C first to get it nice and hot.- abot 20 mins on mine, I dont know yours , but you could invite me to yours with some nice warm beers and ill cook it for you.
keep your chicken skin side up , on a griddle/ trivet so the excess fat drains off and you use that to baste over your chook.
After the initial high heat, drop the temperature to 150-160 C, and keep on low and slow till done.
How to check that it is done, well you can use a meat thermometer or use a small paring knife and pierce near the thigh, if the clear juice runs out will be done. Takes about 35-40 mins.
During the roasting process, take the juice which is dripping down and use that to pour over your chicken and keep it moist and flavourfull
Serve your chicken with some thick cut french fries dusted with toasted cumin powder mixed with smoky paprika , salt and a bit of pepper.
Some green salsa or a Salsa rojo will go well too..How do we make those…Well thats another story for another time…
So when were young or rather younger, we as in my younger brother Deep and I would go off to my Ajjis( grandmother in Marathi)house. Aai and Baba being doctors were busy so would send us there before school began at 1230 .
Since I always had a taste for the savoury or rather the tasty snacky bits I and Deep too would get a bowl of Ajjis chiwda. For the uninitiated Chiwda is snack or pharal made at any time of the year but also predominantly at Diwali the festival of lights.Every family claims that their secret recipe is Manna from heaven .Having been an afficionado since me tender years I can also make vague claims like these..
Makes you happy , makes you smile..all nonsense..
So you need to make this with poha ,( a kind of flattened rice flakes) , which I don’t know the history of.I am not going to say these are hand beaten by young Marathi people in one little lane of Pune , but it could be true..and add some embellishments to my little tail.
Now these rice flakes come in varying thicknesses and this particular recipe is for ” Paratlela pohyachya Chiwda”, which needs the thinnest variety called Pattal poha or Nylon poha.
Poha flakes- 500 g
Oil-20 ml
Ghee- clarified butter-20 g or so..
Mustard seeds black 1/2 t about 1 g if you wanted to be pedantic and weigh it
Cumin seeds/ Jeera- 1 t, 2.5 g
Curry leaves-1 sprig
Green chilli-1-2. Chopped fine ,can go a bit more if you like to burn your taste buds
Garlic -1-2 cloves sliced very thin…cant do it ..go back to post where you learn to sharpen your knife.
Asafoetida- small pinch Ferula asafoetida comes from Afghanistan or Iran and is compounded and mixed with wheat flour usually.. this is typically used as anti flatulent in most indian foods which are snacky or with lentils beans …
Roasted peanuts with skin on typically…yay you can go berserk with quantity here I’ve developed an intolerance over the years but love these still.
Roasted chickpeas skinless called daliya- about 2 T, 25 g or so.
Cashew nuts – 2 T, 50 g or so..if you are feeling rich..can be made without and tastes just as good.
Ok moving on to the method…At the end I’ll share a story of how I eated a whole lot and drove my Ajji mad.
So traditionally the poha flakes are sauteed lightly over a low heat for a long time till they get cripsy..( the typos are deliberately put in to check if you are noticing)
But I like to roast these in an oven low heat so that avoids breaking the grains..so about 120 C for about 30 mins on low fan or zero fan . Turning every ten mins or so.
Then you heat the oil, and add the mustard seeds and crackle them , take off he heat add cumin, curry leaves , chilli garlic , asafoetida and turmeric ( which I hadn’t added to the list of the ingredients so about 1/2 t or 2 g)
Add also the daliya, peanuts and cashew and saute..of course by now you have gotta put back on the heat. This you do till the cashew and the daliya is toasted and cruncheee.
Then add salt and sugar which are also not in the list of ingredients..because U need to gauge how much you want to add here ..and the rice flakes .turn that oven off now and U could use the residual heat to dehydrate mandarin slices or so..
Then continue to saute till the rice flakes are well mixed and not burning..low heat..please.Add in the ghee and check for seasoning and taste from time to time . At this point my wife shouts saying stop being greedy.
Usually I have this stuff stored all through the year like Ajji used to.
She was 70 + when we were kids so I’m pretty sure we harassed her a fair bit without meaning to..there was once I climbed up on the chair took down the container of chiwda and ate it all up.when she woke up from her afternoon nap she was furious…as was meant to be rationed over the next few weeks …ohh the memories..”arree melyano, khetra ni badveen”( meaning, you little brats/ rascals, i want to smack you with my slippers).
The Art of the ” Cully puff” or more heart breaking things ( quite literally)
So this is an ode to something very snacky can be a bite or a bit more substantial it’s all upto the doer / cooker.
I’ve called it the Cully puff after Chef Prakob who would pronounce a curry that way but with absolutely no disrespect..That guy was a master Thai chef , when I was a humble trainee in Delhi at The Oberoi and at India’s first Thai restaurant ” Baan Thai”.
But apart from the name that little introduction had nothing to do with what we are looking to cook.
This little confection can be as fancy pants as you want it to be or a really simple street food in India , where I first ate it. Over the years in many different parts of the world I’ve seen different versions of something similar with various different fillings and varying degrees of sophistication.
What this is essentially is a flaky pastry triangle or rectangle filled with mix of vegetables quite spicy of course and potato…something which we could afford to buy for 2 Rs at one point of time ( approximately 5 cents ) when I was in college in 1988-90. The place making this since closed down and moved to my delight 200 mtrs away from my house in Pune . Santosh bakery where they would bake these in a wood fired monster sized oven and then they would be a queue of people lined up to buy them burning hot from the oven.oozing trans fats ( who knew there was such a thing in the 90’s) these were quite amazing.
So here is my take on them. This recipe makes about 8 .
Flaky or puff pastry – 250 g / get a good quality one pre rolled if you can or you can pay me to teach you how to make it.
For the filling.
Peeled and chopped brown onion -1/2 / 50 g
Boiled and peeled potato- 1 medium /200 g
Oil – 20 ml
Cumin seeds whole – 2 g/ 1/4 t
Ginger and garlic paste or chopped -20 g
Turmeric -1/4 t / 1 g
Curry powder 1/2 t / 3 g
Coriander leaves chopped -1 sprig
Mint leaves chopped -1 sprig ( U can add more of this and coriander they are there to aromatise the filling.
Green peas-1 T or about 20 g
Carrot 1/2 small about 25 g or can be replaced with frozen mixed vegetables
This remains one of my favourite breads to eat…like a few dozen other, but truly a nice pide/ or its relative the barbary naan bread are sooo good with a stew or a grilled chicken kebab , to mop up some curry, or even simply like in a panini s/w.
will update more when im riding the train today in Sydney…
And what can be more fun than juggling a cup of latte ,praise the Lord for cups with lids.
So we first need to the make this sticky paste which is called tangzhong in china and shokupan in Japan where you cook some starch with a liquid and then use that as a base for your bread .this allows for the bread to absorb more water , which allows for the bread to stay cottonsoft for a lot longer without any other additives .
So for that first I took
Milk 300 ml and cooked it with 30 g of flour and butter to make a kind of a bechamel or white sauce. Keep 1 spoon separately.Cool that down till you can touch it with your fingers and add about 100 ml water .( Very important that it’s not too hot or you going to kill them yeastie babies
Then to that you add 6 g of yeast, and 10 g sugar and 10 g salt mix lightly and add flour 400 g( I used 50 g spelt, 200 whole wheat and 150 regular. I then just lightly mixed it up .
Then I proofed it in the fridge with some plastic wrap so it doesn’t get dry.
Then you knock it back , gently and divide into 4.round it up and leave it for a few minutes.
Then you sort of elongate the dough and make it into a rectangle shape . Dimple the top and proof again.
Test the side by touching the side.if it springs back immediately it’s not ready to bake just yet.
Prrheat your oven to 200 C and brush your bread dough with diluted bechamel+ 30ml of olive oil which you have saved in the first step…didn’t save it..Curses ..
Then top it with sesame seeds ,Nigella and I used some fennel too with some cracked salt.
Bake for approximately 14-16 minutes turning midway through the cooking process .brush with olive oil when done and serve..
stories of foods from the world over, laced with a hint of sarcasm and some black humour, its not for everyone, but then never was meant to be..
