Coriander Falafels

         Falafels , we tasted these for the first time from Sainsbury's. The big list of ingredients at the back of the pack  made me think that it's complex to try at home. Unlike the ball-shaped falafels i tasted , Rachel has posted a healthy version Coriander Falafel on her blog . I can choose to ignore the shape as long as it is healthy and tasty. Her method of making falafels looked very simple to me with all the ingredients i regularly stock.I simply followed her recipe with an exception of replacing lemon juice with salt .

Ingredients:

Boiled Chickpeas - 200 gms
Chopped Onions - 1 cup
Coriander - a small bunch
Cummin powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander/Dhaniya powder - 1/2 tsp
Plain flour - 1 tbsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Garlic cloves - 3
Olive oil - 1 tbsp

Cooking method:

Simply pulse all the ingredients in a blender except plain flour and reserve a few coriander leaves for the decoration/garnishing. Make small patties and roll it in the flour. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large flat non-stick pan and cook  these patties until it turns golden brown on one side

Repeat the process by turning it over using a flat wooden spoon .Cook in a low flame for best results.Oops ! I realised that i've missed out the ground black pepper . That's okay, i'll add it next time.

The coriander i've used is homegrown and there's a big story to it. With super hot summer in the UK  this year,we were expecting a good supply of coriander but three batches of corainder were completely eaten away by the slugs and snails. They are the biggest challenge for organic gardening.I even tried lifting the plants back to a pot with compost. Nothing worked. I was not ready to give up and the coriander i used for this recipe is the fourth batch of coriander which made it to our plate finally. It's worth all the effort, they were very much flavourful.

 Sure will try it with a different shape again to get to perfection.The shapes might not look gr8 but it was truly deliiiiiiicccccccciiiiioooooouuuuus!

As i used Coriander linking it to this month's Cooking With Herbs hosted by Karen @ Lavender and lovage

Linking it to this month's Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Jacqueline

Kumro Phool Bhaja / Pumpkin Flower Fritters(Bengali Style)

                 Plenty of pumkin flowers are blooming at the moment in my backyard. There are two types of flowers in pumpkin male and the female flowers. The female flowers blooms with a tiny little  baby pumpkin at the base.If pollinated these turn into the big pumpkins we eat while male flowers just has the stalk.The flowering starts off with plenty of male flowers .Once it falls off from the stalk, we used to add it to our home compost but now these organic goodies goes into our tums with this Bengali recipe.The transition of plant to the plate is adorable.

Pre-Requisites:

    Gently wash the pumpkin flowers .Remove the calyx and the stalk by retaining just the petals.

  
Ingredients:
Crushed garlic  1 tsp
Gram Flour - 1 cup
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Sunflower Oil - 1/2 cup
Pumkin Flowers - a dozen
Salt - 1/4 tsp

Cooking Method:

            Except the flower mix all the ingredients with the help of a spatula by adding required amount of water to bring it to a batter like consistency. Make sure there the batter is lump free and smooth.Heat 1/2 cup oil in a flat wide-bottomed non-stick pan .Dip the pumpkin flower in the batter by holding at the bottom and cook it in the oil for 3 minutes. Turn it over and cook for another couple of minutes.Make sure the flowers doesn't touch each other for better results.

 Serve it as a starter or a tea-time snack along with dips of your choice. We enjoyed this flowery one of 5-A-Day with yougurt and mint dip!

If you are a gardener , next time you know what to do with those pumkin flowers,don't you?

Spicy Puffed Rice

As it was raining yesterday, we wanted to eat something spicy which can be made very quickly. My friend recently vistited India and brought me some nice roasted peanuts . Would love to add curry leaves to this snack but it's not easy to get hold of curry leaves in the UK at the moment. I made my  rainy-day favourite snack which took just 5 minutes .
Ingredients:
Puffed Rice - 150 gms
Roasted Peanuts - 1/2 cup
Bengal gram - 1/4 cup
Dried red chilli - 1
Garlic - 3 cloves
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 2 tsps

Cooking Method:

 Heat the oil in a pan and do the seasoning with mustard seeds. Crush the garlic and roast it in the oil.Add the peanuts and bengal gram at this stage and roast for a couple of minutes.

Add the rest of the ingredients and stir for 3 minutes.

Cod Fish Fritters

Cod Fish Fritters can be enjoyed as a snack or a starter in a full meal.

Ingredients:
  Skinless boneless Cod Fish - 500 gms or Cod fillets - 5
  Ginger garlic paste - 1 spoon
  Semolina - 2 tsps
  Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
  Turmeric - 1/2 tsp(optional)
  onions chopped - 1/2 cup
  Salt - 1 tsp
  oil - 100 ml

Cooking Method:
      Wash the fish thoroughly and checkcarefully  for any bones  .Cut the cod fillets into small pieces and
 blend coarsely without adding water. Mix all the ingredients using fingers and make small patties.Heat 100 ml of oil in a pan and deep fry the them to make cod fish fritters.

Oatmeal Cranberry Snack bars

 Cranberry is a wonderfruit with many healing properties. We usually make cranberry sauce during festive season as fresh cranberries are available easily. Apart from that dried cranberries are available any time of the year and we should try to use it as a part of a healthy diet. Plenty of breakfast bars are available in shops instead it's very easy to make at home.

Ingredients:

Quick Cooking Rolled oats - 200 gms
Cane Sugar - 1 cup 
Whole milk - 1 cup
Dried Cranberries - 1 cup
Butter - 30 gms

 Pre-requisite:

   Coat a baking tray with butter. Mix all the ingredients and transfer it to the tray.

Baking method:

    Preheat the oven for  250 degrees. Bake the mixure for 20 minutes. Check the oat bars after 15 minutes of baking. If it starts to brown then stop baking. As i have added milk to the mixure it's going to be a bit softer. If it's baked for  longer than needed it will go brown very easily and you can't enjoy the taste of cranberries .This is a low-calorie healthy snack as i've reduced the amount of butter and added milk.

Gobi Manchurian

Vazhaipoo Vadai

Procedure for making Vazhaipoo vadai is the same as that of Mutton Vadai i posted earlier , the only ingredient to be replaced is Vazhaipoo instead of mutton.

Hand-Cut Potato Chips

 All you need is 200 gms of potato. Peel the skin of the potato and dice it into the shapes and sizes of your peference. Sprinkle a little bit of oil and bake it in the oven until the potatoes turn golden brown.For the finishing add a little bit of salt and mix thouroughly to spread it even.

Making Puff Pastry @ Home

Making puff pastry is a tedious process which needs a lot of patience. Here i've made South Indian style Vegetable puffs with the puff pastry sheets i made.

Ingredients :

Plain Flour - 150 gms
Water - 1 cup
Butter - 250 gms
Salt - 1 tsp

Pre-Requisites:

Butter should be kept at room temperature for 15 mins

Puff Pastry Sheet Preparation:

Mix the flour, water and salt and knead the dough for few seconds and roll it using a rolling pin.
Now place the butter in the middle and cover it with the dough. Roll it again with a rolling pin. Repeat the process 5 or 6 times.Refrigirate it for an hour to avoid the butter melting away . Repeat this process thrice.Finally cut the puff pastry sheets . Freeze it and use when required . This comes in handy when we feel lazy to cook or there's an unexpected guest @ home.

Mutton Vadai (Minced lamb Fritters)

Recipe is the same as that of the Mutton kola i posted earlier. Only difference is making patties and deep frying in the oil.

http://techiecookiefreaky.blogspot.com/2009/01/blog-post.html

Onion Pakoda - (This is my first recipe to be published on popular RR DGS March newsletter)

Onion Pakoda is a crispy, crunchy teatime snack in Southern parts of India. Cooking time is very less and i make it very quick when there’s an unexpected guest at home. Onion has good healing properties and hence used as a key ingredient in many Ayurvedic medicines. Adding onion in our day-to-day cooking helps boost up the immune system of our body in the long run.

Ingredients:
Red Onions – 3 medium sized Gram Flour – 1 cup (Approximately 100 gms)

Rice Flour – 2 tsps Cumin Seeds – ½ tsp

Hot chilli pepper – 1 Chilli Powder – 1/2 tsp

Turmeric Powder – a pinch Garlic – 2 cloves

Sunflower Oil – 100 ml Salt – 1 tsp

Water – ½ cup

Pre-Requisites:

• Peel the skin of onion and garlic and coarsely chop them lengthwise

• Finely chop the hot chilli pepper

• In a large bowl mix the rest of the ingredients into the gram flour one after the other by sprinkling water little by little. It should be between dough and a batter consistency, which is sticky but not watery.

Cooking Method: Heat the oil in a large frying pan for about 10 minutes on a medium flame. Now add small portions of the pakoda mix into the oil by using a fork and deep fry until it becomes crisp.

Serving Suggestion:

Should be served hot. Goes well with any sauce or dips.

Tips for Weight Watchers:

While making the pakoda mix add 2 more teaspoons of rice flour. Split the pakoda mix into small portions and top it up with oil of your choice and roast it in the grill.

Saffron Cake

Ingredients:
Softened Butter - 150 gms
Self-raising Flour - 150 gms
Caster Sugar - 150 gms
Eggs - 3
Saffron - 2gms

Baking Method:

Beat all the ingedients except Saffron. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.Transfer the contents to a baking tin. Now slowly spread the saffron on the top layer of the mix. Set the timer of the oven about 25 to 30 mins and bake it. Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool for 10 mins. Delicious Saffron cake is ready!!!!!!!

Ulunthu Vadai

Ulunthu Vadai / Urad dhal Vada is made during festivals.

Ingredients :

Urad dhal(Ulunthu) - 1 cup
Green chillies - 5
Ginger - 1 piece
Curry leaf - 1/4 cup
Coriander Leaf - 1/4 cup
Pepper corns - 1 tsp
salt - 1 tsp
Onion - 1
Oil - 1 cup

Method :

Soak urad dhal for 3 - 4 hrs and grind it with green chillies.Finely chop onion,coriander,ginger and curry leaf and add to the paste.Add pepper and salt and mix it thoroughly.Make the mix like a small ball and pat it a little to bring it into shape.Heat oil in a pan and fry it.Serve it with coconut chutney!