Saturday, 25 April 2009
This is a relatively unfussy recipe, and this time I am not giving exact quantities as they need to be made to your taste. Anything can be made into bhajis, my favourite are aubergines, as the spicy, crispy coating really complements the smooth, almost creamy mild flesh. Onion bhajis are almost a staple UK curry house favourite and you can jazz them up by adding shredded cabbage and chillies. The ones in the picture are cabbage and onion. Every household will have thier own bhaji recipe, this is mine.
This is the recipe for the basic bhaji batter. Vary it according to taste.
Recipe:
About 250 gms chickpea flour (also called gram flour, available at Indian groceries, and big Tescos)
About 100 gm rice flour (adds to the crispiness)
About 3 tsps mild chilly powder (or 1 tsp hot chilly powder)... taste, taste, taste.
About 1 or 2 tsps salt, again, to taste.
1 tsp baking powder or bicarb of soda
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garam masala (optional)
Sparkling water (or just plain, if you can't be bovvered)
Oil for deep frying
Method:
In a bowl, mix together the flours, add 2 tsps of the mild chilly powder (1/2 tsp hot), cumin, baking powder, garam masala, salt and cumin seeds. Add water slowly, using your hands to mix the flours and spices into a thickish batter. It should be the consistency of thick double cream or custard.
Now taste, and add the remaining chilly powder if the batter is not spicy enough for your taste. Increase the amount of chilly powder, but keep tasting. Better to underspice, and then add more spice and salt according to taste, as opposed to overspicing. Leave to stand for a couple of minutes, and the batter is ready to use.
For aubergine bhajis, cut the aubergines into rounds of about 3/4 cms. Not too thick, as they won't cook and not too thin as they will turn to mush. Dip them into the batter and deep fry till brown. Drain on kitchen paper. For onion bhajis, shred onion finely, and mix with the batter. The onion/ cabbage should be more than the batter, and it should come together as a loose sticky ball. Drop handfuls of the mixture very carefully into the hot oil and fry till crisp.
Any vegetable you like can be made into bhajis, try cauliflower florets, green peppers, sliced potatoes, courgettes etc. Seve with a hot cup of chai, and some tomato ketchup, coconut or mint chutney.
Tendli Tel Piaow
1/4 kilo tendli (ivy gourd)
1/2 medium onion sliced
1 green chilly, sliced
1/2 tomato chopped
Salt to taste
About 200 ml water
Handful or so, grated coconut
To temper:
About 2 tbsp oil
1 whole flake of garlic (bruised)
About 2 sprigs of curry leaves
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1. Wash and cut the tendli into quarters lengthwise.
2. Put the onion, chilly, tomato and salt into a pan, put in the tendli and add just enough water to cover the tendli and bring the water to the boil.
3. Simmer gently for about 10 minutes, or until the tendli are soft (al dente, but without any rawness)
4. Add the grated coconut and stir. Add just enough coconut to absorb the water.
5. For the tempering, in a small pan, put in the oil and heat. Add the mustard seeds, curry leaves and the garlic, and stir until the mustard splutters, and the garlic turns a light brown. Watch yourself, as this really does splutter and hiss.
6. Quickly pop the tempering into the cooked tendli, stir once and cover to keep the aromas. When ready to serve, stir everything together and serve as a side dish with rice or any other Indian meal.
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
I came back home pretty stressed out and wanted to do something to relieve the stress. After playing with Adz for a while, it was time to bath and put her into bed, so while I enjoyed the time with her, I was still feeling like I wanted to hit something very hard. That's when I turned to my favourite stress reliever, making bread. I had fresh olives in the fridge, and a bunch of mint leaves, plus there were chives growing in the garden. I also had red onions in the back of my cupboard, so I thought of one of my favourites, olive bread. This recipe is actually Rena Salaman's from her wonderful 'Greek Cooking' but I've tweaked it, so it suits my taste. Feel free to look for the original recipe, as its fabulous. I borrowed the book from the library, so I only have a scribbled version that I kept in my recipe folder.
Olive Bread
400 g strong white bread flour (or use half wholemeal, it tastes just as good, and is healthier)
About 250 ml warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried yeast
1 tsp salt
1 medium red onion, sliced finely
3 tbsp olive oil (virgin, extra-virgin is fine)
3 tbsp fresh herbs, finely chopped (coriander, parsley, chives, mint or a combination) This is not a hard and fast measurement, just go with whatever you have and however much you want to add.
About 150g olives, roughly chopped (try not to use the ones in brine, ideally ones you get in a deli are better, you can use any kind, but they do need to be pitted)
1. Reactivate the yeast in 100 ml warm water, adding sugar and whisking to dissolve the yeast. Leave until frothy. Preheat oven to 200 C. or 375 F.
2. Fry the onion in 1 tbsp olive oil, until soft and only very lightly coloured.
3. In a bowl, put the flour and salt. Stir together and add the olive oil, olives, fried onions and herbs. Add the yeast, and enough of the remaining water to pull together into a soft dough. You can do this by hand, or use dough hooks. Knead for about 10 minutes. Put into a lightly oiled bowl, and leave it in a warm place for about an hour and half, until doubled in size.
4. Turn out the dough, punch lightly and knead again for about 3 or 4 minutes. Roll the dough into a big ball or 2 small balls (reduce baking time)
5. Oil a baking sheet or a tray, and pop the dough on it. Very lighlty cover with cling film and leave in a warm place again for about half hour or so, unitl the dough rises again. Doesn't have to double, but should rise at leat by a third.
6. Put the bread into the oven and bake for about 45 minutes or so, until tapping on the crust elicits a hollow sounding noise. If the crust is browning too quickly, cover loosely with aluminium foil and continue to bake.
7. Enjoy with a pat of butter.
All stress was relieved, and a nice slice of bread to round off the day too :-)
Olive Bread
400 g strong white bread flour (or use half wholemeal, it tastes just as good, and is healthier)
About 250 ml warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried yeast
1 tsp salt
1 medium red onion, sliced finely
3 tbsp olive oil (virgin, extra-virgin is fine)
3 tbsp fresh herbs, finely chopped (coriander, parsley, chives, mint or a combination) This is not a hard and fast measurement, just go with whatever you have and however much you want to add.
About 150g olives, roughly chopped (try not to use the ones in brine, ideally ones you get in a deli are better, you can use any kind, but they do need to be pitted)
1. Reactivate the yeast in 100 ml warm water, adding sugar and whisking to dissolve the yeast. Leave until frothy. Preheat oven to 200 C. or 375 F.
2. Fry the onion in 1 tbsp olive oil, until soft and only very lightly coloured.
3. In a bowl, put the flour and salt. Stir together and add the olive oil, olives, fried onions and herbs. Add the yeast, and enough of the remaining water to pull together into a soft dough. You can do this by hand, or use dough hooks. Knead for about 10 minutes. Put into a lightly oiled bowl, and leave it in a warm place for about an hour and half, until doubled in size.
4. Turn out the dough, punch lightly and knead again for about 3 or 4 minutes. Roll the dough into a big ball or 2 small balls (reduce baking time)
5. Oil a baking sheet or a tray, and pop the dough on it. Very lighlty cover with cling film and leave in a warm place again for about half hour or so, unitl the dough rises again. Doesn't have to double, but should rise at leat by a third.
6. Put the bread into the oven and bake for about 45 minutes or so, until tapping on the crust elicits a hollow sounding noise. If the crust is browning too quickly, cover loosely with aluminium foil and continue to bake.
7. Enjoy with a pat of butter.
All stress was relieved, and a nice slice of bread to round off the day too :-)
Saturday, 18 April 2009
Here's the recipe for the eggs. Its the quickest way to jazz up a boiled egg, and it goes well as a lunchbox treat, as well as with a nice biriyani. I know the pic looks a bit rude, didn't mean to do that, husband ate a piece of the paratha before I could get the pic and so I had to cover that bit with the eggs :-)
Masala Spiced Boiled Eggs (makes four to six)
4 - 6 hard boiled eggs
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 tsp mild Kashmiri chilly powder (or 1/2 tsp hot powder)
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garam masala powder
1. Heat the oil in a shallow pan, and put in all the spices. Saute the spices for about 1 minute or so, making sure they don't burn.
2. Meanwhile gently cut into the eggs a little bit, all around the egg till the yolk, but don't cut into the yolk.
3. Then put the eggs into the mixture, and roll them around until well coated with the masala. Heat the eggs through and serve. Yum!!!
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