Samosa

It rains here very often. If its a Sunday then its awful. V and I miss all the Sunday eating out, specially the junk. This sunday V voluntereed to make samossas. It was a big risk so I decided to put on my apron to assist him. I escorted to my all time handy book "Hamkhas paaksidhi " by Jayashree Deshpande. I was sceptical as to how it would work as I had never tried Samosas earlier. Back home they are so easy to easily available.But this recipe was a big hit !!!

Here goes the recipe.

Potatoes: 1 kg , boil cut into small cubes

Green peas: 200 gm( I used approxiamtely), boiled

Finely chopped corriander

Paste: green chilles 10, 10 cloves of garlic, 1 inch ginger

Spice powders: Amchur powder, corriander-cumin powder, chole masala(optional)

Salt to taste.

Jeera

asafoetida

turmeric powder

red chilli powder

Oil

For the coating:

2:1/4 Maida: Semolina, salt, hot oil 2 tsps.
carom seeds, jeera (optional)

Oil to fry

Thick cornflour in water paste (for sticking the edges)

The stuffing:

Add oil in a pan and add the Cumin, asafoetida, turmeric the paste fry a bit. add the boiled potatoes and green peas.Add The Spice powders and salt and toss.Add the corriander.Steam for 1-2 minutes. Thats done with the stuffing.

The cover:

Mix the Maida and semolina in the given proportion, salt, add hot oil over it and knead into dough. add the carom and cumin seeds as well.knead well for half an hour or so.Make small balls and keep aside.

The most difficult part:

Roll out into 8 inches circles and cut in to 2 semicircles.

Handling one semicircle at a time make into triangle shaped pocket (use the mixture to stick the edges)and fill in the potato mixture.

Fold the edge to give it a base.

Deep fry in oil till they turn golden brown.

Serve with ketchup or chutney

Tofu Tikka

V and I are a die hard Paneer fans. Here we do not find it at the local supermarkets and often Paneer is a dish for special occassions.One weekend my tastebuds tickled and I longed to eat Paneer tikka. I got hold of my cycle and started off . I had to look for options. The dutch are famous for their cheese and I started eyeing the section. Mozarella caught my eye, but it melts away easily.The "vegetarisch" section I saw the tofu sitting there and it was the perfect alternative !!!!!

Paneer tikka as I usually made back home was trail and error and the recipe evolved itself.

I used.
1 packet of Tofu .cut onto cubes

Capsicum , tomatoes, onion, cut into cubes.

Mushrooms whole.

Marinade:

Ginger garlic paste 2 tsp

corriander-cumin powder 1tsp.

turmeric 1/4 tsp
red chilli powder ( as per taste)

Tandooori Masala / Garam Masala 2 big sps.

curd

finely chopped corriander

2 spoons of besan

Salt to taste

&

"sate sticks" thats what they call them here in Nl for the tikka

Now what I did was . I kept the tofu and the Vegetables in seperate bowls and and poured adequate marianade over them and left it for an hour or so.

Arrange the vegtables and the tofu on the stick and shallow fry it in pan or a skillet or you can grill in alternatively at 10-15minutes at 150 degrees C.

Garnish with Salad and serve hot.

Mushroom Rice....

The mushrooms I found here in Holland are really big , white and immensely clean .They always attract my attention when I am at Albertheijn, peeping at me .I dont loose time to decide that they have to be in my shopping trolley.They are always handy whether its soup or rice or pakodas or subji or tikkis.I will try to cover all these varieties when I make them the next time so that I can carefully monitor the quantities of ingredients I add to them so I can post them here.

Being a Goan at heart, I prefer rice and its types at all times. Even the my hubby's dabba carrries a variety of rice dishes.I have been making Mushroom rice since they have been easily avilable in the Mumbai markets.My inspiration is the fried rice recipe.

Ingredients:
1 cup rice

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup vegetables- sliced cabbage, springonions, carrots grated, mung sprouts etc.(optional),

6 cloves of garlic chopped

1tsp ginger grated

oil for cooking

pepper powder
Salt

1 tsp Soy sauce

Chili Sauce

Method:
Soak rice in warm water for half an hour leave it on the sieve for the water to drain.Heat alarge pan add around 2tbsps of oil and then add the rice toss the rice well.Add pan full of water and salt and oil and allow to cook. When rice is cooked ( ek dana kachha) drain off the water and allow it to cool.

In another pan take some oil and saute the vegetables and the mushrooms along with the garlic and ginger.Toss them well.add pepper powder and salt to taste to this mix.Add the cooled rice the vegetablesand again toss well. Add the spring onion shoots and grated carrots for the garnishing when hot.Add soy sauce and serve hot with chilli sauce.