Sunday 20 October 2013

Peri Bites

I'll say it, I love deep fried things.
Anything works ! 
but these succulent and cheesy peppers are on the top of the list !

They are a bit time consuming, but really easy and well worth the effort.

And you can do a lot with this recipe. Like you can skip chicken and just do cheese.
Or
You can skip cheese and add chicken with boiled potato mash.

Just have fun with it !
You'll need

15-20 jalapeno chilies (or any other large chilies)
1 cup of break crumbs
2-3 eggs

(For the Filling)
100 grams of chicken, boiled and shredded.
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
3 tbsp of cream cheese.
salt to taste
1/4 tsp of freshly ground black pepper
1-2 Green onion chopped
1 tbsp of peri peri sauce (you can skip this if you dont have the sauce on hand)


Mix all the ingrediants of the filling. Keep aside.

Make a slit lenght wise on the chilies, being careful not to cut the chilies all the way.
Carefully remove the seeds.

Put the filling in the chilies.

Dip in egg, than crumbs. Do this again so that there is double coating on the chilies.
Keep in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Deep fry in hot oil, making sure not to over-crowd the pan.
Fry till golden brown.


Enjoy !


Bihari Boti



EID MUBARAK EVERYONE !
Eid Ul Adha honours the willingness of prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice is first born son Ismail as an act of submission to Allah's command and his son's acceptance of being sacrificed, before Allah intervened to provide a lamb to be sacrificed instead.

Eid ul Adha is celebrated on the 10th day of the last Islamic month of the year 'Zul Hijjah'
We, Muslims, do our part by sacrificing goats, cows, camels, or lambs.

This year my father got 3 goats and a cow.


For Bihari boti you'd need
2 kgs of Beef/Mutton/chicken (cut in small cubes or strips) I used Beef.
3-4 tbsp of yogurt
3-4 tbsp raw papaya paste with skin (or 2 tbsp of meat tenderizer powder)
1 tbsp red chili powder
1 tbsp red chili flakes
1 tbsp all spice powder (garam masala)
1-2 tbsp mustard oil
1 tbsp Chat masala
1 tsp ground cumin
1 heaped tbsp of bihari boti masala 
1 large onion sliced, browned and crushed.
1 tbsp of ginger garlic paste


Marinate beef (or any other meat you're using) in all the above ingrediants for 6-7 hours.

Add the marinated meat to 2-3 tbsp of oil. Cook till the meat is thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently.
When its cooked, add about 1 tbsp of lemon juice and green chilies. Mix.

Serve immediately with onion rings and lemon wedges on top.

Enjoy!!

Linking the recipe to Meat Lovers Month

Tuesday 8 October 2013

Potato Gnocchi


Gnocchi is an Italian dumpling. Its soft and delicious !

I've been looking forward to making these for a long time, but they looked so intimidating.

But today i was like, what the heck, i'll give it a try.

they're not as hard as they look

no, they're not hard at all

they are super easy !!! 

I decided to toss it in chicken and tomato sauce

This turned out delicious.

For The Gnocchi
400 grams of potatoes
1 small egg
1/3 cup of flour
a pinch of salt

For The Sauce
200 grams of Chicken mince 
1 Carrot (diced)
1 tsp of Ginger Garlic paste
1/2 cup (approx) of Tomato Puree
1/4 cup of Tomato Ketchup
Salt to taste
1 tsp red Chili flakes (or according to taste)
1/4 tsp of dried thyme (or fresh, or any other herb you like)
1 tsp of Sugar


Boil Potatoes till fork tender

Peel and mash with a fork (i used) or potato ricer. Do not, i repeat, do not do this in a food processor.

add the egg, salt and half the flour and form a soft dough. Add the remaining flour if the dough is sticky.

The dough is made :)
Make sure that you dont over work the dough.

Divide in 4 parts. Roll each part in the form of a rope on a lightly floured surface.

Cut 1 inch pieces and place on a floured tray

You want to make indentations on the gnocchi so that it holds the sauce. I had this weird looking think in my kitchen which i used. You can use a fork to do this as well.


You can freeze this at this stage if you want. 
Boil a pot of water.

When the water starts to boil, add a gnocchi, few at a time. Wait till they come to the top (this would take about 1-2 minute), than wait for 30-40 seconds more and remove with a slotted spoon and place it in the prepared sauce.

FOR THE SAUCE :


Heat 1-2 tbsp of oil, add carrots and onion. Cook till translucent

Add the chicken mince and ginger garlic. Cook for 1  minute.

Than add tomato puree, ketchup, salt, red chili flakes, thyme, sugar and about 1/2 cup of water.
Cook on low flame till saucy and thick.

Add the prepared gnocchi to the sauce.

Toss to coat.
You can serve this as it is. Or...

Put this in an oven-safe bowl, top it with shredded cheese and oregano...

and bake at 180 degree centigrade for 10 minutes.




Enjoy !