Samosa - A savory treat

Hello everyone, I am in Hyderabad for my summer and away from my crafting supplies,  so will be adding a recipe every now and then.

 Adding a picture of Hyderabad, it is very hot and bright,  I wish I have this house in Macau, I will have my own room for crafting!

There are a couple of people who are following my recipes,  and I feel bad for them for not adding, but most of them are family and close friends, so I will be forgiven ;)
Today I am sharing the recipe of Samosas, it is the most famous Indian snack. Plus very famous among my cooking class girls too. Traditionally it is a veg dish, with potatoes filling, but nowadays you can find meat samosas too.

 

But I stick to the tradition and make only veg samosas. There are tons of variations available for this recipe.  This one is my home recipe,  and will be definitely different. 

Ingredients and procedure :

For the pastry:

All purpose flour - 1 cup
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Caraway seeds - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 1/2 TBsp
Water to knead the dough

Procedure :

In a medium sized bowl,  mix in all the ingredients except water. Add water little by little and knead the dough. Your dough should be on the harder side, so my advice here is add water sparingly.
Once you knead the dough, cover it and put aside. 

For filling:

Boiled and mashed potatoes - 1 cup

fresh peas - 1/4 cup

1 green chili finely chopped

1 small onion finely chopped

turmeric - 1/4 tsp

red.chili powder - 1/4 tsp (if you don't want too spicy then choose only r. chili powder, no green chili)

mint leaves  - 1/2 TBsp(no need to chop)

fresh coriander leaves chopped

Chat masala - 1/4 tsp

Amchoor(dry mango powder) - 1/4 tsp

salt to taste

1 tsp oil

Procedure:

Heat oil in a medium sized pan, and fry the onions till golden brown, add the peas, and saute for 5 minutes. now add the potatoes and all the above ingredients and mix well and cook for about 5 minutes and remove from heat. your filling is ready.

I don't have the pictures for the fillings, will click and update when I make next.

                      About to knead the dough

After kneading the dough and letting it sit for 

sometime, knead again for 5-10 minutes till it is soft, and looks like this.

 

 Take a small lime sized dough and roll it in between your palms to make a ball.

Roll it in  an oval shape.

Now cut this in half.

Scoop in a TBsp spoon full of filling

This fold is the most important part, fold from the middle, and then take the bottom and seal it in. If you take long time to do this, then I would highly recommend you to apply a bit of water on the rolled pastry before folding to ensure that it sticks well.

A good fold will let your samosa sit on its own.

I always make quite a few, these are now ready to be deep fried in oil.

I usually fry some and freeze the rest for later use, all you need to do is remove from the freezer and fry immediately, no need to thaw.

Heat oil in a deep pan to a low temperature, and fry the samosas, it will take at least 15 minutes for the pastry to become golden brown and crisp.

Serve hot with tomato ketchup , or any chutneys..I like it with Indian tea.

I can guarantee you that if you follow the recipe and make, you will be treating yourself to a very yummy savory treat.

Thank you for stopping by, I really appreciate your kind  feedback :) Have a great day!

Bagara baingan ~ eggplant

Bagara baingan is one of the most yummiest side dish to be served with a biryani. This dish comes from my hometown Hyderabad. 

The sauce is made using peanuts, coconut and sesame seeds, and it is rich and tangy.

Without any further delay lets look at how to make it.

Ingredients:

Small round eggplants - 10-12
Finely sliced onion -1 medium
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Tomato chopped -1 big
Tomato paste - 1/4cup
Tamarind soaked- 1TBsp
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
G.chili slit - 2
R.chili powder - 2tsp
Turmeric - 1/2tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/2tsp

Fresh coriander leaves for garnishing
Salt to taste
Oil 1/2Tbsp
Oil for shallow frying eggplants - 3-4 TBsp

Gravy spices:
Coconut powder - 2TBsp
Roasted peanuts - 2TBsp
Roasted sesame seeds - 1 1/2 TBsp
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon stick - 1/2"
Ginger- garlic paste - 2tsp

Blend everything together with little water to make a fine paste.

 

Procedure:
Make x slit on the eggplants, and cut along keeping the eggplant intact. Keep the stock, it will help to hold the eggplant together.
Heat oil for shallow frying the eggplants, fry till the eggplants are bit soft and change color. Drain on a kitchen towel.

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, curry leaves, onion, and g.chili and saute till onions are light brown.

 Add the blended spice mix. To this add R.chili powder, turmeric, garam masala, coriander powder and salt.

 

Stir till the oil separates from the paste. Now add chopped tomato and the tomato pulp and cook till the tomatoes are soft.

Add the eggplants and mix well and cover the pot for few minutes.

Mash up the tamarind in water and drain the pulp and add the water to the eggplants.

 

Add some more water and cover the pot for about 10 minutes, occasionally stirring the dish.

Once the gravy is reduced to a bit turn off the heat. Remember to keep the gravy bit flowing as it will get thick as it gets cold. Garnish with some fresh coriander leaves.

Make and enjoy this yummy dish with the Vegetable Pulao !

Thank you for stopping by, have a great day!

 

 

Vegetable Pulao ~ biryani

Vegetable pulao is one of the easiest way you can cook your rice to give a different taste and look. It is a my family recipe, which I have altered in a very small way to make it even better than the previous generations, to which my mom agrees too and she cooks in my way now.

In less than 30 minutes, you will be able to make a rice dish, which goes well with any curry, dal or raita (yogurt side dish).

Without any further delay, here is a step by step procedure. 

Ingredients

NOTE : Please use only non sticky rice. I use Sona Masoori Rice. You can use basmati rice. And follow the amount of water needed, which may vary from rice to rice. This dish will not come out as desired if used glutenous rice.

Washed

 and soaked rice - 2 cups

water - 31/2 cup(since the rice is soaked, you may want to cut down the water by 1/4 cup to keep the texture fluffy and grainy)

Medium sized onion - 1

slit green chili -1

Mixed veggies  - 1 cup(Peas, french beans, carrots)

Mint leaves - 7-8

Cinnamon stick - 1"

Cloves -2

Bay leaf -1-2

Black cardamom -1

Green cardamom - 1

caraway seeds - 1/4tsp(optional)

ginger-garlic paste -1 1/2 tsp

coriander powder - 1/2tsp

garam masala - 1/4 tsp

chili powder - 1/8tsp

salt to taste

oil - 2TBsp

fresh coriander leaves

Procedure

Wash and soak the rice, for a minimum of 30 minutes before you start cooking it.

Heat oil in a medium sized pot(remember your rice will be double, so choose the pot appropriately).

Once oil is hot add the whole spices, which are Cinnamon stick, Cloves, Bay leaf, Black cardamom Green cardamom, and caraway seeds. fry the spices for about a minute ,and then add the onion and green chili and saute till the onions are light brown colored.then add the ginger-garlic paste, veggies, mint leaves, garam masala, coriander powder, red chili powder and salt. cook for 2-3 minutes

 .

 

Meanwhile drain the rice, and add it to the veggie mix and stir for 2-3 minute, taking care that you are not breaking the rice while doing so.

Now add the water and stir well and cover the pot and keep the flame to simmer or on the lower end. Stir once or twice maximum.
I am one of those people who don't like too much stirring the food. In my opinion, it disturbs the cooking process and sometimes we mash up whatever we are cooking. So I always ask not to stir too many times. Do it very gently with a light hand, as you do not want to break the rice.

Once all the water is absorbed in the rice, add the fresh coriander leaves and stir and cover till the rice is completely cooked. this will take further 3-4 minutes. The cooked rice will be soft and fluffy.

In total it should take you about 20-25 minutes for this dish to be cooked.

Serve it with any curry, veg or non-veg or raita.

 

  Hope you cook and enjoy this dish!

Thank you for stopping by, have a great day!

 

Stir fried Okra

Okra is the most underrated veggie because of its slimy texture. But if cooked properly you can get rid of the slimy texture and enjoy the okras.
Today I am sharing this recipe, so that people can enjoy this yummy veggie without worrying about the texture.

Ingredients

Okras - 500gms

sliced Onion - 1 small 

Finely chopped G. Chilli - 2(can be replace by 1/2tsp R. chili powder)

Finely chopped ginger - 1/2tsp

Curry leaves - few

Coriander leaves 

Turmeric - 1/4tsp

Coriander powder - 1/2tsp

Salt to taste

Oil - 1/2 TBsp

Procedure

Heat oil in a wok on a medium flame. Add onion and curry leaves, saute till onions turn golden brown.

Now add okra, chilies, ginger, turmeric and salt. Mix well and cover the lid and let it cook for about 10 minutes.

Remove the lid, okras should be soft and of course slimy. Increase the flame and stir the okras with a light hand, try not to break any okras while doing so. Stir till the okras are dry and not slimy anymore. Add coriander powder and coriander leaves and stir till the okras get a slightly brown coat. turn of the flame now and the  okras are ready to be served. You can eat this with roti or serve as a side dish along with rice and dal.

I made it for lunch, so I had served with steamed rice, mixed dal and homemade flax seed sprinkle.

Lastly try making this this dish, if you haven't eaten okras in this form! 

I am new to blogging and will slowly add my dishes as and when possible. I am starting with simple food , and will continue to add all types of dishes.

Thank you for stopping by, have a great day!