Spicy Fried Chicken Twister

These are great party pleasures. You can make them well in advance and deep freeze them for party. I usually make these twisters of 4 chicken breast and freeze them for any time use. They stay very well for a long time, like the package ones that you get in supermarkets. Any time you wish to use remove them from the freezer and fry them immediately in hot oil.

Ingredients for marination
2 Boneless chicken breast
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Pepper powder
1 Teaspoon Paprika or Chilly powder
1 Tablespoon Chilly Garlic sauce 1 Tablespoon Chilly sauce

Ingredients for batter

4 Tablespoon Self raising flour
2 Tablespoon Corn flour
¼ Teaspoon Salt
¼ Teaspoon Pepper
1 Tablespoon Chili sauce
¼ Teaspoon Baking powder
Chilled water to make batter
1 Cup Corn crumbs OR Bread crumbs
Oil for frying

Method

Wash the chicken breast and pat them dry with a paper towel or kitchen towel then cut them in strips each 4 inch long. 

Marinate chicken strips with salt, pepper, paprika, chilly garlic sauce, chilly sauce for at least 30 minutes. Keep aside.


For the batter:

In a bowl add all the dry ingredients except the crumbs, add chilled water little by little to make a thick batter. Then dip each chicken strip in batter then roll in the crumbs and keep aside.

Heat oil in on medium flame fry each strip till done. Serve hot with any chutney or sauce. I used them to make wraps. These are also good to serve as party pleasures.

Labels: Chicken, Starters, Kebabs

Bazlama (Turkish Flat Bread)

Choosing the third bread for the 3rd day of the BM was a real debate for me. All the time I was thinking should this or that be made since there was so much choice. But, I wanted something for dinner and this was nearest to the chapatti that is made at home only that this is yeasted. The other advantage of making this bread is that it is not baked in the oven but cooked on a stove top. When I made this bread my hubby liked the fresh aroma of yeast and the bread was soft and had a awesome taste.

Bazlama is a simple and delicious village bread of Turkey. Bazlama is a single layered, flat, circular and leavened bread .
This popular flatbread is made from wheat flour, water, salt, and yeast. After mixing and fermentation, the dough is divided, rounded, sheeted to a desired thickness and baked on a hot plate. During baking, the bread is turned over to bake the other side. After baking, it is generally consumed fresh.

Makes 5 flat breads
Ingredients

1 Tablespoon yeast
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Teaspoon salt
3/4 Cup warm water
1/4 Cup Yogurt
1 Cup All-purpose flour
1.1/2 Cup Wheat Flour

Method

Sieve both the flours together and keep aside.

Dissolve the yeast, sugar, and salt in the warm water. Add the water to the flour and mix well and knead into a dough. The dough will be soft but not sticky. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and keep kneading till the dough is soft and stretches easily without breaking. Then shape it into a ball and place it in a oiled bowl. (I used my oil canister in which the oil was over see pic). 

Cover the dough with a damp cloth and allow it to rise at room temperature for 2 hours.

Punch the dough.

Cut the dough into four portions. Shape the dough into rounds and flatten each round as though you’re making pizza ( I used the rolling pin ). 

Cover the rounds with a damp cloth and let the dough rest for 15 minutes.

Heat a skillet or griddle over low heat. Place one dough round in the skillet and bake until brown spots appear on the bottom. 

Flip the bread and bake for an additional minute. Apply a little oil or ghee and bake again. Remove the bread and wrap it in a clean kitchen towel to keep warm.

Repeat with the remaining dough rounds. Store any leftover breads in an airtight container.

This is my entry for the BM #48, theme Pick one, Do three. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#48.

Labels:  Breads, Blogging Marathon, Turkey

Brioche - Viennoiserie

Viennoiseries (French etymological sense: 'things of Vienna') are baked goods made from a yeast-leavened dough in a manner similar to bread, or from puff pastry, but with added ingredients (particularly eggs, butter, milk, cream and sugar) giving them a richer, sweeter character, approaching that of pastry. The dough is often laminated. Viennoiseries are typically eaten at breakfast or as snacks.

Brioche is considered a Viennoiserie, in that it is made in the same basic way as bread, but has the richer aspect of a pastry because of the extra addition of eggs, butter, liquid (milk, water, cream, and, sometimes, brandy) and occasionally a bit of sugar. 

Ingredients

4 Teaspoons Sugar
2.1/4 Teaspoons Instant yeast
50 ml Warm Milk
50 ml Warm Water
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
2.1/2 Cups All purpose flour
1 Tablespoon Heaped Butter - unsalted
2 Eggs


Method

Beat the eggs lightly and reserved a tablespoon for brushing the bread. 

Take a bowl add sugar, yeast, salt, egg, mix it till sugar melts, add all-purpose flour, milk and water to form a soft dough, knead it well for 10 minutes. Then take it on the kitchen counter and keep adding butter a little by little as you are stretching the dough, knead it for 10 minutes, cover the dough with wet cloth and let rest it for 30 minutes. 

After 30 minutes punch the dough and again let it rest till it doubles in volume. Then divide the dough into big and small portions, using the palm of your hand roll it on one edge of the portion and make a hole in the center of the larger portion, tuck in the smaller part in through the center and pull out to form the brioche shape, place these in the muffin pan.

Let them rest again covered with a wet cloth, till it doubles in volume. Add a tablespoon of milk to the egg and mix well then brush the brioche very lightly and bake them at 200 degrees for 20 minutes. 

These were so soft and tasty, we had them with tea. I sent few of them to my friend and they could not believe that these were made at home.

Note: If you are using salted butter then reduce the salt content to half.

This is my entry for the BM #48, theme Pick one, Do three. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#48

Labels: Breads, Blogging Marathon, Vienna 

Homemade Shrak Bread / Markook

Markook, also known as Shrak (Arabic: مرقوق، شراك) is a type of flatbread common in the countries of the Levant. It is baked on a domed or convex metal griddle, known as "saj" that’s shaped like an inverted wok. It is usually large, about 2 feet in diameter, and thin, almost translucent. Similar to the procedures for making some other flatbreads, the dough of markook is flattened and kept very thin.

Today I am are visiting Jordan. Markook/Shrak , is a traditional Bedouin bread that is popular in Jordan and the region as a whole.

Ingredients:
2 Cups Wheat flour

2 Cups All purpose flour
2 Teaspoons Instant yeast
2 Table spoons sugar
1 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Cup Olive oil
1 to 1.1/2 Cups warm water (or as needed)

Method


Mix the yeast and sugar in, add 1/2 cup warm water. Mix and leave for 10 minutes until yeast is bubbly.

In a large bowl add all the remaining ingredients except the water. Then add the yeast and only 1/2 cup water. Knead the dough, if you notice that it is too dry and difficult to form into a smooth ball, then it needs more water. Add a little of water gradually and knead until you have a smooth and soft dough. Knead the dough for 10 minutes.

Cover the bowl and leave for an hour until the dough doubles in size.

Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Form the pieces into balls and place them on a clean kitchen towel. Cover them with a towel and leave to rise for half an hour.

Sprinkle flour on the surface on which you will roll the dough.

Put the Wok (upside-down) on the oven top and open the fire on high.

Roll the dough ball on the floured surface until you have a very thin round sheet of dough.

Place the dough sheet on the hot wok and bake on one side only. Once shrak bread is ready remove and cover with a kitchen towel immediately so as not to dry. Repeat the process with the remaining balls of dough.

Home-made Shrak bread; the ancient and traditional bread of the Middle East. Bon appetite.

This is my entry for the BM #48, theme Pick one, Do three.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#48.

Sending this also to Mena's Cooking Club

Labels : Breads, Continental Cuisine, Mena Cooking Club, Blogging Marathon, Jordan

Knafeh

This month Mena's Cooking Club, I am travelling to Jordan, our host Evelyne from Cheap Ethnic Eatz choose this recipe

Knafeh is a baked Arabic dessert made with phyllo pastry shreds ie is a thin noodles or vermicelli as a base. Kunafeh is an Arabic and Middle Eastern dish. Very popular in Saudi Arabia around Ramadan After baking the crust, it is soaked in rose water flavored sugar syrup. Since, this phyllo pastry shreds is not availabel in India, and just wanted to try this recipe , found a novel idea of making it. I used fine roasted vermicelli and for the filling used khoya and rabri. But let me tell you that this dessert was delicious! We simply loved it. When served hot or at room temperature, knafeh is soaked in sugar syrup.

Ingredients400 Grams  Roasted Vermicelli 100 Grams Butter -   melted

25 Grams Pure Ghee
200 Grams Unsweetened Rabri - Homemade
200 Grams Khoya / Mawa- Homedmade
1/2 Cup Milk
1 Cup Sugar

1/2 Cup Water

Method

In a sauce pan add the sugar and water and cook it till it turn into a thick syrup.  Keep aside.

Melt the butter and ghee together and keep aside.

Break vermicelli into pieces and pour butter on it and with your hands  mix well till the vermicelli is coated.

In a baking dish press half the quantity of  this vermicelli, press to make a firm base especially to edges with thumb.

Cook khoya, rabri and milk on a slow flame till it just strats to bubble.

Pour this mixture over the base evenly taking care that is does flow from the edge or the knafeh with get burnt at the edges.  Then again top with another layer of vermicelli and again press well. 

Bake at 180 degree C for 20 minutes.

Take out of oven and pour sugar syrup while hot. 

Let it cool,  cut in to squares and serve.  This tasted so awesome that we enjoyed this dessert.

Labels : Sweets & Desserts, Continental Cuisine, Mena Cooking Club, Jordan
 

An InLinkz Link-up

Khoya / Mawa - Homemade

Khoya / Mawa is a milk cheese, made either from milk powder or traditionally by reducing whole milk in an open pan for long hours. It is one of the most famous and a classic ingredient in Indian cooking where it is used both for savory as well as sweet dishes. You will see a plethora of traditional sweets calling for this ingredient. The richness that it adds to the sweets is indescribable. For the little time/effort that you put in, the result with fresh home made Khoya far exceeded than from the one you get in sweet meat shops. It is not as hard as you might think. See these steps to realize what a simple process this whole Khoya making business is. Trust me - you will never buy store varieties ever again!

Homemade khoya is prepared in low budget and its also hygienic. This recipe of khoya used in mithai, desserts and cakes. If you live abroad then this homemade khoya recipe is a treasure for you because its not very common to get khoya from stores.

Ingredients2 Liters Full cream milk

Method

Bring the milk to boil in a pan and let it simmer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes switch off the flame and keep aside. This step is necessary so that if there is any powder or anything else will settle to the bottom.

Pour this milk in a heavy bottom pan and let it simmer on medium flame.

Keep stirring occasionally, to avoid the milk to stick on the bottom of the pan.

Keep stirring till the milk  starts thickening.

When thicken/reduced let cool on room temperature, after cooling it will be more thick.

Ready to use, wrap with cling foil and freeze into small portions.

This Khoya / Mawa is simply delicious.  I got around 350 grams of Khoya.

Labels: Sweets & Desserts 

Rabri - Unsweetened - Homemade

This is the traditional cooking methodology to prepare nice and thick rabri that has delicious layes of solidified milk cream.

Ingredient

 5 Cups Full cream milk

Method

Bring the milk to boil in a pan and let it simmer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes switch off the flame and keep aside.  This step is necessary so that if there is any powder or anything else will settle to the bottom.

Pour this milk in a heavy bottom pan and let it simmer on medium flame. When the cream forms on the surface gently push it to the edge of the pan and gently stir the milk so that it does not get burnt at the bottom. Keep pushing the cream to sides regularly till the milk reduces and form layers of cream.

 When done switch off the flame and keep to cool. The Rabri is ready store it in a airtight container and the freezer for further use. This is a unsweetened version of Rabri. If you want you add sugar and sweeten it. This can be used in many recipes. Refrigerate it for at least 2 hours before using.

This take a hour or more to get done.  I got around 300 grams of Rabri.  The taste of homemade Rabri is simply delicious and worth the effort.

Labels: Sweets & Desserts

Jordanian Tomato Rice Soup

My wish to see Jordan, where Jesus was baptized, will be fulfilled God only knows when. But this month Mena's Cooking Club, I am travelling to Jordan, our host Evelyne from Cheap Ethnic Eatz choose this recipe.

Ingredients
1/3 Cup Rice - I used brown rice 

1 Tablespoon Butter
1  Onion - chopped
4  Tomatoes - peeled and chopped
1 Teaspoon Tomato paste
1  Cinnamon stick
A pinch of black pepper
1 Teaspoon salt

Method

Wash and soak the brown rice for at least an hour. Do not skip this step because brown rice takes a long to cook.  If you are using white rice then skip this soaking step.

In a pan, melt the butter and fry in it the onions over medium heat until tender.Add in the tomatoes, tomato paste, black pepper, cinnamon stick and salt along with 2 liters of water.
When the mix begins to boil, reduce heat and simmer for an hour with lid on.

Add in the rice and check if you need to add more water. Leave to simmer for half an hour or so.  Serve hot.

We enjoyed this soup as our dinner, this was so warm and comforting.

Labels: Soup, Mena Cooking Club, Continental Cuisine, Jordan

An InLinkz Link-up

Bhadang (Puffed Rice Chivda)

This is a very common and tasty snack that is always prepared in every Maharashtrian house.It is very simple and requires little oil. Its a very good snack. When garnished with finely chopped onion,tomatoes, coriander leaves and lemon juice, sev its converted into  bhel. You can prepare this snack and store it in airtight box for a month.  We love this snack and is prepared often in my  house. When I prepared this Bhadang my beta could not stop eating, as he was watching TV he kept on eating it, he loved it so much. 

Ingredients
5 Cups Murmura / Puffed Rice
1/2 Cup Peanuts
1/4 Cup Dalia
1/4 Cup Dry Coconut pieces

1/2 Cup Mixed dry fruits ( Almonds, Cashewnuts, Raisins)

3 Sprigs Curry Leaves
1 Teaspoon Mustard seed

1/4 Teaspoon Asafoetida

1 Teaspoon  Citric acid crystals

 25 Grams Chivda Masala

1 Teaspoon Chilly powder

Salt to Taste

1 Tablespoon Sugar

1/2 Cup Oil 

Method
Roast Puffed rice in a big pan till they crisp or microwave  it for a minute.

Heat oil in a big pan on medium flame  add the mustard seeds, when they crackle add the asafoetida then add the peanuts and fry till done , then add the coconut pieces and fry till brown. When they are fried, add the dry fruits, dalia , curry leaves and fry till the curry leaves are crisp. 

Add the chivda masala, chilly powder and fry well.  Add Puffed rice and mix well. Take off the heat. Add Salt, sugar and citric acid crystals mix well.  When it completely cools, store in an air tight container.  

This is my entry for the BM #48, theme Kid's Delight - Holiday Special Recipes. 
Labels: Festival Sweets, Kids delight, Blogging Marathon, Chivda  

Khari Biscuits or Puff Biscuits

As I was making these biscuits, all fond memories came to my mind. When I was young and stayed in a village in Mumbai which is now a concrete jungle, twice a week the biscuit man would come to our compound with a big aluminum box on his head and sell variety of biscuits. But the first thing we would tell our mother is to pick these biscuits for us. I simply loved these khari biscuits, as an accompaniment to afternoon chai.

These are all time favorite of my hubby and daughter too. If I buy a 1/2 kg packet these get over in 2 to 3 days.

Puffed salted biscuits often known as Khari biscuits,are a common hit as a tea-time snack. They are also known as namkeen biscuits as they are crispy, flaky, fluffy, salty and mouth-melting. They are baked calorie-rich biscuits, which are made using all purpose flour. Several layers of dough are kept on each other with a layer of ghee or vanaspati in between each layer.Then they are baked to perfection. These khari biscuits are perfect accompaniment for tea/coffee.

Ingredients
1 sheet Puff Pastry dough

Method

Pre-heat oven to 200° C and line a baking tray with butter paper.
Lay out the puff pastry sheet onto it a board.  Cut the dough into little rectangles about 2″x 1/2″ or so, using a pizza cutter. You can also twist the pastry rectangles to give them a different look.
Lay out the rectangles onto the lined tray.
Bake for about 15 to 17 minutes, until golden brown and flaky. Check them after 15 minutes or they will get too brown and the taste changes.  Enjoy them with a cup of chai.

This is my entry for the BM #48, theme Kid's Delight - Holiday Special Recipes. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#48.

Labels : Biscuits & Cookies, Blogging Marathon.

Sourdough Pizza Pie

After reading Varada's sourdough French loaf I wanted to try the sourdough starter. Goggled and found this site, from where I made the sourdough starter using pineapple juice. After 15 days I used this starter to make the Pizza Pie. When I made this Pizza pie and sent it for my beta, he was trilled since he loves pizza and cheese, to top it all it was made of chicken he was even more happy.

What made me happy is that I tried and succeeded in making a sourdough starter. So here goes the recipe.


Ingredients for the dough
½ Cup Sourdough starter - well fed
1.1/2 Cup Flour or may a little more
1 Teaspoon Oil
1 Teaspoon Sugar

Water if required

For the filling
1 Teaspoon Butter
1 Teaspoon Oil
1/2 Cup Chicken - cut into small pieces
1 Tablespoon Peas - boiled
1 Tablespoon Carrot - cut into pieces and boiled
1 Teaspoon All purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 Teaspoon Mixed herbs
Salt and pepper to taste.
Cheese for topping

Method for the filling

In a pan heat the butter and oil add the chicken and saute for 2 -3 minutes on medium flame, then add the peas, carrot and saute for another 2 -3 then add the flour and saute till flour is cooked.  Add the milk, stir continuously till sauce is smooth and lump free. Add all seasonings and let it cook stirring till the sauce thickens slightly. Bring down from flame and cool.

Method for the Pie:
Mix together flours, salt, and sugar.
Place dry ingredients and starter in the fridge for 30 minutes. I wanted them to be very cold. Stir starter into dry ingredients add the oil and mix until it just comes together in to a ball. Since your starter may be more or less liquid than mine, you may need to add a little ice water or slightly more flour. Use a bench scrapper to brin  the dough together  since this dough is sticky. Refrigerate dough overnight ( I kneaded the dough at 6 pm). Next day in the afternoon I rolled out dough and placed into pie pans, prick the pie with a fork and bake at 180 degrees for 10 minutes, remove and cool.

Then add the filling make a lattice pattern and again bake for 20 - 25 minutes till the crust is brown on top. 

Note:
This amount of dough makes at least two medium pie crusts.
The thickness of your sourdough starter can determine how much water or additional flour needs to be used. If you think the dough is too moist, add additional flour (a tablespoon at a time). The same, if the dough is looking dry. Add warm water (a tablespoon at a time). I did not have to add water as I had a fairly thick starter.

This is my entry for the BM #48, theme Kid's Delight - Holiday Special Recipes. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#48.

Labels : Pie & Quiche, Breads,  Blogging Marathon, Sourdough

Kerala Beef Curry

Beef Curry is quite popular in the Indian state of Kerala, this spicy curry tastes best with Kerala Porotta. This is a very tasty and easy to make.

Ingredients
250 gms Beef – cubed
1 Medium Tomato – chopped
1 Large Onion – sliced
2 Green chillies – slit
3 Cardamoms
3 Cloves
4 Black Peppercorns
1 Bay leaves
1 Stick Cinnamon
1/2 Star anise
1 Teaspoon Ginger - Garlic paste
2 Tablespoons Oil -
1 Teaspoon Chilli powder
1 Teaspoon Coriander powder
¼ Teaspoon Turmeric powder

A sprig Curry leaves 

Coriander leaves – for garnishing 

Method
Roast the bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, black peppercorns, star anise lightly and powder it.

Heat oil in a pan add onion, curry leaves and saute till brown.
Now add the ginger- garlic paste, saute till oil leaves the sides. To this add chilli , coriander and turmeric powder, again saute for 2 minutes, add water a little to cook the masala and then add the tomatoes, green chillies and beef. Fry the beef till the water is all absorbed, and the beef is brown in color.

Transfer this to a cooker and add water till the level of the meat and mix. Pressure-cook it till on high flame for a whistle reduce, keep it on slow flame and cook till done. Now add the garam masala (the ground powder) and salt , check if the meat is cooked properly, if the meat is not cooked add a little water if necessary and cook till it becomes tender. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve it with rice, porotta or chapattis.

Labels: Beef, Kerala, Main course, Pressure Cooker