Sweet Potato Puri

Blogging is a very interesting experience. After each of my posts, there are new ideas taking shape about the next blog post, new recipe to write and share with you all. Most of the dishes that get cooked at home always include family favorites and new cuisines that I would like to try out. In the process, dishes eaten by me in my childhood or the one’s that my mom made back in those days, take a back seat. The idea behind this post is to make something that was eaten a long time ago, in my growing up days, and something that I have not made enough times for the kids to like it as much as I did. I can count on my finger tips the scant number of times that I have made this puri, hence I made them so that the recipe gets documented.

SWEET POTATO PURI: The taste is yum and I love it. The starchy sweet potato is a good source of carbohydrate and fiber.  It is also a good source of Vitamin A and Vitamin C.

The puris are deep fried. I also tried to bake some puris, my effort to decrease the calorie count of the dish, but I did not like the taste, and also found them to be a bit hard to chew. Hence I ruled out the baking option for now, it needs more experimentation and changes in the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

Sweet potato- 2 no. (Boiled and mashed)

Sugar- 1-1½ Katori or bowl (powdered. Use sugar as per sweetness preferred)

Flour- 1½ Katori or Bowl- Refined flour or whole wheat flour.

Cardamom powder- 1Tsp

Oil- For frying.

METHOD:

Boil and mash the sweet potatoes. Take the mashed potatoes in a round bowl, add the powdered sugar and flour to it, and make dough out of it. The dough consistency should not be too soft as we have to make puri.  Add the freshly ground cardamom powder. Knead the dough so that all the ingredients get mixed evenly.

Divide the dough into 4-5 portions and roll them out flat, then using a cookie cutter cut out evenly shaped puris.

Prick these small circular shaped puris with a fork. This is done to prevent them from rising up in oil. Heat oil in a kadai and deep fry the puris to golden brown color on medium flame, then drain them on kitchen tissue roll and cool.

This is how they should look in appearance. These are bit soft to eat, but have a unique taste. If you like sweet potatoes or are willing to try out something different, then go ahead and give yourself the experience of tasting them. Looking forward to hearing your comments and feedback on this post.

Enjoy!!

ashu 🙂

Deep Fried Chicken

DEEP FRIED CHICKEN THIGHS

Sometimes we should allow ourselves to indulge in high calorie foods, for such times this dish would be good choice. As with any marinated dishes, the longer the marination time the better the flavour infused in the chicken. It tastes fantastic when served hot, with dip or sauce of choice, or one could eat it as it is. I would anytime prefer the homemade version of fried chicken compared to the one sold at the fast food outlets.

INGREDIENTS:

Chicken thighs-4 pieces

Egg-1

Refined flour/ Maida-2 Tbsp

Corn flour-1 Tbsp

Breadcrumbs- 1 Bowl (use as much needed)

Salt- To taste

Oil-For frying

Sauces for marination of chicken-Worcestershire and Tabasco Sauce (/chilli) -2 Tsp each.

PICTORIAL PRESENTATION:

METHOD:

1. Wash and pat dry the chicken thigh pieces.
2. Mix Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco (chili) sauce and coat the chicken pieces with this marinade. Keep it in the fridge for 60 min or so. (Skip keeping in fridge if short of time.)
3. Beat an egg, add salt, pepper, refined flour and corn flour, and make a medium thick batter to coat the chicken pieces. (chilli flakes/chilli sauce can be added to the batter if preferred.)
4. Dip the chicken thigh pieces in the batter.
5. Take the breadcrumbs in a plate. Cover the batter dipped chicken thigh pieces with the breadcrumbs.
6. Press the breadcrumbs on the chicken firmly so that they stick to the batter coated chicken.
7. Heat oil for deep frying the chicken pieces. Fry the breadcrumb coated chicken in hot oil for a minute or so and then reduce the gas flame to medium heat and complete the frying process. Ensure the chicken gets cooked without the outer coating getting burnt.
8. Serve the hot fried chicken with chilli sauce or tomato sauce.

Enjoy!!!!

ashu 🙂

Coconut Barfi

Sometimes we plan something and it does not happen, well this is what happened with this post. This post was due last week and it so happened that it got unnecessarily delayed, but better late than never.

Once on my grocery shopping spree I randomly put a tin of Nestle’s sweetened condensed milk into my shopping cart, thinking I will use it to make something sweet. The tin was placed on the first rack of the fridge and was completely forgotten. Last week one of my kids suddenly asked me to make coconut barfi, listening to this remark was definitely music to my ear, never has this kind of demand come up and that too for the barfi, it’s something they never wanted to eat and hence I stopped making it altogether. So when this demand came, I had to make it soon before some other demand cropped up. I got the grated coconut and finally the condensed milk tin saw the daylight, was removed from the fridge to use in the recipe.

I have to share, I have never used condensed milk ever to make coconut barfi/laddu. I always followed method using milk, sugar and it was a lengthy one. I am pleased with the way this recipe turned out, hassle free, and so fast. So this is yet another one of the Zhatpat dishes, a homemade Indian dessert. Go ahead and try making this sweet, delicious, and effortless recipe.

COCONUT BARFI:

INGREDIENTS:

Fresh Coconut-1 1/2 (grated)

Ghee-2 tbsp

Sweetened condensed milk-1 tin (I used 3/4th tin)

Green Cardamom (ground)-1 tsp

For Garnish– Nuts of choice-Pistachios/Almonds/Cashew nuts.

METHOD:

1. Heat a thick bottom pot/kadai on medium heat and then add ghee. Once the ghee melts then add the grated coconut and cook for 10 minutes or so, using spatula to continuously stir, till the raw taste of the coconut is gone. This prevents the coconut from getting burnt and gives an even color.
2. Add the sweetened condensed milk to the coconut and mix it well. Adjust adding the milk according to your preferred sweetness.
3. Cook it on medium/slow flame till the coconut and milk mixture is sticky enough to form barfi.
4. Add the ground cardamom powder and coarsely crushed or chopped nuts of choice and mix well.
5. Grease a square brownie tin or a round plate and spread the coconut mixture evenly on it and let it cool and get set.
6. Cut the set mixture into small even-sized squares/barfi shape and serve.

This can be served as dessert/mithai after a meal or along with snacks. I found making this to be extremely easy and less time consuming. As the tinned condensed milk was sweetened, so  add quantity as per sweetness preferred. I did not use the whole tin, 2-3 spoonful milk was still left at the bottom of the tin. The Barfi was prepared within 30 minutes, and almost half of it was consumed within minutes of making it, a fast disappearing item if one is fond of sweets!

Enjoy!

ashu 🙂

Vegetable Hakka Noodles

 

Hakka noodles; it is one of the first few recipes that I had learned when I started cooking. Hakka Noodles, the name itself starts a tingling in the mouth, is a dish that is wholesome and loved by all; the best part is though it looks very complicated, is the easiest to cook. Well, I guess I write easy for almost all the recipes that I make/post, but trust me and try them, and find out for yourself whether it is easy or difficult to make. Do let me know the feedback.

Going by the look of the dish, it does look time consuming for a first timer, but the noodles will be ready to eat within 30 minutes, provided you have all the ingredients handy. Once the vegetables are cut, then it does not take much time.

This can be enjoyed as part of Chinese meal or as a brunch menu too. I make it as breakfast menu. The noodles serve as carbohydrates, oil as fat, vegetables as fibre and vitamins & minerals, eggs (if we include in the ingredients) add to the protein and fat content. Non-vegetarians can include chicken and/or eggs to the dish. The choice of ingredients depend on the personal taste and liking. We can add mushrooms and baby corn too; I add when they are stocked in the fridge.

For this post I have used Chings Veg Hakka Noodle (150g) packet and the total vegetable portion was also kept 150g. The picture of the ingredients given below will give the idea of the vegetable quantity used. Let’s get cooking this yummy dish. Kids, and adults of all ages will love it!

VEG HAKKA NOODLES:

INGREDIENTS:

Chings Vegetable Hakka Noodle- 1 pkt 150 g (boiled)

Total vegetables- 150 g- Carrots, Green/Red/Yellow Bell pepper, French beans, Spring onions(for garnish), Cabbage. (All the vegetables should be finely shredded)

Chilli Sauce-1 tsp (5g)

Soy Sauce-1 tsp (5g)

Aji-no-moto- 1/2 tsp

Green chilli- 2

Garlic cloves-2-3

Salt/Pepper for seasoning.

Oil-2 Tbsp

METHOD:

1. Boil the noodles and pour few drops of oil on them, toss, and keep ready to use.
2. Shred finely the cabbage and all the vegetables. It is important to shred the vegetables fine so that they get cooked fast and the overall dish should look appealing.
3. Heat a wok, add oil and fry the vegetables adding one at a time. Add first the garlic, green chilli, carrots, French beans, peppers, and finally the cabbage as it takes the least time to cook. The vegetable that takes more time to cook needs to be added first. I like the flavour of garlic and hotness of chilli in the vegetables, hence I add them first to the hot wok. (Follow the given order of adding vegetables to the wok.)
4. Note: The vegetables should be cooked just enough to remove the rawness, they should have the crunch, hence all the vegetables are to be cooked  keeping the Wok on full gas flame, with continuous stirring.
5. Season all the vegetables with salt and pepper.
6. Add the boiled noodles to the vegetables, add both the sauces, and give it all a good stir so that all the ingredients gets mixed.
7. If eggs are to be added, make a scramble of 2 eggs and add it to the noodles or omit this step.
8. Finally sprinkle Aji-no-moto on the noodles, mix it well. Garnish with shredded/finely chopped green onions, and serve hot.

The chilli sauce added is as per choice. Vinegar- too can be added if preferred.