Samosa Chat – Ramadan …An event to share Chapter 3

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We are moving to our third guest for the series. 


Known as Kitchen Queen in the blogosphere, today we have Linsy from Home Cooked Food.  We both come from same state of Gujarat & ironically share the same surname. When I asked her for the guest post she offered me around five recipes to choose over. Wow. She is so much organized.  Her blog has wonderful vegetarian recipes & that too nutritious & healthy.
So Ms. Kitchen Queen, welcome to my space & thanks a lot for celebrating this series with us.

Humi asked me to do guest post in this holy month of Ramadan and without thinking I said yes. We were chatting on FB few times back and she is also from Gujarat so we hit instantly. She has an amazing blog with all kinds of Indian recipes. I am a regular visitor of her blog and she also visit me regularly so when she asked me to do guest post I said yes and that’s how this post is here on “Love of Food” which is the meaning of her blog.
 By now you all know me as “Kitchen Queen ” of HOME COOK FOOD. Who don’t know me for them my name is Linsy and food is my passion ,to cook variety of food which you can see on my blog. 
Right now let’s focus on “Samosa Chole Chat”.

Outside India, Samosa and Chiken Tikka are most famous in Indian cuisine. Any one who knows little about food they know about these dishes. So there is no need for explanation about that. Chole is spicy chickpea gravy which is also famous and make them together with sweet and tangy and spicy chutneys ,  sprinkle of tomato , onion and sev and specially its raining outside and you have hot bowl in hand, there is no words to describe it. Same thing happend to me too, when I made this it was raining outside and having this for diner was just awesome. I could have make three posts out of this one dish but I didn’t wanted to do that, its going to be long but its all worth it. so lets start it.
For Samosa outer layer :
2 cups of AP flour
salt to taste
4 tsp oil
1 tsp coriander seeds
Water as needed
Method:
Mix everything and make a nice soft dough. You need more oil for crispy samosa.
Keep it aside for 10 minutes.
For Samosa inner layer :
2 and half boiled and mashed potatoes
1/4 cup boiled green peas
1 small onion chopped
1 green chili chopped
2 tsp oil
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 and half tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
lime juice to taste
Method:
Mashed potatoes in a bowl. Add peas in it.
Heat a pan and add oil in it.
when its hot, add coriander seeds, when its changes it color, add onion and green chilies.
cook till its changes its color  then add turmeric powder , salt and mix it.
Add this mixture in potatoes . Mix it nicely and add lime juice and fresh coriander leaves too. I forgot to add it.
Test it for seasoning.
Prepare Samosa :
From the dough make 8 big balls.
Take one ball and flatten it , make big circle out of it.
Take a knife and cut it from middle.
Make a cone and fill up the stuffing nicely then seal it.
Make all the samosas and keep it aside.
Heat a pan with enough oil to fry it.
Fry it till becomes nice brown color from all side. Because of AP flour it will take to become brown , don’t rush it or put it on high flame, otherwise it will burn.
Ingredients for Chole
3 cups boiled chick peas
1 big onion finely chopped
1/4 cup tomato puree
3 tbsp chole masala ( I use everest brand)
salt to taste
1 tsp jeera
1/4 cup soaked and dry Soya granules ( you can use chunks too)
3 tsp oil
To Garnish :
Green chutney
Tamarind chutney
Yogurt
chopped onion, tomatoes and sev
Chole:
Heat a pan, add jeera in it. When changes it color, add onion in it and cook till it changes it color.
Then add chole masala and tomato puree and mix it well. cook till oil floats on top.
Add chick peas, granules and mix it well.
Add 1 cup of water and put it on medium flame to cook it. Chick peas has to absorb all the flavors so the lower the flame the more time chick peas has to take the flavors.
You need gravy so don’t wait till all the water is gone.
Assembly :
Take a bowl, broke samosa
Add all chutneys, sev, tomato and onion and serve it.
You can just it this way or
In a bowl , brake samosa, pour hot chole , add all the chutneys , sev, tomato and onion and enjoy it.
Thank you so much Humi for giving me a chance to share my recipe in this holy month and inviting me here.

Do check out her space for more awesome recipes @ HomeCookFood 

MEDOVIK / RUSSIAN HONEY CAKE – BP Challenge

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Time flies too fast. Its been a year for our Baking Partner group. Though I am  six month old in this group, but I feel real close to this close knit family. I have made very good friends through this group & Swathi you are the best. Love your openness, helpful nature. Thanks for making me a part of this celebration.

Happy Anniversary.And hope we go stronger with each month.

This month was very hectic as Ramadan was starting & I was shifting my office base to home.In between I just forgot to prepare for our Baking Partners Challenge. I thought of dunking it. But then realized how can I ?? I am the host this time.  Well this time Swathi asked me  & Saraswati to give some challenge to our wonderful group of Bakers. I suggested Medovik / Russian Honey Cake & Saraswati suggested  Lemon Glow Shiffon Cake.
So here’s my Russian Honey cake for the  celebration of  Baking Partners first anniversary.

MEDOVNIK (in Check & Slovakian), translated as HONEYCAKE or HONEYBREAD, is more than a cookie cake. This cake has its origin in Russia. This cake is known for its simplicity in terms of decoration.
 
 

Recipe adapted from AZ Cookbook & Momdish

Serves 12 persons makes 2  6″cake (with 4 layers)
 
For the Dough:
I
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp honey
80 gm unsalted butter, cut into cubes

II
1  tsp level baking soda
3 eggs


III
3 cups all-purpose flour

 
 
Method:
 
For the Dough
 
 
1.  In a separate bowl, mix together eggs & soda.
2.  Prepare the double boiler in such a manner that the bowl doesn’t touch the water
3.  In a heat proof bowl bring  together sugar, butter & honey. Stir continuously till it is melted & blended about 5 -6 minutes
4.  Pour the egg mixture into it stirring continuously
5.  At this stage the mixture will whiten & increase in quantity. 
6.  Remove the bowl from the heat & add in the flour gradually mixing with a spoon after each addition. Dough will sticky at this stage.
7.   Let it cool a little.
8.   In the meantime prepare the baking sheet.
9.   Now divide the dough into 8 equal parts
10. Roll each part. Place it on the baking sheet &  now place a 6″ plate on it. Trim the edges with a knife. Don’t remove the edges from baking sheet
11. Bake in the middle rack @ 180 degrees for 4 – 5 minutes till light brown.
12. Loosed the baked cookie with a spatula. & keep on the wire to cool
13. Repeat with all the remaining layers.
14. Keep the trim edges. this will be used to decorate the cake.
 
For the Filling & Icing:
I have not followed any measurements for the filling but gone just by adding here & there the below ingredients. But for the reference, I am adding the measurement or check this link
 
200 gm Butter (I used  50 gms )
225 gm / 8 ounce cream cheese ( I used around 125 gm)
450 gm / 16 ounce whipping cream (I used 125 ml)

1 tin condense milk / 12ounces

  1. Mix  all the ingredients to make the icing
  2. Take a layer of the cookie cake. Spread the icing on it.
  3. Top with other layer of cookie cake. Repeat for all the layers
  4. Lastly cover the cake with the filling
  5. Finely crush the trim of the cookie cake in the food processor. 
  6. Cover  the cake with the crushed trims 
  7. Cover the cake with the cling film & refrigerate overnight.
  8. This cakes serves best after 24 hours as it will absorb all the cream & become soft.
Baking Partners

Kala Chenna – Ramadan An event to share #Chapter 2

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Welcome to the Chapter 2 for the series Ramadan – An event to share. 
Today we have with us Suja from Pepper Bowl. I contact her few days back on FB  , asking her what she thought about Guest Posting. I don’t know what she thought but replied back  if I would like to guest post for her blog. ANd believe me in no time we were writing same sentences to each other.  This was happening so fast that she had to stop writing. And the same time I also stopped.Real Funny situation.
But foremost , I liked her enthusiasm & the positivity in her nature.Thanks Suja for accepting to be a part of this event. Today she has brought for us a wonderful Kala Chana dish which would be great for Iftars. 
Over to you Suja.

Snacking with Kala Chenna


Humi of “Gheza-e-shiriin” is in festive mood in celebrating her Ramzan.  Joining in one’s celebration is the happiest thing that spreads festive mood to everyone. We could always feel biryani flavor around us, whenever we spell ‘Ramzan’. 
To introduce myself, I’m Suja Md from ‘pepperbowl.com‘. When Humi asked me for a guest post for join her Ramzan celebration, I told her immediately that I would come up with high protein recipes. As everyone knows Kala Chenna is better healthy option for snacking time, which is loaded with tons of protein. Its good for all growing children. 

Ingredient:
Kala Chenna  – 250 grams
Chopped Onion  – 1/4 Cup
Chopped Cucumber  – 1/4 Cup
Chopped Carrot   -1/4th Cup
Chopped Cabbage  – 1/4th Cup
Chopped Chilies  – 1 tbsp(as per you wish)
Chopped Coriander Leaves  – 2 tbsp
Chopped Mint Leaves  – 1 tbsp
Chopped Capsicum  – 1 tbsp
Lemon Juice  – 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Method:


Soak Kala Chenna for about  4-6 hours. Pressure cook it for 5-7 min or until it becomes soft and firm. 
 
Chop finely onion, cucumber, cabbage, carrot, chilies, capsicum, coriander leaves, mint leaves.
 
Mix all the chopped veggies to cooked and drained Kala Chenna. Add lemon juice and salt accordingly.
 
This is perfect, healthy for snacking time. 

Do check out her space for more awesome recipes: Pepper Bowl

Ramadan An event to share – Chapter 1

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Welcome to my First event. Ramadan – An event to share.
Ramadan is the holiest month for muslims around the world.During this month we observe month long fast abstaining for food, drink from dawn to dusk. The purpose of fasting  is greater God-consciousness. From this awareness a person gains discipline, self-restraint and the ability to do good and give freely.  It also opens our eyes to the suffering of the less fortunate, their struggle for single meal of the day & makes us thankful for the things ,he the almighty has bestowed upon us.
Ironically the food is center part of this entire period. We prepare many varieties of savories  drinks & desserts also. So this event is all about FOOD, FOOD & food.
During this entire month, I am inviting  Non Bloggers & bloggers from various parts of the blogging world to share my space . We are celebrating the essence of Ramadan and its association with food.


Today we have  with us a very special person who has a lots of importance in my being who I am. 
She is the one who guided me through life
She is the one who taught me to find goodness in a person.
She is the one who consoled me when life was rough
She is the one who taught me to laugh in times of difficulties
She is the one who led me by her own example
She is the one who I admire in each part of life
She is one whom I can depend on forever
She is the pillar of strength

That beautiful person is my Mother.
So dear friends, today I have with me my ammi (mother) as a special non blogger person,the first guest post for this event. Ramadan- An event to share. 

So a very warmly welcome to my first guest Dr.Mrs.Anwarjahan. She used to teach in a university & was HOD (Head of Dept) for Urdu,Arabic & Persian department in MSU, Baroda. Now retired since 8 years, she is busy with attending calls from all her daughters and  making beautiful stuff  or purchasing all things in 4s for her daughters.
Since few weeks , she was insisting me on this special recipe, I should post on my blog. And I kept insisting  you prepare it for me & I will post it. So today she has graced us with this recipe which is very easy to prepare & taste just delicious. Well moms cooking is always best. No argument here.


I am just the narrator of the recipe here. The entire dish is prepared by her. Photographed by my beautiful sister(well well well she also has some surprise for us in store which will be disclosed as this event continues). 
So here comes the recipe. Enjoy …….Would love all your kind feedback.

AFGHANI GOSHT
Afghani Gosht

Recipe serves 3-4 people

Ingredients 

I
500gm Gosht/Mutton
1 green chilly (can be added more for more spice)
1tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 tbsp salt (adjust acc to taste)
2 tbsp oil

II
1 big potato cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 big tomato cut in 1/2 inch slices
1 big onion cut into 1/2 inch slices
oil for shallow frying

III
1 tbsp crushed black pepper (Adjust to your spice level)
3 -4 tbsp coriander powder

Afghani Gosht

Method:

  1. In a pressure cooker mix  no I ingredients & cook till gosht becomes tender for 2 -3 whistles. 
  2. Prepare the no II ingredients.
  3. Heat oil. Start with shallow frying the potatoes. Once done remove & keep aside
  4. Removed 3/4 oil from the pan & fry the onions for a minute. Remove & keep aside
  5. Now remove all the oil from the pan & place tomatoes on it. fry on both the sides till it gets some color but not mushy. Keep aside
Assemble the Afghani Gosht:
  1. Now we will start layering our veggies on the previously  cooked meat/ gosht.
  2. First of all spread the fried potatoes. Sprinkle black pepper powder, then chopped coriander
  3. Now comes the fried onion.Sprinkle black pepper powder, then chopped coriander
  4. Lastly spread the fried tomatoes.Sprinkle black pepper powder, then chopped coriander
  5. Close the lid of the cooker & keep it on dum on a medium flame for a minute.(or till one whistle)
  6. Ready to be served with roti. Don’t forget to garnish with fresh coriander leaves.
Afghani Gosht
NOTEs from Ammi
  • Boneless gosht / mutton works best for this recipe. (But there is no harm in using with   bones also)
  • Chicken can be substituted for this recipe
  • Don’t add water while boiling gosht/mutton. Let it cook in its own juices
  • Drain the oil properly from all the veggies.
  • Serve hot. 

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