Evening Madness - Fried Cheese Balls

It is a misconception that eating snacks leads to weight gain. If you eat healthy snacks, then there is a benefit of it. Evening snack will prevent you from feeling too hungry at dinner and overeating. You will prefer something light like soup or lentils and bread, giving you a sound sleep at night.

As soon as I get back home from work, I am hungry. I had to have snacks. Usually I try to have healthy snacks like a quick chickpea salad or slices of brown bread with peanut butter during weekdays. But at times I am unable to resist myself on gorging more calories than that is justifiable with some fried snacks. This mostly happens on weekends, when I have plenty of time and I have been through a lot of food blogs. Cheese balls are yummy. Melted cheese will give you a gooey feeling and the aroma is just wonderful. Eat them hot only, dipped in green chutney or sauce with a hot cup of tea or coffee.

Ingredients

1 cup grated cheese
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon black pepper powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup bread crumbs
oil for frying
salt to taste

Method

* In a large bowl mix cheese, flour, eggs, black pepper, chili powder, baking powder and salt to taste making a thick consistency.
* Beat it into a fluffy batter. Take care in beating, as a proper batter makes cheese balls tastier.
* Leave it for 15-20 minutes.
* Make round balls from the batter and brush them with breadcrumbs.
* In a wok, heat oil and deep fry them, till golden in color.

Chicken Samosas - Flavor Of The Season

Sifting through the newspaper, a news on Chicken Samosas caught my eye. President Barack Obama had served them with other dishes at a White House Reception hosted for ambassadors this monday. Being a foodie, most of the time I am in search of culinary delights which I could make to suffice my taste buds. But this news made me hungry and I could think of nothing else other than samosas. Monsoon drizzle had made the weather also perfect. Only ingredient that my kitchen lacked for making chicken samosas was chicken. Usually I had never made so much effort for making anything. But samosas made me make that extra effort. I immediately went to the market and bought some boneless chicken.

Making samosas is not a very difficult task. The only difficulty is in giving the right shape and closing them properly. As soon as you start frying them, your kitchen will be filled with a nice aroma as my had. Finally when I took the first bite, I knew that all of my efforts had paid. I cuddled up on the terrace with piping hot samosas dipped into tangy chutney and a hot cup of tea. For vegan variations, instead of chicken filling you can try the original Indian potato filling. Try it out, and if you don’t get hooked, I’ll eat it all of them on my own!

Ingredients
For dough
2 cup all purpose flour
2 tbsp oil
1 cup Water
pinch of salt

For filling
2 cups of boneless chicken shredded
1 large onion chopped
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
coriander leaves
2 tbsp Garam Masala Powder
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1 tsp. turmeric powder
salt to taste
oil for frying

Method
Preparing Dough
* In a bowl mix together flour, salt and oil. With hands mix it well till the mixture is coarse.
* Add water and knead into a smooth dough.
* Leave it for about half an hour and prepare the filling in the meantime.


Preparing Filling
* In a saucepan heat 2 tbsp of oil. Add cumin seeds.
* Then add chopped onions. Fry till golden brown.
* Add rest of the spices- garam masala, turmeric powder, salt and ginger garlic paste.
* When the spices are cooked add minced chicken and let it cook for few minutes.
* Add chopped coriander mix well.
* Let the chicken filling cool before making samosas.

Making Samosas
* Make small balls from the dough. Roll each ball into a big round. It should not be very thin.
* Cut it into 2 halves using a knife. Pick one half and make a cone out of it.
* Add the filling into the cone. Seam the mouth and open edges with a little water, by pressing the ends. Take care in doing this so that it may not open while frying.
* Do the same with the rest of the dough.
* When done, heat oil in a wok and deep fry all the samosas till golden brown.
* Serve them hot with yogurt and green chutney or cilantro yogurt dip.

Note: To remove excess oil, press the samosas on paper napkins.

Roasted Potato Wedges - Heaven On Plate

Crispy on outside and velvety inside, roasted potato wedges are the perfect low calorie appetizers. Sprinkle a few herbs and you have heaven on a plate. It is also recommended that 50% of our diet should consist of carbohydrate, mainly from starchy foods like potatoes. They are a rich source of fiber, potassium and vitamin C

From my childhood years, I have been in love with the potatoes and never could grow out of them. Initially I used to hate the skin of potatoes, then I got to know the nutritional value of the skins one day, while going through an article in newspaper, I prefer the potatoes with skin. Potato skins store many nutrients and also contain a lot of fiber which is essential for a healthy diet. Leaving the potato skins on the potato also helps contain the nutrients in the flesh of the potato which has a tendency to escape during cooking. Even it saves a lot of time. What is important is that they should be washed with utmost care.


Ingredients

* 5 large potatoes
* 4-5 tbsp vegetable oil
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
* salt to taste
* 1 teaspoon black pepper
* 1 teaspoon red chili powder ( if you like it to be spicy )

Method

* Scrub and wash potatoes properly
* Pat them dry and cut lengthwise into thick wedges (peeling is not necessary, depends on what
* In a large boil add potato wedges and toss them with oil, butter, salt, pepper
* Arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet
* Roast them for 15 minutes in a preheated oven at 450 degrees.
* Shake around. Stir.
* Bake for another 20 minutes. Turning occasionally with a wide spatula, until potatoes are golden brown and tender when pierced
* Take them out. Check the seasoning. Add more if necessary.
* Sprinkle with herbs.
* Serve immediately.