Fried Onion Rings - For Tea Time

Winters have started with misty mornings and cold evenings. And cold evenings call for hot cups of ginger tea
along with some quick knick knacks. Although snacks can be as simple as biscuits or something sweet. But if you will ask my choice, then I am always on for something crunchy, crispy & salty. Most of the week I have to suffice myself with readymade items. But on weekends, I indulge myself fully in making every effort to enjoy my tea time.

Onion rings are simple "bhajiyas" which is usually made in any Indian home. But making crunchy rings is a trick which I have learnt from my mother and she has from her mother. When we keep sliced onions with salt. Then after few minutes they release water which is sufficient for making batter for bhajiyas. As soon as I got back home I salted the onions and kept them. Then I continued with my other things. After 10-15 minutes when I started, enough water was there. The aroma which started coming was in itself very overwhelming. Along with it I made hot cups of ginger tea. Both made wonderful combo. So what are you waiting, enjoy your cold winter evenings with something hot n crunchy.

This is off to the Tea Time Snack Event on Simple Indian Food.

Ingredients


2-3 large onions, peeled and thinly sliced in rings

1 cup of gram flour

1 cup of fresh green cillantro leaves chopped

¼ teaspoon of turmeric powder

¼ teaspoon of oregano

¼ teaspoon of fresh green chilies chopped fine

¼ teaspoon of red chili powder

Salt to taste

Oil as required for frying

Method

* In a large bowl add salt to the onion rings and leave for about 15-20 minutes.

* Then add gram flour followed by all the other ingredients.

* Mix well.

* In a wok, heat oil.

* Take out each onion ring or a small portion of the batter and drop into the hot oil.

* Deep fry till they turn golden brown in color.

* Pat the onion rings on an absorbent paper to soak the excess oil.

* Seve them hot with green chutney or cheese dip for tea.

Note: Don't use water, if you want to make crispy rings.

Broccoli Tikkis For The Evening Tea

With low temperatures, foggy weather and unwelcome showers, I found myself longing for something hot to warm my insides. Peeping into the refrigerator I realized I missed on buying the fresh stock of groceries. But the wet weather dampened my spirits of going out. Other than milk, cheese and butter, what called out to me was a bunch broccoli. My culinary mind started thinking and I decided on making Cheese Broccoli Tikkis which would be just perfect with hot glasses of tea. I prefer having tea in glasses rather than cups and I know most of the tea lovers would agree with me on this.

Ingredients

1 tsp olive oil
2 onions chopped
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 tbsp green chillies chopped
1 broccoli chopped
1-2 boiled potatoes grated
2-3 tbsp mozzarella cheese
1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper powder
1/4 cup bread crumbs
salt to taste
2-3 tbsp oil

Method

* In a frying pan heat 1 tbsp oil.
* Add onions and fry them till golden brown.
* Further add ginger garlic paste, green chillies, garam masala powder, black pepper powder and saute them for few minutes.
* Then add broccoli and salt. Mix well.
* Cook for few minutes till broccoli is tender.
* Remove from heat and let it cool.
* Add grated potatoes and mix properly.
* Make balls from the mixture or kebab like shapes.
* Cover them with breadcrumbs.
* Heat a non stick pan with 1 tbsp of oil and cook the tikkis.
* Let one side turn brown then the other.
* Serve them hot with yogurt dip or green chutney.

Note: You can make variations to the recipe. Like by making a thick chickpea flour paste and dipping the broccoli balls in it and then frying them. Although this method takes in much oil.

Frankie Rolls For Kids Evening Snacks

When I read Divya's post on monthly event Cooking For Kids with Healthy Evening Snacks as the theme, started by by Sharmi of Neivedyam, I began thinking what to make which could be healthy as well as kids would love. Snacking is important for growing kids to help meet their energy and nutrient needs, required for proper growth and development.


Most of the children are picky when it comes to food and making them eat is a big task in itself. At times singing, playing, cajoling etc nothing works. Better idea is to make the food tempting yet, in sync with their taste and healthy. Kids will gradually gain interest. One very important thing is variety, so keep experimenting. Try to be creative by using proper garnish, different shapes of molds and food colors. But the golden rule is not to force them to eat.

The best approach is to make food from the five food groups of the Food Guide Pyramid - Milk, Meat, Vegetable, Fruit, and Grain. So what could include all of this? A Frankie. A frankie is an Indian version of wraps or tortillas with a filling of meat, vegetables, cheese, eggs etc. According to the taste buds of your kids, you can make the filling.

Ingredients

4 wheat/flour tortillas
2-3 tbsp cilantro leaves (chopped)
1 onion (chopped)
1 tomato (chopped)
2-3 green chilies finely chopped
1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 teaspoon lemon juice
salt & pepper, to taste
2 tbsp grated cheese
2-3 tbsp olive oil

For different fillings-

Vegetables- 1 cup of assorted vegetables like carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, capsicum, cabbage, green beans etc

Eggs - 1 or 2 eggs as desired with assortment of grated or minutely chopped vegetables

Paneer (cottage cheese)- 2 cup of paneer diced

Chicken- 2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts shredded

Method

Preparing Filling

* In a wok heat oil on medium flame.
* Add chopped onion. Fry till they turn golden brow.
* Then, add ginger garlic paste followed by chopped tomatoes. Mix them and cook for few minutes.
* The spices are then added- pepper, salt, turmeric powder, cumin powder and lemon juice.
* Let the spices cook for further few minutes.
* Lastly, you can add vegetables, eggs, chicken or paneer according to the type of frankie you want to have.
* When the filling is cooked, add cilantro leaves and let it cool at room temperature.

** Only chicken frankie will take longer time to cook.
** For eggs, you will have to beat them and make into diced omelet.

Preparing Frankie

* Take a non stick with 1 tbsp oil. Heat it and add a tortilla.
* If you want you can brush a side of tortilla with egg also.
* Flip and cook from both sides, adding the filling on one side.
* Add grated cheese and roll the tortilla.
* Serve hot with tomato sauce or green chutney.

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.