Masala Bread Pakora - A Hearty Winter Treat!

What do Mr. Potato Head, the Hot Potato game, and Fried Oreos & Twinkies have in common?

NOSTALGIA!!

These are some things we grew up with and still enjoy today. I remember my first time eating a fried Oreo? It was at a street festival in Little Italy, New York City. It was an interesting experience to say the least, but I enjoyed it. I added it to the many food memories I accumulated through the years. 

The appetizer pictured below is from one of my mom's foodie memories. She had it at an eatery long ago in India and has been making it for us every since. It is actually one of my sister's favorite treats to eat when she comes home for the holidays.

It's called Masala Bread Pakora! And the best part is that the crust is made using a slice of white bread. No need to make it from scratch. Picture to be posted soon!!


Ingredients for Stuffing:
- 1 lb Potatoes
- 1 Medium Onion, diced
- 1 Medium Tomato, diced
- ½ cup Frozen Carrots and Peas
- 3 to 4 Green Chilies, chopped finely
- ¼ cup Fresh Coriander, chopped
- 1 tsp Mustard seeds
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds
- 1 tsp Chat Masala
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice
- ½ tsp Turmeric
- 1 tsp Salt

Ingredients for Crust:
- 10 to 12 slices of Wonder White Bread (a few days old)
- 3 to 4 tbsp Vegetable oil

Procedure:
Cook potatoes in the microwave until soft (6 to 7 minutes) and peel off the skin. Then cut or mash roughly to 1 inch pieces and set aside. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a saucepan and add the cumin and mustard seeds. When they splutter, add onions and sauté for one to two minutes. Now add turmeric and then toss in the tomatoes, allowing them to soften. Next add the green chilies and salt. Mix well. Add in the mashed potatoes and carrots and peas, mix and cook for 5 minutes under closed lid. Later add lemon juice, chat masala and mix well. Finally, add the chopped coriander after removing from stove and mix again. Cool the vegetable curry for 10 minutes. 
Take a bread slice and moisten it slightly with water and place a quarter cup or ladle of the curry on the bread in the center diagonally and cover it with bread by pressing with your fingers (as shown in the picture below).

Use wet fingers if necessary to moisten the bread. Heat oil in the frying pan and fry the stuffed bread until golden brown (for 3 to 4 minutes) by turning sides for even frying.

 Serve hot with coriander chutney (recipe below). 

Coriander Chutney - A Simple Dipping Sauce for Bread Pakora:
Finely chop a small bunch of coriander. Roast quarter cup of peanuts. In a blender, grind the peanuts into a fine powder, then add the chopped coriander, one clove of garlic (husked), 2 green chilies (chopped finely), 1 teaspoon of tamarind paste, half teaspoon of salt and some water. Blend to a smooth paste.

A Whole New Way to Eat Asparagus!

My mom pulled off another successful Diwali / Thanksgiving dinner party with the help of her awesome and foodie expert daughter (me). We started a day early and finished just in time to serve our guests and enjoy the party as well. We made some our favorites (including the ever popular Asparagus Twists) and fusion dishes which turned out pretty well. I just wish I had more time to decorate the plate with these twists rather than stacking them the way I did. Alas, there's always next year...

These twists are a great way to enjoy asparagus. They are crispy, crunchy and if you add some seasoning, it helps add a bit more flavor. I borrowed the recipe from this Appetizers book I had and been trying to spice it up every year with the addition of new ingredients. 

This recipe must be a best kept secret because every year, more and more people are ask me about it. You have to try the recipe; if made correctly, you won't be disappointed! 

Ingredients:

- 16 Fresh Asparagus spears, chop off ends and blanch

- One pkt of Frozen Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets (each pkg has 2 sheets)

- 1 egg, beaten 

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 415 degrees Fahrenheit. Lay one sheet of puff pastry on a work surface. When it is thawed, brush it lightly with the egg and cut into 1.5cm (or 5/8") strips. Secure to one end of a blanched fresh asparagus spear. 

Wrap around and down the asparagus. Brush the end of the pastry with the egg and secure to the other end of the asparagus. Place the twisted spears on a lightly greased baking tray and bake them for 10-15 minutes or until puffed and golden. 

***Quick Tip: I made my own seasoning with the following ingredients to sprinkle on top of the pastry covered spears: shredded Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, chili powder and salt. However, I couldn't really taste the seasoning when I tried one of them. 

My recommendation is: 

- Lightly coat the blanched asparagus spears with some olive oil. Then roll or sprinkle the seasoning on the spears before they are twisted with the puff pastry sheet strips.  

- Other seasonings you can try are Madras Rasam powder, Vangibhath powder, or Sambhar powder.

A Bright & Joyful Holiday Celebration!

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, our Diwali festival plans were postponed until Thanksgiving. What better to celebrate the Festival of Lights than with lots of food and family. The holiday themed dinner is a blend both 'American' and Indian ingredients and this year my mom handed the task of planning the dinner menu to me. Woohoo!!

The dinner menu includes Asparagus Twists, Masala Bread Pakora, Glazed Sweet Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole, Orange and Mango Spritzer, Bombay Style Mixed Vegetable Biryani served with Tomato & Onion Raita, Creamy Cauliflower & Paneer Curry, Pumpkin Spiced Bread and Mixed Berry Cobbler.

GIVE THANKS, BE SAFE AND HAPPY EATING THIS HOLIDAY!!

Upma With A Twist!

Time to get all the ingredients together with Thanksgiving just around the corner. One of the most popular recipes, besides the Turkey, is the stuffing. The traditional way is making it from scratch or you can just buy the pre-made variety. Since we don't eat Turkey, that's not something we worry about. However, when we host the big dinner, we serve up some of the traditional dishes. Instead of Turkey, we usually make biryani or something hearty like koftas. Last year, we incorporated the stuffing by dressing it up a bit and making a dish out it...desi style. Have you ever heard of Stuffing Upma? You may have heard of stuffing and upma* separately, but have you heard of them together as one dish? We didn't think so and that is why you are seeing it now...in time for Thanksgiving. Serve up something new as part of the dinner or for the morning after. This recipe makes 4 to 6 servings.

Ingredients: 
- 1 packet (5oz/200g) of Bread Stuffing (plain variety, corn or wheat)
- 1 medium Onion, chopped (or use French's onion rings)
- 1 cup of Frozen Peas & Carrots
- 2 medium Tomatoes, cubed
- 1 cup of French Cut Beans, microwaved for 5 minutes
- ⅓ cup of Cashews, halved
- 6 to 8 Curry leaves (optional)
- 4 Green Chilies, finely chopped
- 1 inch piece of Ginger, finely chopped
- 1 tsp of Salt (or as needed)
- 1 tsp of each Whole Cumin and Mustard seeds
- 4 tbsp of Vegetable oil

Procedure:
1) Start off with preparing the seasoning for the dish by heating oil in a saucepan and adding cumin and mustard seeds. When they start to splatter, add cashews and fry them until golden. Then add onions, green chilies, ginger and saute until onions are caramelized.
2) Then add tomatoes and beans and stir until the tomatoes are cooked. Next add water as per the measurements on the stuffing packet.

Add salt, peas and carrots, and then allow the water to come to a boil, reduce the heat and mix in the stuffing quickly.

3) Stir until the vegetables and stuffing are mixed well and water is completely absorbed. Close the lid and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

Hint: For flavor enhancement, mix in a tbsp of butter and serve hot.

Upma is a popular South Indian breakfast item made with semolina, variety of vegetables, and spices.

No Turkey, No Problem!

Growing up in the United States, I learned quite a bit about all the holidays and their importance. My favorite holidays are Thanksgiving (lots of eating) and Christmas (lots of presents). Although we are not Christians, we still take part in the festivities. Every other year, we go over to my Uncle's place to spend the holiday with them and enjoy their arrangement of  Thanksgiving: Turkey, stuffing, baked sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and some kind of pie. We bring a couple of vegetarian dishes like green bean casserole and biryani to spice up the dinner variety.
This year my family decided to host the big dinner at our new house and invited a lot of family over for the weekend. Some stayed for the weekend since they were travelling from abroad. And boy, did we have our work cut out for us! My mom and I prepared the holiday weekend menu a week in advance so we could finish the grocery shopping and cooking in time for the bid day. Furthermore, Our Thanksgiving Dinner was moved to Friday to accommodate all the holiday guests.  Even though the holidays always seem to be the most stressful time of year...I love the feasting and stuffing our faces part.

Our Big Thanksgiving Dinner comprised of many dishes such as the ones illustrated above (starting from left to right): Chili bhajji, Cranberry chutney, Lavish Lilva beans, Pumpkin pulusu, Vegetable lo mein, Dahi vada, and Asparagus twists. These dishes were served with warm jeera rice and rotis.

Although, I thought I was in a food coma after dinner, I made sure I secured enough room for dessert. Some of our guests were kind enough to bring desserts and so we had a lot to choose from: Almond and cranberry Biscotti, apple pie with ice cream and rasmalai. We made rasmalai at home and it didn't take as long as I thought it would.

Over the next few days, we will be posting recipes for many of these mouth watering dishes for you to try at home.

Hey even though there was no turkey served for dinner, we all managed to burn off a few calories afterwards with the Turkey Dance!!