Adana Kebab

Ingredients:
1lb Lamb Mince with fat
4-5 Garlic Cloves
1 Handful of Parsley
1 Onion
1 tablespoon Paprika
1 tablespoon Cumin Seeds
1 tablespoon Coriander Seeds
1 teaspoon Cinnamon Powder
Salt to taste


METHOD FOR KEBAB
1. Peel and finely chop the cloves
2. Finely chop the parsley
3. Peel and finely chop the onions as fine as you can
4. Place the mince in a bowl
5. Add the garlic, paprika, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cinnamon powder, salt and mix well with your hands till combined
6. Next add the onions and parsley and again mix well
7. Cover and leave to marinade for at least 1-2 hours.... overnight works best
8. NOTE: Traditionally the meat is placed on a long flat metal skewer and grilled as a long kebab but as I have little children I make smaller elongated oval kebabs
9. Wet your hands and shape the mince in oval elongated kebabs or bind to the skewers if you have them
10. Grill turning occasionally till meat is cooked
11. No need to add any oil as the fat in the mince will keep them nice and moist
12. Remove from grill & add to serving plate

Keema naan

Ingredients:
1 cup Bread Flour
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Butter
1 Tsp Caster Sugar
1 tsp Blend Dried Yeast
1 tsp Ginger paste
1tsp Garam Masala
1/2 cup chopped onion
100 ml Yoghurt
1/2 cup Minced Lamb
1/2 tsp Ground Cumin
1/2 tsp Ghee or Butter
2 tbsp Vegetable Oil

Method:

1. Mix flour and salt; rub in the butter.
2. Take a small glass bowl, Stir in sugar ,salt and yeast put in warm water and let it settle for 10 minutes.
3. Now put the flour in a kneading pan, make a well in the centre and pour in yoghurt and add the mixture of yeast and water which you prepared in step 2 above.
4. Knead the dough.
5. Once done cover it with damp cloth and leave to rise in a warm palce for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
5. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan and fry the mince for 5 mins. Add the onion,ginger paste and cook until softened.
6. Stir in the cumin, Garam Masala and a pinch of salt and cook for 2 minutes.
7. Now take the dough, it should have swelled up by now. Knock it back to remove the air.
8. Divide it into 6 equal portions.
9. Spread the dough ball into a flat surface, put lamb mixture and roll the dough into a ball again.
10. Now carefully pat the flour ball into a tear shape by patting by fingers.
11. If the flour mixture gets sticky and sticks to the surface you can spread some dry flour on the surface first.
12. Once the tear shaped Naan is properly spread and rolled out. Sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.
13. Put the Naan in a greased tray, and fry both sides.

Chicken Cheese Balls

 

 

Ingredients

3 slices white bread, torn into small bits (1 cup)

1/3 cup milk

2 small onions, finely chopped

1 tbsp. finely grated cheese

1 small garlic clove, minced

1 large egg

1 pound or 1/2 kg ground chicken (I used breast)

1 tbsp. tomato paste

3 tbsp. finely chopped parsley

1-2 tsp. chilli flakes (optional)

1-2 green chillies chopped (optional)

2 tbsp. ketchup

oil for greasing the pan

 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C with a rack in the middle.
2. In a small bowl, soak the bread in milk until softened.
3. Meanwhile, preheat a medium skillet over medium heat and sauté the onion, garlic, salt and pepper and cook until the onion is softened, about 6 minutes. Cool slightly.
4. Squeeze the bread to remove excess milk, then discard milk.
5. In a medium bowl, beat the egg, then add the chicken, tomato paste, parsley, cheese, onion mixture, chilli flakes, green chilli and the bread. Mix well and form 12-15 meatballs.
6. Lightly spray or oil a baking sheet (I used a 9×13 Pyrex dish) and place the meatballs in it.
7. Squeeze a little ketchup on top of each meatball and spread with a teaspoon.
8. Bake until the meatballs are cooked through, about 20 minutes.

 

 

 

Chicken Croissants

An experiment that worked out great!! The buns were soft and delicate, a perfect compliment to the yummy filling in the center! And without all that butter that goes in regular croissants too!!!

Filling recipe: (for 16 croissants)

 

Ingredients

¼ kg boneless chicken breast, chopped into small pieces
2 small capsicum, red and green if possible, grated or chopped finely
2 tbsp. sweet corn
1 grated carrot
1 small onion, chopped finely
1-2 green chilies, chopped
½ tsp. garlic paste
1 tsp. chopped coriander
salt to taste
½ tsp. grinded cumin powder
a pinch of tandoori masala (optional)
juice of half a lemon
1 tsp. soya sauce
1 tbsp. butter

Instructions

Heat the butter in a non-stick pan, add the onions and stir fry until they're translucent. Do not brown them. Add the chopped capsicum and grated carrot, stir-fry for about 5mins until they start to soften. Add the raw chicken pieces and keep stirring until they start browning. Add the chilies, garlic, salt, cumin powder, tandoori masala and sweet corn. Sauté until the chicken pieces become tender and well-done. If the mixture sticks to the pan and the chicken is not yet done, add a tbsp. of water and cover until ready. Make sure that the mixture is completely dry. Finally, add the coriander and soya sauce, mix well and switch off. Pour the lemon juice on the mixture, and whilst still hot, use a wooden spoon to smash the small pieces of chicken so that they become shredded. Adjust salt/chili to your taste.

PS: You can smoke the mixture with a coal and some oil to give it a nice bbq aroma. This mixture should be enough for around 16 croissants.

Dough recipe: (makes 8 croissants)

Ingredients

2 level teacups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
½ tsp. instant yeast
¼ tsp. baking powder
3 tbsp. softened butter
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
warm milk mixed with water about half a cup (although you could need more or less depending on flour/altitude etc.)

Instructions
Sieve the flour and add the yeast, baking powder, yeast, salt and sugar. Stir it so that it's all well mixed. Add 2 tbsp. of butter and 2tbsp veg oil. (Reserve the last tbsp. butter for later). Rub into the flour using finger tips until the flour has a crumbly texture. Gradually add the warm milk & water, stirring it in with a wooden spoon at first until the dough starts to hold together, and then continuing to knead together with your hands until the dough has softened. You need this dough slightly sticky, it's a menace to handle but the result is worth the trouble. Just oil your hands slightly to help with the stickiness and keep kneading...adding a little sprinkling of flour when it gets too sticky to handle until the dough is nice and well-kneaded and formed into a ball. Apply a touch of oil all over the ball of dough, place in a container and cover with a damp towel. Place in an airtight cupboard (or even in the oven or micro-wave) and leave it to rise to about double its original size. (40mins to an hour)

I have included step by step instructions here.

Roll out the dough on a floured surface into a huge circle of about 30cm diameter (use your fingertips to stretch the circle out when you feel you can’t roll with the pin any further), then rub half of the reserved tbsp. of butter all over this rolled out circle. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut the circle into quarters, then divide each quarter again to form eighths.

Take the first eighth of the circle; place your mixture of choice on the edge (where the perimeter of the circle used to be). Roll carefully towards the pointed edge (where the center of the circle used to be), tucking the pointy end underneath (you can make a small slit near this pointy end just to give the croissants a nicer appearance, although this is not a must...refer to pictures of my croissants to get what I mean). Curve down the edges of your rolled up croissant to form the crescent shape.

Place the croissants on a greased tray and cover them again for another half an hour so that the dough can rise again. Switch on the oven on medium high (around 175 degrees) and in the meantime, glaze the croissants with egg yolk to give them a nice color. Bake for about 12-15 mins depending on your oven's heat.

When ready, remove and place them on a cloth, and take the remaining half tbsp. of butter, and gently touch up the buns with it to give them a nice shiny soft finish...and they would smell heavenly too. Cover the buns in the cloth for about 10mins before serving. This gives the butter time to get absorbed fully into the croissants, thereby making them soft and extra delish. Serve warm!!

Source: Fauzia's Kitchen Fun

Chicken Nuggets

 

Ingredients

• 350 g skinless, boneless chicken breasts, (approx. 3 chicken breasts), cut into 2.5cm pieces
• 4 tbsp sunflower oil, for frying

For the marinade

• 200 ml buttermilk
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 100 g plain flour
• 1 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp water
• 75 g dry breadcrumbs or honey panko breadcrumbs
• 45 g freshly grated parmesan
• salt and pepper, to season

Method

1. Combine the marinade ingredients and soak the chicken pieces for 2 hours.

2. Put the flour on a large plate. Beat the egg with the water and season with salt and pepper. Mix the breadcrumbs and Parmesan on a large plate. Remove chicken cubes from the marinade, shaking off any excess, and toss them in the flour. Then dip the cubes in the egg mixture and roll in the breadcrumbs

3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and saute the chicken nuggets for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden and cooked through, turning occasionally. Alternatively, pre-heat oven to 200C/gas 6. Put the chicken nuggets on a generously oiled large baking sheet and bake for 18-20 minutes until the coating is crisp and the chicken cooked.

Chocolate Profiteroles

Ingredients

For the pastry

• 250ml/9fl oz water
• 100g/3½oz butter
• 125g/4½oz plain flour
• pinch salt
• pinch caster sugar
• 4 medium free-range eggs

For the chocolate sauce

• 100g/3½oz plain (dark) chocolate, broken into small pieces
• 3 tbsp golden syrup
• ½ orange, juice only

For the pistachio cream

• 300ml/10½fl oz double cream, cold
• 75g/2½oz shelled (unsalted) pistachios
• icing sugar, to taste

Preparation method

1. To make the choux pastry, bring the water to the boil in a heavy-bottomed pan. Add the butter to the water to melt.
   
2. Sieve together the flour, salt and sugar onto a piece of parchment paper. When the water and butter mixture has come up to a rolling boil, add the flour mixture straight into the pan.
   
3. Beat the dough continuously with a wooden spoon as it thickens. Continue beating until the dough is smooth and comes away from the sides of the pan cleanly. Remove the dough from the pan and place in a bowl to cool.
4. When the dough is cool, beat the eggs in a clean bowl with a fork. Gradually add in the beaten egg mixture a bit at a time, mixing well between each addition; the mixture should now be at dropping consistency, but still firm enough to be piped in a piping bag. (You may not need to use all of the beaten egg.)
   
5. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Sprinkle a non-stick baking tray with a bit of water. (This will create steam as the choux buns cook in the oven.)
   
6. Fill a plain-nozzle piping bag with the choux dough and pipe the dough into small buns about 5cm/2in in diameter onto the baking tray, leaving at least an inch between each bun.
   
7. Bake the choux buns in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until puffed, golden and crisp. Remove and cool on a cooling rack.
   
8. When they've cooled slightly, turn the buns over and pierce a hole in the base of each about the same size as the nozzle for the pastry bag and let them cool completely.
   
9. For the chocolate sauce, break the chocolate into a bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water (the water shouldn't touch the bottom of the bowl).
   
10. Add the golden syrup and the orange juice and allow the ingredients to melt together to form the sauce, stirring gently.
    
11. For the pistachio cream, using a hand whisk, whip the cream until it forms soft peaks.
    
12. Chop the pistachios and gently fold into the whipped cream. Gently stir in the icing sugar with a metal spoon.
13. Fill a clean piping bag with the pistachio cream and use to fill the cooled profiteroles.
    
14. To serve, arrange the profiteroles on a plate and drizzle the chocolate sauce over the top.
    

Muttabah

Ingredients
500grm Flaky pastry Filling
20ml Sunflower oil
500g Mutton or steak mince
5ml Salt
5ml Crushed dried Red chillies
5ml Ground Dhania
7 spinach leaves shredded
1 large brinjal grated
1 onion grated
250ml grated cheddar cheese
Topping
1 egg well beaten
150ml Milk
Method

1.Heat oil in a frying pan until luke warm.
2.Add mince salt chillies and dhania and cook for 15 minutes.
3.Add spinach, brinjal and onion and cook for a further 10 minutes.
4.Set aside to cool
5.Line an ovenproof dish with pastry.
6.Fill with the cooled mixture and cover with grated cheese.
7.Combine milk and egg well and pour over filling.
8.Bake at 200c for 20/30 minutes or until topping is set and pastry is nice and brown
9.Serve hot with mashed potatoes and salads.