Falafel

Ingredients

1tinchickpeas(drained well)
1mediumred onion
2medium clovesgarlic(finely chopped/grated)
1teaspoonground cumin
1teaspoonchilli powder
1teaspoonchilli flakes
1teaspoonground coriander
2teaspoonsmint sauce(or fresh mint)
2tablespoonsplain flour
1pinch ofsalt pepper
25mlvegetable oil
2tablespoons fresh parsley(chopped)

Method
Start off by blending onion & garlic. Preheat oven to 200ºC. Then, add remaining ingredients (except oil) and blend until desired consistency or until everything is well combined and a fine mix. Taste for spice and seasoning – adjust accordingly.

Now, you can make standard falafel (around 8-10) or falafel burgers (4-5).

Form into balls, place on baking sheet and press down slightly. Brush with a tiny amount of vegetable oil, and bake for 20-25 mins until hot in middle and crisp.

Alternatively, you can fry in a hot pan for about 2 minutes on both side, then finish in a hot oven for 10 minutes.  - See more

Source: www.nigella.com

Potato and Peas Samosas

 

 

(making 16 mini ones)

For the filling
 
-2 potatoes diced
-1 onion chopped
-2 green chilli chopped
-2 tbsp chopped coriander
-2 tbsp frozen peas
-1/2 tsp ginger mince

-1/2 tsp whole cumin
-1/2 tsp mustard seed
-1/4 tsp fennel seed
-1/4 tsp chilli flakes
-Pinch of onion seed
-Pinch of asofoeda

Heat 2-3tbsp oil add the cumin, mustard seeds, fennel seeds, and onion seed and stir.
Wait till it pops then add the onion and ginger and stir on high heat for 2 mins.
Put heat down to medium and cook for 2 mins.

Add asasifeoda, chilli and coriander powder and salt and stir for 2 mins on high heat.
Add the cubed potatoes and stir for 3 mins.

Add 1/2 cup water and cook on low heat covered for 10 mins or until potato cubes are mushy soft.

Add the frozen peas
(If you're using fresh peas add it earlier on, at the stage when you add the water to the potatoes)
Mix in the chopped coriander and chillies too with the peas.
Leave for another 2 mins on low heat then turn off the heat.
Let it cool before filling.

Samosa dough recipe:

-2 cups flour
-3/4 cup Water
-1/4 cup Oil/ghee
-1/2 tsp Salt

Get the flour, oil/ghee and salt in a bowl and then using your finger tips rub the mixture till you get crumb like texture.

Gradually add water little bit at a time as you're kneading it into a dough.
The dough needs to be firm.

Cover dough and keep aside for 20 mins

Get the dough and knead again and divide into equal sized balls. (This recipe will make 8)

Roll out each ball into
oval like circle then cut in half

Brush water around the flat edge of one Half.
Make a cone bringing both ends together slightly overlapping.
Press it down to close in the middle.

Put the filling in and make a fold on the top flap, bring it over and pinch to close together.

To fry the samosas~

To get crispy somosas:

heat the oil to a high temperature and then put the samosas into the hot oil.
reduce the heat to low after 10 secs and fry the samosa.
Cook it till golden and crispy.

Important: don't put directly into low heat oil or you'll get oily somosas. And also if you continue cooking on high heat somosas won't be as crispy

Take out onto a paper towel to absorb excess oil.

For healthy option.

Foil and grease a ovenproof tray.
Place the somosas on top and bake for 30mins at 180'c/gas mark 4

Serve with your favourite sauce/chutney

Source: Ramadan Recipes

Cheese and Tomato Panini

Ingredients
4 ciabatta sandwich rolls
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup basil pesto
8 slices mozzarella cheese
1 medium tomato, cut into 8 thin slices
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions
1 Heat closed contact grill 5 minutes.

2 Cut each roll in half horizontally; brush outside of each half with oil. Spread pesto on inside of both halves. Layer each sandwich with cheese and tomato. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

3 When grill is heated, place sandwiches on grill. Close grill; grill 4 minutes or until bread is toasty and cheese is melted. Slice sandwiches on diagonal and serve warm.

Spicy Vegetable Wrap

Ingredients:

• 300g sweet potatoes , peeled and cubed
• 400g can peeled plum tomatoes
• 400g can chickpeas , drained
• ½ tsp dried chilli flakes
• 2 tbsp mild curry paste
• 100g baby spinach leaves
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh corriander
• 4 plain chapatis (Indian flatbreads)/wraps
• 4 tbsp fat-free Greek yogurt 

Method:

1. Cook the sweet potatoes in a pan of boiling water for 10-12 minutes until tender. Meanwhile, put the tomatoes, chickpeas, chilli flakes and curry paste in another pan and simmer gently for about 5 minutes.
2. Preheat the grill. Drain the sweet potatoes and add to the tomato mixture. Stir in the spinach and cook for a minute until just starting to wilt. Stir in the coriander, season to taste and keep warm.
3. Sprinkle the chapatis with a little water and grill for 20-30 seconds each side. Spoon on the filling, top with yogurt and fold in half to serve.

 

Bhelpuri

Ingredients:-

* 2 cups Puffed rice
* 1 Onion, peeled and finely chopped
* 1 Tomato finely chopped
* Coriander leaves, finely chopped
* 2-3 tbsp Peanuts, roasted
* Raw Mango – small piece, finely chopped (optional)
* 4-6 tbsp Sev
* 1/2 cup Crispy Puris
* 1 tsp Red chilli Powder
* 2-3 green chillies chopped (Optional)
* Salt to taste
* Tamarind Chutney to taste
* Green Chutney to taste


Method:-

1) In a medium bowl, mix together Puffed Rice, Onions, Tomatoes, Raw Mango, Cilantro red Chilli Powder,salt,green chillies and peanuts.
2) Add Tamarind Chutney and Green Chutney according to your taste. Remember that Tamarind Chutney is sweet and Green Chutney is hot and sour.
3) Lightly crush and add the nimkis / puris.
4) Mix well and serve immediately by garnishing with chopped coriander leaves and sev.

Source: http://momrecipies.blogspot.co.uk

Aloo Tikki Chaat

Ingredients:
For Aloo Tikki:

Potatoes 5 large
Bread Slices 2 -3
Garam Masala pwd ½ tsp
Roasted Jeera/Cumin Pwd 1 tsp
Coriander Powder ½ tsp
Corn Flour 1 tbsp+
Oil, for shallow frying
Salt to taste

For Date and Tamarind Chutney:

8 10 deseeded dates
2 tbsp tamarind pulp
1/4 cup jaggery
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp cumin powder
Salt to taste

Chole
Green chutney

Curd, beaten till smooth
Cumin powder
1 tbsp sugar
Finely chopped Onions
Fine sev to garnish
Red chilli powder
Chopped coriander leaves.


Method:

1. Prepare green coriander chutney

2. Prepare tamarind chutney.(better make both chutney's one day in advance)

Bring tamarind pulp to a boil. Add date paste and jaggery.
Then add red chilli powder , cumin powder and salt to taste. Adjust the spices and consistency, switch off the gas and let it cool. This can be stored in the air tight jar in the fridge for later use.

Alternatively, grind all the ingredients, along with little water, to make a thick chutney.

3. Make spicy Chole.

4. Yogurt Filling:
Beat the curd till its smooth without any lumps(add a bit water ,if too thick). Now mix in roasted cumin powder, sugar and salt to taste.

5. Aloo Tikki:

Boil potato till tender, peel and mash well(or better grate them for even consistency).
Remove the edges of bread slices. Dip the slices in water and squeeze them between your palms to remove the water. Crumble them with hands and add to the mashed potatoes. Also, bread crumbs can be directly added to mashed potatoes.
Mix in all the spices ; garam masala, roasted cumin powder, coriander powder, salt to taste and corn flour and mix well. Adjust the corn flour as required, it helps in binding and hence proper shape of tikki's.
Take a small lump and make a small ball. Press it down to shape it into round shape (about 1 cm thick ) to amke a tikki.
Heat tawa/griddle , put about 1 tsp oil, and shallow fry all the tikki's on medium to low heat on both the sides till they turn golden brown in color.
Repeat with all the tikkies and place them in a paper napkin to remove excess oil.


Assemble and Serve:

Place 2-3 hot Aloo Tikkies on serving plate.
Pour about 2 ladles full of Chole. Then add about 2 tablespoons of spiced yogurt.Then drizzle about a spoon each of Sweet Date-Tamarind Chutney and Green Chutney.
Finally garnish with chopped onion, sev and chopped coriander leaves.
Sprinkle a bit of red chilli powder and cumin power on top of it and serve immediately.

Paneer Tikka

You will Need

• 200gms of Paneer
• One Onion,Tomato,Capsicum
• Sour cream or Hung Curd
• A pinch of Turmeric powder
• Half a tsp of Chilli Powder
• Half a tsp of Garam Masala Powder
• Half a tsp of Chat Masala Powder
• Half a tsp of Ginger garlic paste
• Salt to taste
• One tbs of Lime juice
• Few Skewers

How to
1.Soak the skewer sticks in water to protect it from burning or turning black.Cut the paneer in to medium sized blocks.dice the onions,capsicum,tomato(remove the pulpy part ) into same size as the Paneer.

2.For preparing the hung curd hand half a cup of curd in a muslin cloth for an hour.Mix the sour cream or hung curd with salt,turmeric,chilli,both masalas,lime juice and mix well.

3.Marinate the paneer blocks with the above mixture and leave it in the refrigerator for half an hour. If you want, you can marinate the vegetables too.

4.Arrange the paneer and the vegetables in the skewer as shown in the picture.

5.Preheat the oven at 230 degrees and bake it for 12 minutes or until the edges of the Paneer becomes brown. We do not like the smoky taste too much, so mine has not turned black at the edges (like the ones in restaurants).We all like it this way so I stopped baking further. If you like it smoky, bake it further for few more minutes.
If you are making on the tawa heat the tawa spread few tbs of oil and shallow fry the tikkas with vegetables in the skewers.Turn on all sides and fry uniformly until required.
After baking sprinkle chat masala powder and lime juice on top and serve with green chutney and some onions.
Source: umakitchen.com

Cauliflower Curry

Ingredients:

1 medium cauliflower

60ml cooking oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

5 ml jeera (cumin) seeds

2 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

5ml chillli powder

2.5 ml borriee(turmeric)

1 ml ground koljander (coriander)

10 ml garam masala

30 ml fresh lemon juice

Method:

Break the cauliflower into florets and slice the remaining stem. Wash and soak in cold water for about 15 minutes, then drain well. Heat the oil in a deep saucepan and fry the onion until golden brown. Add the jeera seeds and the potatoes and fry for about 30 minutes. Stir in the cauliflower and fry for about 5 minutes, or until potatoes and cauliflower are tender and the mixture is dry. Add a little water during cooking to prevent the mixture sticking. Serve with rotis or white rice.

Variation:

Five minutes before removing the curry from the heat, add 125 ml green peas.

Samosa Chaat

Ingredients
For Samosa:
All purpose flour 2 cups
Carom seeds ½ tsp
Salt ½ tsp
Ghee 2 tbsp
Water to knead

For Samosa Fillings:
Potatoes 2 (boiled)
Green chilies 2 (chopped)
Coriander leaves 1 tbsp (chopped)
Red chili ½ tsp (crushed)
Chaat spice (chaat masala) ½ tsp
Salt ¼ tsp

For Chaat:
Samosas 2
Chickpeas ½ cup (boiled)
Yogurt ½ cup (beaten)
Chili powder ½ tsp
Chat spice ½ tsp
Onion 2 tbsp (chopped)
Mint chutney 2 tbsp
Tamarind chutney 4 tbsp
Sev 2 – 3 tbsp (chopped)

Method:

For Filling: Mash potatoes and mix with all the ingredients of samosa filling.

For Samsosa: In a bowl mix together all purpose flour, salt, carom seeds and ghee, knead with required water.

Cover and leave to rest for 30 minutes, make into balls, roll into a oblong. Cut from centre into two fill with potato stuffing, seal as shown.

Deep fry samosa on low flame till golden brown and crisp.

Remove and keep aside.

To Serve: In a plate put 2 samosas, press the samosas so that they break slightly, add the chickpeas and yogurt, sprinkle with chili powder and chaat spice.

Drizzle tamarind chutney, onion, mint chutney and garnish with sev.

Aloo Tikki

Ingredients:
3 large boiled aloo (potatoes)
1 tsp salt or as per taste
1/4th tsp ground black pepper
For Stuffing:
2/3rd cup matar (green peas) cooked or frozen peas defrosted
1/2 tbsp scrapped and minced ginger
1/4th tsp garam masala
1/4th tsp salt or to taste
Red chili powder to taste (optional)
1tsp coarsely ground dry-roasted cumin seeds
Oil for pan-frying.

Method:
Take the cooked or defrosted peas (matar) and mash them using a spoon or a fork. Add all the stuffing ingredients except oil and mash briefly.
Divide the mixture into 10 equal portions and keep aside.
Peel the potatoes and mash them very finely into smooth mashed potatoes. Add salt and pepper and knead until properly mixed.
Divide it into 10 equal portions.
Now wash and dry your hands and rub them with little oil.
Take each portion of potato mixture and make a ball.
Now taking one at a time, gently flatten each ball into a round patty of about 1/2-inch thick and place a portion of stuffing in the center and fold the edges together very finely so that mixture does not come out.
Now very gently flatten it into a 2-inch patty. Repeat the procedure for all pieces.
Heat 1 tsp. oil in a non-stick pan over a low heat. Slip in the patties, not too many at a time, and pan-fry on both sides till crisp golden brown, adding oil if required, on a very low heat.
Serve aloo tikki hot with chutney and stirred curd.
Note : Boil potatoes until fork-tender. Preferably, potatoes should be boiled well in advance before use. It would be better if they can be refrigerated for a short time.

Onion Bhajis

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion , sliced
• 200 g chickpea flour
• 1 tsp baking powder ,
• 2 tbsp rice flour
• ½ tsp chilli powder
• ½ tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp cumin powder
• ½ tsp coriander powder
• some salt
• 100 ml water
• 750 ml vegetable oil
• 1 saucepan
• 1 bowl
• 1 whisk
• 1 spoon
• 1 slotted spoon
• tray lined with paper towels

Method:

Put the oil into the pan and place it on a medium-high heat.

In a bowl, combine the chickpea flour, rice flour, baking powder, chilli, turmeric, cumin, coriander, salt and the water. Mix it together well and add the sliced onion.

Check the temperature of the oil by dropping a little batter into it. If it fries slowly, it is at the right temperature.

Carefully drop spoons of batter into the oil, making sure not to overcrowd the pan, which will make them stick together. Fry them for about 1-2 minutes or until the batter becomes a lovely golden brown. Remove them, place them to drain on the paper-lined tray, and repeat until all the bhaji are cooked.

Sprinkle over a little salt and your onion bhaji are ready to serve. They make a perfect appetiser and go well with coriander chutney or cucumber raita, both of which can be found on our website. Enjoy!

Spicy Couscous Salad

Ingredients:
410g can plum tomatoes drained
3-4 spring onions thinly sliced
5ml sun flower oil
62ml seedless raisins
300ml water
5ml ground jeeru
1ml ground turmeric (arad)
1ml ground taj
300ml couscous
30ml chopped mint
45ml parsley finely chopped

Method:
chopped tomato and leave to drain through a fine sieve. Sauté spring onions heated oil, stirring for 1 minute over medium heat.

stir in tomatoes, raisins water and spices and bring to boil. Stir in couscous will have absorbed the liquid. Leave to cool.

fold in mint and parsley.

Stir Fry Vegetable Pasta Salad

Ingredients:
200g bowtie pasta
1 red pepper, cut in half and pips removed
1 yellow pepper, cut in half and pips removed
6-8 carrots
1 punnet mushrooms
6-8 baby marrows, washed
100g sow peas
100g walnuts halved
100g sun dried tomatoes, cut into strips oil for stir frying

Dressing:
125ml oil
60ml lemon juice
5ml dried mixed herbs
20ml crushed garlic
2 green chillies, finely chopped
Salt to taste

Method:
Prepared the dressing first by whisking all ingredients together. Check seasoning and adjusting to personal taste. Leave aside until required.

Heat oven to 180C. Cook pasta in lots of boiling water until al dente. Rinse well, and drain. Once cooled, place pasta in a large bowl and keep aside.

Rub the skin of the red pepper with a little oil and roast at 180C until skin blisters. Remove from oven and place in a plastic bag to sweat. Once cooled peel the skin off the peppers. Slice peppers into neat strips and keep aside.

Cut carrot into Julienne strips and keep aside. Cut the baby marrows in half length wise and then cut each half at an angle.

Heat a wok or fairly large pan. Add a little oil and stir fry carrots until just soft, they must still retain their shape and colour. Add to pasta and mix. Stir fry mushrooms until just browned. Add to pasta and mix. Stir fry marrows until just soft. Add to pasta and mix. Season with salt. Mix in the sliced peppers, sun dried tomatoes and nuts. Pour the dressing over the warm veggies and pasta and mix through gently.

Place in a decorative bowl and serve at room temperature.