Paneer and Vegetable Puffs

Puff is one delicious snack which I love a lot. Didn't know it was this easy to make at home.  Wanted to try this for a long time and yeah, got a chance last weekend to prepare this. Once the filling is ready, its very easy to prepare. Hubby was asking for more and more.. :) Got some tips for this recipe from Ramya, my dear friend. Hop over to her photography blog to find some interesting photographs captured by her.

Ingredients:

Puff Pastry sheet - as needed ( I took one)
For the Filling:
Medium potato - 2 (wash, peel, boil and mash)
Scrambled Paneer - 1/2 cup
Peas and carrot - 1/2 cup(i used frozen)
Green bell peper - chopped - 1/4 cup

Dry powders:

      Fennel powder - 1 tsp

      Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp

      Chaat Masala =- 1/2 tsp

      Mango powder - 1/2 tsp

      Turmeric - 1/4 tsp

      Corainder powder - 1/2 tsp

      Salt - as needed

Oil - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 2 tsp

Preparation:

• Thaw the pastry sheets according to the instructions given. I thawed for 40 mins. I used Pepperidge brand.
• Meanwhile heat a pan, add oil, once hot add cumin seeds, carrot and peas, bell pepper, salt
• Fry this well until they are tender.
• Add all the dry powders, mix well, add mashed potatoes, paneer, mix well until raw smell of masala goes off.
• Add some coriander leaves if you like.
• Keep this aside to cool off before using it..
• Preheat the oven to 400F.
• One the sheets are dry, cut them into desired shape squares/rectangles. Take one portion, place 2 tsp of filling inside, apply some water in the ends, close one end of the square with another tightly like a puff shape. Ensure filling doesn't come out.
• Do this for remaining portions.
• Place them in a tray and bake for 25 mins.

Puffs are ready to be served with tomato ketchup.. Enjoy.

Bhel Puri

Who doesn't love Bhel Puris?? Its all of our favorite and being in the US I can't taste a bhel puri like how i used to get in chennai. So I decided to make my own at home which I learnt from my mom. She used to prepare this tasty bhel puri as an evening snack for me during my college days and during my working days. Good old memories :). Its so filling and nutritious. Can't imagine a better evening snack.

Ingredients:

(for 1 person)
Bhel Mix - 1 cup(Got this from Indian grocery store which is a mixture of puffed rice and sev with spices)

For the Bhel puri chutney:

Grind the following to a smooth and a thick paste adding little water.:
Chopped Mint leaves - 2 tsp
Chopped coriander leaves - 1 tsp
Dates - 3 (chopped)
Tamarind paste - 1 tsp
Jaggery - 1 tsp
Green chilly - 2
Garlic - 1 pod(optional)

Other ingredients:

Chopped onions  - 2 tsp
Chopped tomatoes - 2 tsp(without seeds)
Chopped cucumber - 3 tsp
Chopped coriander leaves - as needed
Grated carrot - 1/4 cup
(You can use the above according to your taste level thou')

Preparation:

In a bowl add the bhel mix, 2 tsp of the prepared paste and the other ingredients listed. Mix them gently and garnish with coriander leaves.

Sending this to event "Walk through the Memory Lane" by Gayathri.

Also to "Healthy Recipe Hunt-2" (puffed rice/pori) by Kurinji.

NOTE: You can store the Bhel puri paste in refrigerator upto a month and use it.

Thattai(South Indian Snack)

Made this for the first time and happy that it turned out crunchy, tasty and the way I expected. We can make so many pieces as much as we can at a time so that we can have a bite whenever we want with tea.:)

Ingredients:

Rice Flour - 6 cups
Urad Dhal Flour - 1 cup
Curry leaves - few
salt - to taste
White Sesame seeds - 2 spoons
Asafoetida - 1/4 spoon
Chilly powder - 2 spoons or to your spice level
Soaked Channa Dal - 2 spoons(soak it for half hour in hot water and use it)

Oil - for deep fry

Preparation:

• Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, add little water at a time and make a firm dough. Add little oil at the end for smoothness but this is optional.
• Rest this for 5 mins.

• Now make small lemon size balls out of it.

• Meanwhile heat the oil for deep frying in a frying pan.
• Now take a plastic sheet greased with oil. place one ball on it, and press well (by hand or using the base tip of stainless steel cup) to make a small circle. It should not be too thin/thick.
• Do this for the remaining balls.
• Grease more oil on the plastic sheet if you feel its sticky.
• Now deep fry them in oil until brown on both sides.
• If the sound of frying in the oil reduces rapidly, you can take out the thattais and drain them in paper towel. Check whether they are crunchy and not soft.
• Once they cool down, place them in a container.

Once stored in a an air tight contatiner,we can use even upto a month.

You can also reduce the amount of flour used to make them less in quantity but the ratio should be 1:6-----Urad Dhal Flour:Rice Flour.

For making Urad Dhal Flour - Just take 1 cup of urad dhal, dry roast in a pan until light brown,cool off and grind into powder.

Sending this to "Deep Fried Snacks" event hosted by Tickling Palates.

Onion Samosas

I always loved samosas from my childhood. I remember me and family members having samosas daily from a famous shop in Anna Nagar during my school days. My brother was responsible for getting them on the way back home. We would just finish it off before it loses its hotness. Good old memories ... hm....

Lets get into the recipe now...:).For a long time, I was dreaming of making samosas (that too perfect) at home. Yesterday when I made it, wow, even I could not believe. It was so tasty, crunchy and the way I expected. I browsed many samosa recipes online and made one according to my preference. Here it goes...!

Ingredients:

(for 8 medium samosas)

For the samosa sheet:

Whole wheat flour - 1/2 cup
All purpose flour(maida) - 1/2 cup
Oil - 1 spoon
salt - 1/4 spoon
Luke warm water  - as needed for kneading the dough

For the filling:

Roughly Chopped onions - 1 cup
Poha(Aval) - 1/2 cup(for crispiness and also to absorb the moisture given out by onions while frying)
Chaat Masala - 1/4 spoon
Chilly powder - 1/2 spoon or to ur spice level
Garam Masala - a pinch
Salt - as needed
Turmeric - a pinch
Coriander leaves(chopped) - 1/2 cup

Oil - for deep frying

Preparation:

• Mix all the ingredients for the sheet until you make a soft dough. Leave it aside for 15 mins.
• Meanwhile mix all the ingredients for the filling and keep it aside.
• Now make 8 smooth lemon sized balls from the dough.
• Take the first ball, roll it into a circle like a chapathi(should be thin enough, use maida for ease of rolling). Cut the circle in the middle.
• Do the above step for the remaining balls.
• Now take each semi circle in a heated pan and mildly heat both sides by turning over until they become slightly dry.(do not make it brown or over cooked. this is just to make the sheets little dry so that it is easy to make the cone shapes)
• Now take one dried sheet, wet the edge facing you and bring the ends of that sheet together like a cone shape.
• Take one spoon of the filling, stuff it inside the cone and close the cone after wetting the corners of the cone top.
• Do this for the remaining lemon sized balls.

Before frying:

 

• Now drop the samosas one by one in the hot oil(the oil should not be too cold nor too hot).
• Fry both sides of them until golden brown. Drain them in the paper towel. 

After frying:

(If the samosas have not come out crunchier, then you oil might have been a bit cold while frying)

Spicy and crunchy samosas are ready. Have a bite and enjoy your winter snack..!!

Crispy Maida Biscuits

My all time favorite snack is the Maida biscuits. It can be made as a sweet or as a spicy snack. Since I have tried the sweet flavor many times at home and got bored, this time thought of preparing spicy biscuits. Having these munchies during winter as a side for tea,....wow. what else do you need...? try this and see.

Using wheat flour is optional but I always use because rolling the roti shape is easy when maida is mixed with the wheat flour. You can prepare this snack with the maida flour alone too.

Ingredients:

Maida - 1 cup
Wheat flour - 1/2 cup
Salt - as needed
Chilly powder - 1 spoon
Omam(Ajwain seeds) - 1/4 spoon
Sesame seeds - 1 spoon
Oil - 1 spoon(for dough)
Luke warm water - as needed to knead the dough
Oil - for deep frying

Preparation:

• Make a soft dough by mixing together all the ingredients above. Meanwhile heat the oil needed for deep frying in a pan.
• Let the dough rest for 5-7 mins.
• Now take 4 lime sized balls out of the dough, and roll into a circle. The thickness should not be too thick or thin.(use wheat flour while rolling if rolling becomes difficult)
• Once done, use a fork to prick the roti all over.(so that the pieces do not puff when they fry in oil)
• Using a knife, cut the roti length wise about an inch apart. Then cut horizontally about 2 inches apart(as seen below)

 

• Once the oil is hot, place the maida squares/diamonds in the oil one by one and deep fry them in medium to high flame until all the pieces rise to the surface and become golden brown.
• Turn them over then and there so that all the sides are cooked well.
• The pieces should not be cooked on a low flame because the biscuits may not come out crispier.

• Once they are done drain them in a paper towel to remove excess oil.
• Follow the same steps for the remaining lime sized balls from the dough.
• Once cool, store them in a container or server hot.

Have a bite and enjoy your evening snack.....!
Have a great day ahead!