ummm...SHAMMI KABABS (CRISP MINCEMEAT PATTIES)

After 9 days of fasting during Navratra's it's time to indulge...though the food that is eaten during that time does have a delicious charm of it's own, crisp potato tikkis, wafers and kuttu atta pakodas! No wonder the kilo's just keep piling up :)

Shammi kabab's are the hottest and most demanded snack/finger food in my house, these delicious mince meat patties, soft and meltingly tender on the inside and crisp on the outside are a sure shot hit at all parties.For these make sure that mincemeat from hind leg is used and is run through the mincing machine twice, for the outer coating I use fresh bread crumbs, that is fresh bread run in the coffee grinder to yield soft, sticky breadcrumbs. To make these you require-

• Mince meat-1/2 kg


• Horsegram lentils(chana dal)-1/2 cup


• Ginger -1 tbsp ground+1 tbsp chopped fresh


• Garlic-1/2 tbsp ground


• Green chillies-2 chopped fine


• Coriander- 1 bunch, chopped


• Onion-1 large, chopped finely


• Garam masala-1 tbsp


• Oil for shallow frying


• Bread slices-3

Place mincemeat, washed dal, ginger+garlic in a pressure cooker, add minimal water to let it cook through without burning, about 1/2-3/4 cup, give 5-6 whistles, and let pressure drop by itself.Now here comes in a bit of elbow grease, in a mortar and pestle, pound parts of the cooled mincemeat mixture till smooth, transfer to a large bowl, you can add 1 egg if you feel that it is too firm.Add ground ginger, chillies,coriander, onion, garam masala and salt to taste and mix well, I add all of these to the mixture together whereas my grandma used to stuff each kabab individually, whew! beats me, you can do it if you are inclined to however!, Prepare the crumbs by running bread through the grinder, shape mixture into patties, coat with crumbs and shallow fry in a non stick pan.drain on paper towel before serving.

I normally shape and bread the patties and store them for upto 3-4 days, fry and serve as needed, great as a filling for sandwiches, burgers, pita bread too. I am sure they freeze well too, serve hot with green coriander chutney and tomato ketchup.ummm...

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EXPLORING MUSSOORIE AND LANDOUR...

I just came back from a recent trip to Mussoorie and Landour, though I have been going to Mussoorie all my life, it was the old world charm of Landour that took my breath away, it was really beautiful. We stayed at Hotel Dev Dar Woods , the experience was quite good, like a big family, we met people who had come from all over the World, mainly to learn Hindi at the nearby Landour language School, which was quite surprising to me, I mean we always ran from Hindi in School, but now as a grown up I realise how much we take ourselves and our culture for granted.The hotel has a great view though the upkeep is a bit shoddy, but still the staff I found quite friendly and co-operative unlike the views that some people have written about them on the Net.Coming to the food part, they serve some yummy pizzas, made from a scratch, the family pizza priced at Rs.275/-was real good, the rooms are priced at about Rs.800/-.As is the case in most places up in the hills, food has to be ordered beforehand as it takes time for them to build up a meal for you, the day we reached we ordered a pizza, some fries, Chicken curry and rice, everything was very simply cooked much like home food and we enjoyed it, next morning we walked down to Char dukan, a famous spot for some good yet overpriced breakfast, on the way we passed the Kellogg Memorial Church and then reached St.Pauls Church, both peacefully lovely.

We had Omelettes, Maggi and Waffles at Char Dukan then we went for a long walk did some shopping, yes speaking of shopping there's loads of good imported stuff to buy at Prakash store, incidentally he owns Dev dar Woods too, we brought Kraft Cheese, St Dalfour jams, Yak milk cheese (homemade), Peanut butter, Sweet chilli sauce, candy and lots of other stuff, this shop caters to the students at Woodstock School nearby, thus it sells all such kind of stuff.

This place is know as Sisters bazaar, all I can say is that it was a lovely serene holiday where it is like just Me and Myself and lots of serious thinking, taking in the breathtaking beauty or simply chat up with someone from eh..Paris? or maybe you might bump into Ruskin Bond, Victor Banerjee, Prannoy Roy, Sachin Tendulkar! they all have homes here.

Most of the houses have a No tresspassing sign, more interesting signs were-

The sign on the first tree says- No tresspassing BEWARE OF DOG, the sign on the second tree has the picture of the dog and it says-WE CAN MAKE IT TO THE DOOR IN 2-5 SECONDS lol!

Another sign that says it all-DONT EVEN THINK OF PARKING HERE

I leave you with some more tantalizing pics...enjoy! I will be going back there in a few months, hope to see you there too!!

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ABSOLUTELY THE BEST BROWNIES!

Once in a while you bake something which should be framed and put up on the wall so that you can admire it for years to come...hah ha, that YOU actually made it, these brownies are exactly that, all fudgy, intense chocolatey, melt-in-the-mouth, in fact everything and more..., you have to make these to believe me for once!

• for about 8-10 medium sized brownies you require-


• Butter (salted)-50gms


• Powdered sugar-little less than 1/2 cup


• Cooking chocolate(sweetened)- 100 gms


• Eggs-2


• Cocoa powder-3 tbsp


• Vanilla essence-1 tsp


• Flour-1/2 cup


• Nuts of choice-1/2 cup

Melt butter over very low heat, add chopped chocolate and stir to melt, next tip in the sugar, let cool a little.Add eggs and whisk well, add rest of ingredients, adding flour in the end, bake in a square prepared pan at 200 C for 30-40 minutes

Delicious with a glass of cold milk!

Don't you wish you could bite into one of those brownies right now???How about digging in with some Vanilla Ice-cream and Hot chocolate sauce :), even better!!Got you drooling na??:) :)

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DOSA~IDLI~UTTAPAM!

Every once in a while we get dosas packed from the local Sagar Ratna as unlike Continental, Chinese, Thai, it is one thing that everyone in the family relishes, so it's like a stress free dinner option for all.On my work off this week however I decided to make this at home, I know for a lot of you out there it must be the routine thing and hardly anything to blog about, but for an equal number of US it is a novelty, and a pretty exciting one at that.When I was unmarried we used to make dosas at home every once in a while and my mom used to call up friends and family to come, never have I seen anyone of them not turn up!That's called dosa power!!Here's how I made these crispy crepes, and how I took everything a notch up for the family and made idlis and uttapam out of the same batter, what a party!Wanna get invited?

• Basmati rice-2 cups


• Urad dal-1 cup


• Fenugreek seeds-a tsp


• Salt to taste

Wash and soak both rice and dal separately overnight, soak fenugreek seeds with the rice.Next morning grind both separately till fine using little water.Leave for atleast 8-10 hours in a warm place till well fermented. Add salt to taste, spread out thinly on a non-stick pan, smear with little oil, cook till golden brown and crispy, serve with Sambar and Aloo Masala

For the Aloo masala-Boil 4 large potatoes, cool.Take 5-6 curry leaves, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 sliced onion, 1 sliced tomato, 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp chilli pwdr, add to 2 tbsp oil in a hot pan, stir well and cook for 2 minutes, add the diced boiled potatoes, mash well, season and serve.

For the idlis- pour batter into well greased idli moulds, steam for 15-20 minutes, serve hot and fluffy idlis

For Uttapam-Chop 1 onion, 1 tomato, some green chilli and cilantro, spread out batter a little thickly on non-stick pan sprinkle the chopped veggies on top, flip over and cook on both sides, serve hot.

As you can see it was incredibly simple with very few ingredients for such a fabulous party!

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AWESOME BROWNIES

Have been on the lookout for perfect brownies, deep, dark, mysterious...and fudgy of course, now it seems that these are the one..., baked a batch on Wednesday and it was promptly goobled up by all at work, begging for more, and the recipe too, baked anothe batch on Thursday and not a crumb left of that, it's Friday today and I am off to bake some more!that's how good they are!!.

I made them without nuts, but you can go ahead and add some and even frost them if desired with some chocolate buttercream frosting or maybe some plain melted milk chocolate on top??yum!

• Butter-1/2 cup


• Sugar-1/2 cup


• Eggs-2


• Vanilla essence-1 tsp


• Flour-1/2 cup


• Salt-1/4 tsp


• Baking powder-1/4 tsp


• Cocoa powder-5 tbsp


• Cooking chocolate(sweetened)-50 gms

Combine butter and broken chocolate and melt on very gentle heat, add the sugar next and let cool, next whisk in the eggs, beat till sugar dissolves and batter is smooth, add the rest of the ingredients, mix well and bake at 180 C for 20-25 minutes.

These brownies are off to Hema for her event CFK-CHOCOLATE brainchild of Sharmi .

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CINNAMON SWIRL TEA BREAD

The early morning sun was caressing my face just like soft, warm buttered cinnamon bread with a mug of steaming hot golden tea...

A taste of heaven isn't it? exactly how my breakfast was today... wow!, wish I had an experience like this everyday... for those intimidated by yeast , believe me it is the easiest and most satisfying expeience ever! Come indulge with me...

See the steam rising from the cup of tea...lovely nah

• To make 2 loaves you require-Milk-1 cup


• Sugar-1/2 cup


• Salt-1 tsp


• Yeast (dry)-2 and a 1/2 tsp.


• Plain flour-4 and 1/2 cups


• Butter-50gms


• Eggs-2


• Cinnamon (ground)-1 to 2 tsp


• Butter for filling-1 tbsp


• Sugar for filling 2-3 tbsp, can use more if you want it sweeter


• Raisins for filling- a handful

Combine milk and sugar, gently heat milk till warm, add yeast, let prove till foamy (about 15 minutes), add melted butter, salt and eggs, slowly add the flour and knead to a smooth dough,adding more flour if necessary, leave covered in oiled bowl for at least an hour, till well risen.Punch down and roll out, combine butter, sugar and cinnamon and spread out on the rolled out dough, roll up and pinch sides in to seal, transfer to a loaf tin, leave for half an hour.Preheat oven at 200 C, before placing in oven, brush top with egg white, bake for 40 minutes or till top is golden.Serve with butter or with your favorite preserve...ENJOY!

This bread is on it's way to lovely Susan for her Yeastspotting event.

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SIMPLY SAMBAR~VADA

South Indian aromas fill the whole house, a whiff of curry leaves here and a speck of sambar masala on the finger...lovely Sunday brunch, leaves everyone satiated for sure, here's how you can make it too...for a different flavor and much easy digestibility I chose mung dal over urad dal for these vadas.

• Mung dhuli dal-1 cup


• Ginger (fresh)-1 inch piece


• Asafoetida- a pinch


• Green chillies-1


• Salt to taste


• Refined oil for deep frying

Soak dal overnight and in the morning it should look like this- isn't it beautiful??

Add the rest of the ingredients with salt and minimal water grind to a thick paste in a coffee blender,

shape into round balls, flatten with wet palms and deep fry carefully Serve dipped in Tangy lemoney sambar...yummmmm

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RARA GOSHT~ROASTED MUTTON CURRY... PUNJABI STYLE

This dhaba inspired mutton curry is a keeper, will be making this over and over again.Gagan loved it so much that he asked for second and third helpings!!.The different thing I did here was to boil the mutton first and then roast it with the masalas.We really enjoyed this lovely curry with tandoori rotis :) and a green salad.

• Mutton-1/2 kg


• Onions- 4 large (pureed)


• Ginger + garlic paste-1 tbsp


• Tomatoes-2 medium (pureed)


• Pure desi ghee-2 tbsp


• Refined oil-4 tbsp


• Curd-1 cup


• Garam masala-1 tbsp


• Cumin seeds-1 tsp


• Deggi mirch-1 tsp


• Salt and black pepper to taste


• add 1 green chilli if you like it hot!

Heat refined oil in a heavy bottom pan, add the onions and cumin seeds and fry till brown now add the ginger+garlic paste and fry again for 2-3 minutes, add tomato puree and fry till masala separates now add the curd and mutton together along with the ghee, garam masala, deggi mirch and salt and pepper, also add 1/2 cup hot water, mix well.Transfer mutton + masala to a pressure cooker and give 8-9 whistles, turn off stove and let pressure drop by itself.Open cooker and check if mutton is done, transfer to the same heavy bottom pan again and roast atleast for 20-30 minutes till dry and browned, serve hot!

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