Keema and Peas Samosa filling

I had a request for a keema (mince) samosa filling so today I am posting a recipe for a keema and peas samosa filling. Now this can be eaten as a curry as well, but if you cook it slightly drier, then it can be used as a filling for samosas, spring roll, pastries etc.

 

I have used peas as an accompaniment, but again you can use any vegetable in its place such as mixed vegetable, sweetcorn, potatoes and so on.

 

For this, I used:

 

3 tbsp. oil

Pinch of cumin seeds

Pinch of fennel seeds (optional)

3 bay leaves

1 large cinnamon stick

3 cardamoms

1 inch piece ginger, minced

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 large onions, finely sliced

Salt to taste

A few stalks of coriander, chopped

6 whole green chillies (you can add these chopped if you like it spicier)

1 kg (approximately) mutton mince, washed and drained

1/2 tbsp. turmeric powder

1/2 tbsp. chilli powder

1 tbsp. curry powder (I used Bolsts Hot curry powder)

1/2 tbsp. coriander powder

1/2 tbsp. cumin powder

1/2 tbsp. garam masala powder

200g frozen peas

 

In a large saucepan, I put in the oil and fried the dry spices (cumin seeds, fennel seeds, bay leaves, cinnamon stick and cardamoms).

 

Then I added the garlic and ginger, and after browning, I added the onion, salt, coriander and green chillies. Cover and allow to cook until onions are soft. Turn the heat to high and add the mince. On the high heat, fry this until all the mince is separated and has turned brown.

 

Add the powdered spices and mix very well. Add a little water so as not to burn, turn the heat down, cover and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring every so often so mince does not stick to the pan.

 

After about 20 minutes, add your peas, add about a cup of water, and allow to cook for a further 20-25 minutes until all your water has dried up. This should be a dry mix so your samosa or pastries do not have any liquid in them as this will make them soggy.

 

Make sure when stuffing your samosas, you remove the bay leaves, cinnamon stick, cardamoms and green chillies as you wouldn't want to be biting down on those!

 

And that's it. I hope this helps some of you ladies out there who are new to cooking.

 

Enjoy!

 

Yaz x

 

N.B. Some of these photos have been taken with flash and some without therefore photos may look different and colours may vary.

 

 

 

 

 

Fish and Tomato Tenga

I will be doing a tomato tenga recipe today, which translated from Bengali means tomato sour, incororating fish. Usually this dish is cooked as lightly sour, mildly spiced saucy curry so you need to have some deep bottomed plates at home for the jhol/shira or sauce.

You can use any fish for this curry, but I will be using boneless salmon fillets. I will also be using mustard oil for the base of this dish, but if you do not have this at home, then you can use any oil you have.

For this, I used:

3 tbsp. oil
7 cloves garlic, minced
2 onions, finely sliced
Salt to taste
Few coriander stalks, chopped

5 green chillies

1 tomato, blended

1 tsp. turmeric powder
1 1/2 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. coriander powder
1 tsp. chilli powder
25 cherry tomatoes
500g salmon fillet, chopped into large cubes
Coriander to garnish

Firstly, fill your kettle to the maximum, and put on boil.

In a large saucepan, pour in your oil and warm up. Once heated, add your garlic and brown. Then add your onions, salt, coriander, chillies and cook for 5 minutes. Then add your blended tomato and cook on a low heat for about 15 minutes until the onions are very soft. Add water to the onions if they are sticking to the pan. Only a little at a time though.

Once cooked, add your powdered spices, a little water so the spices don't burn, then allow to cook for a further 5 minutes. The onions should be completely mushed by now, but if not, mash them using a potato masher.

Add your salmon cubes at this point, stir once then add tomatoes and gently stir again as not to break the fish. Cook covered for about 5 minutes, then add boiling water on one side (not directly on fish) until you have added your desired amount.

Shake the pan at this point so water, fish and tomatoes are distributed evenly and cover and cook for a further 10 minutes. Turn heat off and garnish with coriander.

Serve with hot basmati rice, in a deep bottomed plate and slurp up the sauces. Don't worry, we all do it!

N.B. You can also add dried sour fruit such as boroi, tamarind, dried mango or ami for extra sourness and eye twitchiness!

Hope you enjoy!

Yaz x

Chilli Paneer

 

Recently, I've been wanting paneer (Indian cottage cheese), so today I went out and bought a packet. Now usually, I cook saag paneer or mattar paneer, however today I also wanted something different, so after scouring the web, I chose a Chinese style chilli paneer recipe, mish mashing a few recipes together. This is what I came up with.

 

It is prepared in three parts, and may seem complex, but it's not. Really. Apart from the marination, the dish took about 20 minutes to cook.

 

So for the first step, the marination, I used:

 

220g paneer, cubed

2 green chillies

1/2 inch piece ginger

Few stalks of coriander

Pinch of salt

Pinch of pepper

 

Blend the above ingredients with a little water (apart from the paneer) and marinate the paneer pieces in this. Cover and refrigerate for an hour.

 

For the second step, batter, I used:

 

1/2 cup plain flour

Pinch of salt

Water

 

Mix all the above ingredients together to form a light ish batter. If you can create the figure 8 and it holds, the batter is thick enough.

 

Heat up some oil for deep frying, and coating the paneer in the batter, deep fry for a few minutes until light golden. Put on some kitchen tissue to drain excess oil.

 

Now for the final step, the sauce, I used:

 

2 tbsp oil

5 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 inch piece ginger, minced

1 onion, finely chopped

(If I had spring onion at home, I would have used 1/2 an onion, and the rest of it spring onions)

3 green chillies, cut into large pieces

1/2 yellow capsicum, cubed like the paneer

1 tbsp hot pepper sauce (use chilli sauce if you can)

2 tbsp ketchup

3 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tsp tomato puree (optional)

1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

1 large red onion, cut into big pieces and each layer separated

Salt to season

Black pepper to season

Spring onions to garnish if possible

 

In a large wok, heat your oil and add your minced garlic and ginger. Fry on a high heat, then add your onions, chillies and capsicum and cook on a high heat for a few minutes stirring continuously.

 

Once the capsicum has softened, add in all your sauces, and stir well. Add a little water, and mix well. Put in your red onion pieces and cook on a medium to high heat for 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Once the red onion has softened, check the salt and adjust accordingly. Season with pepper, and at this point garnish with spring onions, if you have it at home.

 

Turn off the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Then add in your paneer, and mix well until the paneer pieces are coated in the sauce. Serve immediately with noodles, jasmine rice, and hey if you have it, why not basmati rice?

 

Eat something different for a change, and watch how your family and friends compliment you. Trust me!

 

Hope you enjoy!

 

Yaz

 



 

Meat akhni

Meat akhni is a favourite in most Bengali households, cooked during special occasions, or an anniversary. It's one of my husband's favourites (you should see his eyes light up when i mention i've made it), and one of mine. 

Lots of people cook it differently, for example my in laws use only oil when cooking it, whereas i believe it is blasphemy if akhni is cooked without ghee.

Before you start, soak 4 rice cooker cups of basmati rice in warm water for an hour, while making the curry.

For the meat curry, i used:

2 tbsp oil

1 large bay leaf, cut in two

1 small cinnamon stick

2 cardamoms

2 peppercorns

2 cloves

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 inch piece ginger, minced

2 small onions, cut in large chunks

600g mixed mutton, cut in small pieces

Salt to taste

Coriander (optional)

1 1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp curry powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp garam masala

In a saucepan, heat your oil and infuse with the dry spices (bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cardamoms, peppercorns, cloves).

Then add your garlic and ginger and brown. Once browned, add your onions, mutton, salt and coriander and mix very well. Add a little water, cover and cook for about 30 minutes, checking regularly to see it doesn't burn. Add a little water if the meat is sticking to the pan.

After about 30 minutes, add your powdered spices and mix very well. Cover and cook for a further 10 minutes, adding water if needed. This curry needs to be semi dry as we will be adding to rice later.

For the rice, i used:

3 tbsp ghee

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 pinch asafoetida (optional)

1 large bay leaf, cut in 3

1 large cinnamon stick

3 cardamoms

3 cloves

4 peppercorns

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 inch ginger, minced

1 large onion, finely sliced

Salt to taste

4 rice cooker cups of basmati rice, soaked

Coriander to garnish

5 green chillies to garnish

In a big saucepan, heat your ghee and infuse with your dry spices (cumin seeds, asafoetida, bay leaf, cardamoms, cloves and peppercorns).

Once infused, fry your garlic and ginger, and when browned, add your onions and salt. Fry the onions until soft, then add your drained rice. 

Fry on a semi high heat where the rice is just sticking to the pan. Continuously stir the rice until coated in the ghee.

Your curry should be cooked by now. Take the pan and pour all the meat and sauces onto the rice. Mix rice and meat very well. Add some water to the pan where the meat was cooked and get all the curry remnants off the pan. Add this water to the rice and meat. Cover with more water until the water is about half a centimetre above the rice. Mix very well again and make sure meat is evenly distributed.

Cover the pan with foil, then put on the lid. This is called 'dum' cooking. It will ensure the steam doesn't escape and the rice is cooked well. Traditionally this was done using a dough mixture, but foil works just as well.

Put the pan on a very low heat and after about 5 minutes, carefully open the lid and foil, stir the rice again and add your chillies and coriander. Cover with the foil and lid again a cook on a low heat for a further 5 - 7 minutes.

Turn the heat off and allow the rice to cook in it's steam for as long as possible (I leave it for half an hour), then serve. It remains very hot if the foil is left on for 2 - 3 hours.

Eat with a salad, chicken roast and mint yoghurt for a delicious meal!

Hope you enjoy!

Yaz ♥