Pazham Nirachathu (Stuffed Plantains)

Hi all,
Finally reached the new place,I think I should say 'an old place' because the present building is an old Victorian building unlike the previous flat we lived in. But its quite spacious compared to the previous one.Thank god. Normally Flats and houses in UK have quite small rooms and lounges, but the present one has quite huge bedrooms with lot of space for my little one to run around. Ya, now I too have to run around alot than before:).....There's quite lot of stairs inside the flat since it a 2 1/2 storey flat.......ya, that half is for the storage area in the attic that is few steps from our second storey!!In spite of all that I just love this place. It's a huge widespread city with big block of old buildings everywhere and city centre is just few steps away from here. We have many Asian shops as well where we get the Asian stuffs and vegetables. The city looks amazing and is really really beautiful. I will try to put up some snaps of the city when I get some, OK. I thought I would be upset thinking about the old flat and will be nostalgic about it. But no, I am very happy we moved from there. The previous flat was quite small. The weather is OK at the moment, it was sunny for the past few days and by the time winter arrives, I will be accustomed to the weather here, that was the main thing that worried me-the winter.

I haven't started my cooking much yet. Unpacking is still on the way and things are just getting settled. Loads of shopping to do and lot of arrangements to be done. But I have few recipes in my draft which I will post slowly as things gets smoother. We dint fix the TV yet and just got Internet connection recently. But I found that my life is so peaceful without those two. I feel these two inventions are a bit more than devil at times. Now, not having them, I just realized how much of my time TV and computer has been eating up!!! Before I had no time for other house hold work and I dint realise that I have been using these TV and PC so much! Now they are not here, I find lot of time everything and even have lot of time to rest after that. I think I should spend really less time on these and concentrate on something that's really useful.

Anyways, this time, I am posting the recipe of Pazham Nirachathu. This is traditional malabar snack that is mainly served for guest during an evening tea, or during Iftar. It is something like an Ethakka roast and is prepared using ripe plantains. My mom used to make it for us for evening tea whenever there are ripe plantains at home. Pazham nirachathu is made by making three slits lengthwise in the plantains and filling the slits with a mixture of egg and sugar. The whole stuffed plantain is then dipped in a batter of plain flour and water and then deep fried until golden brown. These are then served in slices.


Ingredients:
2 large Plantains
2 large eggs
4 tbs sugar (70 gms)
1 tbs Kismis (raisins)
10 Cashew nuts chopped roughly
1/2 tbsful -1 Tbsp ghee (Clarified Butter)
1/4 tsp cardamom powder (3 crushed cardamoms)
1/2 cup plain flour
3 tbs Rice flour
1 tbs sugar
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup+ 1 Tbs water (Just enough water to make a thick batter to coat the plantains)
Oil to deep fry

Preparation:
1.To prepare the filling: Break the eggs in a small bowl and add sugar. Mix well using a spoon. Keep them aside.Heat a frying pan, add ghee and fry the chopped cashew until golden colour, fish them out and drain them on a kitchen towel. To the same pan, add the raisins and leave there for few seconds until they puff like little balls. DON'T LEAVE them for long because they will get charred and taste bitter. Take them out and keep them along with the cashews. In the same pan, add the egg - sugar mixture, raisin and nuts and scramble them by stirring continuously until the egg is completely cooked. Add the crushed cardamom and stir well. Reserve.
2. To Stuff the plantains: Peel the plantains. Make three slits lengthwise at equal distance from each other;one end to another leaving around 2 inch from the ends. The depth of each slit should be made just until it reaches the center of the plantains(near black seeds). When you make three slits as such, all three will be joining the center. Now take the filling, make a gap in the slit using fingers and fill the filling in using spoon or fingers and press them tight. Fill all the three slits in the same manner. I find it easier using fingers. Keep them aside.
3. To make the batter: Mix the plain flour, rice flour, sugar and salt. Add water and mix well using a whisk until you get a required thickness to make a thick coating for the stuffed plantains. Make sure you batter is free from lumps.
4. Heat a high sided frying pan and fill it halfway with oil. Dip the plantains in the batter completely and place them in the oil using 1 or 2 large spatula or tongs. When one side turns golden, flip over against you slowly and fry that side also until golden brown. Drain them on kitchen towel and serve warm in slices along with tea.

Notes:
1. The sugar amount given here is for caster sugar.I used the proportion of 2 tbs of sugar for 1 large egg. Here I have used extra refined sugar which is slightly less sweeter than the sugar we get in India. But if you are using the sugar in India use 1 tbsful of sugar for 1 egg, the eggs in India are smaller as well. So you might need to use around 3 eggs and 3 tbsful of sugar for the above amount of plantains.
2. Sometimes it is difficult to turn the whole plantains in the oil. In that case, you can halve the plantain and stuff like the full plantains instead of stuffing the whole one.
3. This is normally made using quite well ripened soft plantains (not too soft) because if you prepare these using semi-ripe plantains, it might break when you are slits making the job harder.
4. You can also use large kadai filled with oil and deep fry these pazham nirachathu.
5. If you don't like the crispy coating outside (most people including me like it), you can just cover the slits using the batter instead of dipping the whole plantain in the batter. In that case you might need less flour.
6. Some prepare the filling using coconut and sugar instead of egg, so swap coconut for egg if you don't like egg.

Another Thing about this post is my sweet friend faiza has passed me few awards with a tag and a bunch of questions. Thank you so much!
Here are the awards and then comes the tag


































Now the answers to the questions...

1.what is your current obsession?
Baking and Blogging.

2. What are you wearing today?
Skirt and top.

3. What’s for dinner?
Malabar Chicken Curry and Puttu (Steamed rice cake)

4. What’s the last thing you bought?
Few clothes and a Scarf.

5. What are you listening to right now?
Light snoring of my 2 year old and sound of the traffic on street.

6. What do you think about the person who tagged you?
She is a sweet friend with a bunch of lovely recipes and a beautiful blog.

7. If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?
In Abu-dhabi, U.A.E. or where ever my parents plan to settle, there.

8. What are your must-have pieces for summer?
A napkin is a must, then comes my indispensable Nivea (for men-I dono y, but I like the men's deo)deo roll on, and Body cream.

9. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
India, my parents and siblings are there at the moment. If they were in UAE, I would prefer going there. I am very attached to them.

10. Which language do you want to learn?
Nothing preferably. I would love to speak Arabic fluently though rather than just mixing Arabic and English.

11. Who do you want to meet right now?
My parents and siblings. I always miss them.

12. What is your favorite colour?
It changes from time to time. Once it was pista green. Then in few months time, I noticed almost all my clothes were pista green colour. Then it changed to baby pink, then to white, then black.....now, nothing favourite as such. Whatever looks good in any colour I go for it.

13. What is your favourite piece of clothing in your own closet?
My beautiful Choli, that I wore for for my wedding.

14. What is your dream job?
Ahhhhh…….Love the job of an architect, But I am not.....Love cooking, But I am not a chef......I donno...

15. What’s your favourite magazine?
Vanitha and all food magazines.

16. If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on?
Ahhhh.....may be a handbag and few baby clothes.

17. What are the most essential things you carry while going out?
Mobile phone, Purse, Pen and a paper.

18. Who are your style icons?
None.

19. Describe your personal style?
Simple and cheerful and always excited.

20. What are you going to do after this?
Have a cup of coffee.

21. What are your favourite movies?
Not a movie person at all, but I enjoyed watching ‘Vietnam Colony’ (malayalam). It’s a hilarious movie.

22. Give us three styling tips that always work for you:
Light make up especially Lining eye and lips to make it prominent, using facial scrub once or twice a week to keep the skin fresh and smooth, wearing comfortable clothes.

23. Coffee or tea?
Both depending on my mood. When I am in a coffee mood, I can't have tea and when I am in tea mood, I can't have coffee. Weird right?

24. What do you do when you are feeling low or terribly depressed?
I try to keep myself busy by doing something and totally distract myself or make a phone call to my mom and talk to her just for some relief.

25. What is the meaning of your name?
Best friend

26. Which other blogs you love visiting?
All other blogs.

27. Favorite Dessert/Sweet?
Cheesecakes, tiramisu, Kalakhand….oops, I don’t have a favourite dessert, I have many!

28. Favorite Season?
Autumn

29.Which is your dream destination?
States.

30. Who/what inspired you to start a blog?
Other Blogs and for personal reference.

31. Which is your favorite international cuisine ?
Pasta.

My question:
Which is your favourite cookware?

The rules are:
Respond and rework – answer the questions on your own blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own invention, and add one more question of your own. Then tag eight or ten other people.

Another sweet Blogger friend smitha has passed on this beautiful Kreative blogger award to me.
The Kreativ Blogger award comes with some rules:-
1. You must thank the person who has given you the award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who has nominated you for the award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 other Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on which of the blogs to let them know they have been nominated

So here are few about me for you to know:
1. I am a born chocoholic. Apart from chocolates, any sweets makes me crazy and drool.
2. I am a very sensitive person.Little things make me very happy and little things makes me very sad and upset.
3. I love shopping like many other woman, especially clothes and crockeries, but window shopping is what I do most of the time:). Since I am very choosy by nature, it always takes very long time for me to choose clothes, handbags, shoes and anything which always drove my parents crazy and now my husband.Hehe....I remember when we (Parents and myself) were shopping for my wedding dress back in UAE, we spent three days roaming all over Abu- Dhabi looking for clothes and I liked none. You know finally what my parents did? They went and bought one of my wedding dresses without taking me! But I liked it.
4. I am a chatterbox by nature. I never run out of topic to chat. My phone calls always lasts for more than an hour and my mom and husband always wonders what's there to talk sooooo much!!! Not to talk is like a torture to me. But when it comes to writing, I am worse at it.
5. I love cooking and love trying out new recipes no matter what is.
6. I am a very family oriented and homely person and love to spend time with my family.
7. I love my friends and I really care for them. I always try to keep in touch with them through calls, mails and visits. I still have contacts with friends from my U.K.G., ie Senior K.G. They are a big part of my life.

I want to pass these awards and tags to these lovely people. Please accept these awards.


Sushma
Dhanya
Kitchen Flavours
Ann
Pavithra
Divya Vikram
Prathibha
Yasmeen
Seena
Maria

Ufff...that was a long post guys. See u all later.....taaataa....

Peanut Butter Cookies

Hi Friends, Hope you all are doing good there. Before I go I thought of sharing this wonderful recipe with you all. You should be thinking all of a sudden, where am I off to...Yeah, I just forgot to mention that in my previous post ;only after posting it struck my mind. We are shifting to a new place by the end of this month and so I got soooooooo much of packing to do (while my son unpacks......grrrr). Since my little one keeps me busy full time, I just couldn't do much packing. I try packing things, he just pulls the stuffs out of the box and drag them away and then try to sit inside the box!!!.I don't know what he is up to, but I then thought I will stay up late tonight and do some packing...... At present we are in the southern tip of UK which is comparatively warmer and sunnier than anywhere in the UK. And now we are moving to the north, 7 hours drive from here...We will be moving again after two months from there to another place. We should be there for few years. Its so cold there in the North, I am just not very happy going there thinking of the chilling weather up north and have been moaning since the time my husband got his new job there. Probably once I settle down there, I will be fine.....Don't think I am trying to be a bit British here. Anyone who live in the UK, will just wish for some streak of sunlight after the long nasty winter which is always cloudy and raining and sometimes snowing. If it is up north always snowing in winter. God!!! I remember, when I was in UAE, where most of the year is warm, sorry, smoking HOT, how crazy everyone including me used to go crazy when it rains. I used to wave my hands outside the window to get hold of few drops of rain in my hand. It just rains once or twice in a year and may be not even that. It is such a bright country and always sunny. It is really really hot during the summer in UAE....It always hits 50 degrees Celsius during July-August!!! But the winter is really cool. When I used to be in UAE, I felt the winter was terribly cold. I used to wear 2 sweaters and sit under the blanket and still shivering. After coming here, I really came to know what real winter is....

Anyways all I wanted to say is that, I don't really know how long it will take to get the Internet connection in the new place, so I might not be able to blog for sometime. Sometimes, we might get the connection in a weeks time, may be less or more. This will be my last post before leaving, But I surely will be checking on my blogger buddies' updates and new posts until I leave.

About the Peanut butter cookies, I came across these wonderfully crunchy and crumbly cookies from Divya’s blog. The look of the cookies itself was was so inviting and tempting. So I baked it a couple of days back and it was really good. I love peanuts and I love peanut butter, so for me these cookies were a slice of heaven. So if you are someone like me who loves peanuts, you will love these cookies. As usual, I have the habit of playing with the dough through out baking. I keep adding different ingredients to see how it tastes. I wanted to add some chopped peanuts, but dint have any but used few other ingredients to seee how well it pairs with the peanut cookies. With these amount of ingredients and if you are using a teaspoonful of dough you should get 3 dozen cookies! Isn't that a huge amount? I made it in three batches. The 1 st batch, I just made plain cookies, without making any changes. The second batch, I rolled the cookie balls in a mixture of cinnamon powder and sugar, then pressed it and baked it. It tasted heavenly. And the third batch, After the cookie was baked and cooled, I melted some bitter sweet chocolate and drizzled on top......For me the winner is the Chocolate drizzled peanut butter cookies. You can see all the three types I made in the picture provided. The chocolate and the peanut butter cookies works so well. If you want to be bit more 'Chefy', you can place Hershey's kisses in the centre of cookie. It tastes sooooooooooooo good. Talking about this fabulous cookie, it's the recipe of Betty Crocker and I followed the ingredients as such.


Here is the recipe:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup castor sugar
1/2 cup Brown Sugar (I used demerara sugar)
1/2 cup Peanut butter
1/4 cup Shortening (I used vegetable oil)
1/4 cup Butter (room temperature)
1 Ex-large Egg
1 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour/Maida
3/4 teaspoon Baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Baking powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, combine together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter, butter, shortening, egg and mix well. In another bowl, whisk well the flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Slowly add the flour mixture to the first prepared mixture and knead slowly to form a soft dough.
2. Place the dough in the refrigerator for two hours or until firm. Line 2 cookie sheets with baking paper. Then take a heaped teaspoonful of the dough, form into ball shape by rolling it in your palm, Place it in the cookie sheet then press in crisscross pattern to flatten them using a fork dipped into sugar. make sure you leave at least 2" between each cookie because they really expand while baking.
3. Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius. Place the cookies in the middle rack and bake for about 13-14 minutes until it turns golden. (The original recipe asks to make a 1 1/4 inch ball and bake at 375 degree Fahrenheit (190 degrees Fahrenheit) for about 9-10 minutes. I thought 375 was 180 degrees, only realised it wasn't after my cookies took longer time than mentioned in the recipe. But don't worry, they turned out perfect. I normally do almost all baking at this temperature, cos that's the safest temperature for many cakes and cookies.)
4. Cool for 5 minutes; remove from cookie sheet and Cool on wire rack. This cooling on wire rack is essential, because this allows the steam to escape, which otherwise will get absorbed and make your cookies soaky. After it is completely cooled, store in airtight containers.

N.B: Don't attempt to remove the cookie from the sheet as soon as they come out of the oven, because they will be very soft and will crumble.

Malabar Chemmeen Biriyani (Malabar Prawn Biriyani)

Do you know what's the best thing in preparing a Malabar Biriyani?The taste always gets better the next day and you can prepare it in bulk so you can take a break from any major cooking the next day..:)...I made this Biriyani last week and again this week, so thought I would share this fabulous recipe here with you all. The aroma of the seafood Biryani itself is very appetising, unlike the raw fish smell, that makes you run away. My favorite Biriyani would be Malabar style prawn and fish biriyani. Both are prepared almost the same way. But tastes very different. I remember my mom telling me about squid biriyani. Somebody told her that squid biriyani is the best tasting biriyani it seems. I would love to try that, but I think that's going to be very challenging. Since squid gets tough and rubbery when over-cooked, it has to be cooked gently and carefully, and don't know how they are gonna taste.

I love the prawn and fish biriyani that my mom makes, they really tastes so delicious. I always tell my dad how lucky he is to get mom as wife. He gets tasty food everyday; even the simplest of the meals tasted so yummy when it is prepared by her. When it comes to saving her recipes, it was always difficult for me to note down her recipes exactly since she uses approximate('Sumaar' as she says:)) measurements. Whenever she cooks, I will grab a pen and paper, stand by her side and start noting down the ingredients that she uses, gradually she keeps adding things in between and I won't be able to measure them out. Other day she was making my favourite Muslim paayasam called 'musara varakiyathu' or 'kaaykkari', that's made of mainly channa dal, Wheat,coconut milk and sugar. I desperately wanted that recipe, so soon I grabbed a paper and pen and stood by her side to note down the amount of ingredients she was using. Noted the amount of dal and wheat and somehow managed to get the amount of coconut milk approximately. When it came to adding sugar, she tipped the sugar directly from the large sugar tin that we had, and I am standing there with my jaw opened telling her I couldn't note down the amount of sugar....That's what happened many a time when I went to note down the recipe. So after coming back to UK, I keep trying her incomplete recipes by adding and subtracting things to get the right taste. This is my dad's favorite biriyani, and making my dad's favorite dishes always make me miss him so much that I can't express. My dad and husband loves to explore new dishes and new taste. But my mom is just opposite. She is very reluctant when it comes to new food and new taste. So we always had trouble when we go to the restaurants with her, she would hardly eat anything. She would be very happy if she is served with a bowl of steaming hot rice and a good spicy sardine curry.....Nalla choodu chorum mathi curry yum...

For making this Biriyani, you can also use shrimps or prawns of any kind. It tastes the best when served with the coconut chammanthi (at least), that I have already put in the blog.

Ingredients:
For prawn masala:
500 gm (40-42 pieces) Peeled Jumbo King Prawns.
To marinate the prawns:
2 tsp Kashmiri Chilly powder
1 tsp Coriander powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
3/4 tsp salt
8 tbs vegetable oil for frying prawns.
For the gravy:
2 large onions chopped(2 3/4 cups, 380 gm)
2 1/2 medium size tomatoes chopped (1 1/4 cup, 290 gm)
12 cloves of garlic, grated (3 tbs)
5 green Chillies, chopped fine
3" piece ginger, grated (60gm, 2 tbs)
1 tsp pepper powder
1 tbs lime juice
1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves
10 mint leaves,chopped
1 tsp salt, or as reqd
1 tsp garam masala.
For the Ghee rice:
3 cups Basmati rice
6 cups boiling water
salt-as required - (I used 3/4 Tbs salt)
3 tbs Clarified butter/ghee
4 tbs vegetable oil
1 large onion sliced
1 bay leaf
5 cardamom
7 cloves
4 small pieces of cinnamon sticks
1/2 Tbs cumin seeds
1/2 tbs lime/lemon juice
1/2 tsp extra garam masala to sprinkle while layering rice

Preparation:

First prepare the prawn masala:
1. Wash the prawns, drain and marinate them in kashmiri Chilli powder, Coriander powder turmeric powder and salt for half an hour.
2. Heat a large non-stick saucepan, and add the oil. When hot, shallow fry the prawns briefly, stirring then frequently for 3-4 minutes and fish them out.
3. In the same oil add the chopped onion,ginger,garlic and chillies along with salt and cook until the onions have become soft for about 15 minutes.
4. Add in the chopped tomatoes and pepper powder. Cover and cook until the tomatoes becomes soft and you get a thick gravy.
5. Add in the half fried prawns and cook on low flame for about 20 minutes so that the flavour of the prawn diffuse in the gravy and the gravy is thick.
6. At this point of time, add the chopped mint leaves, chopped coriander leaves, garam masala and lime juice. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes. remove from the fire and keep them aside.

For preparing the Ghee Rice:
1.Wash rice and strain off all the excess water by placing the rice in colander.
2. Boil water in the kettle or a large cooking vessel.
3. Heat another large pan to high heat and add ghee and oil. When the ghee gets hot add onions and sauté until the onions turns soft. At this stage add cardamom, cloves, bay leaves, cinnamon and cumin seeds and sauté for a couple of minutes until the aroma of the spices starts coming out. Add boiling water, lemon juice and salt to this.
4. When the water starts bubbling, tip in the rice slowly and cook on high heat by keeping the lid open. At this stage, you will be able to see water an inch or two above the rice.
5. As soon as you see that water has gone below the rice, reduce the flame to low, and cook it covered until all the rice is cooked evenly. In between you may toss the bottom part of rice and bring to top once, so that the rice gets cooked evenly. Let it cool down a bit. Then do the layering.

Apart from the above method, You can also cook rice in different way. That's quite similar to the above, but a small difference....i.e.Follow the first three steps as above. Then add rice to boiling water. When bubbles start appearing on the surface again, reduce the heat to medium, cover the saucepan tightly and let it cook till done. it takes around 20 minutes, but it will depend on the rice. First time I made by the first way and second time, this second way. I think I will follow the second way from now on...that's much easier.

For layering the biryani and final cooking:
1. Divide the rice in 2 parts.
2. Take a large heavy based vessel and rub it with oil or ghee. Layer the bottom of the vessel with the first part of the rice. Sprinkle a 1/4 tsp of garam masala all over and pour prawn masala all over the rice. Tip in the second part of rice and sprinkle a good pinch of garam masala (1/4 tsp) all over again.
3. Cover the entire vessel with foil (to ensure that full steam stays in), then close the lid tightly. Place a weight (you can also use any vessel filled with water for this) over this vessels and cook on hob top for about 20-30 minutes at very low heat. This is to infuse the flavour of the biryani masala into the rice and this process of cooking is called ‘Dum’. At this point of time u can see that all rice on top has curved up.
4. You can also do the layering in an ovenproof vessel and place it in a preheated oven at a very low temperature for about 20-30 minutes for the final cooking. I never tried this, but my friends do it this way.Just before serving, garnish with fried onions, cashews and raisins. Enjoy with Cucumber Raita, tomato and onion salad, thenga chammanthi, pickle and pappadams!

Meat Kibbeh Akras/ Kubbeh

Kibbeh or kubbeh is a meat and bulgur mixture stuffed with cooked meat and then deep fried in oil. This is one of the most famous Labanese dish that is normally served as a starter or an appetizer. I first came across this dish during one of many Iftar (breaking of fast during the month of Ramadan) feasts that was held in our University. I fell in love with it at the first bite itself. I still remember being shocked to see a meatball which has its outer cover and inner stuffing both made of minced meat. After that I had this a couple of times when we went to Lebanese Restaurants. Kibbeh used to be on top of my list. The university Iftar used to be really grand. We used to have a buffet with loads and loads of dishes, mostly Arabic.....The buffet had different kinds of Arabic salads such as tabbouleh, fatoush and many dips such as hummus, Muthabbal, Baba ghannouj; appetizers such as kibbeh, dolma (stuffed cabbage leaves, stuffed with a mixture of minced meat, rice, herbs and spices), Warak al einab (thats stuffed grape leaves), different kind of rices like kabsa, makboos, and not to mention : the heavenly desserts and pastries that includes Baklava and many many others. I never thought of making kibbeh at home, mainly because it was a new kind of dish and I never dealt with such a cooking process before. But it came out really good, the real taste that I was expecting and had in my memories and we loved it. We had it for dinner along with Pitta bread, salad and hummus and it was great. All courtesy goes to www.nestle-family.com. That's where I adapted this recipe from. The next day we were going out for a short break to Isle of Wight, so I packed the rest for the Brunch to take away with us. But I halved the amount mentioned in the original recipe, since I was experimenting. Here I have made it in the shape of rugby ball/oval, but you can make it into small patties or balls as you wish.



Ingredients:
3/4 cup,150g Bulgur wheat/cracked wheat, fine
250g minced meat
50g onion (1/2 of a medium onion)
12 mint leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Balck pepper powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
For the Stuffing:
2 tbs vegetable/olive oil
100g, 1 medium size onion,chopped
250g minced meat
1/2 of maggi stock cube, crumbled
1/4 tsp garam masala
10 mint leaves
1 1/2 tbs almonds (blanched, peeled, chopped and toasted until golden), can use toasted pine nuts as well
1/4 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
2 green chilli chopped (Optional)
Vegetable oil for deep frying

Preparation:

1. Wash bulgar and drain then cover and set it aside for 1 hour.
2. Combine in a mixing bowl the prepared bulgar, minced beef, onion, mint, salt and spices. Place this mixture in a processor and process by adding just enough water (I added 10 tablespoons of water) to allow the mixture to come together and form into a coarse dough that can be shaped into balls.Cover and set in the fridge.
3. Meanwhile prepare the stuffing. For that, heat oil in a pan, add onion and cook until tender. Add the minced lamb and stir until cooked and brown in color. Add the crumbled MAGGI® chicken Bouillon cube, garam masala, almonds, mint and spices and stir to combine well and cook for a couple of minutes.
4. Divide the kibbeh dough into 12-13 balls.. With wet hands take a ball and form it into an oval shape, Just like the shape of an egg. Make a space (hole) in the center by pushing your finger through from one end.. Make a hole big enough so that a teaspoon can be inserted into it. this can be done by pushing the finger into the dough several times to make the space bigger.
5. Add a teaspoonful of stuffing (cooked mixture), close by pressing firmly.
6. Fry the kibbeh in hot deep oil until golden brown.
7. Serve hot with green salad and fresh yogurt.
Recipe Courtesy: www.nestle-family.com

Spaghetti and Meatballs.

I always like to experiment on dishes that looks tempting, complicated and very challenging. I really have to put lot of courage in to doing some experiments like that. While doing such experiments, I always make sure that there is something (some food) for the backup if at all the new dish turns out uneatable:). Not always does the experiments come out successful. But this is something that came out really good so I thought I would share with you all.. I think after cooking this spaghetti and meatballs I became overconfident. I tried two new dishes after this, one was a total disaster and other one had some flavour here and there but I am just not happy with the result.....ha!But I am not going to give up, after all that's how you learn cooking.



Here is a simple and healthy way of cooking meatballs and Spaghetti. Normally the meatballs are deep fried in oil, but here, I baked them, and they gave me perfect results with juicy meatball. I had kept two meatballs aside to try frying them, but forgot to fry them!!. So I will let you know if these meatballs can be fried next time I make them. And surely I will make them soon. I have added more paprika or kashmiri Chilli powder to suit my family's taste, but you can totally avoid them and use black pepper powder instead or reduce the amount of paprika than mentioned in the recipe.

Ingredients:
For the Meatballs:
1/2 kilo minced Beef/lamb
1/2 cup freshly ground bread (Bread crumbs), I used two slices of bread, crust removed and processed it in processor to get crumbs.
1/4 cup grated parmesan (parmigiano Reggiano)
4 tbs (1/4 cup) milk
2 tbs chopped parsley
1 small onion, finely chopped (1/3 cup firmly packed)
3 cloves garlic minced or finely chopped
1/2 - 1 tsp paprika depending upon the taste
1 large egg
3/4tsp - 1 tsp salt
For the sauce:
2 large tomatoes chopped (400 gms, 2 cups)
70 g tomato paste/puree ( I used a small 70g tin of tomato paste)
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic,chopped
1-2 tbs chopped parsley
1/2 tsp Paprika powder
1 stock cube (I used maggi chicken stock cube)
2 - 21/4 cups (450mls-500mls) water
1 tsp Dried basil leaves
2 tsp sugar
1-2 tbs olive oil/vegetable oil
salt- as required
300g-350g Spaghetti to serve
Preparation:
For the sauce:1. Heat a saucepan to medium and add oil. Add the chopped onions and cook for about 10 minutes until soft. Add the chopped garlic and saute for a couple of minutes.
2. Add the chopped tomatoes, paprika powder, stock cube and water and cook on medium heat for about 35-40 minutes until the tomatoes are well cooked, soft and mushy.
3. Add these to a blender and give a quick whiz for a couple of seconds until you get a thick chunky puree, not a smooth sauce.
4. Put it back to the pan and add the cooked meatballs to it and cook on low heat for about 25-30 minutes until the meatballs are completely cooked and juicy.
For the meatballs:
1. Mix all the ingredients for the meatballs thoroughly using hand to distribute all ingredients uniformly. Make about 28 golf ball sized/lime sized balls and place in on a greased baking sheet.
2. Place it in a oven preheated to 200 degrees Celsius and bake for about 25 minutes or until the meat balls turn slightly brown all over. Add this meatballs to the tomato sauce prepared earlier along with the juices in the sheet. Cover and simmer on low heat for about 25-30 minutes; stirring from time to time. If you find it too thick, you can add some water accordingly. But for me the above amount was perfect. Again it depends on the heat and vessel used for preparing the sauce.
For serving:
1. Prepare the spaghetti according to the packet instructions;drain.
2. Serve spaghetti topped with meatballs in sauce; sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and serve warm. Serves 4.


Notes:
1. The tomato sauce really keeps well. You can freeze them in jars and then use for later use,making the work easier.
2. Similarly, You can make make meatballs,place them in a tray, and freeze them until hard, then transfer them to freezer bags and freeze until needed. Cook directly from freezer as mentioned above, but it will take longer,once frozen. Cook until lightly browned all over. Enjoy this classic Italian Dinner with your loved ones.....

Hummus

Hummus is one of the most famous Middle Eastern dip that is well known all across the world now. Hummus in Arabic means Chickpeas. The dip made using chickpeas is also known as hummus.The unique flavour of the hummus comes from the tahini sauce that's simply toasted sesame seeds ground along with olive oil to get a thick smooth paste. It is mainly eaten with Pitta bread, Arabic bread or Khubz, with shawarma etc. It can also be used as dip for many steam cooked vegetables like carrot, as a healthy spread for bread etc. Below given is the basic recipe of hummus. Here, I have used dried peas, You can also substitute it with canned chickpeas and make the work even more easier. Season it with cumin powder, paprika powder etc if you like some variations to the basic hummus. This stays fresh in refrigerator for up to three days.
I normally make Hummus when I roast or grill chicken and have it with Qubz and any salad.

Ingredients:
1 cup dry Chick peas
6 garlic pods
2 tbs lime/lemon juice
2 1/2 tbs Tahini/Tahina (sesame seed paste)
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup water or Just enough water to grind the peas to a smooth thick paste

Preparation:
1. Wash and soak the peas for 6-8 hours or overnight.
2. Pressure cook peas along with water and garlic until peas are thoroughly cooked and is soft.
3. Grind it into smooth paste along with garlic and tahini sauce by adding enough water from the cooked peas or tap water.
4. Add lemon juice and salt to taste. Drizzle with olive oil while serving.