Chicken Samosa

Whether it is a tea time or a social gathering, Samosa (prism shaped savory) is the most popular snack in Northern India.

This recipe involves Samosa filled with spiced chicken mince.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Maida or Pastry flour or All Purpose Flour
• ¼ cup cooking oil
• ½ tsp Salt

For Filling:

• 1 pound chicken mince
• 1 bay leaf
• 3-4 green cardamom
• 1 green chili chopped fine
• 1 small onion chopped fine
• 1 tsp ginger grated
• 2 tbsp coriander leaves chopped fine
• ½ tsp black pepper powder
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Salt to taste

For Frying: Cooking Oil for deep frying

Method:

Prepare Filling:

• Boil minced chicken (kheema) with ginger, bay leaf, and cardamoms, until the kheema is cooked. Use minimum amount of water just required to boil the chicken.
• Heat 2 tbsp of cooking oil in a pan on medium flame. Add the green chilies and the onion; fry till soft.
• Now add boiled chicken kheema and salt to taste. Fry it till all the water is evaporated.
• Remove bay leaf and green Cardamoms; mix in black pepper powder, chopped cilantro leaves and lemon juice.
• Filling is ready. Remove from heat and keep aside.

Prepare dough:

• Sieve the flour and salt together.
• Rub in the oil till the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
• Add a little warm water at a time to it, to make a firm, smooth dough.
• Keep the dough for half an hour, covered with wet cloth.

Prepare Samosas: (For step by step demonstration refer: Potato filled Samosa)

• Make small balls of almost equal size and roll out the balls to oblong approximately 6 inches in length and 5 inches in width. You can roll out circle also, only the shape of samosa will be little different.
• Cut each oblong into 2 with a knife. Each half makes one samosa.

• Take one half and lightly wet its straight edge with water. Fold it into a cone, overlapping the wet edges and pressing gently to seal well.

• Fill this cone 3/4 full with the filling made earlier.
• Lightly wet the open edges of the cone and press together to seal well. Use all the dough up in a similar manner.

• Deep fry the Samosa on medium heat until golden brown. Drain on paper towel.
• Serve hot with Green Coriander Chutney.

Do You Know?

The majority of Indian appetizers and snacks are based on potatoes, combined with different spices.

Alu ki Tikki is one of the oldest snacks recorded by the history of Indian food, and the Samosa is another snack which is greatly enjoyed from ancient times. It should be noted that authentic Indian dishes can never be limited to a strict formula, since they differ from household to household.

Lukhmi

Likhmi is a popular Hyderabadi Snack. In authentic preparation it is shaped into a flat square patty, made with maida and stuffed with Kheema (mutton mince).

It is still served as a starter in the authentic Hyderabadi course of meal at weddings and celebrations etc.

In this recipe I have used chicken mince as stuffing.

Ingredients:
For the dough:

• 2 cups Maida (All-purpose Flour)
• ½ tsp salt
• 4 tbsp ghee
• 1 tsp Ginger Juice
• ¼ cup fresh yogurt
• warm water

For the Stuffing:

• ½ pound minced Chicken
• 1 tsp Ginger Garlic paste
• 1 small Onion sliced thinly
• 2-3 Green chilies ground to fine paste
• 1 tbsp Cilantro chopped fine
• 1 tbsp Mint leaves chopped fine
• 1 tsp Garam masala
• Ghee 2 tbsp

For deep frying:

Cooking Oil for deep frying

Method:

• Boil the chicken mince with ginger-garlic paste and salt till done.
• Heat ghee in a pan and fry onion till light brown. Add the minced chicken and green chili paste; fry till dry. Mix in the garam masala powder, coriander and mint leaves. Keep aside.
• Sieve the flour and salt together. Rub in the ghee till the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Mix the yogurt and ginger juice. Knead to soft, but not sticky dough, with warm water.
• Divide the dough into small portions. Roll each portion into a thin chapati. Place a heaped tablespoon of the mince filling at the centre. Cover with another chapati. Seal the edges by pressing down.
• Cut into squares and deep fry the Lukhmi on medium heat until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
• Serve with Chutney.

Kheema Filling

Do You Know?

Food fried at too low a temperature will be greasy (normal deep frying temperature of food is 375^oF).

Overcrowding the wok during deep frying, also lowers the temperature of the oil, leading to greasy food

Lamb Stuffed Potato Cutlets

Here is a simple recipe of minced lamb stuffed potato cutlets. Serve these as a starter or a snack with chutney of your choice.

Ingredients:

• 4 medium potatoes (boiled and mashed)
• 2 tbsp corn flour
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp white pepper powder
• 1 tsp lemon juice

For Stuffing:

• ¼ pound boneless mutton(very small pieces)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 brown cardamom
• 1 green chili chopped fine
• 2 cloves of garlic chopped fine
• 1 tsp ginger grated
• 2 tbsp coriander leaves chopped fine
• ½ tsp black pepper powder
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 cup semolina for coating
• Salt to taste
• Oil for frying

Method:

Prepare Stuffing:

• Boil mutton with ginger, bay leaf, and cardamom until the meat is cooked. Use minimum amount of water just required to boil the mutton.
• Heat 2 tbsp of cooking oil in a pan on medium flame, till hot. Add the green chilies and garlic and fry till the chilies turn whitish and the garlic turns light golden.
• Add the onion and fry till soft.
• Now add boiled mutton and salt to taste. Fry it till all the water is evaporated and mutton pieces are completely mashed. Mix in black pepper powder, chopped cilantro leaves and lemon juice.
• Stuffing is ready.

Prepare Cutlets:

• Mash boiled potato well. Add corn flour, white pepper powder, salt and lemon juice and mix well.
• Knead the potato mix (dough) well until it is smooth and soft.
• Now apply some oil on your palm and put some of the potato mix in the cupped palm of your hand.

• Put some of the mutton stuffing in the potato cup.

• Cover with the potato mix around it to make a ball.

• Now press it to give it a cutlet shape.

• Roll each cutlet in semolina and refrigerate for about 10-15 minutes.

• Heat oil in a deep pan or kadhai on medium heat and fry the potato cutlets until light brown.

• You can shallow fry these cutlets on a heavy bottomed skillet.
• Cool on paper towels.
• Serve with chutney or ketchup of your choice.

Do You Know?

Snacks can be an important part of a healthy diet. Well chosen snacks can help you manage your weight, hunger, health and energy.

Eating several small healthy snacks between meals helps with weight loss by keeping craving down and preventing excessive hunger that may lead to overeating.

Ground Turkey Kebabs

These soft flavorful Ground Turkey kebabs make a great snack food.

Ingredients:

For Marination:

• 1 pound minced Turkey
• 1 tbsp ginger grated
• 1 tbsp green chili chopped fine
• ¼ cup finely chopped onions
• ¼ cup cilantro leaves finely chopped
• ¼ cup mint leaves finely chopped
• 1 tbsp lemon/lime juice
• 1 tsp brown cardamoms coarsely ground
• 1 tsp black pepper coarsely ground
• 1 tsp red chili powder(optional)
• Salt to taste
• 1 tbsp cooking oil

Kebabs:

• 1 egg
• Fresh breadcrumbs of 2 slices of bread or 2-3 tbsp dry breadcrumbs
• Cooking Oil for deep frying

Method:

• Mix all the ingredients in the mince and marinate for 1 to 2 hours at room temperature.
• Combine marinated mixture, eggs, and breadcrumbs. Knead the mixture well like dough for Chapati (flat bread).
• Now take approximately 2 tbsp of mixture in your hand. Place it in the center of your palm. Roll it to form a smooth ball.
• Heat oil and deep fry until brown on medium heat.
• Serve hot with green chutney and green salad.

Do You Know?

The Turkey is often cited as the culprit in after dinner lethargy. Turkey contains L-tryptophan, an essential amino acid (present in all proteins), which is documented with sleep inducing effect. Tryptophan metabolizes into serotonin and melatonin neurotransmitters that exert a calming effect and regulates sleep.

Actually tryptophan from turkey alone is not what makes us tired, it is the carbohydrate-rich (as opposed to protein-rich) meal that increases the level of this amino acid in the brain and leads to serotonin synthesis and thus contributes to the exhaustion and drowsiness after the meal.

Carbohydrates stimulate the pancreas to secrete insulin. When this occurs, some amino acids that compete with tryptophan leave the bloodstream and enter muscle cells. This causes an increase in the relative concentration of tryptophan in the bloodstream. Serotonin is synthesized and you feel that familiar sleepy feeling.

Galawati Kebabs (Minced Lamb Kebab)

These delicious kebabs are the mainstay of Awadhi cuisine from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh (North India). 'Galawati' means 'melt in your mouth'.

The actual recipe is supposed to have more than 100 aromatic spices and high fat content. The secret of making juicy and soft Galawati kebabs is the use of high fat content i.e. about 20% of the fat. High fat also makes it responsive to tenderizers.

In my recipe of the Galawati kebabs less fat and less aromatic spices are used. The minced lamb meat is tenderized by raw Papaya to make kebabs soft. Round patties formed are stir fried over griddle and served with Green Coriander Chutney.

Ingredients:

• 1pound goat/lamb very finely minced
• 2 tbsp raw papaya paste
• 1 large onion in the form of paste
• 1 tbsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• ½ tsp green chili paste
• 1 tbsp finely chopped mint leaves
• 1 tbsp milk powder
• 4 tbsp butter/ghee
• ½ tsp red chili powder
• ¼ tsp Ground Cloves
• ¼ tsp Ground Cinnamon
• ½ tsp Ground Cardamom
• ½ tsp Black pepper ground
• 1 tsp Kewra water (available in Indian Grocery Stores)
• Pinch mace powder (Javitri)
• 3-4 tbsps Bengal Gram Flour, lightly roasted
• Salt to taste
• 4 tbsps oil/ghee to pan-fry the kebabs

Method:

• Combine ground lamb, papaya, salt and pulverize it in the Food Processor or grind it fine into mincing machine. Keep it aside to marinate for one hour.
• Heat 4 tbsp of ghee/butter in a pan. Add Onion, Green chili, Garlic and Ginger paste. Sauté until moisture is evaporated and the paste is almost brown. Remove it from heat.
• Mix in cloves, cinnamon, cardamoms, red chili, mace and black pepper powder. Add milk powder and Kewra.
• Stir in marinated lamb including the papaya and finely chopped mint leaves.
• Sprinkle roasted Besan over the mixture. Knead well into soft dough. Add more Besan if needed. Let mixture rest for 1 hour in refrigerator.
• Remove the mix from the refrigerator and knead again. Divide the mix in to small portions. Form the balls and press them into round patty like structures.
• Heat the ghee in a heavy-bottomed skillet (on a medium flame) and pan-fry the kebabs until golden on both sides.
• Serve with Mint-coriander chutney and Khasta Paratha.

Do You Know?

Avadh was the birthplace of some of the finest food in the land. The Nawabs of Avadh had always craved the best foods even when old and toothless. This led to the innovation of one of the most celebrated kebabs of the day, the Shahi Gilawat ka Kebab, reputed to be so tender that even a toothless person could eat it without difficulty. It is also said to contain over a hundred aromatic and digestive spices that were supposed to ensure one's continued health and well-being.

Shami Kebab

Ground lamb is mixed with pre-cooked legume and curry spices. It is then formed as a hamburger patty and pan-fried.
I prefer to make these kebabs with bone less lamb/goat instead of ground lamb/goat. Serve these kebabs with Mint-Coriander Chutney.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound Goat/lamb bone less cut into small pieces
• ¼ cup split Chick Peas or Desi Chana Dal
• 1 tbsp garam masala
• 4-6 green chilies
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro
• ¼ cup finely chopped mint leaves (Pudina)
• 2 small onions sliced and fried crispy brown
• 2” ginger piece
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 brown cardamoms
• 1 egg beaten
• 2 tbsp ghee or cooking oil
• Salt to taste
• 1 cup cooking oil or ghee to shallow fry

Method:

• Boil Goat/Lamb with washed Bengal Gram, ginger, bay leaf, and cardamoms until the lentils are completely mashed and the meat is cooked. Dry all the water and cool it.
• Now grind the boiled and cooled meat mix with crispy brown onion, green chilies chopped cilantro and chopped mint leaves in food processor. Better result you get when you grind meat mix in ‘Meat Grinding Machine’.
• Add beaten egg, 2 tbsp cooking oil, garam masala and salt to meat mix and knead well. Break off 1 tbsp of the minced dough; wet your palm and place it in the center of your palm shape it into a smooth ball and then press it to give it a Patti shape.
• Heat the cooking oil/ghee on a heavy-bottomed skillet and shallow fry the kebabs until golden on both sides.
• Cool on paper towels. Serve hot with mint cilantro chutney.

Do You Know?

Shami Kebab was created by a Nawab in Palanpur (Rajasthan).

The Kebab has been an evolving term. During the times of Changez Khan, the horse back riders would kill an animal, clean it, cut it into pieces, thread the pieces over the daggers or swords and cook over open fire. That was the first Kebab, a piece of meat threaded on a dagger and cooked over open fire. In United States, Kebab refers to Turkish definition of Shish Kebab. In Turkey, Shish kebab means 'skewer with grilled meat'. With time, the Kebab has evolved from whole muscle meats to minced meats, and even non-meats.

Kofta ( Ground Turkey Balls )

Nutritious and tasty deep fried Ground Turkey balls.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound Lean Ground Turkey
• 1 cup grated Zucchini
• 1 cup grated Carrot
• 2 tbsp dry Roasted Gram Flour (Besan)/ 2 tbsp cornflour
• 1 medium onion finely chopped
• 2 green chillies finely chopped
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp brown cardamom powder
• Salt to taste
• Cooking oil

Method:

• To make kofta mix all the ingredients, knead with hands properly. Make equal sized smooth balls.
• For frying: Heat oil in an pan. When it is hot first drop only one ball. If this ball is fried properly without getting split then fry remaining balls till golden brown.
• For baking: Bake them in a preheated oven at 300 degree F for 20 minutes.
• Garnish with chopped Cilantro and onion rings.
• Serve hot with ketchup or cilantro chutney as a snack.

Tips to make kofta:

• When forming the meatballs, use a small ice cream scoop or melon baller so they are all the same size.
• Wet your hands with cool water when shaping the meatballs to help prevent the mixture from sticking to your hands.
• When browning meatballs, don't try to move them until they release easily from the pan. One side may be more browned than the others, but the meatballs will stay together.