Gobi Manchurian aka Cauliflower Manchurian

Weekends are the hardest days to cook ... what do you think? I mean the whole week, you have a routine you follow -  make healthy, quick lunches to pack in everyone's lunch boxes. Then the weekend rolls around and everyone is at home and in the mood for something different and that is when my inner confused chef awakens. It is always a big question for me as to what new dish can I make to please everyone.

This weekend I decided to make some Indo-Chinese food. That is Chinese food with an Indian flair. No self-respecting Chinese restaurant will ever serve this , as it is not considered as 'authentic' Chinese, so do not even bother asking for it. Cauliflower fritters tossed in a tangy and spicy sauce is commonly called Gobi        ( Cauliflower ) Manchurian. You can make this dish dry ( that is, with just enough sauce to coat the fritters -  makes a wonderful cocktail snack with toothpicks stuck in it ), or you can make it with a little 'gravy' ( that is, with a little extra sauce, to serve over piping hot white rice or noodles. ). I adapted this recipe from my days training in the kitchen of a five-star hotel in Mumbai.

Along with this I also made some lo mein noodles and some vegetable spring rolls. Recipes to come.......

Dabeli

Another tasty Indian snack food. Dabeli comes from the Gujarat region and can easily be termed as another version of an Indian burger. It is a Spiced Potatoes and Pomegranate Sandwich in Raghavan Iyer's words.

This spicy potato mixture enclosed between a burger bun, smeared with a sweet and tart tamarind chutney and a spicy hot garlic chutney and garnished with pomegranate arils and spicy peanuts is a combination of different flavors and textures to form an extremely delicious and addictive snack. The crunchiness of the spicy peanuts, the unexpected burst of sweet and tart pomegranate juice and the heat from the chutneys will leave you wanting for more. I have adapted this recipe from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer.

This is another weekend dish that does not take long to prepare at all. As they were showing a marathon of House Hunters International on HGTV, one of my favorite shows ever. I quickly assembled these and the sat in front of the TV to see all the people buying beautiful homes across the world. It feels wonderful to live vicariously through the buyers pretending that I am buying a pied-a-terre in Paris, or a countryside home near the Alps or a cottage in the English countryside or maybe even a vacation home in the Caribbean. I love this show.

Spicy Honey Roasted Peanuts

Recently while cleaning out my pantry, I found two plastic boxes filled with peanuts. Suddenly all kinds of peanuts recipes started running through my mind. I could make peanut soup, peanut cupcakes, peanuts brittle, peanut chikkis the possibilities seemed endless.

The decision to make Spicy Honey Roasted Peanuts was made by my husband. He loves these kind of peanuts to snack on and thought it would be great if we could make some at home. So I adapted this recipe from allrecipes.com. The results were amazing, these taste just as good as the store bought ones. Next time I will vary it a bit and make Spicy Masala Peanuts.

Yam and Hot Pepper

Another very popular Ghanaian street food. This is very delicious and easy to make, provided you find the right yam. In America, the sweet potato is called the yam -  this is not the yam we seek. A true yam looks like this or this .

Yam and red pepper ( pronounced peppe ) brings so many found memories for me. I remember outside my dad's office sat a yam seller who made the best fried yam and peppe. The yam would be crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. As for the peppe it was a wonder we did not breathe fire out at every exhale. Our eyes would be red and watery our noses would be runny, our tongues would be on fire but nothing could stop us till we finished the last piece. My mom also use to make it for 'small chop' ( aka appetizer/starter ) sometimes. Ahh, how I miss small chop !

I have tried to re-create this here, far away from Ghana. Luckily I found some yam in our local Asian grocery. I could not believe my eyes. I did a little dance in the store much to my husband's amazement. He later said he has never met anyone who gets so excited at seeing food produce.And then in the next isle I find these peppers called 'jamaican pepper' or Scotch Bonnets, which looked just like the pepper in Ghana. I just couldn't wait to get home and make me some yam and peppe. Serve the yam hot as they taste best when hot.

This recipe is amazing, especially the peppe. I found this interesting article on Wikipedia  that I thought I would share here, "It is common for people to experience pleasurable and even euphoriant effects from eating capsaicin-flavored foods. Folklore among self-described "chiliheads" attributes this to pain-stimulated release of endorphins..." So I say 'Say no to drugs and yes to capsaicin'.

I have also read somewhere that red peppers also helps with weight loss.... one more reason to enjoy it.



Yam and Peppe

Samosas

The perfect samosa cover has evaded me for a long time now, but no more thanks to this special book called  660 Curries. This book has been the answer to many of my food related questions. Raghavan Iyer, the author, has done a wonderful job of compiling such a wide range of recipes, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. His section on various indian chaat recipes alone, which he calls in this book 'appetizer curries', is totally worth buying this book.

Some of the best samosas I have ever tasted came from near the Hanuman Mandir/temple near my granny's house. The Samosa-wala ( person who sells samosas) had his little samosa shack just next to the entrance of the mandir. This spot was frequented a lot by college students, especially during exam time, as they got to do two things in one place -  pray to god to help them pass and eat yummy samosas.

Later on, in our college under a big tree near the gates, one bai / lady use to come carrying a huge cloth-lined basket over her head containing hot delicious samosas. In India there are usually round concrete platforms built around the base of huge trees for the public to sit and rest under the shade. So she would sit on this platform along with her samosa filled basket. The cloth helped keep them warm and soaked up the moisture thus preventing the samosas from getting soggy. She was always surrounded by students, drawn in by the tantalising aroma emanating from her basket. Having samosa at the end of college day was our way to unwind, relax and enjoy this special comfort food while venting our day's frustrations. I wonder if she is still there today under the tree selling those yummy samosas to another batch of students who when they leave college will carry a few special memories, one amongst them will be of our Samosa Bai and her magic samosas

I am so glad to have found this recipe so as to replicate those delightful samosas. These samosa turned out as scrumptious as I remembered them. The addition of ginger and garlic to the filling makes it even more tasty. The cover is very crispy and would fall apart in your mouth into flakes. A little word of caution - these are rich in calories but do not deny yourself the pleasure of having one some, just have them in moderation.

Please do note that my stove is electric; Electric stoves do not get as hot as the gas stoves, so please do adjust your tempertures accordingly.


Samosas