Mini Shepherd’s Pie

Here's a post that I'd started a couple of weeks ago, read on.
I came across this dish a few days back, and ever since I’d been thinking of trying something like that myself. Today, I was already doing a lot of the usual cooking and I thought, “Why not dabble in some pie?” I’ve also had making Shepherd’s Pie in my mental to-do list for a while now. I had some spare shredded chicken to make the filling, so a few online recipes and lots of tips later, I got 8 medium potatoes boiling for mashed potatoes.  

Mini Shepherd's Pie with Chicken Filling

The basic ingredients for mashed potatoes: boiled potatoes, salt, pepper, a generous amount of butter and a few splashes of cream. Yes, I am trying real hard to inch past that border-line cholesterol of mine. The secret to good mashed potatoes, one that is not pasty, is to eliminate water. That includes steam from the boiled potatoes. After mashing the potatoes with a potato ricer or a fork, season the potatoes and add a few tablespoons of butter. Finally, add the cream. You need to make sure not to overmix the mash, otherwise you end up with a gooey mess instead of fluffy mash. My mashed potatoes turned out pretty good, so good that my kid who’s a fussy eater kept on tasting forkfuls from the bowl.

  

With the mash out of the way, I was about to make an Indianized chicken filling. That’s when it hit me that if I were to make mini Shepherd’s pie, I’d need something edible to line my trusted, versatile muffin tray. I couldn't that the easy way out as there was no bread in stock. So my dabbling changed to downright experimenting as I started making a shortcrust pastry for the pie. Yikes! This takes me back a few years when I tried a hand at making quiche from scratch! Not only was I uninformed about the art of pastry-making, but I also did the blunder of not following a recipe – I was doing it Jamie Oliver-style, without the skill. Talk about experiments blowing up in your face.

   

Anyway, a few years and a couple of grey hair past, I learned my lesson. Today, I really wanted to succeed and that meant more online research. I followed this recipe to the T. I think I did pretty good, well almost (read on and you’ll know why). 

Mini Shepherd’s Pie

For the mashed potatoes:

• Potatoes  – 8 medium
• Butter  – ½ cup (feel free to indulge yourself with more)
• Cream – ¼ cup
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste 

1. Boil the potatoes till cooked. Make sure not to overcook them. 
2. Peel the potatoes and mash them with the back of a fork. Use a wide bowl to help the steam escape. 
3. Add salt and pepper, and mix with the fork. Next, incorporate the butter and cream while taking care not to overmix.

There's more mashed potatoes than necessary for the pie. It helps to make the mash first - that way you and your family can have forkfuls every now and then till the mini pies are ready.

For the filling:

• Shredded Chicken – 2 cups (cooked with salt, pepper and green chilies for spicing up the filling)
• Onion – ½ medium, finely minced  
• Garlic – 4 cloves, finely minced
• Garam masala – ½ tsp
• Coriander powder – ¼ tsp
• Coriander leaf – 4 tbsp, finely chopped
• Oil – 1 tbsp

1. Sauté onion and garlic in oil till the onions become soft and translucent.
2. Add coriander powder and coriander leaf and sauté for about 20 seconds.
3. Add the shredded chicken and garam masala, and sauté for 2-3 minutes till the coriander leaf is soft.

For the pastry case:

1. Make a batch of pastry dough according to this recipe. Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate it for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5.
3. Roll out the chilled shortcrust pastry to about the thickness of a five rupee coin. Cut out circles big enough to cover the base and sides of your muffin mold. Keep in mind that the pastry shrinks when baked. So, you may have to cut out slightly bigger circles.
4. Grease the muffin tray with butter. Gently place the pastry in the muffin molds and press down lightly so that the pastry takes the shape of the mold. Prick the pastry lightly with a fork. Cover the muffin tray with cling film and rest it in the fridge for 15 minutes.
5. Next, cover the molds with foil or butter paper, and fill them with dried beans. Bake the pastry for 10 minutes. When the top edges of the pastry start turning brown, remove the beans and the foil. Bake the pastry for another 3-5 minutes so that the base dries out. While the beans and the pricking stop the pastry from rising while cooking, blind baking gives you a crisp pastry case.
6. Allow the pie crust to cool down completely before adding the filling. Otherwise, the crust becomes soggy.

Important: Never take the shortcut of not blind baking the pastry – a mistake that I made. The pastry takes ages to cook, drying out the filling in the process. Moreover, you end up with a soggy crust. My other mistake was that I rolled out the pastry quite thick.
   

   Assembling the pies:

1. Fill each pastry mold with the chicken filling.
2. Cover the pie with a generous layer of mashed potatoes. You can also pipe the mash over the filling for enhanced visual appeal.
3. Sprinkle some chopped coriander on top.
4. Bake for about 15-20 minutes at 190°C/375°F/Gas 5 until the potato turns golden brown.

One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating. ~ Luciano Pavarotti

'Aloo 'Aloo!

What was supposed to be a wallet-restocking halt turned into a rather wallet-emptying spree. You see, much to my husband’s delight, after getting out of the ATM, I took a detour to the shop next door and splurged on these:

• Freshly-baked sweet bread and milk bread
• Puliyogare mix and Chutney powder
• Khaara bun aka Aloo bun

Normally, any detour from the plan deeply agonizes my husband…all but the detour to the local Iyengar bakery. Sareen, being the typical Bangalore-bred person that he is, pines for Khaara buns, pigs out on bakery bread and is delighted to be served Chutney podi with his breakfast Dosas. The above is a list of things that most Bangaloreans croon over.
   

  
So the other day, I headed to the bakery to buy a few loaves of bread, yes you heard me right – these are so good you consume them by the loaves. Anyway, in the bakery, I also bought the staple powders and mixes and the Aloo bun. The Aloo bun is not disgustingly delicious that I’d write raving reviews about it, yet it is one of those things that foodies must try at least once, like visiting the Taj Mahal for travel-junkies.

Every time I buy these buns, I think of trying it out myself. So, as jobless as I am now, I started trolling for Aloo bun recipes. One common recipe that I came across is by using the standard bread/bun dough and stuffing them with spicy potato filling. The one that I decided to experiment was, however, a potato-based dough. I liked it better than the regular dough.

I looked up this recipe and made my own changes. By changes I mean that I did not stick to precise measurements and used shortcuts.

Aloo Bun / Khaara Bun

Ingredients:

Potato - 1 medium

Milk - 1 cup  

Yeast - 1 tsp

All-purpose flour (Maida) – 2 cups

Wheat flour – ½ cup

Salt - 1 tsp

Oil – 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Boil and peel the potato.
2. Mash the potato and mix it with milk. Make sure that the potato milk mixture is warm and then add the yeast to it and let it rest for 5 minutes.
3. Combine the flours. Add salt and oil to it and mix well.
4. Add half the flour to the potato mixture and mix thoroughly. Once the flour is fully incorporated, gradually add the remaining flour and knead the dough for roughly 10 minutes until it is smooth and bounces back when you press it lightly. If the dough is sticky, add a little flour and knead. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and proof it for about an hour or until the dough doubles in size.
5. Once rested, gently punch out the air by kneading the dough for 1-2 minutes.
6. Make a medium-sized ball and flatten the ball to about the size of a CD. The flattened ball should not be more than ½” thick.
7. Spoon some of the filling on the centre of the flattened ball.
8. Bring together the edges of the circle and close it up like a bun. Repeat the same for the remaining dough. You can make about 10 buns with this dough.
9. Place the buns seam-side down on a greased cookie sheet. Cover the buns with a damp cloth and proof it for another 30-45 minutes. When the buns become double the size, bake it in a moderately hot oven (about 200°C) for about 12-15 minutes until the top starts browning. I baked in the microwave oven on medium heat for 8 minutes and then to brown the top I grilled the bun for 5 minutes.
10. In the final minute of baking, baste the top of the buns with oil and milk. You can baste the buns with egg wash for a shiny golden top.

Important: Make sure you seal the seams of the buns properly, otherwise they will open up while baking.
   

     

For a spicy potato filling, you can sauté boiled, mashed potatoes with finely chopped onions and spices like chilli powder and garam masala. I made a veg filling with finely grated carrots, finely chopped beans and mashed potatoes. You can use just about any stuffing; just ensure that it is a dry one. Next time, I plan to use a chicken filling.

After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relatives. ~Oscar Wilde

Shawarma, Maafi Mushkil!

After enduring disappointing experiences eating abysmal Shawarmas over and over again, I finally decided to take things in my own hands. A few months back, I made the Shawarma at home. I was delighted to finally relish something that you could call a Shawarma. This was to be the beginning of a life-long Shawarma-fest.

Last month, we had Sareen’s uncle and family visiting us from Kerala. It was a pleasure making the Shawarma, particularly for Sareen’s uncle who’d been in Saudi Arabia for a while. I made everything from scratch - the pita bread, the chicken filling, the dressing and even the Fries. Need I mention that I got positive reviews?
   
I’m not going to post the recipe here; I just referred to recipes that I found online. The marinade for the meat keeps changing based on my audience; the seasonings range from Arabic spices to green or red chili and the tenderizers range from lemon to vinegar to yoghurt. Since I am, as always, too lazy to preheat the oven, I just roast the meat in a wok. More importantly, it is too agonizing to patiently wait for 45 minutes when the alternative takes just about a third of the time.
    
I like making the Tarator, the tangy bitter sauce in the Shawarma. Besides the catchy name, I like mixing spoonfuls of bitter Tahini with garlic, lemon and yoghurt, the ingredients that I like the most.
Making Khubz is easier than making chapatti; you just need to give the dough some TLC aka kneading. While making the Khubz is not a big chore, I really wish for the abundance and access to the myriad Khubz varieties that we have in the ME.

Assembling the Shawarma is probably the only tedious part of the whole process. The one key element that’s missing from my Shawarma is pickled cucumber. The stores here seem to have only sweet pickles, and I haven’t yet cracked the code to the perfect pickled veggie.
  
Now that I’ve recreated the shawarma, I think I’ll move on to another favorite in our household – Foul Mudammes and Biskoot Khubz.

Food for the body is not enough. There must be food for the soul. ~ Dorothy Day

Inshallah

The meaning of Inshallah is ‘if God wills it’. Now that’s a word I’ve been hearing since toddlerhood. When I grew big enough to think on my own, I knew that when Uppa said Inshallah in response to one of our requests, he had no intentions of fulfilling it; he just didn’t want to disappoint us with an outright No.

  

Later in college, one of my friends, Abid used to mention Inshallah a lot. Whenever he said it, things worked out just the opposite to our wishes. So, Inshallah started being associated with ‘no chance’ or ‘hell freezing over is likelier’. The word got so unpopular that a few of our non-Muslim friends started referring to it as ‘the I word’.

  

 
I used to poke fun of the word, a lot. That was until 29^th Aug, 2008 happened.
  

Case in point:  17^th Sept, 2007 was Kashi’s birthday. In contrast to our usual low-profile birthdays, this time we had planned a dinner out with our cousins (maternal cousins who were in the UAE at that time). We were all walking to our cars when suddenly Kashi told us that we’d have to take a rain check on the dinner. Another cousin (paternal) was unwell and had called up my brother to take him to the doctor. All of us dispersed saying that the next time we’d have a big bash. Mind you, there were no Inshallahs mentioned. Alas! As tragic and spooky as things got, there was to be no next time.

  

Another case in point: In early 2009, I was window shopping and saw a Premium edition Scrabble set, the kind that we had since our Saudi days.  I knew right then that this was the perfect gift for my father, a Scrabble enthusiast. I also knew that it was not the right time to randomly buy it for Uppa as he wasn’t big on gifts. His 65^th birthday was fast approaching and that seemed like a good time to gift him the prized Scrabble set. Sadly, no Inshallahs occurred in my mind. As things would have been, God never willed for that 65^th birthday to happen.

  

So, no more mocking Inshallah. Now, I am scared about forgetting to say Inshallah when I wish for something. Inshallah, I’ll be more mindful of God’s intentions.

You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you. ~ C.S. Lewis

Sin-Worthy Unnakaya

Just the other day, the tempting aroma of plantain fritters that my s-i-l was frying downstairs wafted through our house. My daughter thought it was the aroma of Unnakaya – a Malabar delicacy that makes you a glutton. The next thing I heard was, “Mommy, please make me some Kunnakaayams.” It was a hilarious moment hearing her pronounce it wrong, yet identifying the delicacy.

How about some Unnakaya with tea

How could I resist her sweet little request. That said, I had to muster up my patience to make this delicious snack. You’ll know why when you see the recipe.

Unnakaya

Ingredients:

2 kg plantain, not too ripe, not too raw

4 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cardamom

¼ cup coconut

½ cup milk

Nuts and raisins as much as you like

Ghee

Method:

1. Cut the ends off the plantains and steam them until just cooked. Take care not to overcook them.
2. Peel the skin and remove those fibrous things that run down the length of the plantain. Next, cut the plantain lengthwise and remove the black line of seeds from the center of the plantains. It is easier to do this when the plantain is still hot.
3. Pass the plantain through a sieve to mash the plantain well. You can also use a potato ricer; just make sure there are no lumps. Knead the mashed mass of plantain to form a dough. If the dough is a bit soft, you can refrigerate it for a bit.
4. For the filling, blend together eggs, sugar, milk, coconut and cardamom. Strain the mixture into a bowl to remove cardamom bits.
5. Heat a pan, pour some ghee and roast the nuts and raisins. To this, add the egg mixture and stir well like you would to scramble eggs. Take off the heat once the mixture cooks through and solidifies; make sure all the liquid has dried. Once the filling has cooled, you can proceed with shaping the unnakaya.
6. Apply a little ghee on your palm and fingers (the grease prevents the dough from sticking to your hands). Make balls about the size of a lemon. Flatten each ball on your palm to form a circle and place a teaspoon of the filling in the center. Now carefully fold the circle down the middle like you would close a book. You get a nice oval-shaped unnakaya. Smoothen the seams with your fingers.
7. Shallow fry the unnakayas in medium heat until golden brown. Take care not to burn them as the sugar in the plantain caramelizes quickly.
8. Enjoy this snack without an ounce of guilt – you deserve a treat for painstakingly making these unnakayas!

Wish I'd made some more!

This sweet dish is a real winner - even my husband, who hates the whole banana family, devours them.

Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart. ~ Erma Bombeck

You mean Meen?

Recently, while holidaying in Pondicherry, I was determined to try out as much seafood as possible because, at times, we get such rotten fish here in Bangalore. So, for lunch and dinner, I skipped the lamb and fowl and dived straight into the seafood platter, shrimp salad, fried fish and seafood creole (high on my to-cook list). I also tasted this very yummy Meen Kollumbu, a Tamil fish curry. Right then, right there I decided I had to recreate that seafood classic. Yesterday, after much searching, I found this recipe, and I followed it almost to the T.

Meen Kollumbu

Meen Kollumbu

Ingredients: 
Kingfish – 750 gm
Shallots – 1 cup (or 1 large red onion)
Coconut – ½ a coconut
Tamarind – extract of about a lemon-sized ball
Tomato – 1
Coriander powder – 4 tbsp
Chili powder – 2 tsp (I substituted it with Kashmiri chili powder)
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Salt
Fenugreek seeds – a few
Curry leaves – a few
Coconut oil – as required

Method:

1. Clean and pat dry the fish and rub some turmeric powder and salt on it.
2. Keep aside 6 shallots and chop the remaining. If using an onion, reserve a quarter.
3. Grind the coconut, tomato and the reserved shallots/onion to a fine paste. Add the powders and grind again. Add the tamarind extract to the ground paste.
4. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a manchatti (clay pot).  In Tamil Nadu, they use sesame oil for its distinct flavour.
5. Put a few fenugreek seeds in the hot oil. Once the seeds splutter, add the curry leaves and chopped shallots. Sauté till the shallots change colour.
6. Add the ground paste along with some water and mix well. Allow this mixture to bubble for at least 20 minutes. Add water if the curry is thick and add salt to taste.
7. Slowly slide in the fish and boil the curry till the fish is cooked, about 10 minutes for big fishes and 5 for small ones.
8. Once done, take the pot off the heat, drizzle some oil over the curry and close it with a lid. Serve warm with rice.

As with most puli-based fish curries, this curry tastes better when you rest it for a few hours; it tastes best the next day.

Tip: If you plan on making this curry often, you can grind a bigger batch of the coconut-masala paste and freeze it for later use.

Even my daughter
relished the curry with some fish fry.

No clock is more regular than the belly. ~ Francois Rabelais

Grab that Crab

I like cooking and experimenting new dishes, but I generally stay away from seafood. Every once in a while I feel like having mom’s Fish Molee or fried fish, and that’s about the only time I buy fish. Yesterday, I decided to buy some fish for my dear daughter who’s a content little kitty cat if she has fried fish for lunch. 
    

From my fish monger, I bought my usual - kingfish, mackerel and sardine - and to my utter surprise, I bought some crab too! I’ve always wanted to cook crab, but the mess of cleaning it inevitably puts me off. Luckily for me, I got the crab cleaned and ready to cook.

Nattu’s Crab Masala

I knew for sure that I had to make something really spicy if my hubby had to eat it. So I looked up the Internet and came up with this recipe. Of course, I had to do it my way - some tweaking here and there and the rest is history! 
   
Ingredients:

Crabs -  4-5 medium, cleaned and halved
Onion- 1 small, finely chopped
Ginger - 1” piece, finely chopped
Garlic - 5-6, finely chopped
Chili powder - 1 tsp ( I also added 2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder for the intense colour)
Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Fenugreek (uluva) powder - ½ tsp (I also added a pinch of powdered fennel seeds)
Tomato – 1 medium, finely chopped

Salt, Water, Curry leaves, Coconut oil
     
Method:

1. Heat some oil in a deep wok and add curry leaves.
2. Add the finely chopped ginger and garlic and sauté till light brown.
3. Add the chopped onion and sauté till golden.
4. Reduce heat to medium and add all the powders and sauté well.
5. Add the chopped tomato and sauté till the tomato turns mushy.
6. Add around 2 cups of water and salt to taste; bring to a boil.
7. Finally, add the crab, cook covered, mixing occasionally.
8. Cook for about 15 minutes, and then remove the lid and cook until the gravy is thick enough to coat the crab.
9. Pour some coconut oil and garnish with curry leaves. Serve hot with appam or rice.

Tip: Once the crab is cooked, let it rest for a few hours. This way the crab absorbs the spices in the gravy. You can later thicken the gravy before serving.

I made this before lunch and served it for dinner. Hubby liked it..not too bad for a first time!

  

I'm on a seafood diet - I see food, I eat it. ~ Dolly Parton

Gosh! Ganache

As part of my new-found culinary bravery, I decided to make some Chocolate Ganache. 

Decadent Chocolate Cake

  Making ganache is as simple* as making coffee.

1. Take one part chocolate and one part heavy cream.
2. Scald some heavy cream.
3. Pour it over chopped chocolate. 
4. Stir it. Ganache done.

Pour some  ganache over your cake and you get a rich, decadent chocolate cake. Yummm!!!

Forget love -- I'd rather fall in chocolate!!!

*Getting those two ingredients is not that simple.

Innovation or Laziness?

For all the pastas and pizzas that I've made, I've never made the Lasagna.
Some nagging fear factor has kept me from trying it this long. Yesterday, I finally took the plunge. I thought I'd start small, something mini, courtesy the Internet.

Lasagna Cupcakes

Lasagna Cupcakes

Things you need:

Olive oil
Onions, garlic, tomatoes and herbs
Chicken - boiled and shredded
Loads and loads of cheese - I used cheddar, mozzarella and sliced cheese
Samosa leaves
Muffin tray

Marinara Sauce, the lazy way:

1. Sweat some chopped onions and a handful of garlic in lots of olive oil. Weight-watchers needn't be as generous with the oil. Time-watchers can speed up the sauteing process by added a pinch of salt to the onions.
2. Next up, your herbs. My regular additive is oregano. Since rosemary is my new-found love, I added it too.
3. Squish some tomatoes and toss 'em in the pan. Well, I couldn't bother with the mess, so I just substituted it with tomato paste and Maggi pizza sauce (Maggi pizza sauce tends to overpower the rosemary and all the other subtle flavors).
4. Finally, chuck in the shredded chicken. Viola! Lazy Marinara sauce is ready.

Bechamel, rich and creamy:
I made no compromise making a panful of cheesy Bechamel sauce. Sorry weight-watchers. I already cut a lot of corners, couldn't cut back on the cheese.

Assembling the Lasagna:

1. Line your muffin tins with samosa squares. The original recipe for lasagna cupcakes replaced lasagna sheets with wanton wraps. I innovated the innovation one notch further and  used samosa leaves. Big mistake - they are too thin, I should've placed a couple of sheets for each layer. The flavor's ok though.
2. Pour some of the lazy marinara sauce over the samosa squares.
3. Next spoon some bechamel, and tear up some sliced cheese over it. 
4. Repeat the layers and bake it over medium heat for about 20 minutes or until you are through with an episode of Two and a Half Men.

PS: If you don't oil your muffin tins, you will end up eating it straight off the tray. Luckily for me, I also baked a batch in my silicone muffin tray.

You don't need a silver fork to eat good food.  ~ Paul Prudhomme

Why do people ask for recipes?

I keep hearing ladies asking for recipes of melt-in-the-mouth kebabs and delectable desserts. So why do they do that? That too when you can easily get recipes online or more traditionally, from cookbooks?

 Kladdkaka - A simple Swedish Gooey chocolate cake

Well, here’s what I think.

People are hesitant to go online and sift through hundreds of recipes for a simple Chocolate cake. It's too much of a pain to find a good recipe.  Here, good means eye-catching or easy-to-make. 

• You have to judge the recipe based on the techniques applied. Of course, your ability to execute those techniques is just as important. 
• You must have all the ingredients listed in the recipe ready at hand. Better yet, you already have them at home!

The other reason why people ask for recipes? 

Imagine this. You are at a dinner party and you've just had this mouthwatering lasagna. So you would love to get that recipe 'coz:

• Someone's tried it, and it's obviously turned out well.
• You've already taste-tested it and really liked it.

Kladdkaka - not much of a looker, but it sure tastes yum! 

I got this recipe from a Facebook friend who got it from her friend's blog. I tried it out 'coz I was in the mood to bake. More importantly, it was simple and I had all the ingredients with me. I posted this pic on Facebook, and it caught on like wild fire.

A few days later, I made another batch for my nephew as an incentive for him to fast. Well, he was very motivated - come sundown and he downed the whole thing.

 

PS: What got me thinking about all this? I was thinking about Seena's sinfully delightful cupcakes, not to mention they were cute and quaint. Had 'em about 2 years ago, and those were the best cupcakes I've ever had! Would really love to try it out myself :)