Oil-free Shami Kebabs, Well Almost

Shami Kebabs are probably one appetizer which has kept united Indian and the Mughal cuisines in every which way. These richly flavored, patty-shaped kebabs are traditionally made with soaked chana dal and shallow fried.

But I was in a hurry to make them and also cater to some non-Indian palates. Hence I chose the oven-route, and used sattu instead of Bengal gram. Baking them in the oven also meant very little oil. Something men and women all over the world are so cautious about.

Ingredients for Shami Kebabs are:

500 mince meat (lamb/goat/beef)
2 eggs
1 small red onion, very finely chopped
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 inch root ginger, minced
5-6 green chilies, minced
Handful of fresh coriander, very finely chopped
Half a teaspoon of freshly ground garam masala
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
10 whole black peppercorns
2-3 tablespoons sattu
2 tablespoons Canola oil
Salt

In a large mixing bowl, pound together everything except the oil.

Take lime-size balls of the meat mixture and flatten them between the palms of your hands. Makes about 15-17 kebabs.

Pre-heat oven to 350° F. Line a baking tray with aluminum foil. Place the kebabs on the tray and drizzle the oil, few drops on each.

Bake these for 30-35 minutes, turning them at the halfway mark. Alternatively, you can shallow fry them in a hot pan till the meat is cooked through.

Serve with fresh coriander chutney, hummus, slices of onions, and lemon wedges. I like mine with these non-heat, deep fried green chilies.

Also, the winner of my Blog’s first birthday giveaway is Aipi, the desi cook in an American kitchen! Thank you for coming to my party, Aipi.  

P.S. More kebab recipes and pictures from PreeOccupied are here.

Maacher Chop

I felt a pang of guilt caramelizing the onions for the Maacher Chop (Bengali Fish Croquettes) today. Apparently, people in India are reeling under the sky rocketing price of onions, yet again. If it makes you feel any better, I get two pounds of onions (about a kilo) for close to six dollars.

This Maacher Chop recipe is largely Uttara Ghosh’s. I have just made some cosmetic changes to it. Uttara was quick to come to my rescue when I requested for a recipe on Facebook. I have used Sole fish fillets, though traditionally Bengali Fish Chops are made with Rui or Kaatla maach. You can even use Tilapia like Satrupa and Sandeepa have.

Ingredients for Maacher Chop are:

400 grams fish fillet (use any white fish)
3-4 medium size potatoes, boiled and peeled
1 medium red onion, slivered fine
4-5 green chilies, finely chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, made into a paste
1 small knob of ginger, grated
10 raisins
Handful of fresh coriander, finely chopped
1 teaspoon red chili powder
Half teaspoon garam masala powder
Quarter teaspoon turmeric powder
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Half cup breadcrumbs 1 bay leaf
1 black cardamom
1 small stick of cinnamon
Canola or mustard oil
Sugar
Salt

In a saucepan, add the fish, bay leaf, turmeric, salt, cardamom and cinnamon. Pour enough water to cover all the ingredients. Cook this for 5-7 minutes on high, till the fish turns flaky. Discard the whole spices and drain the water. With a fork, mash the fish and keep.

 
Heat 2-3 tablespoons oil in a pan and add the slivered onions and fry them till they turn brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep in a bowl.

In the remaining oil, add the fish, raisins, garlic paste, ginger, red chili powder, garam masala powder, half teaspoon sugar and salt to taste. Mix well and cook for 4-5 minutes.
Transfer the fish mixture to the bowl of caramelized onions.

Now mash the boiled potatoes and add to the fish and onion mixture. Add chopped green chilies and coriander to it. Do a taste test before you season with salt. Pound all the ingredients well. You can start with a spoon, but end with your hand. That’s the most effective way to do it!

Take lemon-size balls of this mixture and shape into “chops” between the palms of your hands.

You can ready these and deep fry them just before serving. But make sure you cover them and refrigerate.

Heat oil in a wok, until almost smoking. Make a mixture with cornstarch and water and dip the chops in them first. Then roll each on a bed of breadcrumbs.

Uttara suggested I use slices of bread soaked in water and squeezed into the potato-fish mixture, which is a tried and tested method of “binding” chops and cutlets and prevent them from disintegrating while deep frying. But I did not have bread at home today. So I did what I have done for my Koraishuti’r Chop.

Deep fry each chop till they turn golden brown. Serve with ketchup or kasundi and onion rings when they are not 80 rupees a kilo!

Thank you, Uttara for this jewel of a recipe!

Homemade Tandoori Wings on Handmade Platter

This post can be a little confusing. I am not sure if the Tandoori Wings were better or the Platter I made at Pottery School is. I’ll let you decide. Please do not be biased.

 

Okay now, its time to focus on the Tandoori Wings. I used the little dip bowl for some fresh salad.

Do you notice the Indian motifs on the edges? They were hand-pressed with hand carved wooden blocks (used for fabric usually).

I also love the warm green I have used on the outer ring. The only thing that I am not too happy about is the color of the little bowl, which I slipped, scored and attached to the plate. I was experimenting with the under-glaze and it hasn’t turned out the way I had visualized it to be.

But you live to learn…

Hopefully my next chip and dip platter will be perfect. Handmade and perfect? Quite an oxymoron. The joke with my platter inauguration with my husband now is, now you can serve food in what you handmade!

Achy Breaky Heart And Samosas Over Chai

We live and we die. And in between that living and dying, we also LOVE. I had my first share of a painful heartbreak as a six-year-old. I “fell in love” with my father’s friend – a pediatrician who I visited since I was a baby. He chose a gorgeous doctor from London over me and moved on. Now, how could I compete with that? All I could do then was sob silently. When done crying, I would urge my Mother to play You Are My Sunshine on her record player. Over and over again, till Doris Day lulled me to sleep.

I lived to love and get my heart crushed…again! I found shoulders in friends to cry on till I finally met the man to hold hands forever, that same someone who diligently “edits” my blog posts and samples my cooking. Everyday.

A heartbreak story unfolded today too. Not mine, but a friend’s, who has been battling the break-up blues on her own. She finally managed to take some time off her work and meet me. I suggested my place for privacy sake only, and not go to any coffee shop, in case she decided to be all teary-eyed and sniffy-nosed.

I wanted to make her something soothing, like a soup. But a quick check at the daytime high and I decided against it. Purely from experience I knew, that breakups are also a time for a little indulgence. One look at the potatoes and the leftover cauliflower made me make up my mind on Bengali Samosas for J.

J arrived a little before time, trying to hide behind large Jackie O sunglasses. I had never met The Boyfriend, sorry, ex boyfriend, who apparently was a jerk to have dumped J for another. Yes, its the same story of that Bermuda Triangle (of Love)!

While playing a good host, a therapist, a healer, and friend, I was also left to cautiously deep fry the samosas I had already done the stuffing for and kept aside.

After five scrumptious samosas or shingara as we say in Bengali and a cup of chai (with extra sugar to mend the broken heart), J seemed more bearable of her own heartache. I knew food medication worked, but to see the results so soon in front of my eyes was another thing.

Licking the left corner of her mouth of any last trace of the tamarind chutney she was so happily dipping her samosas in, J took her Blackberry out. I thought she was going to make that one last call to the The Ex and tell him how happy she was enjoying the afternoon sun and miniature samosas. But I was wrong!

She looked at me with a better-than-ever look in her eyes and said, “Pree, give me the recipe for these samosas, I will save it on my phone.” Who was I to deny my girl friend a road to recovery en route the culinary course.

Move over Doris Day, Samosas are here to stay!

Ingredients for Bengali Samosa / Shingara are:

For the filling:
4-5 potatoes, boiled and skin removed
One cup cauliflower flowerets
Quarter cup green peas
1 inch ginger grated or minced
Few green chilies chopped fine
Handful of coriander leaves, chopped
Few cashew nuts, chopped
Handful of raisins, chopped
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2-3 teaspoons bhaja moshla (dry roasted cumin-coriander seeds coarsely ground)
Pinch of turmeric powder
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Salt

For the pastry:
One and half cup all purpose flour
Half teaspoon nigella seeds
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Pinch of baking powder
Pinch of salt
Enough oil for deep frying

Blanch the cauliflower and peas and drain all water. Cut or break the boiled potatoes in uneven shapes and sizes. In a wok or pan, heat one tablespoon vegetable oil and add the cumin seeds. Sauté for a few seconds and add the cashews, raisins and green chilies. Fry till the nuts and raisins turn golden brown.
Now add the boiled potatoes. Keep frying till everything mixes well. Add the blanched cauliflower and peas along with the grated ginger. At this time, add all the spices like the dry roasted ground cumin-coriander mix, turmeric and salt. Fry all the ingredients till traces of moisture go.
Now add the chopped coriander and give it a nice mix. Be gentle with the mixing as all the vegetables are already cooked. Let the filling for the samosa come to a room temperature.
Knead flour, nigella seeds, one tablespoon oil, baking powder and salt with some water. Make a dough and keep aside for 30 minutes, covered.
Divide the dough into small, ping-pong ball-size portions.
Dust flour on your kitchen counter and start rolling small discs of dough (puris) and cut from into halves.
Now fill the potato-cauliflower filling into triangle-shaped pastries and smear the ends with water on your fingertips. Seal the ends pressing gently with your fingertips. Make samosas and keep on a baking dish/ non stick surface.
Heat enough oil for deep frying in a wok. Start adding 2-3 samosas at a time and fry them till golden brown. Drain out excess oil on paper towels. Serve piping hot with chutney or tomato ketchup.

Just Some Quick Fixes

I am halfway through making a leg of lamb for dinner today, the post for which I probably will write tomorrow. Meanwhile, take a look at some free-style recipes from my kitchen.
The famous Thai Mango Salad, goes well even with Indian kebabs.
Crunchy Grilled Asparagus, sprinkled with some salt and pepper and drizzled with EVOO. 
No, these are not the quintessential Bengali Begun Bhaja, they are eggplants of course but broiled in the oven. So much more healthy and saves up on oil too!
Holy Guacamole!  Sun-riped avocados mixed with spices and chopped onions, tomatoes and some coriander. From nachos to even papads, I top Guacamole on anything!
These are the green beans I make to serve alongside Chili Chicken and Chowmein. They take just five minutes to make and are absurdly delicious: salty with soy, spicy, and almost sweet with garlic. The beans aren't overwhelmed by all these flavors, but stay crisp and distinctly themselves.
These are Jalapenos stuffed with salty Canadian Feta, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with pepper. Grill them or broil them. They taste just right.
That’s a salad without a recipe. Just some vegetables sliced and drizzled with plain beaten yogurt which has been seasoned with salt, cumin powder, and pepper.
That’s just some fresh Fennel, sliced and marinated with little OJ (orange juice), seasoned with salt and pepper. Crunchy to the core.
No, its not a jar of pesto. Its a hot and tangy Indian Coriander Chutney. Coriander and green chilies washed and blended with some garlic cloves. Seasoned with freshly squeezed lemon juice and salt to taste. I prefer the young, small coriander leaves for added flavor. Layer it on a paratha or spread it on a slice of bread. You cannot just stop having it.