Harris Walz Hotdish (aka palak keema aka Samosa Hotdish)

 Original recipe here: https://www.worthypause.com/blog/2018/3/samosa-chaatdish-tater-tot-hotdish-recipe 

I have halved the amounts and translate to British kitchens

 Harris Walz Hotdish (aka palak keema aka Samosa Hotdish)

 serves 4

 

Ingredients

2 medium yellow onions, minced finely

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 medium garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp fresh ginger, minced or grated

optional chopped hot pepper (or add 1 tsp dried)

1 Tablespoon garam masala

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp cinnamon

500gr ground beef or lamb

salt and pepper, to taste

1 tin chopped tomatoes  (Mutti is best) or 2-3 fresh Tomatoes, diced or  250 ml or so passata

1 big bag of fresh spinach (c250 gr) - cook in microwave, chop and squeeze out water 

juice of one lemon or lime 

a handful fresh coriander, chopped 

1/2  cup frozen peas 

1 package of potato croquettes or hash brown mini bites 

Chop and prep all your ingredients before you start cooking.

In a large sauté pan with a lid add oil and fry onions on medium heat, stirring frequently until they are translucent. Add  ginger and garlic and fry for a minute or two until fragrant.  add hot chilli now if using. 

Add the garam masala, cumin, coriander, turmeric and cinnamon [and dried chilli if using] and stir to coat everything.  

Add and brown the meat. 

Preheat the oven to around 175C

Add the tomatoes. Simmer on low, covered, about 15-20 minutes or until the tomatoes melt into the stew, stirring occasionally.  [less time if passata] 

Stir in the spinach, peas, lemon juice and coriander. Add salt and pepper as desired.  Turn off the burner.

Transfer the palak keema into an oven proof dish. Top with a single layer of croquettes. 

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the tots are crispy and golden brown.

Serve!

Perfect Rosti

1 large baking potato grated coarsely. Should make about 2 cups by volume. Squeeze in a tea towel to get rid of liquid. 

Add to a large mixing bowl with 1 egg and 1 heaping tablespoon flour. 

Add lots of grated paper and sea salt. 

Grate in 1 small onion or two shallots. 

Heat large non stick skillet  with a lid over high heat, add generous amount of butter and vegetable oil. 

Spread potatoes in pan.  Press down lightly.   Put lid on. 

Cook until brown on the bottom. Flip. 

Cook a little more to crisp both sides and serve. 

Oven fried chicken with honey garlic sauce

My adaptation of this recipe: https://cafedelites.com/oven-fried-chicken-with-broccoli-honey-garlic-sauce/ 

For The Chicken:
6 boneless chicken thighs 
Bowl 1:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Bowl 2
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon garlic powder or granules
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1 teaspoon paprika (sweet or smoky)
Bowl 3
2 cups Panko breadcrumbs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves, to serve

For The Honey Garlic Sauce:

• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar(or white or apple cider) optional**
• 2-3 cloves garlic crushed 
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water

INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat oven to 200°C. Line a baking sheet with baking / parchment paper or spray a nonstick tray with cooking oil spray; set aside.
• Cut chicken thighs into at least 3 pieces.
  Set up a work station with 3 shallow bowls. To one bowl, add the flour and set aside. In the second bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, garlic powder,  salt and paprika. In the third bowl, mix the Panko with the vegetable oil.
• Working one by one, evenly coat the chicken in the flour, then dip into the egg mixture, then dredge in the Panko mixture, pressing to coat. Place onto prepared baking sheet and repeat with remaining chicken thighs.
• Lightly spray each chicken thigh over the top with cooking oil spray. Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Check one of the thicker pieces to make sure it's cooked through.
• While the chicken is in the oven, prepare the Honey Garlic Sauce:In a small saucepan, combine honey soy sauce, vinegar (if using) and garlic. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, and quickly reduce heat to low. Pour the prepared cornstarch mixture into the saucepan and stir through until sauce thickens (about 2 minutes). Set aside and allow to cool.
  Serve immediately with the honey garlic sauce, rice and steamed broccoli or other vegetables.
  
  

Chicken Shawarma, Noodle rice and Salad with special sauce

 Chicken Shawarma 

Derived from RecipeTinEats and Thomasina Miers

Combine marinade mix in a bag and add chicken thighs (boneless or bone-in); Marinate for at leats a couple of hours. Then put chicken on the bbq or bake/grill at high temp in the oven.  Slice up after cooking for easy serving.

Marinade: 

• 1 large garlic clove crushed
• ▢ 1 tbsp ground coriander
• ▢ 1 tbsp ground cumin
• ▢ 1 tbsp ground cardamon
• ▢ 1 tsp chipotle powder
• ▢ 1 tsp smoked paprika
• ▢ 2 tsp salt
• ▢ Black pepper
• ▢ 2 tbsp lemon juice
• ▢ 3 tbsp olive oil
• 
  

Noodle rice 

Using a heavy bottomed pot with a lid, fry approx 1/4 cup vermicelli noodles in a small amount of oil until browned.  Add 3/4 cup basmati rice and stir until all covered in oil.  Add 2 cups chicken or veg bouillon. Reduce heat to low, and cook without stirring until rice is ready. 

Special sauce 

From Thomasina Miers

Combine in a clean jam jar and shake well:

a few spoonfuls of yogurt
1 garlic clove, crushed
½ tsp flaky sea salt
20g tahini
1 tsp honey
50-100ml extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon

Adjust to taste. Pour over salad, chicken etc.

The Best and Easiest Turkish Carrot Salad

 

We've been making this for a couple of years. Not the most aesthetic salad ever, but such a tasty addition to summer mezze. 

Original recipe here. 

Grate 4-5 carrots. Saute in olive oil. Cool. Combine with 1 clove crushed garlic and as much thick greek yogurt as you like. 

Dosa, Dosa, Dosa!

Dosa

I saw this dosa mix in a local shop and couldn't resist buying it. It is all made up and refrigerated. 

I love dosas, but my one attempt to make them from a dried mix was not a success, and I've not tried making them from scratch.  

If I was going to make my own, I would follow Felicity Cloake's recipe . But the mix tasted great. I added some water, as it says on the package, and was amazed at how well they cooked on the cast iron griddle. 

Masala Dosa Filling

This is based on this online recipe  I made it in advance and warmed it up in the microwave before serving. 

 

• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 handful fresh curry leaves (maybe 9-10)
• 1 inch piece ginger, minced
• 1/4-1/2 onion sliced
• 1 green chilli, seeds removed, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 -1/2 cup  frozen green peas
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon sambar powder
• 500 grams potatoes

Quarter potatoes, boil until done, peel off skins and mash lightly. 

Heat oil, add mustard, cumin, and fennel seeds, then curry leaves and ginger,  onions and chilli.  When onion is soft add peas, turmeric, sambar powder and potatoes.   

Sambar  

I like to dip my dosa in the sambar. It should be quite soupy, not thick like dal. It's made in two stages -- the vegetable and dal soup, with temper added at the end.

I drew on this online recipe  in making my sambar, but used  much less sambar powder (and didn't make my own).

Cook 1 cup toor dal in a good amount of water until soft. Drain off excess liquid if necessary and mash. 

Saute in a large, heavy bottomed pot: 

1/2 chopped onion 

1-2 sliced okra 

3-4 chopped green beans 

chopped carrot, potato or squash or other vegetables

add one chopped tomato.  

Add 1 teaspoon (or more) of sambar powder.  Add a spoonful of tamarind paste diluted in a few tablespoons of water.  Add mashed lentils. Cover with water and cook until vegetables are soft.  

In a small frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon oil, add 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds, 1/4 teaspoon asafoetida, a handful of fresh curry leaves. 

Stir the spiced oil into vegetables and lentils, and serve with dosa. 

• toor dal/arhar dal pigeon peas lentil

 

Fresh Coconut Chutney

Coconut and coriander chutney is always served with dosa in UK restaurants. 

I followed this recipe, but left out the lentils, and added more water.

Put in blender: equal amounts coriander leaves and coconut, one green chilli, a little lemon juice, sugar, and salt. Blend until smooth, and fairly runny.   How much coriander and coconut depends on how much chutney you want. I would use about 1/2 cup each. 

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a small frying pan, add 1 teaspoon mustard seeds, 1 teaspoon urad dal,  (optional), 8-10 fresh curry leaves and a pinch of asafoetida.   Mix into chutney. 

Fresh Peanut Chutney 

This was always served with dosa when I first had them at a colleague's table in Asmara.  My version wasn't as good as I remember. I may have to try a few variations. 

I followed this recipe but without the chilli and tamarind. 

In a small fry pan, toast 1 cup raw peanuts, then set aside. In the same pan, add a spoonful of oil, and sauté a half onion, chopped, several cloves of garlic crushed or chopped, and a lump of ginger, chopped or grated. When cool, add to a food processor with water and pulse until ground into a paste. 

Similar to above, the temper heats the ingredients below in a small pan, before adding to the peanut paste. 

• 2 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
• ▢1 teaspoon Mustrad Seeds
• ▢½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds
• ▢¼ teaspoon Asafoetida
• ▢1 teaspoon Urad Dal
• ▢10-12 Curry Leaves

Holiday cinnamon buns with prune filling

'Sticky buns' were a staple of visits to my grandparents in the 1960s and 1970s. Over the years, usually at Christmas time, we have tried to replicate my grandmother's recipe or have sometimes made Chelsea buns or Joy of Cooking style sticky buns. They work best if you prepare the dough the evening before, leave the formed rolls in the fridge overnight for the final rise and then bake in the morning.

This recipe, gratefully adapted from Patrick Ryan at BBC Good Food, has been perhaps the most popular of our annual experiments. It's quite a straightforward dough, but the filling includes prunes soaked in orange juice and prune/orange notes in the sugar glaze brushed on at the end.

Ingredients

For the dough

500g baking flour

1tsp salt

50g light brown sugar

15g fresh yeasts or 1½ tsp dried yeast

75g softened butter

200ml whole fat milk

1 egg

flavourless oil or butter for greasing

For the filling

200g prunes (pitted)

one orange (zest & juice)

100g light brown sugar

1½ tsp ground cinnamon

100g softened butter

For the glaze

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

50g caster sugar

reserved liquid from the prune filling or a couple of extra tbls of orange juice and water