Cheese and Spinach Samosa

These samosas are adapted from Greek Spanakopita or Turkish Borek

Ingredients
1 cup thawed frozen chopped spinach
1 cup finely chopped spring onions
1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander
2 cloves garlic; crushed
1 inch ginger; grated
2 green chillies; crushed
1/4 tspn garam masala
200 gm /8 oz Feta cheese; crumbled (mash using a fork)
NO SALT (feta cheese is very salty)
20 samosa pastries (or filo pastry)




Method
1. Drain the spinach in a colander
2. Mix the spinach, spring onions, coriander and cheese
3. Add the garlic, ginger and crushed chilies, mix
4. Add the garam masala and mix. There is no need to cook the filling as it gets cooked during frying or baking
5. Fold the samosa as shown here
6. Fry the samosa in hot oil, or brush with oil and bake in the oven at 200 degrees centigrade for 25 minutes.
ENJOY

Punjabi style Vegetable Samosa using Tortilla Wraps

Ingredients
1  medium sweet potatoes
1 carrots
1 400g tin Chickpeas; drained and washed
1 cloves garlic
1 inch piece ginger
1 green chillies
1/2 bunch spring onions, finely chopped
6 stalks coriander, finely chopped.
1 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon mustard seeds 
10 curry leaves 
½ teaspoon  garam masala
1 medium sized (8in. diameter) pack soft tortillas (6)
50g plain flour; mixed with water to make a thick paste to use as glue
Extra oil and turmeric to brush over the samosa

Method

1. Boil the peeled sweet potatoes, and dice into small pieces and grate the carrots.
2. Chop spring onions and coriander and set aside.
3. Mince the garlic, grate the ginger and mince the chillies and set aside.
4. Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the curry leaves, cumin and mustard seeds.
5. Add the turmeric, garlic and ginger, stir for a minute and add the carrots, mix, turn the heat down and cover. Leave for 5 minutes.
6. Add the chickpeas cook 5 minutes and add sweet potatoes, mix well. Remove from heat and add the spring onion.
7. Let it cool and add the coriander and garam masala.
8. Cut a tortilla wrap down the centre. Fold one side over and add a little paste then fold the opposite side over on top of the paste. This acts as a glue.
9. Fill the samosa and seal the top with more paste.
10. Place onto an oiled baking tray brush with oil with a little turmeric and bake at 180 for 20 minutes.

Makes 12

Chicken Samosa

Making samosa pur or pastry from scratch is very labour intensive, the only person I know who makes them is Chachi. She made them early this week and I was off work so able to take the pictures!!
The ready made pastry is available at Indian / Asian stores, Chinese eggroll pastry or Greek filo pastry can also be used.

Pastries
4 cups plain flour
1 tsp salt
4 tbsp vegetable oil
cold water
1/2 cup oil mixed with 2 tbsp flour to spread on pastry, extra flour for rolling

Method

1. Mix salt oil into the flour until it is crumbly, add enough cold water for a chapatti-like dough.

2. Divide the dough into about 20-25 balls, Roll out with into 3 inch circles.

3. Spread oil and flour mixture over one roti, place the second one one top, pressing together gently, repeat until you have pile of seven rotis.

4. Roll out the whole pile until it is 7-8 inch in diameter, use extra flour during rolling if necessary.

5. Place on a medium hot tawa, cook lightly on 1 side then turn the roti over and cook lightly on the other side for approximately 20 seconds

Remove the top roti, turn over and remove the roti from the other side, repeat until all seven are separate. .
Wrap the samosa pastries in the tea towel.
When all the pastries are made, pile them evenly on top of each other, cut them into half, cut the top and bottom of to make them straight.

• 

Filling

½ kg minced chicken breast

1 bunch spring onions

2 cloves garlic (minced)

½ inch ginger (minced)

2 to 3 finely chopped green chillies

½ cup chopped coriander leaves

salt to taste

1 teaspoon garam masala

1 table spoon Lea and Perrins Worcestershire Sauce.

1 tspn English mustard

Dry cook the minced chicken with garlic, ginger, chillies and salt, until all the water evaporates, break the lumps if they form. Add Worcestershire sauce, mustard mix, and remove from heat when cooked, let it cool

Add garam masala, onions and coriander.

Folding the Samosas

Ingredients

Flour and water paste

Pastry

Filling

Fold one end over in a diagonal to create a triangle stick down using the flour and water paste, then fold again, the other way, sticking it down with the paste. Fill the triangle with the filling ; fold the flap, glue down using the flour paste. Repeat for until all the filling is used up.

Deep fry 3-4 at a time until golden.

Golden Jubilee continues

To continue this series I have plans to cook Canadian, Singaporean and French food

Canada

• Cheese Samosa ala Samosa King / Sultan  - first time I ever had these was in Vancouver, then in Toronto (I wish I was there).
  
• Poutine is a Quebecois dish consisting of chips (french fries),  cheese and beef  gravy........  yum I had some in Montreal last year
  

Singapore

Last time I was in Singapore (2 years ago), I had an amazing meal at Raffles, it was with Abhi, Kee Hai and Peter.

• Singapore Noodles  (a mixture of Chinese, Malay and Indian cuisine).
  
• Roti prata

France  

I hope to be in Paris for the GJ Durbar

• French Onion Soup
  
• Quiche

Samosa Pastry Trimmings and Avocado Dip

We made pastry / pur for samosas yesterday.  For the freezer ;).  Today we fried the trimmings and served them with Avocado dip.

Recipes:  Samosa pastry / pur,  Avocado dip (to come)

Split Mung Bean Samosas

Ingredients
Pastry
Samosa pastry is available at Indian / Asian stores, Chinese eggroll pastry or Greek filo pastry can also be used.
2 tablespoon flour for sticking paste
Filling
½ cup Split Moong Dal
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds
5-6 Curry Leaves
1 Green Chilli chopped fine
2 inch Ginger paste; grated
2 garlic cloves; minced
½ teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon Fennel seeds;  ground
½ teaspoon Garam Masala
1 medium onion; finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped coriander
½  lime juiced
 Salt to taste

Oil for brushing or frying

Method

1. Wash the dal three times and soak for at least 1 hour.
2. Drain the water, and grind the dal coarsely.
3. Heat oil in a pan, add the cumin seeds and curry leaves, as soon as they splutter, add the dal. 
4. Keep stirring for 5 minutes, lower the heat and cover and cook for 10 minutes. 
5. Add green chilli, ginger, garlic, fennel seeds, turmeric and garam masala, mix. 
6. Cook for a further five minutes or until soft.
7. Add salt and the lime juice and mix. 
8. Remove from heat, add the onions and chopped coriander and keep aside to cool.
9. Heat the oven at 220C, if baking.
10. Mix the flour with a little water to make a thick paste
11. Fold left side of the pastry diagonally, see photo, smear with flour paste, and fold the right side of pastry.  
12. Fill the cone with the filling and seal on the top with the paste.
13. Deep fry or Place on a greased tray, brush tops with oil and bake for 20 minutes.

Recipes from my Age UK Cookery Class - 1

Clockwise from top:
Pomegranate Raita
Kachumber Salad
Basmati Rice
Naan Bread
Beetroot and Coconut Samosa
Lamb Kofte Curry
Cauliflower and Peas Curry 

Shaheen and Mohsin's Majlis Suffro

Recipes to follow

Muthia ..................................................................................................Samosa


Chikki ........................................................................................................ Chakri

This Month's Hit Parade

Top 5 out of 56,005

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Aga Khan Primary School, Kampala

Photo from Harji Website
I went to Aga Khan Primary School in Kampala. My memories consist mainly of my first and last class. In the first form, my teacher was Mrs Barrato - I remember sitting on the mat humming, thinking no one would know it was me making the noise!

In my final form at this school my classmates included Naznin Virani, Meboob Jamani, Nazma Dhanani, Minaz Abji, the twins Salma and Shamshad Hajiani, Shafique Bhatia and Merunnissa ? to name a few. Teachers included my form teacher Penny Jiwani, Mrs Mascaranas and Mr Ramji the RE teacher. We had sewing classes in that room over the canteen, where I was constantly scolded by Mrs Sakar Devji, as I was terrible at needlework. My sewing always had blood stains on it from pricking my fingers with the needle! Miss Shahsultan Meghji and Miss Zarina Gulamhusein used to teach us how to cook. I can remember the queen of puddings well because I dropped it and broke the dish on the way home :(. If you are one of my classmates please do comment on this blog.

Some of my best memories are of standing in the Assembly in the hot sun while Mr Jinnah and Mr Hinchcliffe stood high up on the terrace (where the man with the bike is standing in the picture), and singing Bhali Bathowo ginan. At morning Recess time we would buy boiled mogo sprinkled with red chilli powder and salt; so delicious. We would go home for lunch and come back in the afternoon. No food in the afternoon, Chachi use to give us a flask of Ribena which we would drink in the break.

When we got home at about 4.00 o’clock, we would have chai and nasto. Chachi and Malek used to make enormous quantities of various nasta. The store / larder had huge tins about 2 feet high and 1 foot wide full of sev, ghatia, puri, thepla, chevro, mogo katri etc. Then at 6.oo o’clock the men (Bapa and Chacha) would come home from the factory. Special nasta were made for them. Samosa, batata vara, bateta champ, chane atta ja bhajia, dal ja bhajia, kebab, mayai waro pao etc. We children would join them and eat again.

We would have our supper at about 8.00, kitchri and doodh or gosh jo shaak. So much eating but we were very slim (they used to call me a scarecrow, because I was so thin and lanky with big feet!).

All these memories flooded back when I saw this picture of my primary school.

My next project is to make some of those nasta, starting with Thepla.

Beetroot Samosa: Easy to Follow Illustration

 

Eid & Chachi's Birthday Dinner

I am back! It was Chachi's birthday on Eid day so we had a double celebration, no a triple celebration as it was Shaheen's birthday on Sunday. We really missed our Australian family after getting used to them being here this summer, Ben and Dylan were also missed.

• Chilli and Garlic Olives
• Papad / papadum
• Sambharo (stirfried carrots and cabbage with whole green chillies)
• Chicken samosa
• Sichuan Green Beans (made by Zayn, recipe to follow)
• Vagharelo mogo (Spicy Casava)
• Lamb akhni (pulao)
• Kachumbar (tomato and onion salad)
• Greek Salad sans cheese
• Almond cake (made by Muni)

It was a feast.

Beetroot and Coconut Samosas

The filling for this recipe is adapted from the Keralan Beetroot Thoran.  This is a dry stir fried vegetable with coconut.

Ingredients
500g beetroot
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
¼ tsp hing - asafoetida
10-12 curry leaves, finely sliced
2 green chillies, finely sliced
200g fresh grated coconut or
100 desiccated coconut
1 tsp salt or to taste
1 pack of filo pastry (6-8 sheets)
Olive oil for brushing

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C
2. Peel and grate the beetroots, set aside 
3. Heat 2 tbsp of oil and add the mustard seeds. Allow them to splutter then reduce the heat and add the cumin seeds and curry leaves.
4. Stir together and cook for a minute before adding the asafoetida.
5. Stir in the grated coconut and saute with the spices. Coconut can stick to the bottom of the pan so keep stirring. 
6. Once the coconut has toasted add the beetroot and cook until the beetroot is dry.  Place in a glass bowl to cool.
7. To make samosa:  Spread one sheet of the filo pastry brush with olive oil. Place another sheet on top and spread with olive oil.
8. Cut the phyllo sheets in 3 strips.  At the end of each strip add one tablespoon of the filling. Fold one corner to form a triangle and continue folding the triangle upon itself, until the entire piece of filo is used. Continue with the rest filo sheets and filling.
9. Oil the bottom of a large baking tray, place the samosas and brush them with some olive oil on top. Bake in for 25-30 minutes, until golden and crispy.

Makes 18-24