Rajma Alu Tikkis | Kidney Beans & Potato Patties

 

 

So, we have our Burger Buns ready now!  Yay! :) Aren't you delighted with the way they have turned out? Am sure you are smiling from ear to ear with pride on having been able to bake such beauties at home. A pat on your backs, from me :) So ready to now check out my choice of patties that I teamed up with those gorgeous burger buns?

 

....Oh hang on... hang on! You are with me on this burger journey, aren't you? No? You mean... you are new here? Oh well then...let me fill you in on what I have been up to... So, I am fond of burgers but am very choosy about the kind of burgers I like... So when I decided to make my own burgers at home, I decided to completely customise it right from making my own burger buns! Yeah... seems like you missed a lot? Catch up on how to make homemade burgers..... and get back here to read on! :) ....

 

 



 

Burger buns done, now all we need is some yummilicous patties right? I believe that the patties make or break a burger. They are the heart of the burger and basically the taste givers. That makes it very necessary for us to make the perfect pattie to compliment those lovely burger buns that we made.

 

I opted for a combination of kidney beans and potatoes with a hint of soya granules and a mix of spices. The pairing of kidney beans and potatoes is a real winner. Health-wise and yum-wise. The addition of soya granules gave a nice texture to the tikkis.

 

These little guys are great as snack as well and can be served just as is. I happened to pair them with Burger buns, but they are great solo performers too! Yes, one entire tikki was gobbled up as is... so I know :D

 

 

......so we are all set... well almost. Come along in just a bit to check out my take on the Veggie Burger! I promise, to bring it to you soon! :)

 

 

Pan-fried Sweet Potato | Kananga Phodi | Konkani Dish

Once you fall off your routine, its hard to get back on track. Isn't it? 

Well, at least for me it is! And when I do go off track, I have to bring all the forces of the earth together to motivate myself to get back to my routine and continue doing what I used to before the break....
phew!

But to give this thought a twist, if you follow a routine day in and day out, life gets monotonous doesn't it?! Well again, for me it does! And blogging for me is definitely not a part of routine I would like to strictly follow... it is a hobby and not something I should feel tied down about. Come on... hobbies are fun I thought!   

So yeah, I was just busy juggling with various other aspects of my life that this little bloggy of mine had to sit and wait patiently for me to get back here and feed him with something to post out to the wold! So here I am! :)

Cooking has been going on as usual... No, I wasn't on a vacation on that front! :P. Its the plating, clicking, writing and posting that seemed like daunting tasks the last few weeks. The brownie point here is, I have used up the time to mentally keep track of some very interesting yums that I would like to feature here and so you shall be given a treat of all those yummies soon!! (....errr.... I hope! unless your highness decides to go on another hiatus! :D 

To kick start my non-blogging slumber, I am sharing this super easy dish made of sweet potatoes. Is it a starter or a serve along... I cannot decide! Its great both ways. It is a typical Konkani dish called Kananga Phodi. I hope you all like it! :)

Sweet Potato Baked Fries

 

'Variety is the spice of life!' isnt it? :) I love tasting new vegetables and cooking up interesting dishes with them. For me life gets boring eating the same food everyday and cooking the same dishes everyday.

 

But this need for variety is totally a personal want. All the recipes I post here, are outcome of my passion to cook something different in my little kitchen and not really to please the man of the house. No, thankfully.... that is a super easy task!! He loves simple food. Serve him Idly Sambar and loads of chutney along with a cup of hot coffee, daily and he will relish it with equal passion every single time :) But serve him these varieties and he enjoys them as well. Yes, he really is a no-fuss child :D Lucky me, right? :)

 

 



So sweet potatoes is today's star ingredient. I have tasted it once before... or maybe twice. But never cooked with it. Owing to its health benefits, sweet potatoes are said to be healthier than white potatoes. You can read more about this power-packed vegetable here.

 

My family is a huge fan of potatoes and I was only too eager to include its cousin into our regular diet. I decided to recreate my Baked Potato Fries using these sweet potatoes that I had with me. I was sure this would be a winner and it was!! :)

 

The mild sweetness in sweet potaotes gave the fries a very interesting flavour and the fries tasted very different from the regular white potaotes fries. Play around with the seasoning and make your baked fries as per your liking.

Alu Corn Tikkis

I love street food! And chaat tops the list. Alu tikkis is one of my all time favourites and I can yum up a few at one go :) Having made this a couple of times, I wanted to try a slight variation this time by adding in some corn kernels.

Bread is an important ingredient in tikkis as it provides the much needed binding between the other ingredients and holds the shape of the tikki intact. And this time I did not have bread at home, but I really really wanted to make tikki that day... so I just went on, keeping my fingers crossed that these tikkis wont disappoint me by splitting up in the pan, as I did not add in bread to the mixture. Thankfully, the tikkis behaved well and came out perfectly shaped :)

The taste was good with the crunch of the corn kernels amidst the soft potato mixture. Though the shape held well without the bread, I would definitely suggest the addition of bread, as the texture is a little better with the bread blending in the tikkis. Trust me on this... no one can eat just one! :D

Hara Bhara Kabab - Guest Post by Shilpa Kini

When I started this blog about a year back, I did not have any plans for it. I posted about what I cooked. Simple everyday cooking. No fancy elaborate recipes. The main purpose behind the blog was to keep a log for everyone reading (and for myself!) on the simple and healthy dishes needing not much time, effort and ingredients, which I manage to create in my kitchen amidst hectic daily life...  but never-the-less are yum in the tum! :)

Okay, so not much has changed since then. Even to this day, I post recipes only which are simple (as that is all I have time for!) and look for similar recipes on other sources as well. One thing I have decided to do anew is... host guest posts! Oh yes, I have featured two bloggers before with two very interesting dishes - Samosa and Carrot Walnut Cake. But whats going to be different now is, I plan to feature non-bloggers here who have some very creative simple recipes up their sleeves. Just a platform for them to share their recipes.

Today I have here a very bubbly person, from amchi Mumbai who happens to be my sister-in-law! :) Shilpa is my brother's wife and loves that extra twist and spice in her dishes. Her stuffed lady's finger is something I have heard a lot about and am waiting to try out someday! :P Meanwhile here she is telling us about another signature dish of hers - Hara Bhara Kabab, which look absolutely yumm!! Over to her :)

"Hello there! It is great to be doing something different... so here I am to post a recipe on my lovely SIL’s blog!

Once we were just casually chatting with each other... (and you all know what girls like us generally talk about after marriage right..!!?) yeah... it has to be either about their respective husbands or food. So this time it was foodie talks and I told her about the menu for the day and then went on talking about other things. At the end of the conversation she asked me.. ‘Shilpa, why don’t you do a guest blog post for me?!'  Now, with such an offer from ‘Nan’s yum yums’, I was very much excited and readily agreed. Out of over excitement I became generous with my ingredients and, you know what happens then! Yes, to my utter dismay the final preparation did not come out well as expected :( Nevertheless, I gave my second try and this time it was awesome! :) And so, here is my awesome Haara Bhara Kabab Recipe........!!"

 

Bread Cuppizaa!

Who doesn't like Pizza!!!?? These cheesy, chewy, toppings loaded and flavorsome yums are a favorites among everyone, young and old alike. And the varieties and variations you get these days are mind blowing! I do not have a personal favorite pizza, as each time I like to try out a new combination of toppings.

Being an experimental cook that I am, I just had to try out Sharmi's cute variation to the regular Pizza. The process looked so simple with simple ingredients and the cooking time was just a few minutes!

I tried it out and was sooooper delighted with my cute little Cuppizzas! :) Aren't they absolutely adorable? I had to keep myself from eating them the instant I took them off the oven, just so that I get to click some pics to share with you all! Ah, that was hard! :) :)

Baby-Corn & Capsicum Crispies

It was just another weekday evening. We were back from work a bit tired and hungry. With not much time and patience to work up some ellaborate recipe, but with an urge to munch on something fun and a grumbly tummy, I scanned the fridge to look for easy-to-cook evening snack ideas. The packet of fresh little baby-corns smiled up at me as if calling out 'pick me.. pick me!' :D

'Yes, baby-corn it shall be' I thought to myself and picked up the packet along with a lone capsicum sitting alongside. In less than 15 mins, we were enjoying these cripies, sipping away hot coffee alongside. What a perfect evening! :)

Crispy French-fries

Ingredients

Boiled potatoes
Oil – For frying
Salt & Pepper – to taste

For additional seasoning (optional)

Rosemary powder/Basil powder/Origano – a sprinkle

Method:

• Slit boiled and peeled potatoes length wise.
• Heat oil in a frying pan.
• Once the oil is boiling hot, put the sliced potatoes into the frying pan and deep fry till they turn golden brown. The oil has to be boiling hot, else the French-fries will not turn out crispy.
• Line a serving bowl with tissue paper and transfer the fried potatoes into the bowl to drain excess oil. Let it rest for 5 minutes and then remove the tissue paper and serve hot with tomato ketchup or mayonnaise! 

Veggie Kabab Platter

Ingredients:

Paneer - 200 gms (diced into one inch cubes)

Baby Corn - 8 nos (cut into one inch pieces)

Cauliflower - 10 to 12 inch sized florets

Potato - 2 medium sized (boiled and diced)

Capsicum - 1 big (diced into one inch squares)

Curd - 2 tblsp

Tawa Masala Powder - 2 tsp

Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Cumin Powder - 1 tsp

Red Chilli Flakes - 2 tsp 

Salt/Pepper - to taste

Oil - 2 tblsp

Method:

• In a bowl, add in the curd, Tawa Masala powder, chilli powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder and salt. Mix well. Marinate the paneer cubes and boiled potato cubes in this mixture and refrigerate for an hour.
• Par boil the cauliflower florets and baby corns in a pan of water with a pinch of turmeric powder and salt.
• To the cauliflower add in red chilli flakes, basil leaves powder and salt. Keep aside for about half an hour.
• To the baby corn, add salt and pepper to taste and keep aside for a few minutes.
• Heat 2 tblsp of oil in a pan and shallow fry the paneer cubes, potatoes, cauliflower, baby corns and capsicum in separate batches and keep aside.
• Arrange the vegetables on kebab sticks and serve hot with mint chutney. 

Sabudana Tikkis

Ingredients:

Sabudana - 250 gms

Potato - 1 medium sized (boiled and mashed)

Peanuts - 1 cup (roasted and crushed)

Green Chillies - 3 (finely chopped)

Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - a few

Salt - to taste

Oil 

Method:

• Wash the sabudana well, drain water and keep aside for a couple of hours. Keep it moist, by splashing a little water every half an hour.
• After a couple of hours, add in the mashed potatoes to the soaked sabudana.
• Heat oil in a pan and add in cumin seeds and curry leaves as tempering and add this into the sabudana-potato mixture along with the coarse peanut powder and salt.
• Make tiny balls out of the mixture and flatten it out into small tikkis.
• Deep fry them in hot oil for 2-3 mins. Serve hot with tomato ketchup.

Linking to: Snack Recipes @ My Culinary Creations

Alu Tikkis

Ingredients:

Potato - 4 big sized (boiled and mashed)

Bread - 4 slices

Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp

Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Oil 

Method:

• Wet the bread slices and mix them into the mashed potato mixture. 
• Add in the red chilli powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder, salt and mix well.
• Make tiny balls out of the mixture and flatten it out into small tikkis.
• Shallow fry them in a pan of hot oil for 5-6 mins. Serve hot with tomato ketchup.

Alu Tikki Chat: You may enjoy a simple chat by combining the Alu Tikkis with some Channa, Curd, Sweet Chutney, Green Chutney, Sev and some chat masala, garnished with finely chopped coriander leaves!

Linking to: Snack Recipes @ My Culinary Creations