There are couple of special occasions throughout year, I wish to give importance to couple of them, if not all.. For Hari Raya Aidilfitri, I have to wish everyone celebrating ..... Ramadan Kareem.... People around who helped at different stages in life do not necessarily belong to my religion.... some explained me meaning of blog, stopped by my posts, a girl much younger to me was made my partner on first day at work here in this island.... Me, who always preferred to work manually got extremely scared at the sight of computer getting back to work after 10 years.... I lacked confidence totally, this girl named F helped me with all necessary guidance.... another F was one of my mentors.... both have celebrations today like few others.... fish shares can wait till Sunday. I wonder is that is it me who at age 22 was entrusted with lot more responsibilities.... like accompanying 20-25 board examines from Barasat to Kanchrapara, getting them back safely.... I was young, inexperienced.... yet management trusted me, said... we know you are the right person who can stay cool, handle anything on road.... I had few accompanying colleagues with me.... Look at me today, my colleagues, friends are either principal at schools or senior teacher.... what I am? Nothing.... I sit at home, cook.... but one must follow one's passion.... If you look at my friend Atoshi Shyam's page Artesance.... you will not believe that she has no formal training in Art! Hence, not knowing to bake is not an excuse..... The only thing I can say in my defence is that I try to be honest in whatever I do! As Food Blogger, we will try to unite people..... at least during special occasions.... I strongly felt I wouldn't go ahead with meat share either..... Let me unite cooks, artists and skilled photographers 😊.... not always it is possible though.
That I will prepare a mutton pulao & paneer for our Ramadan lunch is a different issue... I cannot multitask.... writing a recipe and cooking 4 dishes before lunch is not my cuppa.... meat pulao is a wonderful solution to hide my drawback. I am not our mother, the extremely energetic person at 70 was cleaning my home last week and yes all alone! I / We felt very bad and said ... "Mani ask bhai to take you back home, get a help when we go and then clean... you are not our helper".....
Until yesterday, I was worried about the mother cleaning our home alone.... The husband always says.... curtail your expectations S.... Now that mani is back to her "palace".... I am happy........ What to say about me? Well I do get angry, anxious, irritated easily. I need pay due respect to teachers who felt I should be given best conduct prize.... haha... do not know how long I can maintain an "image" of innocence! .... I do not know why some nice / pleasant personas have to give so horrid poses in social media.... I do not know either why it irritates me! My Kolkata visits are not "romanticising with Kolkata"...... its work... work and work.... I love my freedom and hates to be questioned.... "why are you seen always @ City Centre2? Everyday you have to go out?".... My smile answers... "How is it bothering you? Will you do my works?" People see my pictures with friends in social media, takes no time to judge! .... S purposefully is behaving selfish with her family this season.... Instead of spending time visiting doctors and bank.... she has chosen to go for holiday.... she will divulge in right time.... places we visited and the food we had!....Why do people mention hotel names still on tour.... isn't that serious security threat? Anyway, my job today is to wish Ramadan Kareem to my friends, readers ... if not royally but with a simple, famous snack in this island, its neighbouring country VEGETARIAN CURRY PUFF!
Mine may not look that authentic, I have used less butter in dough, I did it for first time, decided to blog about it! I find popular curry puffs of OCK chain heavy on my stomach.... they are quite tasty though.... They have chicken in filling alongside potato.... don't prefer always... I discovered another joint who sell pure vegetarian ones.... also heavy on stomach. My sealing part is tampering of original.... haha.... I used a fork to seal which is not done in case of curry puffs.
For recipes of this island, its neighbour.... I trust Rasa Malaysia.... although I made filling as per our taste bud! It is more like our samosa / shingara. This salted, deep fried, vegetarian snack VEGETARIAN CURRY PUFF seems to me like near cousin of our samosa / shingara sans tempering or use of green peas / peanuts! I even found casing of curry puffs easier than of samosas. I wished to blog about something today South Asia / India can feel connected to, recreate at their homes. I found curry puff the right choice. Even the western world would love it, it's near to your pie.
Yet.... few nations' and Bengal's take on food is same.... keep separate food and health.... haha.... My note to them.... "if you can pile your stomachs with French Fries every other day, having curry puff once a month is no big deal".... the stepwise pictures will say its not a sweaty affair! I balance my diet, hunger pangs eating one paratha instead of two, good amount of fruits of choice. I don't do clean eating.... I got burgers for my men, Cristine yesterday night, I had "amriti o muri".... If she cannot have burgers, she should have had soup, salad! These days I have stopped showing my tummy to Cristine... no point except for turning her crazy.
God forbid... I didn't have generous serving of mutton pulao... walking 7-8 km five days a week, eating loads of carb rarely helps.... If you haven't developed severe neck to back pain, you will do some weight trainings... walking is a low intensity cardio.... It is the lazy self who loves brisk walks, no other exercises. Anyway, when I prepare, enjoy a snack as tasty as this VEGETARIAN CURRY PUFF, body trimming is hardly on my mind.... I am lost in each bite. I know you too will.... shall we proceed to prove it?
In one of steps.... you will see that I have messed with frying part in the beginning.... We have to be careful... they should not feel like "poori-aloo" roll... heat oil little, fry in low heat.... At times we have to switch off gas, fry and again switch on in minutes.... Yet, I couldn't get perfect look... Google Images will prove that! They tasted great! Instead of meat masala they use, I made use of tandoori masala, garam masala I always have in stock.
Fairly inspired by a recipe from Rasa Malaysia!
INGREDIENTS : [FOR THE DOUGH]
REFINED FLOUR : 11/2COFFEE MUG
BUTTER : 4TBSP
BAKING SODA : 2PINCH
WATER : AS REQUIRED
SALT : 1/4TSP
INGREDIENTS : [FOR THE FILLING]
BOILED POTATO : OF TWO BIG ONES
MINCED ONION : 1/2SMALL CUP
TANDOORI MASALA : 2-3TSP
GARAM MASALA : 1TSP
RED CHILLI POWDER : 1/2TSP
TURMERIC POWDER : 1/4TSP
SALT : AS REQUIRED
OIL : 2TBSP
INGREDIENTS : [FINAL ASSORTMENT]
THE DOUGH
THE POTATO FILLING
OIL TO DEEP FRY
PROCEDURE :
Boil potatoes as you wish, wash again, peel. Chop them roughly... they chop it here unlike mashing it as in case of samosa / shingara.
Peel, wash, chop onions.
Heat oil in wok, add chopped onions. Stir fry for 3-4 minutes.
Fold in well, keep stirring for 4-5 minutes. Transfer to bowl, set aside to cool.
Take refined flour, salt, baking powder in bowl. Mix well.
Add water little by little, knead to prepare smooth dough... do not add all of water at a time.... it may trouble. This may take 10-12 minutes.
Cover dough with moist cloth for 15-20 minutes....Remove cover, knead again for 2-3 minutes. Tear off small portions, smoothen between your palms.
Fill in with potato mixture.
Fold in, seal ends with a fork. I found it much convenient as compared to casing of samosa / shingara.
Now heat enough oil in wok to deep fry. Reduce heat to minimum. Frying in too hot oil would make them soggy, give poori feeling.... you can see the difference between first one and rest.
So, we will fry both sides at low heat, even switch off gas if required, again switch on in a moment.
We will use "chakni hata".... perforated ladle to fry both sides well, hold for sometime as seen below to get rid of oil. We would then place them onto tissue papers before serving.
We would have them hot, fresh with salad... the senior had this time to my surprise... prince did not. The tea / coffee cups are missing.... do not forget to get them.
Never tried puff because it needs lots of butter. But you made it with only 4 tablespoon butter. And loved the idea of adding tanduri masala in potato stuffing. Awesome share. Bookmarking it to try soon.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot Sujata... I used less butter and hence the outcome was not exactly like the original... tasted good... I do not too much buttery or oily feel
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