Recipe of the day

skell

The Mango/Pineapple Tango looks great, but you forgot the RUM!

volga_volga

can't forget spicy cheese cutlets that they served me in Rishikesh in lieu of my usual fried egg breakfast. i pulled out some recipes from the Net (see one below) but my cutlets are all (1) a bit sour - potatoe adds some sour taste and (2) are falling apart when i try to fry them... i use either cottage cheese as sold in Sainsbury's or "quark" from German supermarkets... HELP!!

recipe (they are all very similar)

300 grams (about 12 oz.) cottage cheese crumbled 2 big potato(es) boiled and mashed 2 big slice(s) bread 1 onion(s) finely chopped 2 green chilli(es) finely chopped 2 tablespoon(s) cornflour 2 tablespoon(s) coriander leaves finely chopped oil for shallow frying, salt and pepper to taste

Place the bread slice(s) in water just enough to soak them for about 1 minute(s). Squeeze gently between palms of hand and discard excess water. Tear into small pieces and keep aside. Mix the cottage cheese, potato(es), onion(s), green chilli(es), cornflour, chopped coriander leaves, bread pieces,salt and pepper. Shape the mixture into patties. Spread 1 teaspoon of oil on a griddle and heat on medium level for about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Place 4-5 patties on the griddle and fry for 3 minutes on each side or till both the sides are golden brown. Fry the remaining patties in the same way. Serve immediately with: Green Chutney (Hari Chutney) and Tomato Ketchup.

__________________
Tibetan Orphanage School in China
My other favourite place is Pakistan Travel Forum

AvidTrekker

A little bit (one spoon?)of ravaa (sooji) or arrowroot flour will ensure that the cheese cutlet does not fall apart. Experiment and keep adding a little more. Too much will "concretize" the cutlet. The sour taste comes when you boil the potatoes in the morning, refrigerate them for use later, and use them in the evening. This also gives you a bit of "gas" after eating. If you happened to use freshly boiled potatoes for your cutlets, then the potatoes are prolly different. Maybe "genetically enhanced"?

Next time carry a sack of 'tatoes back from India! Our potatoes are still from the original (European) genetic stock!

__________________
The Universe is an ellipsoid?... or a Spheroid?? If the sphere smiles... it becomes an ellipse. This IS Creation.

volga_volga

Trekker, how on earth did you know about potatoes? that's exactly what i did!! will try arrowroot next time, thanks for the tip!!

cyberhippie

VV arrowroot works as does bulgar wheat or even egg white! This will stop your cutlets falling apart (though corn flour should work too)
Avid Trekker I agree Indian potatoes are sooo much better than we get here in Europe and those red carrots MMMmmmm!
No matter how good a cook you are it's the ingredients that really make a meal, one of the reasons France scores so highly in the Cuisine stakes!!

volga_volga

hold on but i have already used egg white and corn flour and they were falling apart still. my guess is the quality of the cottage cheese - it is in small chunks rather than smooth so i can't get the smooth consistency from it. [sign] must go find tinned paneer as sold in one of the indians supermarkets over here

cyberhippie

Mash the cottage cheese up or stick it through the blender I wouldn't use panneer that is probably even harder to make cultlets with because of it's consistancy.Even in India I doubt they use panner in their cutlets but I could be wrong.
I'm guessing they would use amul or local cheese.
Local cheese is made with curd wrapped in muslin and allowed to dry/ferment overnight, the result a pretty tasty cream cheese even better if you put some garlic through it!!
Try cooking the cutlets a bit slower VV to develop that hard crust that hold the whole thing together or deep fry them!!
I have this problem with fried eggs would you believe!!!

AvidTrekker

VV, the tinned paneer is worse... don't even touch it. Fresh paneer will require more of arrowroot... and then the "cutlet" will taste more like a "Marie" biscuit. Use some sorta cottage cheese, closest to Amul or whatever as cyberhippie has suggested. The arrowroot will work fine. Just try it out. If i were not living in Mother India, I would have asked you to ship me some cutlets.

VV, I have a "yogic eye" which enables me to see what you exactly did that day!! That's how I know. (jus' jokin')

AvidTrekker

VV, just discovered another way to work around your problem of "cutlet" falling apart. If you remember, we get "individually wrapped" cheese slices by Amul, Britannia, etc. Similar slices from Le Bon or Kraft should be avlble in UK. Cover your square cheese slice with potato-masala on both sides. (Cut the round into a square if you wish). If you use freshly boiled potatoes, it wont fall apart cuz its the loose cheese inside which makes it fall apart. This is the raw patty. Put this in a dish of dry arrowroot flour and turn the patty around in the flour four or five times with a very gentle grip. This will give a loosely adhering layer of arrowroot on the entire surface. Now hold your palms in a namaste mudra with this patty gently held in between. Alternate left and right hands down and up till the excess arrowrt flour comes out in your palms. Dont press the patty while doing this or while handling.

NOW place this on the heated oil onto the griddle. In India, we make one side a bit "brown-burnt" and the other side a bit "half-done". This will give you a wonderful "crunch" while biting in and... will make the rest of the cutlet simply melt in your mouth.

Of course, since you happen to have the resources, have this with hari peppermint chutney (and ketchup) and watch everyone drool.

Drool; drool; drool..... (there is no drool smiley)

Variation

Although it ain't a cutlet, its still a tasty snack: Take a slice of fresh bread and put the cheese slice on it. Butter/mayo/whatever in btwn the bread & the cheese is optional. Press the potato masala on to this and curl it around the bread sides ever so slightly that the cheese and the bread slice don't separate. Same arrowroot treatment only on the potato side. Do both sides evenly, with the same browning. Eat with pp chutney/ketchup.

Many school kids take this to school inside their lunch boxes. According to them, it tastes better when cold.

volga_volga

Trekker, your culinary talents only equal to your telepathic abilities (i'm still recovering from your potatoe claim... can you tell what i did last night? ) noone can write recipes in such a way as if they were love verses

anyways, i am a bit confused about arrowroot - i have never used it as a cementifier before - do you put it IN the mixture or use it as a external coating? and what exactly is arrowroot flour, and how is it different from the normal flour in cooking? i use corn flour in the mixture, and breadcrumbs as external coating, 'cause i love fried breadcrumbs they are all the fun in cutlets.

AvidTrekker

VV, if i cud tell what you did last night, wud i be writing on this forum? I wud just allow my vision to appear in your kitchen and tell you "NO cornflour!" (or sum'in like that)!! Yeah, i am highly intiuitive, (from birth) and when i write without prior "mental construction"; i usually end up writing the "correct" things.

I have never ever written love verses, and ONLY two recipes so far, both on IM. (or was it three?). I'll remember your compliment. Thank You. But i should not end up writing love verses like a recipe! That would be an unmitigated disaster!

Don't put the arrowroot in. ONLY external coating. Its a fine white flour with a largely "neutral" taste. Of Course, bread crumbs are a "yes, yes"!

chappal

Somebody (edit: Bryan )asked about Dosa recipe (edit: awhile back -- Have you tried making dosa yet, Bryan?). Dosa is one of DH's favorite foods; me I am more of an idly fan. I could give you my recipe in progress which is a combination of the one in my veg cookbook and what my MIL tells me, but my dosa is not excellent, so I cannot give many tips about making the batter. I think due to the fermentation process the recipe will vary according to the climate in your kitchen, and requires experience with what a good dosa batter looks like. (I am hoping to acquire this on my next trip.) Anyway, dosa takes two days to make from scratch because you must ferment the rice, then mix with dal and again ferment this mixture. You also have to have an excellent food processor capable of grinding rice and dal. So, my suggestion is to use...

Instant batter:
For dosa novices and busy parents, there are two dosa mixtures made by Gits. This way you do not have to worry about getting the batter right, and can focus on learning how to cook the dosa. Gits mixtures can be found in all Indian stores in the US and also in India. Gits makes a regular dosa mixture (rice based) and a rava dosa mixture (wheat based). When making the Gits follow instructions exactly (it is easy) BUT leave out a few tablespoons of water at first, and gradually add more water to get to the right consistency. It should be smooth, fluid, and thin, but not watery. As you are cooking the dosa, you will figure out if you need more water in order to be able to spread it thinner.

Cooking dosa:
You need a non-stick pan with good conduction. I cannot stress this enough. I used to think I was cursed with dosa until I got a new calaphon pan and then magically it worked. Pre-heat the pan for several minutes on medium heat. The pan should be hot enough for a splash of water to sizzle away, but not so hot that anything could burn even if left there for a few minutes. If the pan is not hot enough, the dosa will not sizzle and make those tiny holes. If the pan is too hot the bottom will fry before it is cooked through. I cover the dosa while it is cooking so that the top gets cooked too, but I am not sure if this is traditional. I think a really thin dosa would not require this. Now the art of good dosa cooking is in your ability to spread it thin. My husband usually does this part. It requires a careful, quick hand with steady pressure to spread the dosa outward in a spiral. This has to be quick because it is already cooking, but if you do it with haste it will not be spread evenly. The dosa should be thin enough that little holes pop up throughout the batter. Dosa batter is a lot stronger than you will expect. Try making one thinner with more gaps than you expect you can, you will see how well it holds together.

Filling:
As far as the filling, we usually have a potato filling made from finely diced potatoes, onions, and chilis with tumeric, a few mustard seeds, salt, and hing (not sure if this is traditional but I like the flavor). I do not make this from a recipe but rather just looking around my kitchen. For expediency, I usually parboil the potatoes in a pressure cooker before frying them with the other stuff. Once cooked, the filling should be mashed a little with a fork to the consistency for stuffing in the dosa. It should not be watery or creamy, but neither should it be chunky.

Put this inside the dosa and roll.
Chutney, I saw a good recipe somewhere else on here.
I usually have mine with sambaar.

sadhuji

'chili chicken' requires few pieces of boneless chicken.

first, prepare a paste of ginger, onion, garlic and chili (green/red). marinate the boneless chicken pieces with curd and this paste for at least four hours. then, mix some flour (as a binding agent), fry the chicken pieces and keep them aside.

next, fry some sliced onions, ginger, garlic and capsicum till golden brown. add water, salt and sugar for taste and cook over a low flame.

mix the fried chicken pieces and remove from heat. allow to cool to room temperature and serve with a sprinkling of soya and tomato sauce.

Krishnika

This may sound strange, but you can substitute soy milk for coconut cream (much better for your health) in curry recipes and you can probably fool a good percentage of your guests.

chappal

This is debatable. Coconut cream is obviously high in fat, but it is good fat. As long as you don't eat like an American , fat is a good thing. Soy milk is often made from genetically modified soybeans, which have not been proven over thousands of years to be good for your health. Soy (not just GMO soy) has also been implicted in studies about breast cancer in western women, but no-one knows why this is because it has been a healthful component of Chinese diets for a long time. However, it may have to do with the differences in processing and preparation of soy or childhood adaptation or who knows... Anyway, a lot is not known about food, but I doubt coconut cream has hurt anyone.

(Fine-print Truth and disclosure: I love coconut everything! I refuse to pass one day in my Kerala travels without eating coconut something ... coconut lardoo, coconut rice, coconut curry, coconut water, uppuma... Am I biased? )