We are halfway through the month of Ramadan. How fast… As always, the month feels like it is flowing between our fingers like water. So far, Alhamdulillah, things have been moving at a pace I am happy at, and I am hoping that it stays that way for the days coming, especially the last ten blessed days, InShaAllah… The only thing that is slow is me doing new recipes on the blog, and I am OK with it. I don’t want to put pressure on myself and I am not in a hurry…

I already have a Chana Chaat recipe, which is a little bit of work, to say the truth. In that post, I was concerned about downing raw spices in my chaat.  But when I tried the chana chaat from a nearby Pakistani restaurant, I was blown away. The beauty is that it is just a mixture of some cooked ingredients, a lot of raw ingredients and a few spices. Yet the final result is such a bomb in the mouth, that you can’t stop eating it with a bowl. I tried making it first time last week, and then made it again for my friends when I hosted them for Iftar early this week. Both times, it was wiped clean. The recipe is very easy to make, with pantry staples. I intend to make this at least a couple of times more during this month, InShaAllah… I used canned chickpeas to reduce the time spent on it. I cooked the potatoes in the microwave, which is actually very easy. The rest of the process comes as a breeze. You can assemble everything just five minutes before Iftar time and enjoy it immediately. It is a must try…  I will say…

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Pakistani Chana Chaat | Easy Chole Chaat with Yogurt

Course Tea Snacks

Cuisine Indian/ Pakistani

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 3

Author Rafeeda AR

Ingredients

• 400 gm canned chickpeas drained
• 2 small potatoes cooked, refer notes
• 1/2 tsp roasted coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp black salt
• 1 tsp red chilli flakes
• 1 tsp chaat masala powder
• 2-3 tsp tamarind chutney store bought
• 1 tomato chopped
• 1 cup thick yogurt
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tbsp sugar
• Salt to taste
• 1 small onion thinly sliced
• Coriander leaves chopped for garnish
• Green chilli sauce optional, use for more spice
• Chaat masala for sprinkling
• 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• Sev for topping optional, not used

Instructions

• In the serving dish, put the chickpeas.
• Peel the cooked potato and cube it. Mix into the chickpeas.
• Add in ingredients from coriander powder to tomatoes and toss to coat well.
• Whisk the yogurt, milk, sugar and salt together and spread on the top.
• Sprinkle the toppings and serve immediately.

Notes

You can either pressure cook your potatoes, or make them in the microwave. Keep the potatoes in a microwaveable dish with a cup of water. Microwave for 7 minutes. Flip the potatoes to the other side and microwave for another 4 minutes. Allow to cool slightly, peel and chop. 

If you don't intend to serve immediately, then top with the yogurt and the rest of ingredients at the time of serving. 

The yogurt should be cold for better taste. 

Adjust spices as per your need. 

The post Pakistani Chana Chaat | Easy Chole Chaat with Yogurt appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

Monsoon is always connected to savory fried snacks and cups of hot chai or coffee, whatever you fancy. So of course, when I sign up for a theme called “Monsoon Delights” for the Blogging Marathon #137, I have to include a fried snack. I am trying to figure out why this snack is called “pottitherichath” – meaning “something that bursts”. I guess it is because of the burst feeling when you bite in to the crispy wrapping before you get to the chicken. I think it was Adaminte Chaayakkada that introduced this snack here. Anyway I have not tried eating it from outside but during Ramadan, a lot of them were trying this all over Instagram and YouTube that I had to try it.

The recipe is very simple. Boneless chicken is cut as strips and marinated with some basic spices. Then samosa sheets or spring roll sheets are cut into long strips – make it as thin as possible, but I am a lazy head so I cut them quite thick. Hehe… The marinated chicken is then rolled into these cut sheets, till it is stuck to them in abundance, and finally deep fried. I only found the wrapping of the samosa strips around the chicken peices a little daunting, but once fried and served, it was so crunchy and delicious, that it disappeared in no time. Apart from serving as a tea time snack, this would be a very interesting appetizer too, that can be served along with a dipping sauce. Off to this recipe…

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Chicken Pottitherichath | Threaded Chicken Fingers

Course Tea Snacks

Cuisine Malabar

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Rafeeda AR

Ingredients

• 350 gm boneless chicken breast
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/4 tsp garam masala powder
• Salt to taste
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp corn flour
• Samosa or spring roll sheets as needed
• Oil for deep frying

Instructions

• Cut the chicken into long and thin strips.
• Marinate with the spice powders and salt for ten minutes.
• Add the egg and corn flour and coat completely.
• Cut samosa sheets or spring roll sheets into thin to meduim strips.
• Pick a chicken peice and carefully coat the strips around the chicken till it is entirely wrapped. Press to allow it to stick to it.
• Repeat till you complete all the chicken peices, till then cut strips off sheets as needed.
• Heat enough oil to deep fry. Once hot, drop each coated strip carefully and fry till golden brown on meduim flame, to ensure that the inside is cooked as well.
• Drain and set aside. Enjoy warm with a dip of choice or as is.

The post Chicken Pottitherichath | Threaded Chicken Fingers appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

I am trying to see what I can write about. Ramadan is flying in full speed like it does every year. Alhamdulillah, so far it has felt productive than it has been over the previous years. However, the benefit of the month is always decided by Allah, so like everyone, I want to try and be as better as possible…

Going quickly into today’s recipe without further ado… This year, my cooking has been limited to making our favorites at home. I haven’t been trying too many new dishes, just because I don’t want to waste my time in the kitchen. Having said that, it is getting hotter by the day and doesn’t feel like April, which is more why I don’t want to be in the kitchen. Hehe… I saw these pakoras made by a couple of my fellow bloggers and wanted to explore it myself. My girls love the chicken pakora, but it is a little bit of work. This one is very simple. Since the pakoras use mince meat, it is really easy to make. You just need to add all the ingredients to the thawed mince, mix, add spoonful and fry. The girls really loved so did HD. I am sure this is going to be a repeat in the house whenever I have mince in my fridge. I have used chicken here, you can use any mince of your choice… Off to the recipe…

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Keema Pakora | Minced Meat Fritters

Servings 4

Author Rafeeda AR

Ingredients

• 400 gm chicken mince
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 onion minced
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp black pepper powder
• 1 tbsp red chilli flakes use green chillies instead
• 3 tbsp besan flour
• Salt to taste
• 4 tbsp chopped coriander and mint leaves
• Oil to deep fry

Instructions

• Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix till well combined.
• Heat oil in a kadai till hot. Drop spoonfuls of the batter and fry till golden brown.
• Drain and set aside. Serve warm with dips of choice.

The post Keema Pakora | Minced Meat Fritters appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

Since this is a month of a lot of dhikr and duas, let me share another one of my personal favorites…

رَبِّ اشْرَحْ لِي صَدْرِي وَيَسِّرْ لِي أَمْرِي وَاحْلُلْ عُقْدَةً مِنْ لِسَانِي يَفْقَهُوا قَوْلِي

“My Lord, expand for me my breast [with assurance] and ease for me my task and untie the knot from my tongue that they may understand my speech.” (Surah Taha – 25:25)

This was the dua made by Prophet Musa (AS) when he was given the task of inviting Pharaoh into Islam. He was worried that he would fail since he had a problem with his speech. If we read through the supplication a few times, we realize that this is very useful in any part of our daily activities. When we have an exam coming up, or when we have an important presentation at work, or it may be even meeting new people out of our comfort zone, this dua becomes a source of calmness. It is knowing that by reciting it and keeping our trust in Allah, He will make matters easy for us, if it is meant to be.

As you know, I have been doing three back-to-back bread based recipes. The first two recipes, the Pesto Cheese Sandwich and the Baked Sausage Bread Roll-ups have been absolutely easy recipes to make. However, today’s is a little more work, though it is a simplified version of the Malabar “lasagna”, the Chattipathiri…

It is umma who taught me how to make this. I don’t know from where her inspiration came, but I remember her saying that one time she saw this way of making on the television. It reminded me that once upon a time, our TV shows during Ramadan included an Islamic quiz program and a cookery show after Tharaweeh prayers. Immediately after Iftar, we would watch half an hour of Mr Bean and then a little of Takeshi’s Castle. Do you remember those shows? They were hilarious and considered “halal” to watch by my parents, so we got that little time. Hehe… Anyway, coming back to this recipe, you can use any filling of your choice. I have made chicken filling here, but meat filling would be even more delicious.

The difference is using bread as the layer instead of making the crepes to go in between. That way, this recipe is a tad bit simpler. While making the layers, you can pinch and cut the bread to fill up the spaces in between and make it a proper circle. Once it is done, it just becomes one flat layer and all that patchwork you do wouldn’t even show. Hehe… Only one word of caution – if you are steaming or baking, make sure that the pan is greased really well, or you place a parchment paper at the bottom. Since we press down the bread while prepping the layers, the bottom tends to stick to the pan. I had made this last year and clicked it as well to post during Ramadan, but really didn’t like the shots, so redid it this time, with hopefully better looking pictures. Off to the recipe… Hope you enjoyed this simple series…

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Bread Chattipathiri

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Servings 8

Author Rafeeda AR

Ingredients

FOR FILLING

• 350 gm cooked boneless chicken shredded
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 onion sliced
• 1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp fennel powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper powder
• 1/3 tsp garam masala powder
• Handful of chopped coriander and mint leaves
• Salt to taste

FOR LAYERING

• 15 slices bread
• 6 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Ghee or coconut oil as needed

Instructions

• In a saucepan, heat oil. Saute the onions with some salt till wilted.
• Add the ginger garlic paste and cook for a minute.
• Add turmeric, red chilli, fennel and pepper powders and give a good mix.
• Add the shredded chicken and toss to coat well. Cook for five minutes.
• Add the garam masala and chopped leaves, toss well. Adjust seasoning and set aside to cool.
• Heat an 8 inch pan and generously drizzle ghee or oil on it and the sides for not sticking. Take off.
• Whisk together the eggs, milk, salt and pepper.
• Take off the crusts of the bread. Take one slice, dunk into the egg mixture. Layer on the below. Use five slices to complete the bottom layer without any space, you can tear and snuggle up soaked up bread to make a flat bottom.
• Spread half the chicken mixture. Prepare one more layer as above with five slices of bread.
• Spread the remaining chicken. Finish off with the remaining bread slices on the top.
• Pour the remaining egg on the side to seal. Decorate on the top, if you like, like I did the coriander leaves.
• Cook on low flame till the sides detach. Flip carefully and cook on the top side too.
• Serve warm with tea...

Notes

Cook the chicken with salt and pepper till done and use in the recipe.

If baking, bake in a well greased pan so that the bottom doesn't stick. Bake in a preheated 180 degree oven for 40 minutes.

It is not necessary you need to layer the bread properly. Just make sure the layer is flat and all holes are covered by pinching the bread to cover up. 

The post Bread Chattipathiri | Easy Chatti Pathiri appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

After the Pesto Cheese Sandwich, here is another really easy snack that can be made with bread. Just like I mentioned in my previous post, I am doing a three back-to-back snacks using bread as my main ingredient. The idea of making roll-ups with bread isn’t something new. Bread is such an elastic product that you can play around with it in whatever way you want, isn’t it? I made these roll-ups using sausages because I was running out of time and I had no patience to actually make a filling. Hehe… I love making as much as lazy meals as I can during Ramadan, to tell you the truth.

All you need to do is to slather something for a little moistness, which I used a mix of mayonnaise and hot sauce, keep the sausage or your filling inside and roll it up tightly. Then you can press to seal. I have kept the crusts so it was a little problematic, but I didn’t want any part of the bread to go waste. Hehe… If you find it difficult to shape your bread, you can wet your hand a little and press it, so that it sticks. I have chosen to bake it, but you can shallow fry it or even air fry it, if you have an air fryer. Off to this easy recipe…

PST, if you like to give yourself a little bit of work and like to play around with yeasted bread, then you can well try these mini sausage rolls, that aren’t just beautiful to look at but delicious too…

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Baked Sausage Bread Roll-ups

Course Tea Snacks

Cuisine International

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Rafeeda AR

Ingredients

• 8 sausages
• 8 slices bread
• Mayonnaise as needed
• Hot sauce as needed
• Oil to spray

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line a pan with foil.
• Boil the sausages just till ice is gone. Drain.
• Flatten one slice of bread with a rolling pin. Spread some mayonnaise and hot sauce.
• Place a sausage and roll tight. Seal by pressing on it. Place on the prepared tray.
• Repeat for all other bread slices.
• Brush oil on top of the bread slices and bake for 20 minutes.
• Enjoy hot, with a dip of choice.

Notes

I used a mix of cheese and hot-n-spicy chicken sausages.

I kept the bread sides, but you can chop it off if you don't like it. 

If the bread doesn't stick. slightly wet your hand and shape. It will stick. 

You can use your regular fillings instead of sausages to make this recipe. 

The post Baked Bread Sausage Roll-ups appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

Days are going super fast. Ramadan has been good, Alhamdulillah… It has been really hot on and off, however the fasting has been less stressful, when compared to the past few years. Let me leave you with a little dua that has become a favorite of mine lately:

Since we make a lot of snacks, and I use a lot of bread at home, I decided, why not post a three back-to-back series of snacks made of bread. I love using bread, since it is a very versatile product and can be used in a variety of ways that our family will like. My head really thinks of bread kunafa and bread pudding, but let us do some savory snacks this time. This sandwich is one of the easiest sandwiches I have ever made. My girls love grilled cheese sandwich, just filled with square cheese and/or mozzarella and toasted till brown on a hot pan with some melted butter. All I did was to slather some pesto into it. I wasn’t sure if my girls would love the green thing that was lined up in between, but to my surprise, they ate up the entire batch I made. I had to save myself up a slice to just know how it tastes. I have used homemade pesto – recipe will come up after Ramadan, InShaAllah… though I have a mixed herb pesto recipe, that can be used too – but you can use store bought pesto. It is a simple recipe, without too much hard work, but delicious nevertheless… Off to the recipe…

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Pesto Cheese Sandwich

Course Tea time snacks - Spicy

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 3

Author Rafeeda AR

Ingredients

• 6 slices bread
• 3-6 tsp pesto
• 3 slices cheddar cheese
• 3 tbsp mozarella cheese
• Pepper
• Butter to toast

Instructions

• On both slices, spread thin layers of pesto. Keep one square of cheddar cheese and sprinkle one tablespoon of mozarella cheese. Crush some pepper. Close.
• Repeat with the other bread, to make a total of three sandwiches.
• Heat pan, melt butter and toast both sides till golden brown and cheese is melted.
• Enjoy immediately.

The post Pesto Cheese Sandwich appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

We are already two months done in 2022. I guess my fingers are still not used to typing this year. It is like time is flying really fast. I am trying to do as much as I can but all I can do is slag and hope that things will be better. Everyone tells not to beat myself up, but I really don’t know at times what I need to do. One side of me is hopeful about the Almighty’s Mercy, while the other side goes into a deep trench thinking too much. Aren’t we all like that in times of desperation? At this time, I remember that prayer of Musa (AS) that is just as relevant for any period of our life:

Rabbi innee limaaa anzalta ilaiya min khairin faqeer
“My Lord, indeed I am, for whatever good You would send down to me, in need.” (Surah Al-Qasas Ayat 24)

The way the heart feels after this is recited is unbelievable. We will only get what He has willed in our way. That is the biggest reassurance we can have in this fleeting life…

On another note, I lost my flash drive which had all my blog material and a lot more things while sending off all our laptops to be serviced. I am crest fallen, to say the least, because I had all planned out for the coming month, but thankfully the backlog isn’t much, so all I need to do is to find some time to go through my camera to find all my drafts. But I am feeling really lazy to go through the mass of photos to do it. Ah, anyway, Alhamdulillah, I haven’t lost much and hopefully I can get it back with a little bit of work, InShaAllah…

Coming to the recipe for today, this is one of the recipes that I have loved a lot while making. The sandwich cake is a Swedish special – a beautiful way of decking up an otherwise boring looking bread sandwich. I think the first time I came across it was on Shazia’s site long back. It immediately piqued my interest. I have a family, who even though like sweet stuff, don’t necessarily enjoy cakes. If I bake anything, they just eat a little piece. The rest is upto me to distribute and maybe keep some slices frozen for future use. However that wasn’t the case with this “cake”…

Most of the recipes online use a mix of cream cheese and mayonnaise. I replaced part of the cream cheese with labneh, just to make it a tad bit healthier. This recipe is quite forgiving. I used just the regular vegetables used for salad, like cucumber, carrot and some corianders. You can add shredded chicken for an extra bit of protein. I kept the filling to the minimum and kept the “frosting” for the sides quite thick. It is very important that you rest the cake as much as you can. The more you keep, the more softer the bread gets, flavors settle and it just tends to add a lot of flavor. I can’t wait for Ramadan to make this again. This is a perfect and healthy Iftar snack idea… Off to the recipe…

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Sandwich Cake | Simple Savory Sandwich Cake

Course Tea Snacks

Cuisine European

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Servings 6

Author Rafeeda AR

Ingredients

• 10 slices brown bread
• 180 gm labneh
• 1/2 cup cream cheese
• 2 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp mustard sauce
• 1 cucumber peeled and grated
• 1 carrot peeled and grated
• 2 tbsp coriander leaves minced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Chopped coriander leaves for garnish

Instructions

• In a bowl, whisk together the labneh, cheese, mayonnaise and mustard along with the salt and butter till a nice thick mixture.
• Take half of it and toss along with the cucumber, carrot and coriander leaves. Season well.
• In a long plate, layer two bread slices. You may remove the slices or keep it. Spread on layer of the vegetable mix.
• Top with two more slices of bread and repeat till done. Use the leftover to cover on the top and sides.
• Use the remaining labneh mix to cover the whole "cake" on the sides and top.
• Transfer into a fridge for around two hours for the flavors to settle. Sprinkle up the coriander leaves on top, slice up and enjoy as your afternoon tea.

Notes

You can include shredded chicken or drained tuna flakes for an extra protien into the mixture.

If you don't have labneh, you can replace it with a tup of Philadelphia cream cheese. I wanted to make it a little guilt free, so I used the labneh. 

The post Sandwich Cake | Simple Savory Sandwich Cake appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

I have been finding it extremely difficult to get to blogging. I have my parents around and it has been crazy busy, in a good way. They are here just for a few more days, and that is why I thought maybe I shouldn’t focus much on the blog. Yet, when I get some time in, here I am trying to post at least one recipe in some free time I get…

With a lot of sweet posts floating on the blog, let me break it a little with these awesome sandwiches. It is getting cold and the worst part is the constant hunger. Snacking has become the norm and laziness creeps in most of the time. It feels really cozy to sleep in especially in the mornings. That is when sandwiches come handy. Aren’t they anytime food? You can use them as a meal or just-in-between bites. I don’t have that many sandwich recipes on the blog, which is something I would like to improve on, but let us concentrate on today’s super delicious sandwiches…

I made them with cooked beef, that I had in my fridge. You can use leftover curried peices, that usually don’t get eaten, because it is just meat. Hehe… The sauces are out of your fridge and when used, give a slight tinge of sweetness and a delicious barbeque flavor that amazingly complements with the meat. The filling is ready in minutes, and then spread on warm toasted bread and dig in right away. I would have added minced onion, but I am not a fan of raw onion, and hence I skipped it. You can even zing up your filling with a couple of diced jalapenos too… Off to this super simple recipe…

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Pulled Beef Sandwich | Easy Shredded Meat Sandwich

Course Snacks

Cuisine South American

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Author Rafeeda AR

Ingredients

• 150 gm cooked beef chunks
• 2 tbsp tomato ketchup heaped
• 1 tbsp soya sauce
• 1 tsp hot sauce
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp white pepper powder
• Salt to taste
• 4 slices bread big
• Butter for toasting

Instructions

• Shred the cooked meat. Add all ingredients from tomato ketchup to salt.
• In a fry pan, cook the filling just till done. The sauce will turn sticky and brown. Switch off.
• Toast bread till done.
• Spread half the filling on one bread and top with another. Make the second sandwich.
• Dig in warm!

Notes

You can add one tablespoon each of minced onion and/or jalapenos, as per liking for more bite.

I didn't add salt, since the sauce was salty in itself. 

The post Pulled Beef Sandwich | Easy Shredded Meat Sandwich appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

Even though my blog is intended to be more of Malabar and Emirati recipes, I haven’t been representing both the cuisines as required in the recent past. I have not been testing any new recipes, since it takes time and moreover, my folks have become more picky than I would have liked them to. But since I am already slow in many ways, I am in no hurry and not in a race to outdo anyone. Hehe… I would rather post reliable recipes on the blog, that my readers as well I can come back to and cook whenever I feel like.

There are a lot of recipes that I discover as a part of being a part of groups with a sufficient Malabar population. As I have mentioned somewhere before, the place I come from doesn’t have a wide variety of food and hence, the knowledge passed from my family down is quite limited. I am trying to find out more and more of forgotten recipes, even though at times the process becomes absolutely stressful. Some of the recipes that I found out that way are Palooda, Mutta Urapichath and Erachi Kinnapathiri, just to name a few. Here is another one into that group…

We have always made athishayapathiri, which is one of umma’s favorite snack to make, despite the difficulty. As soon as I came across this super easy way of making something similar, I was overjoyed. Basically the batter is very similar and even you could make the same filling, but instead of making crepes, you pour the whole thing and layer the meat in between and just let it cook. So much of effort cut down! The batter is a very spongy and thick layer and keeping the meat filling spicy gives it a nice edge, since the batter is like plain crepe. I have used beef to make the filling – it always makes snacks better! – but you can surely use chicken if that is what you have.

I took the easy route and used chicken masala powder, but that was only because I had got a complementary pack and I had to use it. I have mentioned the replacement in the notes section. Since Ramadan is very close – InShaAllah – and all of us want to try easy recipes, then this one should be on the list for sure… If you make the filling in advance, the pie is such a cake walk, literally! Off to the recipe…

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Irani Pola | Malabar Meat Pie

Course Snacks

Cuisine Malabar

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Rafeeda AR

Ingredients

• 200 gm boneless meat I used beef
• Salt and pepper to tastes
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/4 tsp red chilli powder
• 1/4 tsp fennel powder
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 onion minced
• 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 sprig curry leaves minced
• 2 green chillies minced
• 1 tbsp curry powder/ chicken masala powder heaped
• Coriander leaves as needed
• Ghee as needed

FOR BATTER

• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 3 eggs large
• 3/4 cup oil
• 1 1/4 cup milk
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Pressure cook the beef along with the turmeric, red chilli, fennel and seasonings till well cooked. Reserve the stock. Shred the cooked meat.
• In a pan, heat coconut oil. Add the onion, ginger garlic paste, curry leaves and green chillies with some salt and saute till wilted and golden brown.
• Add in the shredded beef, the stock and curry powder and cook till done. Adjust seasoning.
• Blend all ingredients under "for batter" in a blender till smooth.
• Heat a large frying pan and drizzle ghee. Brush the ghee all over the pan.
• Pour half the batter and spread onto the sides. Cook for a couple of minutes on low flame.
• Sprinkle all the masala on top of it. Now pour the rest of the batter over it. Sprinkle the coriander leaves.
• Cook on low flame with closed lid till the bottom is done. Carefully flip and cook the other side as well.
• Switch off, slice into 8 triangles and serve warm with chai!

Notes

You can bake the pola in a preheated 180 degree oven for 20 minutes or till the batter is cooked.

If you don't have masala powder, then you can use 1/2 tsp coriander powder + 1/4 tsp turmeric powder + 1/4 tsp red chilli powder + 1/8 tsp fennel powder + 1/4 tsp cumin powder + 1/4 tsp garam masala to the beef masala. 

The post Irani Pola | Malabar Meat Pie appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

I am trying to create a schedule when it comes to posting on the blog. I had decided early this month that I would post every Monday and Thursday. I have only been partly successful in this case – just like this week, where I wanted to put up this post on Monday, but I just couldn’t. I have been mostly posting once during that day, even though I feel I am still doing decently well. Hehe… Except for book reviews, – which I intend to make a monthly feature, provided I can manage it properly with my messed up schedule – and challenge posts, I am hoping to keep two posts a week to keep the flow on the blog. There is enough content on the blog to go to, so I want to look into improving some of them or just leaving them as is!

With the climate getting better slowly, we are more tempted to have fried and junk stuff in general. The mood to bake is also very high. Last Friday, there were prayers for rain in all the masjids in UAE. The temperatures refuse to come down drastically and it is still warm in between, especially during the afternoon. However, the climate is quite conducive for park and beach outings, and the nights are particularly good for barbeque. Just hoping it gets better and better with the coming days…

We totally love samosas but I rarely make them because I don’t like to wrap them as such. Hehe… Making the wrappers from scratch, even though tastes so much better, can be a long process too. However, nowadays the girls help in filling and shaping. They do it only because they love to eat them too. Usually it is chicken or cheese, but another one HD and Rasha love is the ones with mince. I too prefer the same mainly because this is one of easiest samosa fillings you can ever make!

I usually mix all the ingredients and cook them till done. This way, there is no waiting time. You just need to put all the ingredients into the pan and allow it to cook till done. Once cooled, you can go ahead with filling and frying them to enjoy with your cup of chai, or freeze some of them for later. Samosas are one of the best things you can freeze for those rainy days! When that temptation hits to have samosa but if you are not in a mood, then the frozen ones definitely come to your rescue. Even though I have used beef mince here, you can use any mince of choice. Off to this recipe…

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Keema Samosas | Minced Meat Samosa

Course Tea time snacks - Spicy

Cuisine Indian/ Pakistani

Prep Time 40 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Rafeeda AR

Ingredients

• 400 gm beef mince washed and drained
• 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 2 green chilies minced
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper powder
• 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1 onion small, minced
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 cup green peas frozen, thawed and drained
• Salt to taste
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Samosa patties as required I used 14
• Oil for shallow frying

Instructions

• In a bowl, mix ingredients from mince to salt and give it a good mix. Allow it to rest for 10 minutes.
• In a saucepan, heat oil and add the mince mixture. Cook on low flame, sauteeing occassionally till the mince is done and there is no water in the mixture. Switch off and allow it to cool.
• Once cool, use samosa patties to fill and shape. I used around 14 for this quantity.
• Heat oil enough to shallow fry and fry till both sides are golden brown. Serve hot with ketchup or choice of dipping.

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