Crepes with Spinach Paneer filling

This Durga Puja turned out the best one for Vishal Vaanya and me as we had the lovely company of my sis-in-law and her family from Lucknow. We spent seven crazy days full of fun, non stop eating out and visiting beautiful places. It was more of a 're-discovering Kolkata' for me and I have replenished my love for the city. 

Park street, as usual, enthralled us with its beauty and I discovered some lovely restaurants there serving amazing food. Along with my niece, I enjoyed the street food served opposite Vardaan market from the famous Puchka's, Bhelpuri, Jhaalmuri and the irresistible Kulfi. With my sis-in-law, I discovered some amazing shops that I have never visited before. The Santiniketan trip was like a cherry on the cake. I was unaware that there exists such a relaxing and beautiful getaway from the city life. 
Well, everything good comes to an end and their short trip ended soon and now we are struggling to come back to our routine life. 
This particular recipe was tried a month back when I saw it on a tv show. I am a sucker when it comes to breakfast options and the fusion crepes shared on the program excited me. The healthy ingredients made the otherwise 'lazy Savoury experiment' person in me try them soon. 

I served the crepes with some balsamic vinegar and honey glazed beetroot. 

(To make them, take olive oil in a pan and add the chopped beetroot. Add balsamic vinegar, honey and soy sauce and let it cook. Adjust seasoning and serve.)

Ingredients : 

Crepes : 

• 4 tbsp all purpose flour (maida)
• 4 tbsp besan (gram flour)
• a pinch of turmeric powder and red chilli powder
• salt to taste

Filling : 

• two handfuls of spinach leaves, washed and finely chopped
• 50 gms paneer, crumbled
• 1/4 cup sweet corn kernels
• a small onion, chopped
• 1/2 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
• 1 tbsp oil
• salt to taste

Procedure : 

Filling : 

Heat oil in a pan.

Add jeera and as it splutters, add chopped onion.

Cook for a minute and add the chopped spinach leaves.

Cook for another minute or two and then add the crumbled paneer , sweet corn kernels and salt. 

Mix and cook for another minute. 

Allow to cool.

Crepes : 

Take all purpose flour and besan in a bowl. 

Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder and salt and mix well.

Add water, as much as required, to attain a crepe like consistency. 

Heat a non stick pan and pour a little oil.

Add a ladle full of the crepe batter and let it cook.

Turn side and allow to cook.

Remove and let it cool to touch.

Take a crepe and make a slit from the centre.

Arrange the filling on the side next to the slit in a triangular manner.

Start rolling the crepe in a triangular shape with the filling till you finish the entire circle.

You may saute the rolled crepe on the oiled pan again to give it a glaze on top. 

Happy healthy indulgence

Amrita

Bada Memsaheb ka Vegetable Seekh Kebab

Pic courtsey Kamalika Chakrabarty

Kolkata, or Calcutta as we all fondly still call, is a city that has been a host to various religions and nationalities like British, Chinese, Jews, Sikhs, Gujratis, Biharis etc. All these settlers with time have brought in some unique changes to the cuisine of Kolkata. One such famous and irrefutable change in the local cuisine was brought in by The British rule. Usage of local ingredients, restrained use of spices and western techniques gave birth to a unique cuisine which lived especially on a variety of 'Finger food' popularized in the clubs of Kolkata.

We are proud to announce that Kolkata Food Bloggers are working as co-organizers of the annual event Nutrifest, 2013 organized by KPC School of Nutrition and Food, Kolkata. Extensive research has been done by the KPC team to dig out recipes and history from places like Rajbari's to restaurants and clubs. The theme for this year is "Laatsaheb er Bangali Khanshama" which means the influence of British rule on Bengali cuisine. The search was for food which originated in the British era and can still be found in some prestigious clubs of Kolkata. 

The recipe that is shared here today is one of the by-forgotten ones and is uniquely named Burra Memsaheb-er vegetable Seekh Kebab (Bada Memsaheb ka Vegetable Seekh kebab) Along with its unique name, the kebab is supposed to be constructed of three elements each of which gave a Sweet, Spicy and Tangy flavour to it.

I have tried to recreate this famous dish by incorporating all the three flavours into the kebab. For the sweet flavour I have used Raisins and sweet corns, for the spicy flavour I have added green chillies and red chilli powder and for the tangy flavour, I have used chaat masala and lemon juice. 

Kolkata Food Bloggers got together to make a video shoot of this recipe along with some others. The video link shall be uploaded to this blog post as soon as it is released. 

Ingredients : For 5-6 seekhs(as in the picture with 2 kebabs in each)

• 2 large potatoes, boiled
• 1/4 cup green peas, boiled
• 1/4 cup sweet corn, boiled
• 1 carrot, chopped and boiled
• 10 french beans, chopped and boiled
• 1/4 cup cabbage, chopped
• 2 tbsp roasted gram flour/besan
• 1 tbsp cashewnut powder
• 5-6 pieces of raisin/kishmish, chopped
• 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
• 1 green chilly, chopped (optional)
• salt to taste
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 1/2 tsp chaat masala
• 1 tsp roasted cumin/jeera powder
• Green bell pepper, tomato and onion squares for garnishing

Procedure :
Take 1/2  tbsp oil in a pan and saute the ginger-garlic paste and the chopped green chilly for 2 minutes. Add the chopped cabbage and saute for a minute.  Remove from heat and keep aside.
Take a big bowl and add potatoes. Mash them. 
Add the boiled vegetables like green peas, sweet corn, carrots and french beans and mash them well. 
Now mix in the ginger-garlic, green chilly and cabbage mixture.
Add in salt, red chilli powder, chaat masala and roasted jeera powder.
Now add the cashewnut powder(made by simply grinding 5-6 cashewnuts), roasted gram flour/besan (made by dry roasting gram flour/besan) and chopped raisins. Mix well. 
Soak some wooden skewers in water for 1/2 hour. 
Take a little portion of the vegetable mixture and press it around the wooden skewer shaping it as a cylinder. Make two such shaped cylinders on one skewer.
Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius. 
Line a baking tray with an aluminium foil and lightly grease it with oil.
Place the skewers on it and bake for 15-20 minutes or till golden brown from all sides. You will require to turn sides in between for uniform browning. 
Take 1/2 tbsp oil in a pan and saute the green bell pepper, tomato and onion squares.
Insert the sauteed garnishing in the skewers and serve with a yogurt-mayonnaise dip where you add equal quantity of hung curd and mayonnaise and adjust seasonings.
Add a dash of lemon juice on top of the kebabs before serving.

Notes : 

• You may reduce the spiciness to suit your taste buds by not adding the green chilly.
• In case, you cannot shape the kebabs on the wooden skewer, shape them into cylinders and bake them and later thread them through the skewers. 
• In case the vegetables feel hard while mashing, roughly grind them in a mixer and then add to the other ingredients.

A special and heartfelt note of thanks to Kamalika Chakrabarty for providing me these lovely pictures which were taken during the video shoot. 

Check some more interesting recipes from the British era like Deemer devil and Country Captain Chicken on these links. 

Disclaimer : The entire history and recipe has been provided by KPC team. I have just tried recreating the original version with my little changes.
 

Happy By-gone era kebab relishing

Amrita

New York Style Pizza-from scratch

'Ideas are like pizza dough, made to be tossed around.'

Anna Quindlen

Pizza!!

When we were kids, Pizza and Burgers was such an exotic food item. I remember in Kolkata, there was a joint called Corner Cafe that used to sell the first burgers and we as kids thought of it as a big style statement to stand and eat those humongous pieces, along with a sip of Coca Cola, of course!! These American food items was introduced in our vocabulary by the famous Archies comic books and I would wonder how a Hot Dog or Pizza would taste like. 

Here in India, we love to adapt everything(literally)to suit our culture. And so when the Pizza and burger made an entry here, we twisted and turned and changed the recipe to suit our taste buds. (Ditto with the chinese food). Burgers here was available in its Veggie Avataar than the original Beef/Pork ones and the Pizza was nothing like how it looked in Archies!!

Today, is a little different story though, Big Foodie names have arrived with the biggest bang. Now you can very easily get the best Pizza with a range of toppings and can also choose from the variety of crust options.

This months Baking Partners challenge is the New York Style Pizza, which as I learnt is a thin crusted pizza, hand tossed and made from High-gluten Bread flour. I Indianized the recipe(just like how we do everything!!) and substituted bread flour with All purpose flour. I halved the recipe and so could not create the authentic 18" pizza. 

Recipe   suggested by Archana of Tangy Minds adapted from Serious Eats

Ingredients:I halved the recipe to get 4 medium sized Pizzas

• 2 1/4 cup All purpose flour
• 3/4 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp Instant yeast
• 1 1/2 tbsp Olive oil
• 1 cup lukewarm water

Sauce:

• 4-5 medium sized Tomatoes
• 1 onion, sliced finely
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tbsp butter
• 8-10 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp sugar
• Salt to taste 

 

Procedure:

Combine flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a bowl. Add olive oil and mix. Knead by adding little water at a time(about 1 cup) to a smooth ball. Transfer dough to lightly floured surface and knead till it passes the Window Pane test. 
Cover with a damp muslin cloth and let it rise in a well oiled bowl in a warm place for an hour or place in a zip-lock bag and put in the refrigerator for 1-5 days. If refrigerated, take out 2 hours before baking and allow to rise for 1 hour.

Meanwhile prepare the sauce.
Puree the tomatoes in a blender or grate in a grater. 
Combine butter and oil in a pan over medium heat and add garlic and sliced onions. Cook for a few minutes and add tomato puree, sugar and oregano. Bring to a boil and let it simmer till thickens. Add salt as required. Allow to cool. Can be refrigerated for upto 2 weeks.


Preheat oven to 200 degree Celsius.

Divide dough into 4 balls. Roll each ball to a 5-6"circle, leaving the outer edge a little higher.
Prick with a fork all over.

Transfer to the baking pan and spread 1/4 of the sauce evenly. Add the toppings of your choice. I added capsicum slices, paneer cubes and sweet corn.

 

Sprinkle grated mozarella cheese over it and bake for 15-20 mins or till the cheese on top melts and browns.
Prepare the remaining Pizza in the same manner.

My pizzas about to go in the oven, showing here one with the toppings and another covered with cheese

And here they are, already digged in !!

Pizza Making and Baking is an amazing experience and is a must try for home bakers. 

Happy Pizza Eating
Amrita