Chicken Puffs

Yay! The weekend is here again. Thanks to the public holiday on Monday earlier this week; the work week has been a short one. Don’t misunderstand me, I love my job, but I totally love the weekend and time with my family more! JJJ Baaah who am I kidding, a weekend for me just means this; 

Right getting back to business, to kick off an awesome weekend, here’s a recipe for some awesome chicken puffs. Who doesn't love these chicken puffs. Every time we go back home for the holidays and we walk into a bakery, the first thing I’d order is a chicken or egg puffs. I absolutely loved these as a kid. And am sure so did every other kid that grew up in Kerala. Ahh, brings back such fond memories, don’t you agree?These do take a bit of time to make and assemble if you’re doing a bulk lot like I did, but the  end result is totally worth it!

And there’s also a little bonus recipe at the end for what you could do with any leftover pastry strips you have. Chackochi loved those little puff pastry bites I made and gobbled up quite a few of them. Try out these recipes and relive your wonderful childhood memories J

Happy Weekend people!

Chicken Puffs

Ingredients

Chicken thighs - 3

Puffs pastry sheets -  4

Onion - 1 medium

Ginger paste - 1/4 tsp

Garlic paste - 1/4 tsp

Chicken masala – 1 1/2 tsp

Pepper powder as needed

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp

Soya sauce - 2 tblsp

 Egg -  1 (optional)

Instructions

1. Thaw the puff pastry, as needed, separating the sheets at room temperature. Thaw until completely and evenly moist, but not dry.
2. Cook the chicken in a pressure cooker with the soya sauce, turmeric powder & pepper powder. After cooling down, shred the chicken and keep it aside. Reserve some of the chicken stock.
3. Heat oil in a pan and add onion and salt. Sauté well. When it turns light brown, add ginger-garlic paste and mix well. Add chicken masala, garam masala and pepper powder into this mixture. Once the raw smell goes, add the chicken to this and mix well. If the mix is on the dry side, add a bit of the chicken stock and combine well. Keep aside.
4. Heat the oven to 190 degrees C.
5. Meanwhile, cut the pastry into medium sized squares. Don’t worry about wasting the pastry, I have a quick recipe to use those up too, just scroll down .
6. Spread the masala mix onto the puff pastry. lengthwise. Rub all the sides of the inner part of the pastry with a bit of water so that it acts as an adhesive. Fold the puff pastry over the masala and seal it. Place the puffs about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
7. Whip up the egg in a bowl. Brush the top of the pastry with the egg wash. This will give the puffs a nice golden color when baked.
8. Bake it until it has puffed up nicely & golden brown.  Take care not to overcook or else the bottom of the puffs may burn. Serve warm. Yum!

Sweet Puff Pastry Bites 

Now for those little strips of left over pastry, just roll or fold them up into little shapes as you like, bake until golden. Once cooled, dust them with some icing sugar to coat and devour! Yummy, yum yum!

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Tres Leches Cake with Strawberry Compote & Whipped Cream Frosting

The long weekend has just passed and I feel like I need another weekend to get over my long weekend. Yawn! J

Someone very near & dear to our family was celebrating her birthday last weekend and of course we wanted to surprise her with a cake. We conspired with her kids and everyone made out that she was just too old to have birthday cakes anymore and so they would just do dinner out and not make too much of a fuss. Oh, loved the look on her face when we brought in the cake!

Again, I went through the whole confused and overwhelmed with ideas phase before I decided on this cake. I wanted to move away from our traditional chocolate cake as everyone just expects it as a birthday cake.  But I didn't want to do a vanilla cake either as I didn't trust my icing skills enough to take a plain vanilla cake to the next level with its deliciousness. I toyed around the idea of doing a marble cake with mocha icing but of course my “buddy” said it was too simple for a birthday cake and that I should expand my baking horizons JJJ

So while searching high and low for an awesome cake which was simple enough for me to pull off, I came across this cake on Raspberri Cupcakes and I was drawn to it instantly. It just sounded divine and when I looked at the recipe it just seemed too simple to be true.

And so with my “buddy’s” approval I decided on this cake even though I was very apprehensive about the whipped cream icing. I haven’t mastered whipping up cream to perfection yet; I always either over beat it or under beat it! But I was up for the challenge and thought I could always just make a vanilla butter cream icing if whipped cream failed me J But that was the novice baker in me speaking. Let me tell you now, butter cream wouldn't have done justice to cake like the whipped cream. It just has to be whipped cream icing or nothing!

The Tres Leches cake (Spanish for 3 milks cake) is one of those absolutely must try before you die type of cakes!  The preparation is similar to a "poke" cake, where a cake is first baked, then poked and a mixture poured over it. I was a bit apprehensive about layering a cake that was soaked in three types of milk. Wouldn't it be all soggy and fall apart when I try and layer it? But then I trusted the experts and went for it. And I am so glad I did. The cake is so moist and light without being too soggy or coming apart as soon as you touch it.

Three forms of leche, or "milk," are poured over a baked cake to create its signature indulgence evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and heavy cream.  And then adding whipped cream and fruit to a classic tres leches cake recipe just made it undeniably delicious. You can use any fruit in season, alone or a combination and you just can’t go wrong. The original recipe uses rose water to flavor the Strawberry compote which I think would be divine but I didn't have any on hand and so gave it a miss. But the compote still tasted quite good on its own.

The cake as such is pretty simple to make with very few ingredients.  And the milk syrup is just combining all 3 milks and pour. Voila! J

Tres Leches Cake with Strawberry Compote & Whipped Cream Frosting

Recipe Source:  Raspberri Cupcakes

(makes a 2-layer 8 inch round cake)

Ingredients:

For the cake:

1 cup plain (all-purpose) flour

1&1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

5 eggs

1 cup (225g) caster (superfine) sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract/vanilla bean paste

1/3 cup milk

For the milk syrup:

3/4 cup evaporated milk

1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/3 cup thickened (heavy) cream

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F, reduce by 10° if fan-forced). Grease and line two 8 inch or 9 inch (I used 8”) round baking tin with baking paper.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
3. Separate eggs. Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow.
4. Stir in milk and vanilla.
5. Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.
6. Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, gradually add 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.
7. Fold egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined, make sure there are no lumps.
8. Pour equal amounts into prepared tins and spread to even out the surfaces. Bake for 20 to 35 minutes or until the center of the cake springs back when lightly pressed and a toothpick comes out clean. Turn cakes out onto two rimmed plates and allow to cool. 
9. Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream in a small pitcher.
10. When cake is cool, pierce the surface all over with a fork several times. Slowly drizzle the milk mixture; try to get as much around the edges of the cake as you can.
11. Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for at least 30 minutes.

For the strawberry compote:

500g (2 punnets) fresh or frozen strawberries

4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice + 2 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp rose water  (optional)

1. Place strawberries, sugar and lemon juice and zest in a small saucepan on medium heat, stirring until it comes to a simmer.
2. Continue to cook, stirring regularly for about 5-10 mins or until mixture thickens slightly and strawberries soften.
3. Remove from heat and stir in the rose water. Cool completely, can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for about 2 weeks.

To assemble cake:

600ml thickened (heavy) cream

2 tbsp icing sugar

To decorate: strawberry flavored wafer sticks, sprinkles (optional)

1. Place cream and icing sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat on high until soft peaks form (take care not to over mix).
2. Carefully transfer one of the soaked cakes to your cake stand/plate. Cover with a thin layer of strawberry compote (too much will cause the compote to ooze out the sides of the cake).
3. Sandwich second cake on top. Use a spatula to cover the entire cake in whipped cream and smooth.
4. Decorate to your hearts content.. Serve immediately with leftover strawberry compote or chill until ready to serve. Can be stored in an airtight container for 2 days.

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Chocolate Biscuit Pudding

My mind is blank… Today I have no musings or craziness to share with you.  Maybe that’s a good thing. Don’t want to scare you off with all my crazy talk J so let’s just dive straight into today’s yummy recipe.  If you are searching for an easy dessert recipe, then look no further. This chocolate biscuit pudding is a perfect choice. It is so simple to prepare, the ingredients are stuff you’d usually already have in your pantry and the good thing is that it can be prepared a day ahead making it a perfect choice for entertaining guests. 

The actual recipe from Ria’s Collection is perfect as is. I do variations of it each time I make it. The one I’m posting here today has butterscotch custard topping instead of Ria’s whipped cream layer. There are so many ways you could do this and still be sure it would come out tasting awesome every time. You just can’t go wrong with this J

I just used store bought butter scotch custard. If you don’t have any custard or whipped cream handy just do the biscuit and chocolate layers and forget the 3^rd layer and still get a yummy dessert. Like I said, the possibilities are endless!

Chocolate Biscuit Pudding

Recipe Source: Ria's Collection

Ingredients:

Marie biscuits, crushed- 200 gms( about 40 biscuits)

Salted Butter- 100 gms( about 1/2 cup)

Milk-1 1/2 Cups

Sugar- 1 Cup

Cocoa powder- 3 tbsp

Cornflour-2 tbsp

Vanilla extract-1 tsp

Custard – as needed, around 1 cup (optional)

Dark chocolate squares - for garnishing (optional)

Instructions:

1. In a bowl, mix together the crushed biscuits and butter until soft and sand like. Spoon in half of it into the dessert glasses and press it with a spoon and level it. Keep aside the remaining biscuit crumbs.
2. In a sauce pan, combine milk, sugar, cocoa powder and corn flour. Mix well until combined. Heat until thick, whisking continuously. Allow it to cool and then add in the vanilla.
3. Add a layer of the prepared chocolate pudding to the glasses, repeat layers finishing off with biscuit crumbs.
4. Top it with the custard or whipped cream, if desired. Refrigerate for about 3 to 4 hours. Serve cold. 
   
5. You could also decorate it with a small piece of dark chocolate or even sprinkle bits of 100’s & 1000’s or a bit of leftover biscuit crumbs! J J

 Enjoy!

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Poori Bhajji

I know the posts have become a little irregular these days; I got a bit side tracked with my boys and illnesses. Thankfully, everyone’s back to their good health now and so here I am J

Right now I’m going TGIF! It’s been an emotionally draining last couple of weeks and I’m so looking forward to the weekend and spending time with my darling’s.

Speaking of darlings, my boys are as mischievous and cheeky as ever. They are growing up so fast. Kochu is quite the chatter box. Chatter, chatter, chatter! All day long if he can help it! J And Chackochi too is starting to say stuff, though most of it is still baby talk. Of the few words we can understand he loves to say “No”, “Stop it”, “oh oh” and “Mama”. He goes around calling everyone Mama, even our housemate! He’s getting teeth left and right and so his looks are changing fast. Here are a few long overdue pics of them J

Right, so today’s recipe is Poori Bhajji. Doesn’t your mouth just water thinking of those deliciously hot, crispy golden balls of whole wheat goodness paired with that simple vegan potato curry.. Ooh Yum! So a couple of weekends ago, we had some guests over and I made this. I wouldn’t generally recommend making this when you have guests, only because poori is best served hot and you really don’t want to be toiling over the stove when you have guests waiting. But my hubby has been craving Pooris for quite some time and so he talked me into making these.

I forgot to take a photo with the Poori and Bhajji all plated together. I had to take a pic later on of the bhajji as I totally forgot in the hurry of serving our guests.  I do have a few pics of the poori though as I got hubby to snap some as we made it.

It’s a real simple meal yet astonishingly tasty and filling. The kids didn’t want much to do with the curry but both of them had a couple of pooris and loved it. It’s definitely one of those worth the effort kind of dishes. The Bhajji is pretty simple to make and comes together pretty soon and tastes pretty close to what we’d get at the Aryas hotels in Kerala. Do try it. Happy Cooking & have a great weekend!

Poori Bhajji

For the Poori: (makes 15-18 pooris)
Recipe Source : Veg Recipes of India

2.5 to 3 cups whole wheat flour/atta

1 tsp oil

water to knead the flour

oil for frying

Method:
Knead the wheat flour into stiff dough with water and oil. Make small balls of the dough. Roll into rounds having 4-5 inches diameter.

Heat oil for deep frying. Fry the pooris in oil till they get puffed and are golden brown.

Tips for Preparing Poori:

• The dough should be slightly stiff not soft like the dough of the chappati/roti
• While rolling the poori, apply a little oil on the poori and then roll. This way, you won’t need to dust the rolling board with wheat flour. This ensures that the oil stays clean when you fry the pooris and you won’t see dark burnt flour particles inside the oil.
• Make sure the oil is neither too hot nor cold. If  too hot, the pooris get browned quickly. If not hot enough then the pooris absorb oil and become too oily.
• The pooris should puff while frying. If not, then something has gone wrong….. Either the dough has not been kneaded well or the pooris have not been rolled out evenly or the oil is not hot enough.
• You can also add some suji/semolina to the pooris. It makes the poori a crispier.

For the Potato Bhajji/ Potato Masala
Recipe Source : Jeyshris Kitchen

Ingredients:

Boiled Potato – 3

Onion (big) – 2

Green chilli – 2-3

Ginger – small piece

Kadala Mavu – 1 tblsp

Turmeric Powder – ¼ tsp

Garam Masala- small pinch

Mustard seeds  - ¼ tsp

Urad dal/Uluva – ¼ tsp

Curry leaves/Karivepella 

Coriander leaves

Lemon juice – few drops

Oil – 2 tblsp

Salt – as needed 

Method:

1. Peel the skin of the boiled potatoes and mash two of them. Cut the remaining one into cubes.

2. Thinly slice the onions and finely chop the curry leaves and green chilli.

3. Grate the ginger. 

4. In a pan, add oil and throw in the mustard seeds, urad dal, ginger, green chilli and curry leaves.

5. When the urad dal turns golden brown, add the sliced onions and sauté for few minutes till the onions becomes translucent.

6. Now add 1/2 a cup of water to this and cook the onions for a minute.

7. When done, add the mashed and cubed potatoes.

8. Make a paste with besan/ kadala maavu in 2 tblsp of water and mix well without any lumps.

9. Add this to the potato mixture and add salt, turmeric powder and garam masala. Add 1 cup of water to bring this to a gravy consistency.

10. This masala will absorb water once it comes to boil. So don’t worry if it is thin.

11. Switch off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves.

12. Add lemon juice (if using).

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