Tandoori Cauliflower Bites

Cauliflower is a vegetable which you either love or hate. This recipe is so delicious that the fussiest eater will gobble it up. It's a great appetiser for parties, leftovers can be added to salad or stuffed in a pitta bread to make a delicious sandwich. You may also like this cauliflower curry or my spiced cauliflower soup .

Yield: Serves 4

Author: Nayna Kanabar

Tandoori Cauliflower Bites

These delectable spicy cauliflower bites are perfect to pop in the mouth.

prep time: 15 Mcook time: 30 Mtotal time: 45 M

Ingredients:

• 450 g Cauliflower florets 
• 100 ml Natural yoghurt or for vegan version use soya yoghurt
• Rice Flour 2 tablespoons
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon ginger paste
• 1 teaspoon garlic paste
• 1 teaspoon green chilli paste
• 1 tablespoon chopped coriander
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Red onion slices and Lemon wedges for garnish

Instructions:

1. In a bowl add the yoghurt, salt, chilli powder, turmeric powder,garlic, ginger, green chillies, coriander and rice flour and   whisk together. 
2. Add the cauliflower florets  and toss them in the marinade to coat all the florets.
3. Keep the cauliflower bites aside  to marinade for 30 mins.
4. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C
5. Line a baking tray with foil and arrange the marinaded cauliflower on it.
6. Spray with some oil and bake in the preheated oven for 30 mins. Stir in between  to bake evenly.
7. Remove from the oven garnish with onion slices and lime wedges.

Created using The Recipes Generator

If you like cauliflower why not check out this delicious cauliflower casserole.

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If you are interested I also offer 1-1 vegetarian/vegan cookery classes, please check the link  to get more details and book.

Cheese and Potato Pies

My daughter loves cheese and potato pies but the shop bought ones all vary in flavour and texture and we have not been able to find one that we really like so I decided to make my own. The recipe itself is simple enough but unfortunately from time to time, I too get cooking disasters. 

I am sure the people who work with pastry know that hot weather and pastry do not go hand in hand. Whilst I was rolling the pies my pastry got softer and softer due to the heat. I managed to roll them out and place them on a tray lined with grease proof paper and put them in the oven to cook. The pies puffed up and were golden brown, however when they cooled and I tried to lift them off the paper the pies were stuck to it and I could not get them off!!! Big disaster, I ended up with broken pies where I tried to peel the stuck paper off.

Not one for giving up the next day I tried to make them again as the taste was amazing. This time I placed my prepared pies on a tray lined with Bacofoil®, The Non-Stick Kitchen Foil. This foil has a unique BacoLift® surface which makes it non-stick. All you do is make sure you place the food on the non-shiny side and there is no need to grease or oil the foil which is also a lot healthier too.

Once the pies were cooked I had my fingers crossed, I removed the tray from the oven and straight away I could see that the pies were gliding off without any problem what so ever. The BacoLift® is amazing and it saved the day for me and also on washing up as well. All I had to do was rinse the baking tray. This was definitely a “No Sticking, No Cleaning, No Worries” experience for me.

Since my discovery of Bacofoil®, I have used it for making macaroons, cookies and have even baked apples in it. The foil helps to keep all the flavours and moisture inside and it’s strong and will not tear easily when prodding with tongs on the barbecue.

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Cheese and Potato pies

by Nayna Kanabar May-10-2018

Flaky pastry with a creamy potato and cheese filling. 

Ingredients:

• 2 medium white baking potatoes boiled and mashed.
• 100 g medium English cheddar cheese grated
• 1 small white onion finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon chilli flakes (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt  
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly crushed black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon milk for brushing the pies with.
• 1 sheet ready to roll puff pastry.

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C, 350 Degrees F.
2. Line a baking tray with Bacofoil®, The Non-Stick Kitchen Foil -non-shiny side up.
3. In a pan add the olive oil and sauté the onions until translucent and pink.
4. Once the onions are cooked, add the salt, pepper chilli flakes, nutmeg and mix together.
5. Add the mashed potato and mix well with the onion mixture.
6. Take off the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
7. Add the grated cheese and mix it in.
8. Roll out the pastry and cut 6 circles 3.5 inches in diameter and 6 circles that are 3 inches in diameter. In total 12 circles which will make 6 pies.
9.Take one 3 inch pastry circle and in the centre add a lime sized ball of the cheesy potato mixture. Place the 3.5 inch circle over it and gentle press the edges of the two pastry circles. Using a fork or a crimper seal down the edges and place the pie on the prepared baking tray.
10. Repeat the process for all other pastry circles.
11.Brush the pies with the milk and bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown in a pre-heated oven.
12.Remove from the oven when golden brown and serve with a tomato chutney.

Details

Prep time: 30 mins Cook time: 25 mins Total time: 55 mins  Yield: Makes 6 pies

***This post is in collaboration with Bacofoil®

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Chickpea Tikkis (cakes) and Saffron Soul book review.

It has been ages since I added a cook book to my collection. Saffron Soul by Mira Manek, is more like a journal than a vegetarian cook book, exploring her family's traditional recipes that she has grown up with. I like this book as it shows the author's personality and heritage which is similar to my own and it brings back my childhood memories of learning to cook with my mother and grandmother.

The book features many recipes shared by her family, together with new fusion recipes that have been inspired and adapted with ingredients of this day and age. The recipes are easy to follow and beautifully illustrated. Other than the recipes, I loved reading  the snippets of personal family history the author has shared together with her family photos.

There are many recipes in the book that I have grown up with and I can see similarities, however I also loved the fusion recipes such as Warm curried courgetti salad with maple chillied seeds, Quinoa Bhel on chilled watermelon and the Spelt and quinoa rotis.

Book Details :
Saffron Soul by Mira Manek
ISBN 978-1-911127-18-5
Retails  £20.00

My score for the book: 14/15

Content -5/5
Illustrations-5/5
Recipe Instructions-4

 **I was sent a copy of the book to review as always all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

I have chosen to make the Chickpea tikkis, which are savoury cakes from the book. I have recreated the recipe with a few minor changes.

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Chickpea Tikkis

by Nayna Kanabar July-15-2017

Chickpea pattis cooked with spices and herbs and shallow fried.

Ingredients:

• 240 g Pre boiled white chickpeas.
• 2 Spring onions finely chopped
• 1 Red chilli finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons Roasted peanuts ground coarsely
• 1 tablespoon Fresh coriander finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric powder
• 1 tablespoon Corn flower
• 1 tablespoon Water
• 1 tablespoon Sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
• 3 tablespoons for shallow frying Sunflower oil
• For serving-Hummus, pitta bread, salad and lemon wedges 

Method:

1. Put the chick peas in a large bowl and coarsely mash them with a potato masher.2. In a frying pan add 1 tablespoon of oil and when its hot add the spring onions and red chilli and saute for 2 minutes.3. Add the salt, chilli power, turmeric powder, coarsely ground peanuts and the mashed chickpeas. Mix together and cook for another 2-3 minutes until all the spices infuse.4. Take the mixture off the heat and allow to reach room temperature. Once cooled add the chopped coriander, lemon juice, corn flower and water so that you can bind the mixture into small golf sized balls.5. Flatten the balls into pattis and roll them in sesame seeds. Place on tray and chill f pattis or 30 minutes.6. Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan and shallow fry the pattis in small batches until golden brown on both sides, remove from pan and drain on kitchen paper.7. To serve toast some pitta bread and spread the inside with hummus, add salad and chick pea pattis and serve with lemon wedges.

Details

Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 15 mins Total time: 35 mins (plus 30 mins chilling time)Yield: 10 Tikkis

Barbecued Corn with Roasted Pepper and Mint Salsa

In my previous post I wrote about attending the John Lewis barbecue evening where with a bunch of food bloggers we created some wonderful and tasty barbecue dishes. My three foodie friends, Jagruti from jagrutiscookingodyssey, Manjiri from travelsfortaste and Lisa Moore and I are featured below with one of our signature dishes.

One of the dishes my group created was Barbecued Corn with Roasted Pepper and Mint Salsa. It turned out really delicious and I could not wait to recreate it again at home. The smokey flavours that barbecuing gives to food is lovely and this sweetcorn paired really well with the mint and roasted pepper salsa.

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Barbecued Corn with Roasted Pepper and Mint Salsa

by Nayna Kanabar May 21-2017

Barbecued sweet corn with a lovely roasted pepper and mint salsa, the mint, the spices and the lime sets this dish off beautifully.




Ingredients:

• 4 Fresh corn on the cob
• 2 Long red peppers
• Few sprigs mint
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons honey
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 lime cut into wedges for serving.
• 1 teaspoon sumac powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder(optional)

Method:

1. Place the sweet corn on the barbecue and roast it until its cooked, keep turning it to get an even roasting. 2. Add the peppers on the barbecue and roast them too, keep turning them to get them roasted evenly. 3.Remove the roasted corn from the barbecue and cut it into bite sized rounds pieces approx 2 cm thick .4.Remove the peppers from the barbecue and peel off the charred skin, remove the stalk and seeds. Roughly chop the peppers up and put them into a large bowl.5. Reserve 6 mint leaves and finely chop the remaining mint and add it to the bowl with the peppers. 7.Add the sumac, paprika, chilli powder, salt, juice from the lime, honey and olive oil to the peppers and mint and mix well. 8. Add the sweet corn to the salsa and toss it well so that its coated thoroughly with the salsa. 9. Transfer the corn to a serving dish and garnish with a few more mint leaves and lime wedges

Details:

Prep time: 10 mins Cooking time: 15 mins Total time: 25 mins    Serves: 6-8 people

Tomato Salsa Bruschetta

In the summer I love to create easy recipes to serve for lunch.One of my families favorite appertiser is bruschetta with a tomato salsa. It is really delicious served as a starter or as an accompaniment to a salad, or pasta dish. Personally I am happy to eat it by itself  for my lunch.

Vegetable Samosas

Samosas are a traditional Indian snack, that are very popular in all Indian households. They are delicious pastry parcels usually filled with a spicy vegetable filling and deep fried until golden brown and crispy. Samosas are commonly served with tangy tamarind chutney and green coriander chutney.

Samosas sizes and their fillings differ from state to state of India. Where as in the state of Gujarat samosas are dainty little pastry triangle filled with peas and potatoes,carrots they will differ in the state of Punjab where the Punjabi samosas are larger and primarily filled with a potato filling only. In other states cabbage, paneer-Indian cheese, fried fruits and nuts and also lentils are used as a filling too.

There is a very precise art in folding the samosas which although can be tricky is not too hard to master as practice makes perfect. I remember as a child my mum and aunts used to fold some 300 samosas for our family gatherings It was almost like a production line.Samosas are also commonly sold by street vendors and its a favorite street food for all Indians.

This month I created a step by step pictorial on how to make the perfect samosas. You can read all about my samosa recipe at the Foodies 100 site where I have written a guest post all about making these delicious samosas.
You can read the recipe for my Gujarati Style vegetable samosa here. Please do drop by the Foodies 100 website to check out the easy recipe with step by steps pictorial instructions.

Submitting to:
Lets cook for Dad event by simplyfood.

Potato Hash~ Secret recipe challenge 16th March 2015

This is my assignment with the Secret Recipe Club.The aim of the club is that you are allocated a blog from which you have to select a recipe and try it and blog about it. For the month of March my assigned blog was The Heritage Cook written by Jane Bonacci. Jane describes herself as food and travel writer, recipe developer, editor and tester, event manager, passionate baker and cook. Looking through Janes blog, there were many delicious recipes, I liked that her focus is also on gluten free recipes. I settled for breakfast idea. I chose the Turkey Hash as my family love Sunday Brunch and this was perfect for it. I did make slight changes to the recipe to make it vegetarian. I omitted  the turkey and added some mushrooms instead.

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Potato Hash

by Nayna Kanabar March 16th-2015

Delicious and tasty potatoes cooked with onion, peppers and mushrooms for the perfect breakfast accompaniment.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium red potatoes peeled and coarsely grated
• 6 button mushrooms finely chopped
• 1 small red onion cut into very thin slices
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 each green, red and yellow peppers finely diced

Method:

1.Preheat oven to 180 degrees C / 350 degrees F.2.Oil a deep baking dish and keep aside. 3.In a large bowl add the potatoes, onions, diced peppers, mushrooms, salt and pepper and the oil and toss every thing together. 4.Transfer the potato mixture to the oiled baking dish and pack the potato filling down with a spatula. 5.Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until potatoes are cooked and slightly crispy on the edges. Remove from oven and cut into square slices and serve piping hot with baked beans and fried eggs.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Baking  time: 25 mins Total time: 35 mins Yield: serves 4

An InLinkz Link-up

Greek Phyllo triangles with cheese and potato

Greek phyllo pastry filled with a cheesy potato filling and baked to perfection.

Ingredients:

2 large potatoes boiled
90g /3 oz  feta cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper powder
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon paprika
6 sheets of phyllo pastry
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 small onion finely diced
1 clove garlic finely chopped
1 tablespoon sun dried tomatoes finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon olive oil to brush on the triangles

Method:

1. In a bowl add the potatoes and mash it with a potato masher.
2. Add the salt, pepper, paprika,nutmeg, chopped sundried tomatoes and crumble the feta cheese into the bowl.
3. In a pan add 1 tablespoon olive oil and saute the onions and garlic  until translucent, once onions are soft remove them from the pan and wait for them to cool.
4. Add the lemon juice and onions to the potato mixture and mix all the ingredients together well.
5. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C /375 degrees F
6. Oil a baking tray and keep aside.
7. Unroll the phyllo sheets and place them on a flat surface.
8. Using a sharp knife cut the phyllo sheets into two length ways.
9. To fold the triangles take one length of phyllo and place it length ways in front of you.
10. Place a spoonful of the potato mixture in the corner at the bottom of the phyllo strip.
11. Fold that corner over to form a triangle making sure all filling is encased.Continue folding the phyllo triangle from left to right until you have a perfectly encased phyllo triangle.

Please check this video that shows how to fold the triangles.

12. Place the phyllo triangle on the baking tray with the seam side down.
13. Repeat for rest of phyllo sheets.
14.Brush all the phyllo triangles with olive oil and bake the triangles in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until pastry is golden brown.
15.Remove triangles from oven and serve hot with minty yoghurt dip.

Submitting to:

Flavours of the world-Grand Finale event by simply.food

In my veg box ~Potatoes event by citrusspiceuk guest hosted by Give me some spice

Plantain Fritters

Spicy savory plantain fritters perfect for a tea time treat.

Ingredients:

4 green plantains peeled and grated
1 small clove garlic finely crushed
1 small white onion finely sliced
2 green chillies finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon chilli powder
pinch bicarbonate of soda
2 tablespoons plain flour
1-2 teaspoons water
600 ml sunflower oil for frying

Method:

1.In a bowl add the grated plantain, onion slices, salt,chilli powder, green chillies, bicarbonate of soda and the flour.
2. Mix the ingredients together, only add enough water so that the mixture  binds together without being too wet.
3. Form small  patties of the mixture and place them on a tray.

4. Heat oil in a large pan, when it is hot turn the heat down to medium nad fry the patties in small batches until golden brown.Do not be tempted to cook on high heat otherwise fritters will be uncooked on the inside.
5. Drain on kitchen paper fry the next batch.
6. Serve hot with chilli sauce or dip of choice.

I love making plantain crisps and this lovely Caribbean pepp

erpot stew both are really delicious.

Submitting to:
Flavours of Caribbean event by simply.food guest hosted by Tina of The spicy pear

Plantain Crisps

Plantain Crisps, savour a delicate sweetness with a crunch in every bite.

Ingredients:

4 green plantain (raw)
600 ml sunflower oil for deep frying
Pinch of crushed chilli flakes
1/4 teaspoon salt

Method:

1.Wash and peel the plantain and slice thinly in rounds using the fine setting on the mandolin.The thinner the slices the crispier they will turn out.
2. Separate the slices and spread them out on a teacloth.
2. Heat the oil in a large deep pan and allow it to heat up.
3. Fry the plantain slices on medium heat until slightly golden brown and crisp.This is very important as frying them on high heat will result in soft chips rather than crispy crisps.
5. Drain on kitchen paper.
6. Sprinkle the crushed chilli flakes and salt .

Taco Wontons ~ Secret recipe club challenge 17th June 2013

This is my assignment with the Secret Recipe Club.The aim of the club is that you are allocated a blog from which you have to select a recipe and try  it and blog about it.
My assigned blog was creative kitchen adventures written By Denise. The blog is fun with lots of interesting recipes. I was looking for a speedy  recipe and the post on Taco wontons really captured my attention but it was not vegetarian.This did not deter me I used the idea and the method and replaced the meat with mixed beans and peppers. The recipe turned out really delicious.

Ingredients

4 whole meal tortilla wraps
1 can of mixed bean (precooked)
125 g mixed peppers finely diced
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
1 tablespoon tomato purée
Pinch of ground cumin

Cilantro and chopped peppers for garnish

Method:

1. In  a pan add the oil, when it is hot the garlic and sauté for a minute , add the peppers and cook for another minute.
2. Add the beans, salt, chilli flakes,cumin and 1 tablespoon tomato purée and cook the mixture for 3-4 minutes more. Remove from heat and keep aside.
3.Cut the tortillas into  8 (4 inch x 4 inch) squares.
4. Press the tortilla squares into a muffin pan to form little baskets, bake these in a preheated oven 180 degrees C/ 375 degrees F for about eight minutes or until crisp
5. Remove the tortilla baskets from oven and fill them with the bean mixture.
Garnish with some more finely chopped peppers and cilantro.

You may like:
Gazpacho salad

Potato Bilinis

Potato Bilinis - A tasty savoury appetizer that is delicious topped with a crunchy tomato salsa and creamy yoghurt mint chutney.

Ingredients:

For the Bilinis:

2 medium potatoes
2  tablespoons self raising flour
1 tablespoon rice flour
3 tablespoons Chobani plain yoghurt
2 green chillies finely chopped
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon fresh chopped coriander
1/2 teaspoon  chilli powder
Olive oil for shallow frying.

Salsa:

2 medium tomatoes
2 inch piece cucumber
2 spring onions
1/2 tablespoon fresh chopped coriander
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice.

Yoghurt and mint Chutney:

3 tablespoons Chobani plain yoghurt
1 teaspoon mint sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Method:

1. In a pan of water boil the potatoes until half cooked (par boiled).Drain them from the water and peel the skin and leave to cool.
2. Grate the potatoes on the coarse side of a cheese grater forming long strands of potato.
3.In a large bowl add the self raising flour, rice flour, salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder, green chillies, ginger paste, coriander and yoghurt.Mix together to form a paste.
4. Add the grated potato and mix together gently as not to break up the potato strands.(Add a tablespoonful of water if batter is a little stiff)
5.  Heat a large frying pan and brush it with a little oil.
6. Using a tablespoon, drop spoonfuls of the bilini batter on to the frying pan, smoothing each bilini into a 2 in round circle.
7. Cook for 3 minutes on medium to low heat until you see the batter setting.
8. Flip the bilini over to cook the top side.Add a little more oil to the pan as needed.
9. When both sides are golden brown remove the bilinis from the frying pan and repeat for remaining batter.
10. Place the bilinis on a baking tray and keep in a warm oven to keep warm whilst making the rest .

Salsa:

11. Cut the tomatoes in half and remove the seeds.
12. Dice the tomatoes finely and place them in a bowl.
13.Dice the cucumber finely and add to the tomatoes.
14. Dice the spring onion finely and add it to the cucumber and tomatoes.
15. Add the chopped coriander, salt and lemon juice and mix well.

Yoghurt and mint Chutney:

16.Place the yoghurt in a bowl, add the mint sauce,salt and lemon juice and mix well.

Assembling the Bilinis:

17. Place the bilinis on a serving platter.
18. Add a teaspoonful of salsa on top of each one followed by a little yoghurt and mint chutney.

Serve immediately.