SAMOSA: EASY AND TASTY RECIPE SAMOSA IN RAMZAN:

 

WHAT IS SAMOSA? HOW TO MAKE SAMOSA: EASY AND TASTY RECIPE

SAMOSA RECIPE

Samosas are very popular street food in Pakistan and you can buy them almost anywhere, in special samosa shops where you can sit and eat them, covered with a delicious imli (tamarind) sauce, or with a different sauce (called ‘chutney’ here) such as a mint sauce.. They are one of the foods served to break the fast during Ramadan and are frequently served with pakoras.

  What are samosas? They are stuffed savoury pastries and may be stuffed with potatoes, which is most common and the recipe given here, or they can be stuffed with minced (ground) beef and peas, or with chicken, or a mixture of vegetables.

Ingredients

Pastry

2 cups fine flour (maida), sifted

2 tsps oil

1 tsp ajwain or thyme

warm water to mix

salt to taste

1 egg, beaten to seal pastry

Filling

3-4 potatoes depending on size

3 green chillies, finely chopped

1 onion chopped into small pieces

½ tsp ginger root, finely chopped

1 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, shredded finely

1 tbsp mint leaves, finely shredded

1 tbsp anar dana (dried pomegranate seeds), soaked for 15 mins before using

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp turmeric

chilli powder and salt to taste

oil for deep frying

Method

Mix flour with salt ajwain or thyme and the oil then add water slowly as needed to make a dough. Shape into 4 balls of equal size, cover in cling film and leave to chill for ½ an hour as this makes it easier to roll out the pastry.

Now roll them into rounds of 6 inches and cut in the middle.

Filling: -

Boil the potatoes peeled and whole then leave them to cool and mash them with all the other ingredients.

Beat the egg and use to seal two sides of each cone of pastry. Fill the cone with the filling and seal the end with the egg again.

Heat the oil for deep-frying and when hot enough to fry chips or French fries, lower the samosas into it a batch at a time so that they cook evenly.

Fry until the pastry is golden brown, remove from the oil and drain on absorbent paper.

Serve with chutney (sauce).

This has Taste and is a Treat.

IRONWORT, MOUNTAIN TEA, SIDERITIS SYRIACA

 

IRONWORT, MOUNTAIN TEA, SIDERITIS SYRIACA 

If you have ever had a cold or flu in Greece, and have Greek friends, then you will know all about Greek mountain tea, which comes from this plant. It is called “malotira”  (better) in Crete, and is served in small cups or glasses in Turkey, with sugar or honey and  lemon to flavour it. Sideritis plants grow throughout the Balkan region and can be found in temperate Asia and Central Europe, but Sideritis syriaca comes fro the Mediterranean region as the name syriaca, from Syria might suggest.

  The genus name Sideritis means he who has iron, which is a reference to those who had been wounded in ballet by iron weapons. The plants were used as a wound healer although other suggest that the plant got its name because the flowers or sepals, look rather like spear tips.

  This mountain tea plant is in the mint family, the Lamiaceae or Labiatae family which means it has a whole host of relatives, which include, purple, yellow and white dead nettles, marsh woundwort, the teak tree, marjoram, basil, Holy basil, oregano, savory, thyme, lavender, lemon balm, Scarlet bee balm as well as bugle, motherwort, self-heal, catnip, the chaste tree, the small-flowered chaste tree, sage, ground ivy, Jupiter’s sage, wall germander, horsemint, Fragrant premna and hyssop.

  The plant can grow to heights of more than a foot, and is best gathered in July when it is in full bloom and then dried for later use. In Greece, you can buy it in street markets in bundles, or in supermarkets in jars.

  The essential oil has anti-microbial, antibacterial and antifungal properties and can be used for such ailments as candida in the same way as you would use Australian tea tree oil.

  In clinical trials this plant has been found to have antioxidant properties and to prevent and / or inhibit the growth of cancerous tumours. It also has anti-inflammatory and analgesic actions as indicated in “Preliminary evaluation on anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of Sideritis syriaca L. herbal extracts.” Menghini L, et al. 2005 Summer; Vol.8 (2):pp. 227-31. Journal of Medicinal Food. They conclude: -                                                                                          

 “The data from this preliminary study reveal interesting pharmacological properties of S. syriaca L. herbal extracts related to the marked analgesic activity and the absence of gastric ulcerogenic activity. The same is for anti-inflammatory activity, but in this case it seems to be related only to the apolar fraction.”

  In Turkey the tisane is used for coughs and as a diuretic to rid the body of excess fluid.

  So far the plant has only attracted researchers from the areas in which it grows naturally, although the tea is sold in Germany as “Bergtee” and is becoming ever more popular. I can vouch for the fact that it helps in colds and flu and scientists say that it can do this because it has immune system boosting properties. It tastes fine, so is good to try if you have a cold, cough or flu.

                  

MOUNTAIN TEA RECIPE                                                                      

Take some sprigs of the dried herb (about 3 per cup) and pour boiling water over them.

Leaves for 10 minutes and add honey (or sugar) and a slice of lemon, or squeeze fresh lemon juice into the cup.

This has Taste and is a Treat(ment).

WHAT IS CARALLUMA FIMBRIATA? CHONG - OUR UNIDENTIFIED 'VEGETABLE': HEALTH BENEFITS AND USES OF CARALLUMA FIMBRIATA: CHONG WITH NEW MINCED BEEF RECIPE

 

JUNE 12, 2011

WHAT IS CARALLUMA FIMBRIATA? CHONG - OUR UNIDENTIFIED 'VEGETABLE': HEALTH BENEFITS AND USES OF CARALLUMA FIMBRIATA: CHONG WITH MINCED BEEF RECIPE

 

CHONG, CARALLUMA FIMBRIATA

Chong or perhaps chonga is used as a vegetable where we are in Pakistan, although it is not well known in other places it would appear. It is a strange-looking thing when you first see it sitting in a greengrocers, or at leas, we thought so. Neither of us had any idea what it was, so the vegetable seller kindly informed us that this was chong (in Urdu). Apparently it is called danda thor in Punjabi. I wanted to taste it, whatever it was, so my husband spoke with the greengrocer, who called his wife to ask her how to cook it. Her recipe is given below.

  We have been trying to find out what it is called in English for about a year, and finally discovered that it is a succulent cactus, having found photographs online. We know what it is used for here in this part of Pakistan, but were surprised when we discovered that it is used for weight loss in the West. A friend told us that when he was younger he would pick this plant and eat it raw as he was walking as it stopped his hunger and quenched his thirst too. I later found that tribal people have used it for centuries to quell hunger on a day’s hunt.

  Our greengrocer says that it is good to purify the blood when it is eaten as a green vegetable (although it is bitter like karella or bitter melon, so the juice needs to be removed prior to cooking) and it is also good for skin problems and diabetes. It can be made into a pickle or chutney, but we have only eaten it cooked, as the juice is very bitter.

  It is a member of the Asclepiadaceae family, so is a relative of Indian sarsaparilla, and has star-shaped flowers which are unpleasantly pungent, but which are very attractive as they can be purple, black, yellow, tan maroon, red or black. Here they grow on the mountains although in India they grow more freely it would seem, on any patch of waste land. We didn’t see them in other parts of the Punjab, but that may be because the people of Lahore think they are too sophisticated to eat what other websites say is “famine” food. Here it is sold at the greengrocer’s when it is in season and it is expensive as, like kachnar buds and falsa it is picked by hand and those that pick it might have to spend a long time looking for spots in which it grows.

  Studies have been done which seem to prove that little chong is a great aid to weight loss diets, as it contains HCA10 (hydroxyaltrate) which has been proved to contribute to weight loss without stimulating the central nervous system as some weight loss drugs do.

It contains pregnane glycosides which appear to block the activity of citratelyase which is an enzyme that builds fat in the body and also it may block the activity of Melonyl Coenzyme A which means that fat formulation and build up is also blocked, so the body is compelled to burn off the fat reserves it has accumulated so speeding up the body’s fat loss. Furthermore these glycosides may inhibit the hunger sensory mechanism which is found in the hypothalamus, a “primitive” part of the brain.

  Chong also combats fatigue, so you can use it without feeling a loss of energy and you get lean muscle mass by eating it regularly. Trials reported weight loss after 1 month of taking capsules containing Caralluma fimbriata. Hopefully, when this is proved, people will start growing their own chong as I wouldn’t want to be deprived of this vegetable because it is a weight loss product for obese Westerners.

CHONG WITH MINCED BEEF

Ingredients

½ kilo chong

1 tbsp salt

½ kilo minced beef

2 onions, finely chopped

4 tomatoes, finely chopped

6 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 inch fresh ginger, finely chopped

2 tbsps lemon juice

1 handful of fresh coriander leaves, finely shredded

6 green chillies, finely chopped

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp ajwain or thyme

1 tbsp coriander seeds, crushed

1 tbsp garam masala

1 tsp turmeric (haldi)

8 whole black peppercorns

1 tbsp chilli powder

salt to taste

1 cup oil

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Method

To prepare the chong: -

Wash the chong very well and separate the pieces, discarding the root. Pound it a little but not too much, then put one tablespoon of salt over it and rub it into the pieces of chong with you hands, so that it is well mixed into it. Leave this for half an hour to remove the bitter juices.

After half an hour, squeeze the chong to remove the excess juices. Then wash it in cold water two or three times so that all the bitter juices are removed. Put it in a strainer or sieve and leave to drip.

Cooking

Heat the oil in a pan and add the garlic, ginger, black peppercorns and cumin seeds, and fry them for 30 seconds then stir in the onion and fry this for 1 minute. Add the minced beef and green chillies, stir and fry for 5 minutes.

Pour in 1 cup of water the turmeric, ajwain or thyme, chilli powder, coriander seeds and salt to taste. (Remember that some salt will have remained on the chong, however well you washed it.)

Cook this until the water is gone, then add the chong and tomatoes, stirring well to mix. Cook this still stirring for 5 – 7 minutes.

Add 2 glasses of water the lemon juice and the garam masala, stirring to mix.

Cover the pan and let it cook for ½ hour over a low heat or until all the water has gone and the oil floats to the top.

Remove from the heat, and then add the fresh coriander, cover for a few minutes so that the flavours mingle and settle and serve with naan or chapattis.

To get the best out of this dish, serve with natural yoghurt.

This has Taste and is a Treat.

How to make pakoray!

 

PAKORA:what is pakora?

PAKORA
These are popular snacks in Pakistan and northern India, and are easy to make. People serve them to unexpected guests washed down with cups of tea, as the ingredients are readily available in subcontinental kitchens. You can make them with aubergines (eggplants), or potatoes, but the most important ingredient is the chickpea flour, or besan as it is called. You can grind your own from dried chickpeas if you can’t buy it at your local supermarket.
People enjoy eating these while sitting on their verandahs or balconies, and watching the rain in the monsoon season.


Pakora
Ingredients
250 gr chickpea flour (besan)
2 medium onions, finely chopped
100 gr spinach, washed thoroughly, dried and finely shredded
6 green chillies, very finely chopped
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tsp garam masala (see our recipe)
1 tsp coriander seeds, lightly crushed
1 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tbsp dried mint
1 handful fresh coriander leaves, finely shredded
1 tbsp dried pomegranate seeds, soaked in water for 5 mins before using
¾ cup water
salt and pepper
oil for deep frying


Method
Put the chickpea flour along with the vegetables, spices and herbs into a large mixing bowl. Slowly add the water and knead until everything is evenly mixed. If you feel you need a little more water add some, but not too much.
Heat the oil in a frying pan or deep-fryer and when it starts to bubble, take a tbsp of the mixture and drop it into the pan. Continue doing this until you have a layer of Pakora and fry until they are lightly browned on all sides. Remove from the pan and drain on absorbent paper while cooking the next batch. Keep warm (in a preheated oven) until they are all cooked.
Serve with our mint and yoghurt sauce and the traditional cup of tea.