ALOO BONDA (POTATO BALL) RECIPE

Ingredients:

 Batter:

• Gram flour  - 1 cup
• Turmeric Powder  - 1/4 tea spoon
• Water to prepare a batter of medium thick consistency
• Salt as per taste 

Aloo Stuffing:

• Boiled Potato  - 4 big size
• Curry leaves  - as per requirement
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tea spoon
• Ginger  - 1 inch piece finely chopped
• Green Chilli  - 4 finely chopped

Spices:

• Turmeric Powder  - 1/2 tea spoon
• Red Chilli Powder  - 1/2 tea spoon
• Cumin Seeds Powder  - 1/2 tea spoon
• Black Pepper Powder  - 1/2 tea spoon
• Salt as per taste 
• Mustard Oil - for frying the aloo bonda

Procedure:

Batter Preparation:

In a deep mixing bowl take the gram flour and add turmeric powder  and salt as per taste  to it.
Now add water to the bowl and mix all the ingredients together to form a batter of medium thick consistency. Whisk the batter well and ensure that no lumps are formed.

Keep the batter to rest for 10 minutes.


(If the batter's consistency is very thin then it will not form a layer over the potato mixture and get separate from the frying aloo bonda balls. If the batter's consistency is very thick then it will form a very thick layer and it shall not get cooked properly.)

Potato Mixture Preparation:

Peel off the boiled potatoes and mash them nicely so that a smooth paste like texture is obtained.
Now heat 1 table spoon mustard oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and curry leaves on it.
Allow the mustard seeds to clatter and then add the finely chopped  ginger  and green chilli  to the pan. Saute them till they turn golden brown in color.
Now add the dry spices  to the pan. Stir to mix the spices and lower the flame.
Quickly add the mashed boiled potatoes  to the pan. Stir to mix the mashed boiled potatoes  with the spices and cook the ingredients together. Stir and cook the mixture for 2 minutes and then turn off the flame.

Transfer this mixture to a plate and allow it to cool. Then prepare small balls of the entire mixture.

Aloo Bonda Preparation:

Heat some mustard oil in a thick based pan. The amount of oil should be enough so that the aloo bonda balls are completely submerged in it while frying. Lower the flame when the oil is heated completely.
Now dip the aloo mixture balls prepared earlier in the batter and roll it nicely so that they get coated nicely without any gaps.
Then slowly slip one ball into the hot oil. After 2-3 seconds put another ball in the fry pan slowly without splashing any oil. Similarly put 4-5 balls to fry in the  with a gap of 2-3 seconds.
When they appear golden on the base side then flip them slowly to cook on the other side. Stir slowly and continuously to fry the aloo bonda balls till they turn uniform crispy golden red on all sides.

Now transfer the fried aloo bonda balls to a plate covered with tissue paper to soak off the extra oil.

Then serve the hot aloo bonda with green chilli Chatney

Tip: Stir slowly and continuously to fry the aloo bonda balls till they turn uniform crispy golden red on all sides. If you do not stir the bonda balls slowly and continuously while frying, it will have dark pathes at some places in the end. 

CHICKEN BARBECUE (OVEN COOKED)

Barbecue is world-popular food. No wonder it has numerous regional variations. There are also several terms that are associated or somehow similar to barbecuing such as grilling, broiling, roasting and to some extent hot smoking. In British usage, barbecuing and grilling refer to a fast cooking process directly over high heat, while grilling also refers to cooking under a source of direct, high heat which is known in the U.S. and Canada as broiling.


In US English usage, however, grilling refers to a fast process over high heat, while barbecuing refers to a slow process using indirect heat and/or hot smoke similar to some forms of roasting. In a typical U.S. home grill, food is cooked on a grate directly over hot charcoal, while in a U.S. barbecue; the coals are dispersed to the sides or at significant distance from the grate. In the Philippines, barbeque is often done over direct heat or charcoals.


To prepare this chicken barbeque, we need about 1 kilogram (2.2 lbs) very fresh chicken pieces composed of my favorite cuts - drumsticks and thighs, washed and thoroughly drained.

The other ingredients are: 6 gloves garlic, peeled and minced, ½ cup soy sauce, ¼ cup catsup, ¼ cup sprite or 7-up, 1/8 cup“calamansi” or lemon extract, ½ tsp ground pepper, 3 tbsp brown sugar and 1 pc bird’s eye chili pepper (optional).


Following the procedure in my pork barbeque recipe, combine the sauce ingredients in a mixing bowl starting with garlic and soy sauce. Add in sprite followed by “calamansi” extract and mix thoroughly.


Continue by adding the ground pepper followed by catsup, brown sugar and bird’s eye chili pepper, if you like. Continue mixing until a sparkling black homogenous sauce is attained. Taste the barbeque sauce and adjust the sweetness according to your preference. I like it this way, but my mom usually adds some more sugar to suit to the Filipino taste which is more on the sweet side.


In a mixing bowl, combine the chicken pieces with the sauce and mix until the meat is evenly coated. Marinate inside the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight if possible. Stir or flip the meat over several times to ensure even infusion of flavors.

Prepare your grill and be ready for some barbecuing by the lawn or garden. All you have to do is to barbecue the chicken over direct heat until it is gorgeously cooked through and colored sparkling dark brown. 


I have anticipated, as mentioned above, that this is going to be fun and exciting. But the weather did not cooperate. It has been raining hard and outside grilling proved to be quite difficult. So I changed plan and used the oven instead.


Pre-heat the oven to 190 ˚C or 375 ˚F or Gas Mark No. 5. In a baking sheet, arrange the meat properly. Baked for around 30 minutes or until the meat is golden and cooked through. Baste with the sauce half way.


On the last 5 minutes, transfer the baking sheet to the top notch and set the oven to broil. Cook until the meat is dark brown and some skin portion lightly burnt. Your kitchen should be smelling barbecue by this time. :-)


Transfer in medium plate and serve warm. You can accompany it with your favorite commercial barbeque sauce or liver sauce or banana catsup. As for me, it’s already complete on its own and no other sauce is needed.

We ate this as a late night snack with several slices of soft crusty bread. The meat is just right; yummy and juicy. The oven did the trick. The resulting dish did not materially differ from the usual charcoal-grilled barbeque I am familiar with. My craving was satisfied. Enjoy! ...

VEGETABLE TOPPED COUSCOUS

1 lg Onion; cut in thin wedges
2 Cloves garlic; minced
1 ts Olive oil or cooking oil
2 c Thinly sliced carrots
1/2 c Water
1 ts Dried basil; crushed
1/2 ts Ground cumin, 1/4 ts Salt
1/8 ts Ground red pepper opt.
2 md Zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut in 1/2" pieces (2 1/2C)
1 pt Chick peas, rinsed
1 pt Stewed tomatoes
2 tb Cold water, 2 ts Cornstarch 
2 c Chicken broth, 1 c Couscous
1/4 c Chopped unsalted dry roasted
peanuts


Cook onion and garlic in hot oil in large saucepan over medium low heat until onion is crisp tender. Stir in carrots, the 1/2 cup water, basil, cumin, salt and if desired, red pepper. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes.
Stir in zucchini, chick peas and undrained tomatoes. Cover and cook for 2 minutes. Stir together cold water and cornstarch. Stir into tomato mixture. Cook and stir till thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 2 minutes more.
Meanwhile, bring chicken broth to a boil in medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add couscous; cover and let stand 5 minutes or till liquid is absorbed; fluff with fork. Serve vegetable mixture over hot couscous. Sprinkle with peanuts. 

PRAWNS USING HAM SLICES

Ingredients 

Prawns 12 nos

                                          Ham slices 12 nos
                                          BBQ sauce
                                          Black pepper sauce
                                          Few tooth picks

DIRECTIONS:

Pre heat oven to 425F
Clean prawns properly.
I microwaved Ham slices for 1 minute before using.
Then wrap the prawns using ham slices & inserted a toothpick to keep it wrapped.
Then I brushed some Black pepper sauce & BBQ sauce together over them.
Baked in aluminum foil lined baking pan for about 15 minutes.

DATE CAKE RECIPE

Ingredients

1 lb. Dates
1 cup of water
1 tspn bicarbonate soda (baking soda)
1/4 lb. butter
1/2 lb. sugar
1/2 lb. flour
1 tspn baking powder
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
3 cardamoms (powdered) 1 tspn vanilla
grated rind of lime
OPTIONAL
2 ozs. cashews
2 ozs. sultanas (raisins)

2 ozs. pumpkin preserve (cut small)

Cooking Method

Wash and stone the dates and mince. Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in water and soak the dates for at least one hour.
Sieve the flour and baking powder together, and set aside. Dust in 2ozs. flour, the chopped cashews, sultanas and cut pumpkin preserve and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar. Add yolk one at a time and cream well. Whisk the whites of eggs till foamy. Alternately fold in the flour, milk and whisked whites to the cake mixture.
Lightly mix in the soaked dates and the dry ingredients mixture. Lastly, add the vanilla, grated lime rind and powdered cardomoms.
Bake in a moderately hot oven(350 F) for 30-35 minutes.