Crispy Fried Calamari

One of the easiest appetizers to make are these Crispy Fried Calamari. If you have cleaned squid, this snack/ appetizer takes only a minute to fry. Not kidding, calamari takes only a minute to cook, well, if you fry it anywhere around 5 minutes or more, the texture then turns rubbery.

Calamari are simply a type of squid that are smaller in size. Squid does not have too much cooking time, but if you plan to cook it really well, you might use the pressure cooker, as the pressure cooker method makes the squid less rubbery. To know the exact cooking time for squids, there is no cooking time that is 'in between'. It is either cooked for a minute on high flame or cooked for a long time, preferably in pressure cookers.

I wanted to be innovative with this recipe, but for some recipes, the simplicity is what brings out the flavors of the calamari. The recipe is super easy with very few ingredients and does not use egg too, it's that easy and mess free!

Ingredients :

500 gms Squid, skin peeled and cleaned
Salt, as required
1/2 tsp Black Pepper, crushed
1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
1/4 cup Corn Flour
1 tsp dried Parsley, optional
Vegetable Oil

Mayo Sauce:

1 tiny Garlic Clove
3 tbsp Mayo

Instructions :

Cut the cleaned squid into thin rings and add salt and pepper to it. Mix well and set aside.
In a bowl, add all purpose flour, corn flour and the dried parsley, mix well using a whisk.
Now drop the marinated squid rings to the flour mix and coat well.
In a deep pan, pour vegetable oil and allow to heat well, once heated, add in the squid rings one at a time, on medium high flame.
Fry for 30 seconds, and flip and fry for another 30 seconds and you are done!
Mix the minced garlic and mayo and enjoy the fried crispy calamari as it is or with the dip!

Do try this recipe and don't forget to share your experience/feedback with me here in the comments or feel free to send me a mail. Also, do tag me at #taystedit if you try out my recipes on Facebook, Instagram etc so that I can see when you make it. ♡♡♡♡

Pulivaaral/ Tamarind shaped Snack

Chai time means snack time. I am usually not too fond of sweet snacks when having tea. But this one is an exception. ( I just decrease the amount of sugar in my tea, as anyways I wouldn’t be able to make out the difference; if the chai has sugar or not, when having sweet snack with chai. Pulivaaral; Puli means tamarind and vaaral means to pull, so basically it is a fried dough, more like Kerala Churros, well that's what my sister likes to call it! :D Though the snack has nothing to do with Puli (tamrind), the shape demonstrates otherwise. They are traditionally made with mysore banana or any ripened cheru pazham (small banana), but I have used robust variety here, as in the gulf, the robust ones are easily available , yet the final product tastes the same, anyhow.

Traditionally my grandmother and my hub's grandmother, they squeeze the dough through their hands and pull into long strips, and fried until brown. It is not easy to get it right with bare hands, you need practice. So most of the new generation use piping bags to easily squeeze the dough to the hot oil. Hub's grandmother is an expert in making them, this may not be anywhere close to hers, and this is my version, more on the crisper side, as I like it that way. The ripe bananas are Mashed and sugar is added as a sweetener, and flours like whole wheat flour and roce flour are added too.

Rice flour gives the pulivaaral the extra crisp, so make sure you don't add it too much. I have demonstrated here a small batch with just one banana, you may prepare a large batch. I like to fry my pulivaaral in coconut oil, which adds an extra flavor to it. Though they do not look quite appealing, everyone, including kids will love it and you get to save an over ripe banana, so it's a win-win situation!

Ingredients:

1 Large ripe Robust Banana/any small banana like mysore banana (8-9 pieces)*
1/4 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Wheat Flour
2 tbsp Rice Flour
Cardamom powder, a pinch
Salt, as required
Coconut oil, to fry

Instructions :

Mash the ripe banana and make to a paste.
Add sugar, wheat flour, rice flour, a pinch of cardamom powder and salt.
Now incorporate all ingredients well and form a semi loose dough.
Now using a piping bag, fill the contents into it.
In a large flat base pan, pour coconut oil and pipe into long stick shapes directly over hot oil, be careful while doing this.
Fry until brown and store in casserole for retaining heat. Enjoy with a cup of chai.

Notes:

*If using 8-9 small bananas, use 1/2 cup wheat flour and around 4 tbsp rice flour.

If you feel the batter is a bit too loose you may add some more wheat flour.

Khameer /Bakhmir

Emirati cuisine is so close to my heart. Simply because I am born and brought in Dubai and I am privileged to have been staying in an Emirati community too. Alhamdulilah.

One among my all-time favorites from Emirati cuisine is the luqaimat. They are dumplings that are fried to perfect golden brown and served with a drizzle of date syrup and occasionally sesame seeds. If you would like the recipe let me know in the comments below.

Another favorite is the rigag, always found as street food, not sure if rigag is of Emirati origin, but always had loads of memories when it comes to sharing and fighting over a plate of luqaimat and rigag.

Rigag is basically like an Emirati dosa😂 with your choice of spread, be it chocolate (Nutella), Cream Cheese, egg, honey, etc. I love to watch Emiratis cook them, the pace at which they cook these are so amusing to watch. These are salient scenes you get to see in Dubai.

Now onto the bread; Khameer bread is, of course, coming from the Emirati cuisine, usually served with a hot beverage for breakfast. It is so soft looks very similar to battoora with black seeds on. Unlike battoora, this bread is made using yeast as a raising agent and is slightly sweet. Not exactly sweet. It totally depends on you. I just add a little sugar, so that it's not too sweet for a bread.

With a few basic ingredients from the pantry, you can enjoy this tasty bread and it goes along with most of the Indian curries/dishes too.

You may bake the bread in the oven, but we malabaris are used to frying anything and everything we get our hands on! 😃😃

Anomalous from how we roll in the kitchen, this is exactly why our dishes come out so good and we become flabby. 😅😅

This is the bread I make, most of the time when I host a party at my place. Somehow I feel the bread being Emirati connects to our Indian side dishes and makes the spread fab! The picture isn't a perfect one to post here but since I was a bit back on time I could only capture this! But the recipe is a must-try, do give it a try and let me know how you liked it ♡

Let's move on to the ingredients

Ingredients :

1 - 1½ cup All-Purpose Flour
1 cup wheat flour/ atta
1 tbsp active dried yeast
1 ½ tbsp sugar
1 cup lukewarm water
1 large egg
Salt as required
½ cup warm milk/ 2 tbsp milk powder
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp black seeds
A pinch of cardamom powder (optional)
Oil for frying

Instructions :

In a large bowl add the active dried yeast, sugar and warm water and stir until dissolved and cover the bowl with a plate or lid for about 5 minutes for the yeast to activate.
In a separate small bowl crack an egg, add warm milk and salt. (keep in mind not to pour in hot milk).
Pour the egg mixture to the activated yeast and give it a mix.
Next, add 1 tbsp olive oil and add the cardamom powder (if using at this stage) and mix.
Add the flour 1 cup at a time and knead well, check the consistency, if required add more. The consistency isn't that of chappati, it is a very wobbly dough but not very sticky either.
Place the lid and let it rest for 1 hour in a warm dry place until it doubles in size.
After 1 hour, pound the dough slowly with your fists, slowly bring the dough from the sides of the bowl to the middle.
When at the final stage of kneading add the black sesame seeds.
Grease your hands and the countertop with vegetable Cooking Oil. Make dough balls size of an orange.
Now with the help of your fingers and inner palm, press the ball into a circle shape, you may use the help of a rolling pin but usually, it's done with the hands as the consistency isn't that of a chappathi.
Press to a medium thickness, not too thick or thin and cut into fours using a knife or pizza slicer into a + sign, you should now have 4 pieces of Khameer from 1 ball.
Fry in hot oil, when the khameer puffs up, flip and fry until golden brown on both sides. (Check notes for baking instructions).
Enjoy your khameer with a drizzle of honey, cream cheese, or jam, etc! The perfect Emirati Breakfast! You may also pair it with any of your choice of Indian curries.

Notes :

Be careful that the water isn't too hot, or else the yeast won't activate.
Do not do the yeast activation in a glass or small bowl. When the yeast activates, there are high chances that the solution will overflow and you will end up with a big mess. I suggest do it in the bowl that you plan to knead the dough.
I have used equal parts of All Purpose Flour and Atta, it is normally prepared in Maida (APF).
You may also bake in a preheated oven at 230 deg C for 2-3 minutes changing sides when you see it starts browning.

Do try this recipe and don't forget to share your experience/feedback with me here in the comments or feel free to send me an mail. Also, do tag me at #taystedit if you try out my recipes on Facebook, Instagram, etc so that I can see when you make it. ♡♡♡♡

Cheesy Potato Latkes

Here is something that I made when I wanted some savory snack for tea. Latkes are potato pancakes that are shallow fried using grated potato, binding it using eggs and grated mozzarella cheese often adding in grated garlic/ garlic powder and/ onion with some seasoning. The best part is when you squeeze out all that water from the grated potato, its so much fun! Call your kids along to make this yummy snack, they are going to love it. It is so much fun when you have are giggles and messy little helpers around the kitchen (only if you are not in a hurry or ain't making them for guests )🙊

When I tried making this, I felt it would be too simple or bland when the idea of adding in mozzarella cheese dawned on me. Did the kids (my toddler and siblings) love them? It was a win-win. Cheesy tender potatoes that gives in a slight kick of garlic and onions. Perfect for a winter evening! You may use only the cornstarch to make it gluten-free. I have added in both flour and corn flour to make it extra crispy. You can never go wrong with hot snacks if they are perfectly seasoned. Serve it with some sour cream and sprinkle in a few chopped green onions. Ps. I didn't have them, so I improvised it with parsley. 😅

Get your graters and potatoes and let's make these!

Ingredients:

2 large Potatoes, grated
1/2 of a medium onion, grated
1 small clove garlic, minced / 1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 large eggs
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 Cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1 teaspoon white pepper powder
Salt as required

Instructions:

1. Grate the potatoes and onion using a grater or using a food processor.
2. Pile the grated potatoes in 2 batches on a clean kitchen towel and squeeze out the excess liquid.

3. Transfer this to a big bowl and mix in the rest of the ingredients. The mixture should look like the image shown.

4. In a large non-stick skillet, heat oil on a medium-high flame, drop in a little potato mixture, and check if the mixture sizzles, that's when you know the oil is hot.

5. Using an ice- cream scoop (or use 2 tablespoons of the mixture), scoop the mixture and drop it carefully into the hot oil and flatten it slowly using the back of the scooper. Let them cook about 3-4 mins each side till they become crisp and golden on both sides. Drain on paper towels and serve them with sour cream and chopped green onions. Enjoy with tea or coffee!