Turkey mince kababs

I bought some extra minced meat to attempt kabab on skewers for the very first time. You could use the recipe to make kababs as in the picture or use only the recipe 'for paste' and two mashed potatoes and make flat cutlets, coat with bread crumbs and shallow fry them. Both turned out super delicious. Actually emabarassingly delicious! My husband entered the kitchen, went down on his knees kissed my hands and said 'You are amazing!'

This recipe makes approximately 20 pieces.

500 grams - turkey mince

1 egg

Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon

White pepper powder - 1 teaspoon

Garam masala powder - 1 heaped teaspoon

salt to taste 

1 medim onion - very finely chopped

For paste: Add a little water to make a paste in a chutney jar. Don't make it too smooth.

Ginger - 2 inch piece

3 garlic pods

3-4 green chillies

1 teaspoon - anardana/dried pomegranate seeds

1/2 teaspoon - Kalonji/onion seeds

Dried Fenugreek leaves roasted and powdered - 1 teaspoon

2 teaspoons oil

dry roast coriander seeds -1tablespoon

dry roast anis seeds-1/2 tsp

1 teaspoon dried mint leaves or 5 fresh mint leaves

Before serving:

1 lime

chaat masala

Marinate the meat with all the above ingredients (except lime and chaat masala) for at least 2-3 hours.

Place the skewers on a baking tray lined with foil. The two ends of the skewers must rest on the sides of the tray so the main body doesn't have any contact with the tray. You can also improvise using cucumber.

Now take some meat and press it around the skewer. The meat may appear to slip off. Don't panic. Simply rest the skewer on the tray with the ends resting on the sides and use both your hands to spread the meat evenly across the length of the skewer. Line all the skewers. Brush the meat with oil.

(I did not preheat the oven.) Set your oven to the maximum temperature possible. Place the tray on the topmost level closest to the upper coil. Set the timer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes turn the meat so the side touching the tray faces upwards. Put it back into the oven for another 7 minutes. 

Remove the tray. Cut the lime in half and rub it on the meat. Remove from skewers cut into pieces and toss the meat in the juices in the tray. Sprinkle chaat masala and the serve. 

Serve them as starters or use as filling for a kathi roll.

PUMPKIN AND COCONUT SOUP

Here's a healthy, tasty and quicky soup especially to accompany a cold autumn evening.



1/2 kg red kuri squash
150 ml coconut milk
Anis seeds
Dried parsley
Chilli powder
Pepper powder

Boil and mash the pumpkin.
Add coconut milk to it. Add other spices, a cup of water and bring to a good boil.
Serve hot with bread/ bread sticks.

Microwave Idiyappam

The schools are closed here for the summer holidays and so I have a 2 weeks long break from work. Holidays give me another reason to celebrate, experiment and relax in my own way. I think this break is going to turn out to be a South India cuisine week, apart from the other non-food things planned. Yesterday I made neer dosas. There is idli batter fermenting in the kitchen right now. Today I made amazing idiyappams/string hoppers/shewey/semiya for lunch.Here's the recipe.

You will need: Serves 2-3
A non-stick pot
3.5 cups water
1 tablespoon of oil
salt
3 cups rice flour
idli steamer
oil for greasing the idli stands
Sev maker

Boil 3.5 cups water with salt and 1 tablespoon of oil. Add 3 cups rice flour to the boiling water. Turn off the stove immediately and mix the ingredients thoroughly. It'll form into a dough. Divide it into 6 portions.

Push the dough into the sev maker. (Remember to choose the correct sev attachment, not too thin, nor too thick.) Close it tight and press the noodles onto greased idli plates.

***Please note that the process of pressing the idiyappams can be tiring, so relax your
hand muscles when a batch is steaming.

I used a microwable idli maker. If you don't have one you could use a regular steamer. Microwave for 5 minutes. 

That's all! The Idiyappams are ready. Turn them over into a keep warm casserole and serve hot with stew or yummy egg curry like we did. :)

(Repeat the process of pressing the noddles and steaming till all the dough is over.)

Coffee time special: A date, walnut, apricot and cranberry cake

My parents are here this summer and that is enough reason to celebrate. Here is one of the many treats I prepared for them. 

This recipe is a variation of a date and walnut cake recipe I found online. The original recipe had too many fruits in comparison to the cake, and raisins instead of apricot and cranberries. I also recommend roughly pureeing the dates in a blender.

Here is our last Sunday’s Coffee time special:

150 grams brown sugar

100 grams butter

3 eggs

150 grams all-purpose flour

1.5 teaspoon baking powder

100 grams seedless dates

100 grams walnuts

60 grams dried cranberries

40 grams dried apricots

1 cup water

In a cooking pot boil a cup of water. Add the dates. Turn off the heat and keep covered.

Cream the sugar and butter.

Whisk in the eggs and scrape the sides of the vessel at regular intervals.

Fold in the flour and mix well.

Now puree the dates in a blender and add to the cake mix.

Add the other fruits and mix well.

Pour the batter into a greased cake form and bake at 180 degrees C for 45-50 minutes or till a toothpick comes out of the cake clean.

Relishing the last piece of this cake as I write this post! Yummm!

DIY: Plant holder for a vertical garden

As a teenager it always fascinated me to watch carpenters at work turn planks of wood into beautiful pieces of furniture. The strength and the skill appeared magical. When I first came to Germany on holiday at the age of ten, I noticed that our German host had his own carpentry workshop in the house. He would spend few hours a day working on his masterpieces. Then I learned that it is very German to have at least some part of one’s home built by oneself. I was impressed then and continue to be impressed with the German attitude of self-reliance.

At the same time it's not that difficult for anyone to try their hand at carpentry or any other activities since the tools are easily available in specialised 'Baumarkt's (hardware stores) and often also in regular supermarkets at offer prices. Moreover, the staff at the stores give you all the guidance you need about the tool, its use and maintenance. If you are someone who prefers to watch and learn, then there are plenty videos to watch on the store’s website itself. Besides, Youtube is always there to help!

Over the last couple of years my husband and I have been collecting different tools to build and repair things at home. I had been thinking over a year to add to that collection and finally bought myself an electric saw earlier this year.

My first attempt at carpentry is this simple holder for hanging plants on the wall. Here is the intended framework.

I combined a wooden square frame that came with some electronic device we had ordered and added two scrap wooden pieces to form a cross in the centre of the frame.

I trimmed the sides with an electric saw and reinforced the joints with nails and carpenters glue.

Finally I sprayed the entire piece with white varnish and randomly sprayed red varnish to decorate.

a pop-up bday card

A friend's cute little daughter celebrated her second birthday over the weekend. Since I knew of her love for animals I made this pop-up card wishing her an awesome two!

The front page (sorry for the wrongly oriented picture, the software is acting up.)

The trees and grass are cut from card paper.

I used googly eyes for the word 'look' and a 3-D sticker for '2' with a candle on it.

The inside -

The background is a ready A3 size jungle theme cardpaper.

The animals have been hand made from card paper.