Curry Puff – Fulfilling Snack – Recipe

PATTIES AND PUFFS

Yummy Snacks for Brunch and Tea

By

VIKRAM KARVE

When I was a small boy – in the 1960s – and later – in the 1970s – I sometimes lived at my grandfather’s place near Madiwale Colony on Tilak Road in Sadashiv Peth Pune.

Come Sunday morning – and I was off to Hindustan Bakery on Bajirao Road – to get a few packets of their famous “patties for breakfast 

(In Pune – “Patties” is spelt “Pattice”)

You had to get there early – otherwise the patties would be over – and you had to go all the way to their branch in Shaniwar Peth to get the coveted delicacy which we all hungrily devoured for Sunday breakfast.

Sunday Breakfast meant Hindustan Bakery Vegetable Patties.

Hindustan Bakery Vegetable Patties are inimitable, superb to taste and matchless in quality – they taste divinely lip-smacking and are wholesome yet not heavy on the stomach, and I haven’t quite tasted a similar veg patty anywhere else.  

Those days – Veg Patties were available only on Sunday mornings. 

Now – I think they make them everyday – so they have lost their exclusivity. 

Of course – many other bakeries in Pune – like Santosh Bakery on Apte Road, New Poona Bakery in Budhwar Peth and Green Bakery near Shanipar who also made patties – but there was nothing to beat the patties of Hindustan Bakery.

Like I said – these days – the delicacy has lost its exclusivity – since veg patties are available in plenty every day – and also – the quality doesn’t seem as it was in the past – probably due to mass production.

 

CURRY PUFF

Well – I wish I could tell you how to make vegetable patties – instead – I will give you the recipe of my favourite tea time snack – the curry puff – a non-vegetarian version.

You will need the follwing ingredients:

1. Curry Powder 

(I use Ship Brand Madras Curry Powder which comes in its distinctive green coloured tin)

2. Quarter kilo (250 gms) of boneless chicken cut into small pieces

3. Four large boiled potatoes cut into small pieces

4. Two finely chopped onions

5. Some boiled green peas and finely chopped carrots

6. Maida (flour)

7. Two Eggs

8. Oil

9. Salt, seasoning and spices.

Heat oil in a pan – add finely chopped onions and fry till translucent brownish – add the boneless chicken pieces – and stir fry – till the chicken is cooked.

Now add two large tablespoons of Curry Powder – the boiled vegetables (potatoes, peas, carrots) – and salt to taste – stir – till dry – for about 4-5 minutes.  

Remove from flame – and keep aside the Curried Dry Chicken.

Make a smooth dough by kneading together the Maida (flour), Eggs, Oil, Seasoning (salt, pepper, chilli powder to taste) and Water. 

Let the dough stand for some time.

Now roll the dough – and stuff in the curried dry chicken – making tikki shape – or samosa shape – or any other shapes of your choice (I prefer semi-circle karanjis). 

Finally – Shallow Fry the Curry Puffs till crispy crusty golden brown.

Curry Puff is a hearty satiating wholesome tasty snack ideal with high tea or cocktails. 

Curry Puffs are good for Brunch too.

Happy Cooking and Happy Eating. 

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 
1. If you share this post, please give due credit to the author Vikram Karve
2. Please DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. Please DO NOT Cut/Copy/Paste this post
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

Disclaimer:

1. This recipe is based on my improvisation. You are requested to do your own due diligence and use ingredients/cooking method as per your discretion/style.

2. All stories in this blog are a work of fiction. Events, Places, Settings and Incidents narrated in the stories are a figment of my imagination. The characters do not exist and are purely imaginary. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Copyright Notice:

No part of this Blog may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Blog Author Vikram Karve who holds the copyright.

Copyright © Vikram Karve (All Rights Reserved)

© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

I wrote this recipe long back – and – I have also posted the recipe online earlier a number of times in my foodie blogs inculding at url: https://karvediat.blogspot.com/2013/06/yummy-fulfilling-snacks-veg-patties-and.html

Feel Good Food – Orange Chicken – Simple Recipe

Feel Good Food

ORANGE CHICKEN

Simple Recipe

by

VIKRAM KARVE 

Are you feeling “Low” – in a Blue Mood...? 

That’s how I am feeling right now. 

Hungry and Lonely in Wakad. 

I need to “feel good”. 

So – I am going to do something to cheer me up and brighten my spirits. 

I am going to cook myself an Orange Chicken. 

Even if I don’t cook it – just thinking about it is making me “feel good”

Let me tell you the recipe for this marvellous hot tangy chicken dish, innovative, passionate, something different, and breathtaking in its simplicity, which is guaranteed to warm your insides, zest up your palate, lift your spirits, pep you up and fill you with cheer. 

(Disclaimer: Please try this recipe at your own risk. Apart from the ingredients mentioned – the main ingredient is LOVE – so make it with lots of Love)

Go to your neighbourhood supermarket or store, pick up a one kilogram packet of frozen jointed chicken pieces and a few cartons of fruit juices 

(For this recipe – we will use orange juice – but – I’ll tell you a few recipes with other juices too – and I am sure you will innovate and discover new recipes of your own). 

Okay – you will need one juicy lemon – a 100 gram packet of butter – a teaspoon of cornflour – a spoon of red chilli powder – and – a bit of salt and pepper – that’s all.

First – thaw the chicken pieces – squeeze the lemon over it – add chilli powder – salt and pepper – mix well – and – let it marinate for an hour or two.

Heat the butter in a pan and fry the marinated chicken on low heat till the chicken is nicely cooked and dry. 

In case the chicken starts to stick while cooking – add some lemon juice – and add dollops of butter from time to time. 

Oh Yes – do taste and confirm the taste is right while cooking – and add salt/pepper seasoning as required.

Cover and let the chicken cook for sometime (but keep an eye on the chicken while it is cooking) 

But – at the end of the cooking – the chicken must be golden brown and dry from outside – and succulent and tender from inside.

Now – let us make the “orange sauce” while the chicken is cooking. 

In a saucer – make a paste of cornflour with a little orange juice.

Boil a large glass of orange juice on high heat – and – when it becomes about half the quantity – briskly stir in the cornflour paste – and – keep stirring till it thickens – and then – pour the bubbling hot syrup over the hot cooked chicken.

If you want to indulge in some passionate foodie romance – ignite your foodie date – eat the tangy zesty orange flavoured chicken hot and fresh with your loved one – all cuddled up and romantic. 

Yes – I like to have this zesty dish with fresh soft buns or milk bread or freshly baked hot pav.

Remember – you must finish off the dish in one go – nice and hot. 

The dish it loses its “pepping-up” effect if it is re-heated. 

(By the Way – the word “Dish” refers to the Orange Chicken).

Try this zesty dish whenever you are in the blue mood – and see for yourself – how you cheer up and feel good. 

Happy Eating. 

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 
1. If you share this post, please give due credit to the author Vikram Karve
2. Please DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. Please DO NOT Cut/Copy/Paste this post
© vikram karve., all rights reserved. 

Disclaimer: Please try this recipe at your own risk after doing due diligence.  Apart from the ingredients mentioned – the main ingredient is LOVE – so make it with lots of Love

Revised Version of My Recipe FEEL GOOD FOOD – ORANGE CHICKEN posted online earlier in this blog at urls: http://karvediat.blogspot.in/2011/05/feel-good-food-orange-chicken.html  and  http://karvediat.blogspot.in/2012/01/hungry-and-lonely-in-wakad-time-for.html 

My Favorite “Fast” Food : How to Cook it – and – How to Eat it

My Favorite “Fast” Food 

How to Cook it and How to Eat it 

By

VIKRAM KARVE

“Fast” Food

 

My “Better Half” observes various “fasts” – and she consequently subjects me to all types of fasts. 

No – she does not go on a hunger strike – but “fasts” with food – “fast” food. 

“Fast” food includes fruits, roots, milk/milk products and non-cereal dishes.

In fact – there is plenty of “fast” food to eat on a “fast”.

She fasts on Monday, Chaturthi, Festivals – or on any occasion she wants to fast – and I have no choice but to “fast” along with her too.

Actually – her fasts are not extreme rigorous fasts in the ascetic Spartan sense. 

In fact – they are delicious satiating fulfilling “fasts” – an appetizing change of cuisine. 

Instead of the routine normal food – she enjoys what I call lip-smacking “fast” food – which is quite mouth-wateringly yummy – and – maybe – a bit more calorie-rich than normal food. 

That’s the “fast” food I am referring to – not the “fast food” like burgers and pizza that you probably thought about when you saw the title of this blog post.

Kachori – My Favorite “Fast” Food

My favorite “fast” food is the Kachori.

No! No! 

It is not the scrumptious Rajasthani style lip-smacking “Khasta Kachori” that I am referring to.

I am referring to the “Sweet” Crunchy Coconut Kachori served by most Udipi eateries in Mumbai and Pune. 

Recipe – The Art of Cooking Kachori

It is quite simple to make this scrumptious vegetarian delicacy. 

Just take boiled mashed potato – add a bit of sabudana peeth (sago flour) for binding – a pinch of salt and sugar – and knead into a dough.

This is for the outer crust of the Kachori. 

Now – let us make the inner filling to go inside the outer crust.

In a pan – heat pure ghee – and roast fresh juicy grated coconut with sugar, khus khus, dry fruit like raisins, cashews – till it is nice and crispy (khamang) – and your filling is ready. 

You must use roast in pure ghee – since oil is not permitted for “fast” food.

Make largish round patties with the potato dough on the outside – and a generous portion of the roasted sweet coconut filling inside.

Heat plenty of pure ghee in curved pan – and deep fry the patties till nicely crusty, crisp and light brown – and your “Fast Food” Kachori is done.

Fast and simple recipe – isn’t it?

Serve the freshly made Kachori with a bowl of whipped sweetened Curd and your “Fast Food” Kachori is ready to eat. 

This is how your “Fast Food” Kachori will look like when served with a bowl of whipped sweetened curd (I have clicked this picture on 28 June 2014 of my favourite Kachori served by Apsara Restaurant Tilak Road Pune)

“Fast Food” Kachori with Sweet Curd

The Art of Eating “Fast Food” Kachori

You will be tempted to break a piece of Kachori – dip it in the curds – and then eat it. 

Please don’t do this.

That is not the right way to eat “Fast Food” Kachori. 

You will ruin the eating experience as the concoction will turn soggy.

What you must do is to place a chunk of crisp hot kachori on your tongue.

Then – close your eyes. 

Now – savor the khamang crunchy taste of the lively roasted coconut filling for some time – then press your tongue on your palate –and roll till the heavenly sweet filling and the crisp potato covering amalgamate. 

Tell me – dear fellow foodie – it tastes really yummy – isn’t it?

Now – it is the time to open your mouth and pop in a spoon of sweet whipped curds.

Then – close your mouth (and eyes) – and let the feisty assortment of flavors dance and mingle on your tongue till the food dissolves in your mouth – and disappears into you – giving you a feeling of supreme satisfaction.

I once saw a movie called “Blow Hot Blow Cold” in the 1970s. 

The art of eating “Fast Food” Kachori is similar – hot and cold – hot and cold – crunchy and soft – crunchy and soft – sweet and sour – sweet and sour...

I first tasted this delicious dish (“Fast Food” Kachori) long long back – maybe around 45 years ago in the early 1970s – at a cafe called Apsara near Hirabaug on Tilak Road in Pune. 

The Kachori served at Apsara is still my favorite “Fast Food” Kachori.

I have enjoyed this delectable snack at many restaurants like Vihar – at Churchgate (Mumbai) – and Vaishali, on Fergusson College Road in Pune – and many Maharashtrian/Udipi restaurants/cafes serve excellent Coconut Sweet Kachori too.

I am sure you will find it on the menu of almost all Udipi restaurants.

So – next time you want to relish your “Fast” – you know which “Fast” Food to eat – in addition to the usual sabudana khichadi, sabudana wade, ratalyacha kees etc

Happy “Fasting” 

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve
1. If you share this post, please give due credit to the author Vikram Karve
2. Please DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. Please DO NOT Cut/Copy/Paste this post
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

This is an extract from my Foodie Book APPETITE FOR A STROLL by VIKRAM KARVE and I have also posted this online earlier at urls: https://vwkarve.wordpress.com/2007/05/29/kachori-my-favorite-fast-food-2/  and http://food.sulekha.com/coconut-kachori-a-tasty-snack-id22678-24470-recipe.htm  and  https://karve.wordpress.com/2011/02/17/academic-and-creative-writing-journal-vikram-karve-fast-food/  and http://karvediat.blogspot.in/2012/03/feasting-while-fasting-ultimate-fast.html  and http://karvediat.blogspot.in/2012/09/fast-food-and-fast-food-pure-vegetarian.html

An APPETIZING KISS with a SEXY DISH

Let me dig deep into my creative writing archives and pull out this delicious article I wrote long long back – maybe 15 years ago – a story I fondly narrated to my students and colleagues for many years – followed by a mouthwatering recipe ...

This article features in my Foodie Book APPETITE FOR A STROLL too ...

Enjoy the Appetizing Kiss with a Sexy Dish ...

An APPETIZING KISS with a SEXY DISH

A Story and A Recipe

By

VIKRAM KARVE

 

There is a thing called PERCEPTION. 

Do you know what the word “perception” means? 

It is all in the mind.

First I will tell you a story. 

And then I will feed you a delicious snack.

First, Food for the Mind, and then, Food for the Body

So, Dear Reader, read on – the story and the recipe.

APPETIZING KISS

Eggs, Vodka and a Kiss (story)

I have heard this interesting story, surely apocryphal, about eggs, vodka and a kiss.

 

Taimurlane's wife started to build a magnificent palace for him as a surprise, while he was away at the wars, but when she got word of his imminent return, one arch, the victory arch, the “Arc de Triomphe” still remained unfinished.

She went directly to the architect and begged him to hurry but the architect told her he would complete the work in time only if she gave him a kiss.

“One kiss, one single kiss, just one kiss, that’s all, and I will build the most magnificent triumphal arch in the world,” the architect said to her.

 

Taimurlane's wife was not only very beautiful and very virtuous, but also very clever.

She went to the market, bought a basket of eggs, boiled them hard, and stained them a dozen different colours.

She called the architect to the palace, showed him the basket and told him to choose any egg he liked and eat it.

 

He took a red egg and ate it.

 

“What does it taste like?” she asked.

 

“Like an egg. It tastes like an egg,” he said.

 

“Eat another,” she said.

 

He took a green egg.

 

“What does that taste like?” she asked.

 

“It tastes like an egg, just like the red egg,” he answered.

 

“Try another,” she said.

 

He ate a purple egg.

 

“How does it taste?” she asked.

 

“Like an egg. One egg tastes just the same as any other egg,” he said intrigued by all this.

 

“There you are!” she said, “Each of these eggs looks different but they all taste the same. It's the same with a kiss. So you may kiss any one of my serving women that you like but you must leave me alone.”

 

“Very well,” said the architect. But soon he came back to her and this time he was carrying a tray with two bowls on it, and you would have thought the bowls were all full of water.

 

“Drink from each of these bowls,” he said.

 

She took a drink from the first bowl, then from the second; but how she coughed and spluttered when she took a mouthful from the third bowl, because it contained, not water, but vodka.

 

“See,” he said, “This vodka and that water both look alike but each tastes quite different, isn’t it? It is the same with love - all love may look the same but each love is different!”

 

Primed by the Vodka in her veins, Taimurlane's wife kissed the architect on the mouth.

The moment the kiss was over, the architect rushed back to the palace and finished the triumphal arch the same day that victorious Taimurlane rode back with his army and banners and his cages full of captive kings.

Taimurlane was impressed with the magnificent palace and the grand victory arch and rewarded the architect.

But when Taimurlane went to congratulate his wife, she turned away from him because no woman returns to the harem after she has tasted vodka.

And what happened to her and the architect – well that’s another story...! 

 

SEXY DISH

Sexy Eggs (recipe)

 

Now, Dear Reader, here is the scrumptious mouth-watering Recipe which embodies the essence of the story:

 

The recipe for SEXY EGGS 

Now let’s talk of eggs.

In the story we had boiled eggs which looked different but tasted the same.

Now I am going to tell you how to make boiled eggs that look the same but taste different (just like the water and the vodka in the story).

 

And talking of vodka and eggs, apart from vodka, this snack goes very well with rum-pani, whiskey-soda, chilled beer. 

You can take my word for it for in the good old days when I did have a drink once in a while, [I’m a teetotaller now], this was my favourite cocktail snack which I prepared when I called people over and was appreciated.

 

Hard-boil as many eggs as you want [at least two per person], plunge into cold running water to cool rapidly, and shell smoothly. 

Carefully and very delicately cut each egg lengthwise into two halves. 

Remove the yolks carefully.

Mash the yolks into a paste.

Season with a pinch of salt, pepper and red chilly powder, and keep aside.

 

Now, comes the interesting part.

Take some kheema [mince meat] and boil it in water along with finely chopped onions, a piece of dalchini [cinnamon], tejpatta [Bay Leaves], a few lavangs [cloves] and peppercorns [kali mirch dana], badi and choti Elaichi [cardamom], a few cloves of garlic, strips of ginger, one or two fresh green chillies and a bit of salt.

Cook on slow fire [to facilitate absorbing of the flavour and aroma of the spices] till the meat is well-cooked, tender and dry.

Now, divide the cooked mixture into two.

In half the kheema, blend in a bit of mashed yolk paste and as per your taste add salt, garam masala, coriander powder, cumin powder, tandoori masala, red chilly powder [depending on how spicy you like it] and grind in a mixer into a smooth paste. 

In a flat bottom pan, heat oil, fry fine onion strips till transluscent, add finely chopped tomato, then the spicy kheema paste and deep fry till it turns nice and brown and the oil begins to separate.

Take the other half of the kheema and fry it the same way with everything else, but without adding the mashed egg yolks. Put in all the ingredients mentioned above except the mashed egg yolks.

 

You now have two non-vegetarian fillings ready.

 

Now use your imagination and prepare a few more non-vegetarian and vegetarian fillings both with and without the mashed egg yolk paste.

 

Here are some ideas:

 

Mayonnaise, cooked chopped fish, salt and pepper. 

Mayonnaise, chopped peanuts, salt, chilly powder or mustard paste.
 

Soft Butter, Cheese, Chilly, Pepper and Salt or so many combinations of spiced up cheese with finely chopped green chillies and tomatoes, mustard paste, and all the sauces you want to blend in.

Let your culinary imagination run wild.

 

Now carefully stuff in these delicious fillings into the cavities of the eggs in place of the removed yolks and delicately rejoin and press together the two halves so that it looks like a boiled egg.

 

Now you can either:

(a) dip these eggs in seasoned besan paste and deep fry into crisp pakoras and enjoy the appetizing snack nice and hot along with your drink

or

(b) just chill the stuffed eggs in your fridge and relish them with tomato sauce or green chutney or maybe with a yummy lip smacking dip like a tomato dip or a cheese chilly dip or a green dip which I will tell you about later.

PERCEPTION IS LIKE SEX – IT IS ALL IN THE MIND

Now pull out your Rum Paani, Whisky Soda, Chilled Beer, or just some good old Neat Vodka on the Rocks. 

Say cheers, and bash on regardless...!

 

All the eggs look the same but taste different, don’t they...? 

 

Well, Dear Reader, that, in a nutshell, is PERCEPTION :

 

Some things look the same but taste different

and

Some things look different but taste the same

 

Perception is like Sex – it is all in the mind – isn’t it?

Cheers !!!

I hope you enjoyed the Appetizing Kiss with the Sexy Dish.

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 
1. If you share this post, please give due credit to the author Vikram Karve
2. Please DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. Please DO NOT Cut/Copy/Paste this post
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

Disclaimer:

All Stories in this Blog are a work of fiction. Events, Places, Settings and Incidents narrated in the stories are a figment of my imagination. The characters do not exist and are purely imaginary. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Copyright Notice:

No part of this Blog may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Blog Author Vikram Karve who holds the copyright.

Copyright © Vikram Karve (all rights reserved)

© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

Revised Version of My Article Written by Me Vikram Karve in the year 2000 and earlier posted online my creative writing blog by me Vikram Karve at url: http://creative.sulekha.com/a-story-and-a-recipe-eggs-vodka-and-a-kiss_344028_blog