Baked Chaat Masala Fries with Chili Mayo

This was supposed to have come out Memorial Day. Which, by the way, was 9 days ago, heralding in another prolonged summer and restoring my nasty DSD (disruptive seasonal disorder), annoying condition of mine that usually involves a slackjawed-gaze-on existence, comes with the scorching air, and is writ with mutlilevels of busy involving my schoolless kids. During this, sanity gets thrown out the window and unfortunately so do many pages of what I wish to begin here. Mind you, I dream grand blogger dreams, but squat and zilch result in the wake of the above mentioned events. To those of you who've been knocking at my door, I apologize, I know its been a while since we've conversed.

So, to find my way out, resurge the kitchen groove and not drift totally away on winds of lackadaisical and slack, I ask my two junior homesharers for inspiration. They were ready, "as long as we're not confined to dishwashing and scrubbing vegetables(!)", quoted Z. (help!)

With that, the Smaller decided on a theme; a tummy filling, blog occupying experiment for the summer, if their time and my patience permitted. Groundrules not set in stone, went something like this; they pick out recipe to their liking, assist me to clean/cut/cook/bake/clean again, which means I grant freedom (discretionary, of course) to use sharp objects and stove (help again!). If it's good, I should be obliged to share it over here with you. I agreed with a casual hmm-murmur, my eyes masking the many desperate and dangerous scenes I had flashing in sequence. But it made sense and had me proud, mama of theirs, after all, if (?) it went right, they make for the most faithful kitchen comrades, an answer to the hairpulling that ensues when trying to figure out worthy lunch menus that need to translate for a qualifying recipeshare. It could also be the solution for my son's innate desire to rollercoaster anyone/anything in a swivel chair.

A and Z crouched over cookbooks and fiddled through magazines, foraged library shelves to find something they would love to eat and I would love to rattle on about. It was when A, my first child endowed with the keenest appreciation for spice, decidedly went on a pursuit for the perfect Indian french fry that brought her to the pages of Neelam Batra's Chili's To Chutneys. From her book came a treasure trove of goodies. So many ideas! But our eureka moment was, no doubt, on finding french fries, that too, touched with chaat, all too appealing for my 13 year old Indian gourmand and way too easy for me to resist.

Not to end there, I seized the opportunity to make most of my Help's newfound cooperativeness, with a suggestion to better-up the fries, by baking ours. Getting the yes's was a cinch, especially given the vision that operating knives and fire would be in their near future. Setup was a breeze and the station for peeling our couple pounds of potatoes seemed  swifter owing to the four hands added on to my two.

With a fair sprinkle of garlic, we supplemented our new favorite flavoring; do meet Chaat Masala. A superconglomerate of spice powders + zing that produces that true gastro- exotic experience. Just a sidenote, and yes, you heard it from me, considering the ease in which this plate and many others can be flavored using this grand mix of ground magic, you are definitely better off buying chaat than producing the stuff from scratch. It could be my own lack of knowledge in this spice roast/ grind skill, but authentic can be purchased in packets of 100 gms. Easy, simple and right at your arm's reach.  So, if you can't locate a single Indian grocer near you, look at what I found here.

After the high temperature roast, results were stunning and all batches came out wondrously good, much to gloatingly happy kid faces. With the fragrance of chaat and garlic, our stockyset "fries" were beautiful in their imperfections.

I seasoned the weighty, crisp-soft strands with chopped serranos and cilantro. Believe me, it adds considerable merit to the overall, so I beg you not to omit (just seed off peppers, if fear grips).

Magnifying the whole show even more was our three ingredient mayo, apt completion to this recipe's  impressive turnout. The salmon colored dip is a must accompaniment, which also could work as an allpurpose, noteworthy condiment, the smooth velvet punched in with meaningful measure of chili garlic sauce ( I urge you, Sriracha junkies, bottle up!).

I hope you fall for this as much as we three did. My summer meetups with you may be errant, but rest assured I'll bring in tow only that which classifies as utterfantastic, of the mustmakenow category. Definitely enough to have you instant songwrite, possibly do a happy dance, maybe to the tune of another language. 


Baked Fries~
(Adapted with modifications from Neelam Batra's Chilis To Chutneys, French Fries with Chaat Masala)

Ingredients:

• 6 medium potatoes, preferably russet
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp chaat masala
• salt (if needed, most likely chaat masala has salt as an ingredient)
• 1 tsp oil
• 2 tbsp chopped cilantro
• 2 serrano peppers chopped fine

Helper hands  of my A, who came up with the recipe. 

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Clean and scrub outside of  potatoes. Cut lengthwise into wedges, about 1" thick. I leave skins on.
• Toss wedges with garlic powder, chaat masala and salt to flavor .
• Coat a  foil lined baking tray(s) with cooking spray. Spread fries in a single layer and spray over another coat of cooking spray.
• Roast for 30-40 minutes, turning wedges over halfway through.
• Meanwhile heat oil in a small saucepan and lightly fry the chopped serranos and cilantro.
• Top fries with the fried mixture.
• Serve with chili mayo.

~How much a yield has to do with how big your slices. Cutting lengthwise to a width of roughly  one inch creates around 36-40 fries.

Chili Mayo~

Ingredients:

• ½ c mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp Sriracha or any chili garlic sauce (please adjust to tolerance/taste)
• 2 tsp rice wine vinegar

Taken by Z, who loves to be behind the camera, more than in front.

Directions:

• In bowl, whisk all ingredients until well combined.
• Serve side with the fries.

And where has time gone? Only yesterday we started off the season, downing copious amounts of lemonade and tearing through chutney in bread. 

I see much summer potential for these golden wedges. In greased foil, they can be thrown on the grill and served as side to most grilling meats and fish.
******

 ^"But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."  2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Daring Cooks May 2013 Challenge: En Croute~ Kerala Meat Puffs

Our lovely Monkey Queen of Don’t Make Me Call My Flying Monkeys, was our May Daring Cooks’ hostess and she challenged us to dive into the world of en Croute! We were encouraged to make Beef Wellington, Stuffed Mushroom en Croute and to bring our kids into the challenge by encouraging them to create their own en Croute recipes!

En croute translates to any food that has been wrapped in pastry dough and baked in the oven. Yes, people life in this month's Daring Kitchen is good, and to gushingly fine heights. Clearly this is  the  right! best! way to consume your favorite foods, all pocket-tucked in crisp, feathered dough.

The possibilities for en croute can be ambitiously endless and by this I mean, if it makes your tastebuds sing, then why not? Which is how I reached today's predicament. For though we were offered three stellars from our host, the mind here was running one track to singularly take on a dough wrapping destination close to my heritage, familiar to my palate. A savory treat similar to the one here, yet of grander reputation; enter now Kerala meat puffs, a region's answer to beef and pastry fixings. In it, we come across a nucleus of generous seasoned ground meat clinging to an encrusting supplement of golden pastry; thus reaching Level of Indescribable Awesome, and an endresult quite difficult not to like.

This could very well be a much delayed ode to the beefy puff. Where I'm from, the item's cult like status shows especially well when cues line outside local bakehouses, on sideroads where manned street carts offer these favored coffee/tea snacks. Yes, that's right, meat puffs come from that genre of appetizer/ short eats served fastidiously at the Indian's teatime, a vague multi-hour window stretching anywhere from after lunch upto a couple minutes before supper. The uninterrupted show of mouthwatering meat filled pastries fits perfectly into the laws of equilibrium for meatpuff supply and demand, and is equally responsible for a locale of very happy people.

Sauteed with spice, masala and flavor, these puff cores are great introduction to Kerala style beef, albeit on a much swifter level. Capsuling masala'ed meat, the pastry overcrust offers that just- right- bite balancing in its intense insides. Baked to a near burnished brown, this is the perfect hand- to- mouth nosh, one of shockyoursense magnitude.

Meat puffs are a big deal in this household, often greeted with expected squeals of excitement and woot! woot!'s. Being a cinch to make and the aftermess an easier cleanup, it requires not more than my three man crew. For this is one of those rare moments that I often request of their services, with mixing, formbuilding and the like. The sets of hands, small, medium, even the large can work multiple batches, baking up significant lots of this home favorite. Sad to say, this was not the case in today's puffmaking agenda. Since being a late show to our Challenge party, I had to bring this one to the table and fast. After sauteing, assembling, baking, eating, phototaking eating and scribbling(whew!), my segue should reach finish line before the day's end. And let me tell you, the desperation to post and desire to chow lead to much accelerated productiveness. So I thank you all for listening in. You may now take it and run.

To dear hostess Monkey Queen, thank you much. How fantastic could it be that this much loved meatpuff packet cued in perfect to our May page, an apt debut in a most excellent en croute task.

Confession... I used frozen peas and carrots. You can do the same if you have a conspicuous half package that has seen better days lying around in your freezer. Otherwise just buy the peas.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 medium red onion, finely chopped
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 2 serranos (green chillies), chopped (seeded if preferred)
• 1 tsp cayenne
• 2 tsp coriander
• 1 pinch turmeric
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 tsp salt or enough to flavor
• ½ tsp garam masala
• ¼ c frozen peas
• 1 large egg, beaten 
• 1 tbsp water 

Directions.

• Over medium flame, heat oil in skillet, saute onion, allow to brown.Then add ginger, garlic, serranos until cooked through .
• Spoon in cayenne, coriander, turmeric, cumin, and saute for an additional minute. 
• Add the ground beef, combine well. Lid the skillet, cook covered until meat is done.
• Remove lid, mix in salt.
• Increase heat to high, and cook until moisture is thoroughly absorbed, app 2-3 min. 
• Stir in garam masala. Add peas at this point. Mix well. Turn off heat. Set aside to cool a bit.
• Have pastry sheets ready and thawed. Gently roll out the dough sheet(s) with a rolling pin.
• Cut sheets into squares large enough for a tablespoon of filling. Put a tablespoon of the meat in the middle and fold over to cover the filling. Press sides to seal.
• Whisk together beaten egg and water and brush the tops with this egg wash. Bake at 375°F degree F for 20 minutes or till it is golden brown.

No worries if you have leftover meat. Between two slices of bread it makes for a splendid next day sandwich.

From an earlier DB challenge~  for those wanting to make puff pastry from scratch.

******

"Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
 And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these."
Matthew 6:27-29