What’s an occasion without a culinary roller-coaster? But with the focus on guilt-free and health-conscious food, how to get the best of both? Take a cue from city home-chefs Sayani Sengupta and Subhojit Sen and indulge yourself in a no-fuss, healthy, snack and dessert for this Holi.
Healthy Snacking!
Sayani Sengupta runs Gooseberri, a venue catering in and around Kolkata. She keeps curating occasional menus which can be viewed and ordered from her social media. On the occasion of Holi, she shares Foxtail Millet Samosa for those who like to indulge in guilt-free snacks.
Ingredients-
· Foxtail Millet Flour - 1 Cup
· Water - 1 Cup
· Mint Leaves - 3 Tablespoons chopped
· Coriander Leaves - 3 Tablespoons chopped
· Ginger - 1 Tablespoon chopped
· Green Chilli - 1 whole chopped
· Roasted Coriander Powder - 1 Teaspoons
· Roasted Cumin Powder - 1 Teaspoon
· Lightly Roasted Red Chilli Powder - 1 Teaspoon
· Lightly Roasted Fennel Seed Powder - 1 Teaspoon
· Lightly Roasted Black Pepper Powder - 1 Teaspoon
· Lightly Roasted Crushed Kasoori Methi - 1 Teaspoon
· Lightly Roasted Dry Mango Powder - 1 Teaspoon
· Rock Salt - 1 Teaspoon
· Sugar - 1 Teaspoon
· Ghee - 1 Teaspoon
· Boiled Potato - 3 medium sized
· Refined Oil or Ghee - to fry
· Salt - to taste
Method-
· Lightly dry roast the mentioned dry spices in a kadhai on the lowest heat possible so as to not change colour but just to increase the aroma
· Boil potatoes with skin on, cool down, and peel. Cool in either room temperature or fridge for 2 to 3 hours before starting to make the filling.
· Roughly pound the ginger, green chilli, mint and coriander leaves in a mortal pestle with a pinch of salt
· In a kadhai put a teaspoon of oil and put the pounded wet paste and fry on low to medium heat for a minute
· Switch the gas to the lowest heat and put in all the dry-roasted and lightly roasted spices, salt, black salt, sugar. Mix well and immediately put 2 tablespoons of water so that the spices do not burn. Saute for a minute
· Crush the boiled potatoes with hand, put in the spice mixture, and coat well with the spices. Let this filling cool down to room temperature.
· In a pot put a little salt, ghee and 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Put in the millet powder in the boiling water, switch off gas and mix the flour quickly to make a rough crumbly dough. Cover and rest for 6 minutes.
· Take out the dough while it’s still warm to handle, on a lightly oil-greased plate and knead well for 2 to 3 minutes. Use some oil or ghee to make a smooth dough
· Grease the hands lightly and make 4 equal portions of dough balls and smoothen the surface by rolling gently between the palms
· Take little bit of water in a bowl and keep handy before you start rolling the dough balls
· Dust the rolling surface with millet flour or whole wheat flour and gently roll each ball in oval-shaped semi-thick paratha. The thickness of the rolled paratha should not be too thick and definitely not thin.
· Gently cut the paratha horizontally in two halves
· Lift up one half and lightly fold in half to form a conical shape. Dab one edge of the rolled part with water, bring together the other end of the half to form a cone and seal by pressing gently
· Hold this cone in one hand very carefully and put one or 2 teaspoons of potato filling in the centre
· Dab one edge of the base with water lightly and press on the other side of the base to seal the samosa. Keep this gently on a lightly millet flour-dusted plate
· Heat oil and ghee in a kadhai, turn gas to low flame, and put one or two samosas at a time carefully. Let the samosas fry for 4 minutes before turning the sides till they are golden and crispy
· Serve hot with tamarind chutney and fried green chillies
Sweet Tales!
Engineer-turned-home chef Subhojit Sen made the city proud by qualifying for the Top 9 of Masterchef India Season 8. He runs his cloud kitchen The Harmony Pot and keeps on developing new recipes. If you want to make the traditional all-occasion dessert firni, then here’s a no-fuss Kashmiri Firni recipe for you.
Ingredients
· Full- Fat (Whole Milk) – 1 litre
· Saffron Strands – 10
· Semolina – 50 gms
· Condensed Milk- 100 gms
· Sugar – 100 gms
Method
· Pour the Milk into a deep saucepan.
· Add saffron and bring to a boil over medium heat.
· Add semolina to the hot milk and stir continuously for about 15 minutes until the mixture thickens to the consistency of gravy.
· Add sugar and condensed milk and cook for 5 minutes, then remove from the heat and leave to cool.
Pour into bowls and serve.