Lamb Filled Börek

The members of Walima Cooking Club are celebrating Turkish Cuisine this month. This months challenge was to make home made yufka /Phyllo pastry and stuff it with anything of our choice. And we were also given the option of using store bought yufka/ phyllo sheets. And me being very lazy and busy this whole month, didn't have the courage and time to make the phyllo sheets at home :-( Its lot of effort you know.... So, I bought the phyllo from the store and used minced lamb to stuff and make börek. But for those who are not lazy like me, here is the link to step by step guide of making phyllo at home from Nihal's Crossroads. And let me tell ya.. that I promise to try making this Yufka at home someday :-)

And now as usual we will learn more about Turkish cuisine before we move on to the recipe:
Turkish cuisine is largely the heritage of Ottoman cuisine, which can be described as a fusion and refinement of Central Asian, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Caucasian and Balkan cuisines. Turkish cuisine has in turn influenced those and other neighboring cuisines, including that of Western Europe. The Ottomans fused various culinary traditions of their realm with influences from Middle Eastern cuisines, along with traditional Turkic elements from Central Asia (such as yogurt), creating a vast array of specialties- many with strong regional associations.
Taken as a whole, Turkish cuisine is not homogeneous. Aside from common Turkish specialties that can be found throughout the country, there are also many region-specific specialties. The Black Sea region's cuisine (northern Turkey) is based on corn and anchovies. The southeast—Urfa, Gaziantep and Adana—is famous for its kebabs, mazes and dough-based desserts such as baklava, kadayıf and künefe. Especially in the western parts of Turkey, where olive trees are grown abundantly, olive oil is the major type of oil used for cooking. The cuisines of the Aegean, Marmara and Mediterranean regions display basic characteristics of Mediterranean cuisine as they are rich in vegetables, herbs, and fish. Central Anatolia is famous for its pasta specialties, such as keşkek (kashkak), mantı (especially from Kayseri) and gözleme.
A specialty's name sometimes includes that of a city or region, either in or outside of Turkey, and may refer to the specific technique or ingredients used in that area. For example, the difference between Urfa kebab and Adana kebab is the use of garlic instead of onion and the larger amount of hot pepper that kebab contains.

Börek is a family of baked or fried filled pastries made of a thin flaky dough known as yufka (or phyllo). It can be filled with cheese, often feta, minced meat or vegetables.A börek may be prepared in a large pan and cut into portions after baking, or as individual pastries. The top of the börek is often sprinkled with sesame seeds.Börek is very popular in the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire including The Northern Slavic cuisines, historically living in close contact with the Turkic peoples of Asia and Europe, also feature derivatives of the börek.

LAMB FILLED BOREK

Ingredients:
4 phyllo pastry sheets/ yufka,
500 grams(1/2 kg) minced lamb meat,
2 tbsp of cooking oil,
1 Onion-finely chopped,
1 cup chopped tomatoes,
2 tbsp of chopped flat leaf Parsley,
1/2 tsp red chilli powder,
1/2 tsp crushed peppercorns,
1/4 cup melted butter/ oil and
salt to taste.

Method:Heat the 2 tbsp of oil in a utensil, add the chopped onions and saute until translucent. Add the meat and and cook on high heat until it turns brown all over. Stir in chopped tomatoes, parley , chilli powder, crushed peppercorns and salt to taste. Cover and cook on medium heat for 20-30 minutes or till all the liquid dries up. Increase the heat to high, to reduce liquid to a thick sauce if necessary. remove from heat and keep aside.
Pre heat the oven to 350 F / 180 C. Grease a baking sheet or line with parchment paper. Spread 1 pastry sheet on a working surface, brush it with butter and fold it into half. Place 2-3 tbsp of the lamb mixture towards one end , leaving the sides clear. Fold the end of the pastry over the filling(roll once) and then fold sides in, then roll up. Place seam side down on a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining ingredients and bake until light golden in colour , about 15-20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Note:
The other way of making this Borek is by rolling the Phyllo pastry thinly and then, cutting the pastry sheet into 4 rectangles . Moisten the sides and press to seal instead of folding sides over the filling.

Bread Chaat

Today's post is an easy breezy chaat. Who doesn't love chaats.....I am sure everyone have many fond memories of eating roadside chaats with friends and family. Be it the yummy and tangy Pani poori/ gol guppa or crunchy and crispy bhel poori or spicy and delicious masala poori. I am a big fan of all these chaats and even now, just writing these names makes me drool :D And one more chaat which I always make at home is this easy bread chaat. I was first introduced to this chaat by my mom-in law, when she had made this chaat for a party, where I had invited 25-30 people. And this chaat pleased all the guests present in that party. Even now, when I make this eye catching chaat for my parties, the guests get so impressed and pleased.
And also this chat is a easy and healthy alternative for dahi vada. Because there is no deep fried vadas is this chaat.....The star ingredient in this chaat is Tamarind chutney. If you make the chutney earlier or a day before and keep it handy, it will hardly take 15 minutes to assemble this chaat. So, this bread chaat can be served an easy appetizer for parties or potlucks or any other special occasions and believe me your guest will go gaga over it :-)

BREAD CHAAT
Ingredients:
10 bread slices,
1/2 cup milk,
500 grams yogurt,
1 tsp chaat masala,
1/2 tsp red chilli powder,1 carrot-grated,
a pinch of salt and
Tamarind chutney.

Method:
With a sharp knife cut the crust(sides) of the bread slices and fold them into triangle or cut them into triangles. Arrange them in a tray or a deep bowl(see the pic). Pour the milk in a bowl.Now take each triangle of the bread and dip it in the milk(just to moisten it a bit) and keep it back in the tray.
In another bowl, beat the yogurt, 1/2 tsp of chaat masala and a pinch of salt to a smooth paste using a spoon or fork. And pour this yogurt mixture over the bread slices evenly. decorate with grated carrot, remaining chaat masala, red chilli powder and tamarind chutney. Voila !! A delicious and mouthwatering chaat is ready.

Note:
Instead of dipping the bread in the milk to moisten them, you can sprinkle some milk directly on the bread slices arranged in the tray.
Sprinkling some khara sev or spicy boondi on this chaat will make it more appealing and will add a little crunchiness to this bread chaat.If using either of these, sprinkle it on the chaat, just before serving.
HOME MADE TAMARIND CHUTNEY

Ingredients:
100 grams dry tamarind,
200 grams of Jaggery or brown sugar,
1/2 tsp of cumin seeds,
1/2 tsp of cumin powder,
1 tsp of red chilli powder,
a pinch of salt and
1/4 tsp of chaat masala or black salt.

Method:
Soak the tamarind in a bowl with a glass of hot water. Cover the bowl and keep aside for 30 -45 minutes. Make a thick extract of the pulp. Bring the tamarind pulp to a boil in a saucepan with the jaggery. Cook on slow flame till it thickens. Add the remaining ingredients- cumin seeds, cumin powder, chaat masala ,chilli powder and a pinch of salt and cook for further 5 minute.Switch off the flame and keep aside to cool completely.

Note :
2-4 dates can also be added while cooking this chutney, to make it more thicker.
Jaggery can be substituted with brown sugar.

I am sending this mouthwatering chaat to Niloufer's Twenty-20 Cooking Event . And As I have used cumin seeds in the Tamarind chutney I am sending this to Cooking with Seeds -Cumin Seeds hosted this month at SARA'S CORNER, event by Priya of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes. And finally to Think Spice- Think Tamarind hosted this month by PJ of Seduce your Tastebuds, event by Sunitha of Sunitha's World.

'Box of Chocolate' Cake - My 100th Post

Finally !! Finally I have reached my 100th post :D I took soo long to reach this milestone. But I am so happy that I am writing my 100th post because I never knew I would come this far. A blog, which I started just to store the recipes that I learned from family and friends, to show my mom that her daughter is learning to cook and to show her the pics of the food I am cooking, now has become my passion. Yes !! Blogging has become my passion and I am addicted to this world of blogging. Blogging has helped me to make new friends, to learn new cuisines and to love cooking.
And for coming this far, all the credit goes to my husband first, for introducing me to this wonderful world of blogging and for patiently waiting for the food( like any other food blogger's husband) till I click and click all the photos :-). And for appreciating and encouraging me to learn new recipe.And to my parents for encouraging me through my learning process. (YES, My husband is lucky, because I had already gone through the experimenting and learning process before getting married) It was my parents, who went through it and encouraged me. I still remember how, I used to make different maps of the world with the chapathi/roti dough and my father used to eat the roti very happily. And when I was making raita for the first time, I had added lots of water with the yogurt and instead of raita for biryani, I had turned it into spicy lassi :-) but still... my family supported me and encouraged me to cook. And also my mother-in law, who introduced me to so many new recipes and for teaching me to cook with confidence.
And the most important people to make this blog successful are my blog friends and readers. I wouldn't have come this far without the encouraging comments they leave on my blog. And those appreciating and encouraging words from my blog friends urges me to do better and better every time. Thank you soooo sooo much for the lovely comments you all write on my blog.
Now, coming to today's recipe, I wanted to celebrate this milestone with something sweet. So, here is the recipe for 'Box of Chocolate Cake'. Though I didn't bake this cake exclusively for my 100th post, I had decided to post this recipe as my 100th post. I baked this cake for our 5th wedding anniversary few weeks back :-)Now coming to this cake...this is a perfect cake for wedding anniversaries, for Mother's Day and for those celebrating Valentine's day. This cake is covered with sugar paste icing. One can make the sugar paste icing on their own or the store bought ready rolled icing can be used. I first tried making the icing at home, but went wrong somewhere and I also didn't like the raw smell of the eggs in it. So, I have used the store bought Icing here, known as ready rolled icing. This cake is adapted from the book 'Cakes and cake decorating step by step' by Sarah Maxwell, Janice Murfitt and Angela Nilsen .
'BOX OF CHOCOLATE' CAKE
Ingredients:
For the chocolate cake:
175g /6oz butter, at room temperature,
175g /6oz self-raising flour,
50g /2oz unsweetened cocoa powder,
3 eggs, at room temperature,200 /6oz caster sugar,
1 tsp baking powder,1/8 tsp of salt and
1 tsp vanilla extract.

Other ingredients:
6 tbsp of apricot jam-warmed and sieved,
275 grams/ 10 oz of yellow marzipan,
900 grams/ 2 lb of sugarpaste icing,
red food colouring,
store bought hand made chocolates.

Materials and equipments:Heart shaped cake tin,
9 inch square piece of stiff card,
9 inch square / round cake board,
small heart shaped cutter.
Method:
For the cake:
Pre-heat the oven to 180 C or 350 F. Grease the tin and line the base with greaseproof paper and grease the paper. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt together three times and set aside.
Place the sugar and butter in a large bowl and beat until light pale. Add he eggs and beat with an electric beater , until the mixture doubles in volume and is thick enough to leave a ribbon trial when the beater is lifted, about 10 minutes.Add the vanilla.Sift over the dry ingredients in 3 batches, folding in carefully after each addition.Spoon the cake mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the surface.bake in the centre of the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
leave the cake in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire wrack, peel off the lining paper and leave to cool completely.

Place the cake on the square piece of card and draw around it with a sharp pencil. Cut the heart shape out of the card and set aside This is for using as a support for the lid.
Using a sharp knife. cut the cake horizontally just below where the cake starts to dome. carefully lift the top section and place it on the heart shaped card and place the bottom section on the cake board.On a work surface lightly dusted with icing sugar, roll out the yellow marzipan into a long sausage shape to place it on the bottom section of the cake.place the marzipan sausage on the cake around the outside edge . Brush both sections of the cake evenly with apricot jam.

Colour the sugarpaste icing with red food colour and divide it into 3 portions - 1 for the bottom, 1 for the lid and a small portion to cut hearts for the lid. Now on a work surface lightly dusted with icing sugar, roll the icing to a 14 inch square ans use it to cover the bottom section of the cake.
Stand the lid on a raised surface like a bowl or a glass. roll out the reserves 1/3rd sugarpaste and cover the lid section of the cake. With the remaining portion of the sugarpaste, cut small heart shapes with the cookie cutter and stick them around the cake lid. carefully lift the top section on the the heart shaped card and place the bottom section on the cake board.Arrange the chocolates in the bottom section of the cake and position the lid, placing it slightly off centre, to reveal the chocolates inside. And serve with lots of love :-)


This is off to Meeta's Monthly Mingle and the theme for this month is Special Sweet Treats hosted this month by Erin of The Apartment Kitchen .