Potato Fry

I have ample time on hand. We recently moved to LA and I am not enjoying this place very much. No friends, nowhere to go, nothing interesting to do. Life without family and friends can be depressing. Blogging keeps me somewhat occupied. I go to bookstore once a week. Otherwise I am hooked to my computer. I came across this recipe in Vaishali's blog. It is not the usual potato curry recipe. It's different. As you can see in the picture, the potatoes turned out very crispy. I have always loved potatoes. Now I love them even more! Check out Vaishali's recipe here.

I would like to note down her recipe here.

Ingredients:
Potatoes-5
Oil-2 tbsp
Salt
Jeera-1 tsp

Mix together:
Rice flour-1tbsp
Sambar powder-1 tsp
Chilli powder-1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp

Method:
Pressure cook the potatoes for 3-4 whistles or until they are cooked. Cool, peel the skin and cut into small or big pieces.
Heat oil in a pan. Tamper with jeera.
Coat the potatoes with rice flour mixture and fry in oil. Add salt and toss them until potaotes turn golden brown.
Yummy crispy potatoes are ready to go with small onion sambar and rice!I always make this combo...they are an inseparable pair. Do you guys agree?

Coriander Mint Rice

My mom is an expert in making mint rice. This is a regular in our house as my dad and I love it.
Mint Rice does bring some good memories of my college days when I used to take it for lunch and my friends would finish it off leaving a small portion for me:)

I am sending this to Srivalli's Rice mela

Ingredients:
Basmathi Rice-1 cup uncooked
Ghee-1tbsp
Oil-1 tbsp

To tamper:
Cloves-3
Cinnamon-an inch stick
Bay leaf-1
Star anise-1
Jeera-1 tsp

To grind:
Mint leaves-1/2 bunch
Coriander leaves-1/2 cup
Onion chopped-1 cup
Garlic cloves(optional)-2
Green chilli-1
Red chilli-1
Salt
Hing
Tamarind-a small piece

Method:
Rinse and soak basmathi rice in water for 15 minutes and cook with 2 cups of water. Set aside.
Grind the ingredients without adding water to a nice paste.
Heat oil and ghee in a pan and tamper with the above mentioned ingredients and add the ground paste. Simmer and cover. When the paste becomes thick and raw smell goes off(15 minutes approx), switch off the gas and mix the paste with rice. Serve with raitha and chips.

French Apple Tart

I've got a simple and delicious apple tart recipe which no require any butter mixed or frangipane. What I need is just a big packet of green apple with a shortcrust pastry which already had in my fridge, and took me no time to make this tart. I didn't produce a very beautiful rosy look for the tart but I'd say the apple tart smell very good while it's about the time I need to check whether it's done.

I feel the beauty of this tart is that you could still have a big piece of it after your dinner as it's quite a light dessert and not too sweet. You will like to have the second piece.

About the shortcrust pastry, I've been using the recipe for different kind of tarts and it's work very well. Its crusty and crumbly texture is very the English homemade pastry.

If you find the French apple tart is a bit lonely, just serve with a dollop of cream or vanilla ice cream to go with it. Fantastic!

For the shortcrust pastry (9 inches tart tin):

2 egg yolks

2 tbsp cold water

220g plain flour

110g unsalted cold butter, diced

20g sugar powder

pinch of salt

1. Mix the eggs yolks with 2 tbsp cold water stir with a fork until well combine.
2. Place the flour into the bowl of a food processor, followed by the cold butter and the salt. Turn the processor on and pulse several times until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3. Add the egg yolk/water mixture and pulse again. Be careful not to overwork the pastry. Stop pulsing when the mixture has the consistency of chunky breadcrumbs.
4. Turn the pastry out onto a clean, floured work surface and, with floured hands, bring together to make a dough, but don't knead.
5. Shape into a flattened ball, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. You can keep the pastry at this stage for 2-3 days if not using it immediately.
6. Remove the pastry from the fridge. On a clean, floured work surface, roll it out with a floured rolling pin until it's slightly larger than the flan ring. Using the rolling pin, lift the pastry and lay it over the flan ring.
7. With your fingers, lightly press the pastry into the sides of the ring. Run a rolling pin over the top of the ring and pull away the excess pastry at the edges. Using your fingers, gently press the pastry up to slightly build up the height of the pastry at the edges.

Assemble the apple tart:

1. Peel and core the apple then cut in to half and slice it into the thickness you like. I slice it quite thinly.
2. Arrange the apples decoratively on the pastry shell, overlapping them. Sprinkle the sugar on top of the apples, top with butter cubes and bake in the middle of the 180'C preheated oven for 45 minutes or until the crust is cooked through and the apples are golden.
3. Brush with the heated apricot jam while the tart is still hot.