Menus and Memories from Punjab: Meals to Nourish Body and Soul

January 29th, 2009 by Maple Leaf Sikh Source: www.mapleleafsikh.com

I haven't read this yet, but the book Menus and Memories from Punjab: Meals to Nourish Body and Soul by Veronica (Rani) Sidhu is the first Punjabi cookbook that I've come across made for a western audience. 

 
Here's a recipe from the book:
Potato Patties (from the "Vegetarian Heaven" menu)
Aloo Tikee
Yield: 16 3-inch patties

8 medium Yukon Gold potatoes
½ medium onion, chopped
2 teaspoons grated ginger
2 teaspoons salt, or more to taste
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons finely sliced cilantro
1 tablespoon ground coriander seeds
1 rounded teaspoon whole or ground cumin seeds
½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, or to taste
2 teaspoons ground dried pomegranate seeds, or 1 more teaspoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon garam masala (optional)
½ cup frozen green peas, thawed, cooked slightly, and well-drained
1 cup Bisquick â„¢ or all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened dried coconut (optional)**

In a large pot, boil the potatoes in their skins in water to cover until barely tender. Do not overcook. Cool, peel and mash. Add the onion, ginger, salt, lemon juice, and cilantro.

Lightly toast the coriander and cumin seeds in a dry pan. Grind in a clean coffee or spice grinder. Add to the potatoes along with the rest of the spices. Mix lightly but thoroughly, preferably with your hands, so as not to crush the ingredients.

Add the peas, mixing them in uniformly with your hands.

Preheat a non-stick griddle to 400°F or a pan until very hot. Take a ball of potato mixture, flatten it in a dish of about ½ cup of Bisquick(R) or flour coating it on both sides and making a 3-inch disk about ¾-inch thick. Make as many patties as will fit on the griddle without crowding.

Spray or oil the griddle or pan. Fry the patties for 3 minutes or until brown and crisp on the bottom. Just before turning, spray the patties with cooking spray. Turn and fry for 2 more minutes until uniformly brown. Re-spray the griddle with each new batch. Serve patties hot with chutney or ketchup.

**The water content of potatoes varies. If your first patty does not hold together, mix the dried, grated coconut into the remainder of the potatoes and allow to rest for 15 minutes before making the rest of the patties.
If anyone tries out the recipe, let us know how it turns out.

 

Comments

March 4, 2009 - 4:16pm — Kulwarn

aloo tiki

I tried it - it turned out okay. Thanks for the popular snack. The only thing that I did differently is use a healthy vegetarian oil for pan frying such as olive or coconut oil. I never use oil spray - I have heard it has many non food chemicals that are very harmful for health. You can always do without. It would be good if we can post recipe for more exotic and wholesome Punjabi dishes such as sarson saag. A note for the diabetic or overweight - It is the #1 problem among Indians. Many staple foods used in Indian cooking act as sugar in our bodies and can lead to or aggravate sugar levels e.g. :- - Both potatoes and rice act like refined starch and aggravate sugar levels in a way worse than sugar - Refined flour/ white (wheat) flour or maida (used in making naans, breads, bhature, pastries, Indian sweets/snacks such as jalebis, samosas, mathhi,mathri ) is also as harmful as eating sugar You can make these foods less harmful and healthy by trying to use whole wheat flour instead of refined flour - or use a combination of both to start. Never make your rotis or puris with white flour - most Indian brand name flours including golden temple, sher atta etc. are refined flours. Whole wheat flour is always better. Read the ingredients of your atta bag. Roger whole wheat is better than Robin Hood and Organic whole wheat from an organic food store is even better. Also when making sweet dishes I always use half of the amount of sugar recommended in the recipe - Initially you may feel like it is less sweet than it is supposed to be but after sometime you will realize that the sweets are more tasty - you taste and enjoy the flavors of flours, cheese, khoya and spices used in the recipes better. If you can not avoid deep frying use either ghee(clarify your butter) or coconut oil. All other vegetable oils become poisonous and cancer - causing when heated to a smoking point. to everyone's good health -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Messenger has tons of new features that make chatting more fun. Click here to learn more.

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