Spicy Mixed Veg Fritters (Indian style)

This recipes's great if you've got some scraps of vegetables which you need to either use up fast or throw out. Now, we want to avoid the latter so let's explore the former in the form of mixed veg fritters!

These really taste good when paired with Indian spices to give a pleasant flavour and kick to the dish.

Makes around 9 fritters
Cost per person: 1.33 zl (26 UK pence, 0.32 Euros, 44 US cents)

Prep:

1. You'll need to chop up or grate some leftover vegetables. In this case, I had some carrot, broccoli and red pepper to use up. I also finely chopped up some onion and red chilli with some minced ginger for extra flavour.

2. Get the spices ready too. I'm using:

- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp roughly ground coriander seeds
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper 
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- a pinch of carom (ajwain) seeds (optional)
- a good pinch or two of salt

3. Beat two eggs in a bowl

4. Now, you could add some regular flour plus some baking powder. However, as I want an Indian feel, I'm using 2 tablespoons of gram flour and 1 tablespoon of rice flour and I'm going to beat this into the eggs to form a batter.

5. Add the spices plus a tsp of crushed fenugreek leaves. Mix well.

6. Mix in the veg.

Now let's cook!

7. Get some oil heated in a pan. Add a tablespoon of the mixture and flatten down onto the pan with the back of the spoon.

8. Give them a good 3 minutes on a medium flame. Flip them over.

9. Give them around 3 minutes on this side too and they should be good to go! Remove from the pan and rest on kitchen paper for a minute.

10. In the meantime, make a yoghurt/ mustard sauce by mixing - you guessed it - some yoghurt with some mustard to taste.

11. Use up all the mixture. Experiment with different sizes! Go crazy!

12. Enjoy!

Costing:

- veg: 1 zl

- eggs: 1.40 zl

- sauce: 1 zl

- the rest: 0.60 zl

Total: 4 zl

Makes: 9 fritters

Number of fritters per serving: 3

Serves: 3

Cost per person: 1.33 zl

Samosas with a beetroot and potato stuffing

I usually have a bit of pastry left over from making quiche and seeing as how samosa and quiche pastry is almost identical, I thought I'd see what else I had in the fridge that needed using up to knock together some naughty little spicy samosas. Yee!

So, if you're making the pasty from scratch, check out the quiche recipe first: 

http://5zlotychef.blogspot.com/2014/04/quiche-with-spinach-and-leek.html

Check out the end result:

Nice and crispy! 

Cost per samosa: 0.40 zl (8 UK Pence, 0.10 Euros, 8 Indian Rupees)

What I used:

- leftover pastry
- 2 potatoes boiled in their skin
- handful of grated beetroot
- 2 onions sliced
- a mash of ginger/ garlic and 1 green chilli
- the juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 tsp crushed coriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/4 tsp red chilli powder
- 1/3 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp fenugreek leaves
- salt to taste
- vegetable oil for deep frying

Let's go!

1. Prep the ingredients. Boil the potatoes in their skins in salted water for around 20 minutes or until soft all the way through. Coarsely mash. Grate the beetroot and salt. Leave for 15 minutes until it becomes watery. Squeeze out the excess water by pressing the beetroot between your palms. Pound up a clove of garlic, one inch of ginger and one green chilli in a mortar. Thinly slice the onion.

2. Prep the other ingredients too.

3. Oil in a pan. Cumin seeds in. Wait for the splutter and add the onion slices.

4. When the onions are 2/3 of the way to being golden brown, add the mash of ginger/ garlic/ green chilli

5. When the onion is golden brown, add the beetroot.

6. Add the spices (apart from the fenugreek leaves)

7. Potatoes in. Mix well.

8. Squeeze in the lemon juice and finish off with a little salt to taste and the fenugreek leaves.

9. Roll out the pastry quite thin.

10. Fold over to make a sort of triangle

11. Trim it

12. Seal the join by simply pressing the pastry together at the edge

13. Slightly roll the fold back on itself and seal again by pressing the pastry together. This creates a strong bind.

14. Open out and stuff with around 2 tsp of the mix.

15. Fold over the top

16. Trim off the excess pastry and fold together using the same technique as per side join.

17. Repeat. Make some different shapes. Why not?

18. Freeze them or deep fry them now. Get the oil medium hot and give them 5 minutes or so until crispy and golden on the outside.

19. Rest on kitchen paper and enjoy!

The costing:

- Pastry: 1 zl
- The filling: 2 zl
- The oil: 1 zl (assuming I'll be using the same oil a few times)

Total: 4 zl
Number of samosas made: 10
Per samosa: 0.40 zl

Quiche with Spinach and Leek

Traditionally, the French use ham but you don't need it! Leave the pigs alone, kids! Let them roam free!

Serves: 4
Cost per person: 3.25 zl (64 UK pence, 0.78 Euros, 35 Thai Bhat)

You'll need:

- 400g flour
- 100g butter
- salt
- pepper
- a pinch of nutmeg
- a pinch of cayenne pepper
- 4 eggs
- 3 tablespoons of cream
- 2-3 tablespoons of grated cheese such as cheddar
- a few small pieces of gorgonzola
- 1 leek
- a handful of chopped spring onion
- a nice bunch of FRESH spinach

Let's get cracking!

1. Flour in a bowl with a pinch of salt. Butter cubed and in.

2. Work those fingers, baby! Get that butter rubbed into the flour till it's nice and fine.

3. Add water very slowly, mixing all the time, till you end up with a firm dough. Has to be firm. Cover and leave to rest in the fridge for around 30 minutes while you prep everything else.

4. Wash the spinach and chop up fine. Finely chop the leek and spring onion too.

5. Butter in a pan. 

6. Leeks in

7. When the leeks are sweating down nicely, add the spring onion.

8. Spinach in. Grate in a pinch of fresh nutmeg and a good grind of black pepper. Add a pinch of salt.

9. When it looks like this, you're done.

10. Meanwhile.... grease an oven dish with some butter. 

11. Roll out the pastry till it's about the thickness of a pound coin. 

12. Place the pastry into the oven dish and trim off any excess round the sides. Prick the base with a fork.

13. The oven needs to be at 200 C. Now the pastry needs to be "blind baked". Cover the pasty with foil. 

14. Add baking beads to the bottom. Put in the oven for around 10 minutes.

15. Remove from the oven. Take off the foil. Put back in the oven for another 5 minutes. When you take it out it should look like this:

16. Beat 4 eggs in a bowl. Add cream and the leek/spinach mix. Season with a pinch of cayenne pepper, a good grind of black pepper and a pinch of salt.

17. Pour this mixture onto the pasty. Press in some globs of gorgonzola.

18. Sprinkle the grated cheddar on top.

19. Turn the oven down to 180 C and bake the quiche for around 15-20 minutes until the top is golden and the mixture has set. 

20. Enjoy!

Cost:

- Spinach: 2.20 zl
- Eggs: 2.80 zl
- Cream: 0.50 zl
- Leek: 2 zl
- Cheese: 2 zl
- Flour: 1 zl
- Butter: 2 zl
- The rest: 0.50 zl

Total: 13 zl
Serves: 4
Per person: 3.25 zl

Got some pastry left over... Now, what shall I do? Hmmm.... Check out the beetroot and potato samosa recipe coming up next!