Quick Chicken Puffs

Hi There! It's been ages since I posted a recipe in my blog. For the past few years I tend to take too many breaks frequently from my usual chores. In 2019, I am slowly taking baby steps to come out of this melancholy type of breaks! Well, to cheer the mood up, I have decided to start my blog post with an awesomely quick recipe - Quick Chicken Puffs! If you know me, you know that I eat only vegetarian food. However I do have some non-veg eaters in family, and I cook it for them. Being a quality home cooked food lover, and a mother means that you've to definitely come out of the comfort zone to take care of others. And the moment your cooked food bring a smile over their face, it's what I call a "Bliss" to watch!

For the past two years I have joined and been learning OPOS cooking method from the legend great Mr. Ramakrishnan from Chennai. The innovative inventor of OPOS and "Pride of TamilNadu". I am proud to be part of his awesome group and the opportunity to learn the life changing OPOS cooking method is a boon to many people like me. I owe my endless gratitude to this awesome man and all I can do is bow my head and say "Thalaiva you're great"!!

This Chicken Puffs could be a great morning tea or afternoon tea or evening snacks for adults and kids. I came up with this quick version for my family as they're sport stars who always prefer quick, and easy food items "on-the-go" type which satisfies the hunger, and also gives them energy during practice/match sessions.

For this recipe I used OPOS method caramelised onions. OPOS is a cooking method which needs to be learnt properly starting from standardising the 2L Pressure Baker, and following the lesson patterns without any cheating. A google search of the OPOS method of cooking will explain you every details, so I apologise that I am not going to get into the technical details of it now. Okay, let me get back to the recipe which I promised to share in this post.

Quick Chicken Puffs Recipe to follow:

Ingredients

Readily rolled frozen Puff Pastry Sheet - 1
Caramelised Onions - 1 cup
Roasted Chicken (shredded into small pieces) - 2 cups
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - To taste
Coriander leaves (finely chopped) - 2 tbsp
Curry leaves (finely chopped) - a spring

Method

1. Thaw the puff pastry sheet as per the instruction given on the product. I used Pampas frozen puff pastry sheet.
2. In a bowl take caramelised onions, shredded chicken, chilli powder, cumin powder, garam masala, salt, coriander leaves, curry leaves and mix well until spices are thoroughly coated. Careful not to over do it though!
3. Place 2 big scoops of chicken mixture (vertically) onto the thawed puff pastry, roll it and seal the edges.

4. Cut the rolled puffs (horizontally) to make medium bite size pieces. On top of the puff pastry give it a melted butter wash (be generous).
5. Bake the puffs in 200 degree Celcius (or as per the instruction given in your product) for 15 to 20 mins until it turns golden brown. Timings vary for each oven, so it'd be a good idea to keep an eye out for the puffs after 15 mins.
6. When it's golden brown, remove from oven and let it warm down a bit before serving.

Variation Notes

1. You can add cheddar or mozarella cheese, fetta, or paneer to the chicken mixture for a cheesy flavour;
2. You can completely avoid the spices and use just the main ingredients;
3. You can omit the caramelised onions and just use plain roasted chicken along with spices;
4. Chicken can be replaced with any other meat/vegetables;
5. The chicken filling can also be used to make a quick wrap (frankie or chapathi wrap)


Hope you like the recipe and if you do try making the recipe please don't forget to add your photos & comments for this post.

Have an awesome day!

Fruit Kebab

Fruits are natures gift which can be eaten raw or made into jams, pies, tart, fruit custard, now kebabs...

Food will always be interesting if we make little variations to the usual method of cooking.

Fruit kebabs are the easiest way to attract fussy eaters of fruits. The photo posted here is a plain kebab as I was skeptical when I prepared the kebab for the first time if it's going to be a "hit" with my kids, but it turned to be "super hit".

But I have given some ideas for topping to make it more interesting.

Ingredients:

Fruits of your choice (pineapple, rock melon, honeydew, strawberry, grapes. You can also add raspberry, blue berry, mandarins, watermelon. Etc,)
Kebab skrewer - as required
Decoration - desiccated dry coconut or chocolate dip or salt & pepper to make it peppy.

Method:

1. With clean hands cut fruits in to desired shapes & keep it separately.
2. Now, using the kebab skrewer insert the fruits slices using all the variety of fruits.
3. For topping to make it more interesting, place dry desiccated coconut in a plate & role the kebab on to it. OR
Drizzle chocolate dip sauce over the kebab. OR
For peppy taste lovers, mix required salt & pepper in a cup and drizzle on top of the fruits.

It can also be grilled using a grill before decorating though.

Fruit kebabs are best when its fresh. You can refrigerate the kebab for 1 hour before serving.

Please do post your comments.

Paneer Puff

We had a special guest visiting our home one Monday evening. Usually I don't get time to prepare evening treats during weekdays. Suddenly an idea of paneer puff immediately flashed in my mind. My husband also liked the idea. I had previously prepared vegetable puffs many times, but it was the first time for paneer puff. So I had to be extra careful in getting the dish right.

I hardly noticed the quantity of the ingredients since I was too careful to get the dish right. But still I figured out the measurements roughly for you, so that you can give a try and let me know your outcomes. Get ready for the yummy treat now…



Ingredients

Frozen Pampas Puff Pastry Sheets – 2 whole (cut into 4 pieces)

Stuffing
Onion – 1 finely chopped
Ginger – ¼ inch piece finely chopped
Garlic – 2 pods finely chopped
Green Chilli – 1 finely chopped
Paneer – shredded roughly (I used frozen so I just crumbled the paneer with my hand)
Cumin Seeds or powder – ½ tsp
Red chilli powder – ½ tsp (optional)
Turmeric – 1 pinch (optional)
Oil/ghee – ½ tsp
Salt – To taste

Method

Thaw the puff pastry sheets as per the instruction given in the product.
To prepare the stuffing, heat oil/ghee in a non-stick pan, add onion, ginger, garlic, chillies, cumin seeds and salt. Cook until onion turns translucent.
Now add the crumbled paneer and remove from heat. Mix it well, but gently as you don't want melted paneer in the puff.
Let it cool for about 20 – 30 mins.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

How to stuff Paneer mixture in the pastry sheet?

Cut the pastry sheet into 4 small squares (a "+" shape cut would do). Fill in 2 spoons of mixture in the centre of each square. Fold and seal into your desired shapes.

Here I tried to do a flower shape, but I couldn't get it right.

Into the oven they go and bake until the puff turns golden brown all over (it took me 40mins). Make sure not to burn the puff.

Now the paneer puff is ready to be served with tomato or chilli sauce accompanied with a hot masala tea!

Oh I didn't tell what our special guest brought home? She brought us a lovely curry leaves plant.