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UTTAPAMS IN DUBAI SOUTH INDIAN SNACK

Uttapams In Dubai

A tasty South Indian teatime snack for starving children (and adults) easily made from a ready made batter made from ground rice, lentils and salt. Read on to see how  you can turn in into a delicious and nutritious snack for adults and kids alike.

Uttapams Dubai

 

Where to find batter for Uttapams in Dubai 

You can buy this wonderfood from most supermarkets in the chiller section. It’s near the smoked salmon and fresh pizza dough in ours (Geant in the Arabian Ranches)

How do you make this batter for Uttapams in Dubai

You just snip open the bag, pour the batter into a large bowl and add some lightly fried chopped up onions, tomato and coriander and voila you have a nutritious pancake type batter base from which to easily fry tasty, savoury Indian crepes (Uttapams pronounced Oothapums) for starving children when they come home from school. I have only seen this batter in Dubai’s supermarkets.

Can you add any other ingredients to the batter 

I add sweet corn (most unauthentic but popular in my house), extra salt and fresh black pepper to my mix and sometimes sprinkle a little grated cheese while they are cooking. Traditionally a breakfast food from South India, this versatile and easy to cook snack can be had at any time. Yes it’s fried but the base is really healthy and convenient. It would tick the vegetarian boxes too as unlike traditional pancake batters, no eggs are involved. Ditto for gluten free people as no flour power (I think)

Tips for when you are making these uttapams in Dubai

Spread batter using an icing trowel and start with a COLD griddle pan.  Pour over your prepared batter, then heat the pan. Then add your oil to the sides of the batter. If you are near a Lulu’s supermarket buy yourself a tawa for making dosas, that’s the best thing for frying these.

Spread the batter thinly around the surface I find an icing trowel works well and leave to cook. When bubbles appear in the surface think about flipping over your Uttapam, do this a couple of times till both sides are golden brown, place on kitchen paper and serve hot. You may need to add a teaspoon of oil to the sides while cooking. Use your culinary instincts ! Traditionally served with mint and tomato chutney, just have plain, delicious!

You can store leftover batter in the fridge for a day or two but the mixture does thicken up a bit and then it’s more difficult to fry.

Let me know what you or your kids thought of this tasty tea time snack and do like and share the post on Facebook, thanks Monica.

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EASY RECIPE THAI SALMON FISHCAKES

Salmon Fishcakes make an ideal midweek family meal 

My family loves oriental flavours and these fishcakes are a tasty, easy and nutritious meal that everyone enjoys. Fresh salmon and courgettes with a great Thai twist. Easy recipe, read on to find out more.

salmon fishcakes Thai

Imported courgettes for the Salmon Fishcakes please

Usually I always suggest using local produce but in this recipe use the very dark green imported courgettes. (of course the salmon is also imported!)  The huge imported courgettes look so much greener than the local ones and I only bought one, this was more than adequate despite them being a bit more expensive. Since writing the recipe of course now (October 2015) all I am doing with green courgettes is spiralising them!

Ingredients for Salmon Fishcakes 

So to feed a family of 4 and to make 10 to 12 small fish cakes this is what you need:

  • 1 salmon fillet (about 350 grams), remove skin and check for any tiny bones
  • 1 large imported (very dark green) courgette, finely chopped, do not peel
  • 1 tsp of fresh deseeded red chilli (you can buy a packet, chop them up and store in a tupperware box with some olive oil over them, then use in pasta sauces and curries)
  • 1 tsp of Thai red curry paste (buy a small tub and keep in the fridge, lasts for ages, better still if you can find a Thai person to make up a batch for you)
  • 1 tbsp of Fish sauce (very inexpensive, large bottle, keep in the fridge after opening, easy way to add saltiness to any oriental dish)
  • 1 large spring onion finely chopped including the green stalks
  • 1 egg for binding
  • Bak Choi with oyster sauce
  • 1 large fresh garlic clove (the supermarket sells plump cloves ready peeled in a resealable box)
  • Large handful of finely chopped coriander (costs very little, so buy regularly)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Vegetable oil for shallow frying the fish cakes

Method to make your Salmon Fishcakes 

Simply put the fish with all the ingredients apart from the oil and the courgette into a blender and pulse till you have a thickish paste.

Remove the paste into a bowl and stir through the finely chopped courgette and then shape into small fish cakes, this bit can be sticky so maybe flour your hands and work surface.

Lay the fishcakes out onto a plate, cover with cling film and chill in the fridge till you’re ready to fry

Fry the fishcakes till golden brown on both sides. Serve with local bak choi, this is a fraction of the cost of the imported stuff and tastes just as good (one bunch per person) and brown rice. Perfect midweek family meal, no fuss, all eaten up. Now please share in your favourite way. 

 

Thanks Monica.

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SOUTH INDIAN CHICKEN CURRY

Classic Chicken Curry

Many Indian Chicken curry sauce bases rely on tomatoes for sourness or tang, so are usually a staple in most Indian homes but because I didn’t have them in my fridge and really did not want to drive to our local shop, we used yoghurt with excellent results !

Fresh curry leaves easy to grow in Dubai

Intro to the Chicken Curry recipe

There are a couple of parts to this chicken curry recipe, firstly making the marinade for the chicken, then frying the marinaded chicken to seal in some flavor and provide some colour, and lastly finishing off cooking the chicken in a coconut broth combined with the remainder of the marinade and finally garnishing with some sizzled curry leaves and mustard seeds.

Indian spices really easy in the spice box

Despite the coconut, the gravy is light as I use low fat natural yoghurt and the initial marinade has no oil at all in it but you need to use oil to fry, try out alternative Valentine’s Day Dinner Dish !  Try it and tell me what you think by leaving me a comment in the box below thanks.

Fresh_corander_dubai

Recipe PDF of Chicken Curry is good for printing out your shopping list 

Click on this link for the Chicken Curry recipe in an easy pdf format South Indian Chicken in a Light yoghurt and Curry Leaf Gravy