Cucumber Sandwich!

Cucumber sandwich is a classic ,summer sandwich.The idea of making cucumber sandwich hit my head when I was reading the great play of Oscar wilde 'The Importance of being Earnest '.In the first chapter,Algernon ,an aristocrat  eats cucumber sandwiches prepared for his Aunt Augusta while refusing to share them with his friend,Jack .

When I was reading those lines, I got some serious craving for cucumber sandwiches.So I ventured to make these lovely,refreshing snack.

You will need :

1 cucumber

12 White Bread slices

Butter,at room temperature

1/2 cup Sour cream /Mayonnaise

1 lemon

1 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp salt

Cut off the ends of the cucumber and start peeling thin slices of cucumber using a vegetable peeler.

In a large bowl,throw the cucumber shavings ,squeeze out the lemon juice and sprinkle salt and pepper.Give a gentle toss.

Lay the marinated cucumber shavings on a paper towel to absorb excess moisture.

Remove the crusts of bread slices and apply butter to each slice.

Place a dollop of cream/mayannoise over the buttered side of all the bread slices.Spread them evenly.

Place the cucumber slices overlapping each other over 6 slices lined up together as shown in the picture.This way we can avoid maximum wastage of the cucumber slices.

Place the other 6 buttered/creamed bread slices over the cucumber slices.Cut them to 6 separate sandwiches.

You can cut them into triangles or rectangles or squares.Or even use a cookie cutter to cut out various shapes.I cut each of them into four squares so that they can be in bite-sized.

I also made two round shaped sandwiches by using a cookie cutter!

These pretty sandwiches are great for picnic,parties and for tea time!

I'm sending these to AFAM :Cucumber event hosted by Neha of Tasty Recipes which is originally started by Maheswari

I tried Nags of Edible Garden's  Carrot- Babycorn stir-fry  had it with rotis and few slices of cucumber.This was my y'day's dinner.I liked the combo of carrot and baby corns.Very simple and delicious .Thanks,Nags :)

I also tried Onion savory crackers (Nippatu) featured in Madhuram's Eggless cooking.I followed the recipe posted by Redchillies which was originally taken from Ramya's The Cook's collection.

My mom became a big fan of these crackers.Love the onion bits and sesame in it and also the butter flavor.Thanks for sharing,guys!

Falafel Sandwich-Pita bread,Falafel,French fries,Grilled Eggplant & Tahini sauce

I was quite busy with my exams and was out of town for few days.Pardon me for my inconsistent blogging.I was literally away from cooking for a long time :(.So yesterday I was in the kitchen for considerably longer time.

It was in my mind since I visited Kuwait that someday I must try Falafel sandwich.My Dad boasts about this sandwich everyday when I was at Kuwait.But I couldn't taste it and it was in my heart as a deepest regret.Even this time when he visited India, he made me jealous.He said to me that his everyday lunch is a Falafel sandwich.

This vegeterian sandwich is so popular in middle eastern countries.A perfect wholesome sandwich which I guess would be a favourite of all.I made this yesterday and invited few of my friends and cousins to try it.They asked me to make it again..That itself is a great success to this sandwich.I won't  advise to make this for a few becoz it involves lot of effort and time(I spent half a day making this)..But if you wanted to invite many of your friends for this falafel party then you can definitely give this a shot.I made around 7 sandwiches which were vanished in less than no time.

First let me tell you about this sandwich.A middle eastern bread called 'Pita' is used to make this sandwich.Pita bread is locally called as 'Khubz' in arabian countries.This puffed bread is similar to Indian Naan but it is in circular shape and has pocket(puffed).Traditionally,the pocket is slit open and stuffed with falafel(A patty made of chickpeas),french fries,pickle,lettuce,tomato wedges,cucumber cubes,grilled eggplant rounds and tahini sauce (A middle eastern sauce made with tahini(sesame paste) and lemon juice).

I will explain each of them one by one.

Pita Bread(Khubz):

You will need:

2 1/2 cups of flour(Maida/all purpose) + 1/4 cup for kneading/dusting

2 tbsp active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

A pinch of sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp olive oil

Take the warm water in a cup.Make sure that the water is not too hot.Add the yeast and sugar.Stir and cover and keep in a warm place for 10 mins.The yeast mixture gets frothy.

In a large mixing bowl,take the flour and add salt.Mix well.

Make a small well in the center add oil.Rub the flour with the oil.Add the yeast mixture.Mix until all the ingredients are nicely incorporated.Add more flour if sticky.Divide them into 7 equal portions.

Keep them in a plate and cover with the wide mouthed bowl.Keep this in a warm place for 1 hour.I preheated my oven and turn it off.Kept the dough inside the oven .It became double in size.

After an hour,punch down each portion.Dust in the flour and make as a ball.Using a rolling pin spread as a circle of even thickness.Bake in a 250 C preheated oven until it puffs up and you see brown spots.Keep other portion of dough covered while rolling/baking pita.

Baked one..

As many do not have an oven,they have an alternate way.Heat the tawa ,place the rolled dough on it.When you see white spots on side flip on the other side.Wait for the white spots on other side too.Now place the pita on direct flame ,you can see it puffing beautifully.Transfer on a cloth lined basket.The procedure is same as you do for Phulka.No need to apply oil/butter for pita.

Note:Pita pocket will be frim when it is baked.And you do not get the black small dots.

            Look the picture below for baked Pita.

                            'Stove top' Pita breads are softer and spotted as shown below.

Tahini Sauce:

You will need:

1/2 cup Tahini paste

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup water

1 glove of garlice,finely minced

1 tbsp of finely chopped corainder

1/4 tsp of cumin powder

Salt

For Tahini paste:

1 cup of white sesame seeds

2 tbsp sesame oil/peanut oil

Dry roast sesame seeds on a pan for few mins on medium heat.

Grind the sesame seeds along with oil in a mixer until you get a smooth paste.This paste is Tahini.

In a bowl,add the tahini and water.Whisk until it become a homogenous mixture.

Add lemon juice,garlic,salt and coriander.Whisk until all are incorporated.Add ore water if you want it more watery.

Tahini sauce is ready.

Falafel

You will need:

1 cup of Chickpeas

1 medium sized onion

2 red chillies

1 tbsp pepper

3 gloves of garlic

1/2 tsp of baking powder

4-5 sprigs of coriander

1/4 cup of bread crumbs

salt

oil for frying

Soak chickpeas overnight.In a blender,coaresely grind all the ingredients from chickpeas to corainder.

Add the bread crumbs to the corasely ground mixture and mix well.

In a heavy pan,heat oil,make a patty out of the chickpea mixture.I used a 'Falafel maker'.If you dont have one,you can shape like 'Masala vada' and drop in oil.

Cook in medium flame.Remove from oil when it is browned.

French Fries:

 

You will need:

1/2 Kg of Potatoes(Russet vareity is very good for frying)

salt

oil for frying

Peel the potatoes.To cut the potato into strips,keep the potato in longitudinal postion and slice them into 2 mm thick ovals.You will get 4-5 ovals.Lay each oval flat and cut them into strips.

Wash the potato strip in water to remove starch.Fill a vessel with 3/4th of water,add genorous amount of salt and bring it to boil.Add the potato strips.Cook for exactly 7 mins.Now the potato strips will cooked for 60-70% only.

Strain the potato strips and spread them on a kitchen towels.Pat them dry.

Heat oil.The temp(270.C) can be higher for frying french chips as it already cooked.We just need to be crispy in the outer.I fried the chips following the falafel.Fry until you get nice golden color on the edges.Transfer on a paper towel to remove excess oil.

Grilled Eggplant:

You will need:

Eggplant

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp curry powder

1/2 tbsp cumin powder

1/4 tsp pepper powder

2-3 tbsp oil

Cut the eggplant into thin round slices.

Mix the curry powder,cumin powder,pepper ,salt and oil to a paste.

Rub the paste on either sides of  the eggplant slices .Marinate for 1/2 hour.

In grill mode,grill the slices for 10 mins.5 mins on each side.

Or heat a tawa,place the slices on tawa and roast each sides until you get it crispy and browned.

Falafel Sandwich:

Peel and chop 1 cucumber.

Cut 2 tomatoes into wedges.

One can use lettuce.I dont get lettuce here.So i used strips of cabbage.

For pickle ,I used Jalapeno in vinegar..

Traditionally,the pita is cut cross -  sectionally,and all the goodies are sutffed in the pocket.As I have puffed the pita on direct flame,they are soft and flexible so i made as a wrap.

I placed 2 falafel slightly smashed.Some french fries,1 grilled eggplant,1 tomato wedge,2 pieces of cucmber,few cabbage strip,1 small piece of pickle,and of course some good amount of tahini sauce drizzled over them.Wrapped and inserted a tooth pick to hold them.

Served the with tomato ketchup and more tahini sauce.

In few mins,

The plate looked 'Khallas' !

My favorite Sandwich!

Today I made this sandwich for brunch.It was striking and unusually good...It has all the good stuff in it..cheese,butter,mayonise...So how come it can taste bad? Whoever looking this cheesy-oozy sandwich would definitely get tempted to try this..Am i right?
If Im right then just scroll down to know how I made..


You will need:
Few slices of bread
1 tomato sliced thinly
1 onion sliced thinly
1/2 bell pepper cut in strips
2-3 tsp mustard mayonise
Butter-softened
A cup of grated cheddar cheese

Start by applying butter in 2 slices of bread on both the sides..


Spread a thin layer of mayonise on only one side of both the slices of bread..


Place few onion & tomatoe slices and 2 strips of capsicum and some grated cheese on top of one slice..

Cover it with another slice of bread..




In a non-stick pan,toast in low heat for 3 mins on each side or until golden brown..Make sure to gently press with a spatula..




Cut into halves and devour them!

Breadizza...

Pizza being the favourite of 'many'..I too couldnt resist falling into the category of 'many'.
I was having an urge to eat pizza today.But I was'nt having the pizza base at home.To make a pizza base needs quite a lot of time.And my hunger can't wait till then...
Then sparked the idea of 'Breadizzaaa'...


Breadizza made in 10 mins...





You will need:
Bread slices
Capsicum finely chopped
Olives chopped
Salsa or tomato ketchup
Butter -softened
Cheese-grated (I used cheddar..)





Remove the brown edges of the bread slices.Spread the butter on each slice.Spread the salsa or ketchup on it.
Arrange the vegetables and sprinkle the grated cheese as much as you want.





Bake in a 250 c preheated oven for 6 mins.Or place in a hot tawa until the cheese melts.
Eat and faint!