Vanilla Fluffy Pancakes with Banana frozen yogurt, Lemon zest and Brandy whipped cream, Maple syrup and fresh berries

Fluffy Pancakes and yummies

So I had one of my friend’s visit and stay over. After an elaborate meal the previous night and since I didn’t get a chance to make the dessert that I had originally planned to make (Banana froyo with Salted caramel sauce), I felt like making a nice big brekky for the two of us and had my friend (F) help me out as well.

F got me some fresh strawberries and blueberries and I had already pre-frozen cut up bananas to make fresh banana froyo – so pancakes seemed like the perfect complimentary option.

Sweet brekky spread

I hope you enjoy my recipe and making it as much as I do – always a fun option when you have company –

Vanilla Fluffy Pancakes:

(Serves 4)

Ingredients –

1 and 1/3 cups OR 200 gm Plain flour
1 tsp Bicarbonate soda
1/4 cup OR 50 gm firmly packed cup of Brown sugar
1 whole Egg (beaten)
1 Egg white (separated and whisked with a pinch of salt to soft peaks)
1 tsp Vanilla extract
300ml Buttermilk
25gm Unsalted butter (melted)

Method –

Sift flour and bicarbonate soda in a bowl and stir in the sugar.  Add in the beaten egg, vanilla extract and buttermilk and hand whisk between each added ingredient to a smooth consistency with no lumps.

Carefully fold in the whisked egg whites to this mixture.

Heat a non-stick crepe pan or frypan over medium heat and brush the base with a little melted butter. Use a large ladle or large serving spoon to pour in one scoop per pancake. Do not over crowd the pan, if you only have enough space for one pancake at a time, then cook only one pancake at a time. Cook each pancake for 1-2 minutes until bubbles appear on the surface. Turn/ Flip over carefully and cook for a further 1 min or until golden. Remove cooked pancakes and stack aside.

Continue until pancake batter has been used up completely.

 

Banana Frozen Yoghurt:

I was inspired to try this out from an image I saw on Pinterest. You need a strong blender that is capable of blending ice for this recipe. The following is my attempted recipe.

(Serves 4)

Ingredients –

4 sliced (about 0.5cm thick slices) bananas (My suggestion is 1 per person, but feel free to adjust quantities to your liking)
4 Tbsp Greek Yoghurt OR Naturally Sweetened Breakfast Yoghurt (the thicker the better!)
1/2 cup Sugar (can be adjusted to your liking – I suggest adding in a little at a time)
4  Tbsp Honey (can be adjusted to your liking – I suggest adding in a little at a time)
1/2 tsp yellow food colouring

Method:

Freeze the sliced bananas in the freezer the previous night.

When you’re ready to make the frozen yoghurt, it’s just a matter of blending all the ingredients together in a strong blender – yes, it’s that simple! My suggestion is to add in a little at a time.

The way I went about it is as follows:

Start with about 1/4 of the total sliced frozen bananas, 2 Tbsp yoghurt, 1/4 cup Sugar, 2 Tbsp Honey and 1/2 tsp yellow food colouring and blend.

Next add in about 1/4 of the total sliced frozen bananas, 1 Tbsp yoghurt (be mindful of quantity being added depending on consistency of yoghurt as you want the finished frozen yoghurt to be thick and not melted/ liquefied), the remaining sugar and 2 Tbsp Honey.

Next add in the remaining bananas a little at a time, adjust with yoghurt for desired consistency and sugar or honey for desired sweetness level. When you’re happy with the taste, the frozen yoghurt is ready!

Transfer to a freeze proof container and put into freezer until you’re ready to serve breakfast.

 

Lemon zest and Brandy whipped cream:

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

300ml chilled Thickened/ Pouring cream
1/4 cup Sugar (you can increase the quantity if you want it to be sweeter)
1 tsp Brandy essence OR 1 tsp Brandy
1 tsp Lemon zest (Fresh grated)

Method:

Whisk all the ingredients together with a hand whisk or electric mixer until it forms soft peaked whipped cream.

Note: It’s important to ensure the thickened cream is chilled.

 

Suggested condiments and accompaniments:

– 1 punnet Strawberries sliced
– 1 punnet Blueberries
– Maple syrup
– Honey
– Butter

 

Fluffy Pancake goodness with delicious yummies

Do let me know if you try this recipe out and what you thoughts are about it! Enjoy!

Punjabi Samosa’s with Mint yoghurt dip and Tamarind sauce

Punjabi Samosa’s recipe

It’s really hard to decide on your first recipe for a food blog – so many choices so little time. After sifting away through several recipes, flavors and ideas – I found myself incredibly hungry. In recent times, my sister was visiting my Mum in Mumbai (India) and while she was there, our chats have included images and discussion about the various Indian ‘chaat’ and snack foods and the like that she was enjoying. The purpose of this anecdote is to explain how the humble Punjabi samosa became my first recipe choice – it was merely a result of a combination of absolute hunger from all that research and my recent craving for Indian snack-y food due to the recent delicious Indian chaat and snack food discussions with my sister.

So without further ado – the Punjabi Samosa!

This recipe allows for 2 Punjabi samosa’s per person.

Punjabi Samosa

(Serves 4)

Ingredients – Dough:

2 and 1/2 cups Refined flour (Maida)
1 tsp Carom (Ajwain) seeds OR Thyme
1 tsp Salt
4 Tbsps Clarified butter (Ghee)
Water

Butter – to be melted (Substitute for Clarified butter/ Ghee)

Dried Thyme

Method – Dough:

Knead all the ingredients together into a firm, yet bouncy dough. Cover the dough with a cloth to rest aside.

Dough mixture – to be mixed by hand or electric dough mixer in a bowl

Kneading

Required dough consistency

Note: Amount of clarified butter used is key to getting the right dough consistency. As a general rule, the ratio of ghee to flour is approximately 1 Kg Flour TO 200 gm of clarified butter.

Ingredients – Filling:

2 Tbsp Clarified butter (ghee)
1 tsp cumin seeds/ powder
1 tsp ginger paste OR 1 inch piece of fresh ginger finely chopped
1 Tbsp garlic paste OR 5 garlic cloves finely chopped
5 Medium potatoes (Boiled and Mashed)
1 and 1/2 tsp Dry Mango Powder (Amchur) OR 1 Lime (juice)
1 tsp Coriander powder
1 tsp Red chilli powder OR 1 red chilli chopped
1 tsp Garam Masala (preferably Punjabi)
Salt to Taste

Optional Ingredients – Filling:

The following ingredients can be added to your liking.

1 cup Green peas (boiled OR steamed OR canned – Optional, but traditionally added in)
1 tsp Whole coriander seeds (dry roasted in a pan and ground/ pounded to a powder – Optional)
1 tsp Dried Pomegranate seeds (dry roasted in a pan and ground/ pounded to a powder –Optional)

Method – Filling:

Sauté all the ingredients in a suitably sized saucepan and mix evenly.

Spiced potato filling

 

Method – Punjabi Samosa:

The covered dough should now be uncovered. Make a ball slightly bigger than a golf ball and roll well.

Small ball of dough to roll out

Roll out into an oblong shape, about 4mm thick, to about the length of your palm. Cut in half.

Rolling out the dough

Rolling out the dough to an even oblong shape

Rolled into oblong shape and cut in half

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fill a little water into a small bowl. Dip finger in water and apply around the cut edge of one half and seal to make a cone.

Seal cut edge to make a cone

Fill the cone with the potato filling mixture, while leaving about 1cm space all around. Make a back bone of samosa and seal using water as before.

Filled up samosa prior to sealing it

Filled up samosas ready to fry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deep fry samosas in low to medium heat until lightly golden brown and crisp. Samosa’s are ready to serve and enjoy!

Finished batch of samosas

Removing the cooked samosas

Deep drying in low to medium heat

Beautiful golden brown samosa’s

I generally serve these with either bottled sweet Tamarind sauce, which I got from an Indian shop and/ or a fresh Mint yoghurt dip (recipe to follow).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mint yoghurt dip

Ingredients:

6 Tbsps Greek Yoghurt
2 Tbsp Fresh Mint (finely chopped)
2 Tbsp Fresh Coriander (finely chopped)
1 tsp Chaat Masala
1 tsp Sugar
Seasoning (Salt and Pepper)

Method:

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and you’re all set!

Chopped coriander and mint with yoghurt and seasoning

Mint yoghurt dip

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And tadaaaaaaaaaaa:

Plating

Punjabi samosas with a Mint yoghurt dip and tamarind sauce

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drink serving suggestions (from my personal experience):

The first time round I tried the Samosas as a snack with Rekorderlig Cider – Mango and Raspberry flavoured – and it was delicious.

Rekorderlig – Mango and raspberry

The second time round I had F over for dinner and she brought over a beautiful bottle of Ruffino Chianti (similar to another Italian wine that I quite enjoy) that also paired quite well with the Samosa’s as an entrée.

Ruffino – Chianti

Dinner with F

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alternatively – most Indian food pairs well with tangy drinks or soft drinks.

Do let me know how you go with this recipe or if you have any suggestions!