Unveiling Culinary Wonders

Embark on a gastronomic journey as Chef Aji Joseph, the Head of Culinary Development at FreshToHome, shares exclusive recipes that redefine the art of cooking. From the indulgent and crunchy “Cordon Bleu Chicken Pops” to the earthy and smoky “Mutton Seekh Kebab,” and the quick and exotic “Peel & Eat Garlic Prawns,” these dishes promise to elevate your culinary expertise and delight the taste buds. Join us in exploring the step-by-step methods and exquisite ingredients behind these mouthwatering creations, perfect for turning any gathering into a culinary celebration.

CORDON BLEU CHICKEN POPS

Cordon Bleu Pops are crumb fried spiced chicken mince dumplings filled with molten cheese.

They are crunchy, tender, oozy, more like little bites of heaven and make for a perfect party food.

INGREDIENTS:

8 Chicken mince : 200 g

8 Onion, finely chopped - 1 tbsp

8 Garlic, finely chopped - 1 tsp

8 Celery, finely chopped - 1 tbsp

8 Parsley, finely chopped - 1 tsp

8 Butter: 30 g

8 Mixed Herbs : 1 pinch

8 Salt : To taste

8 White pepper powder : 1tsp

8 Potato, mashed : 50 g

8 Cheddar cheese, grated : 25 g

8 Mozzarella cheese, grated : 25 g

8 Egg, beaten : 2 nos

8 Refined flour : 50 g

8 Bread crumbs : 100 g

METHOD:

1. Cooking the chicken:

8 Heat up a non-stick pan and melt the butter.

8 Add the chopped onion, garlic and celery and sauté till translucent. Add mixed herbs and white pepper powder.

8 Now add the minced chicken and cook till the mixture is almost dry with very little moisture content. Make sure the chicken mince is all separated and does not have any lumps.

8 Allow the mixture to cool down and then add the potato mash and mix well.

2. Preparing the cheese filling:

8Mix together both grated cheeses, parsley and just enough salt to make a thick cheese mixture.

3. Assembling our dish:

8 With the chilled chicken mince mixture, make small dumplings of 15 g each. With the cheese mixture, make smaller dumplings of 1/4th the size of chicken dumplings.

8 Take the chicken dumplings in hand and slightly flatten them. Place the cheese dumplings in the centre of the flattened chicken mixture and reshape back to a ball with cheese completely covered inside.

8 Break 2 eggs and beat them in a bowl.

8 Take 50 g of flour in another bowl.

8 Place the breadcrumbs in the third bowl.

8 Dust the cheese filled dumplings with flour and then drop them into the egg mixture and then evenly coat them with breadcrumbs.

8 Keep the breaded chicken pops in a refrigerator and let them chill for some time.

8 Heat up a saucepan and add oil just enough to immerse couple of dumplings.

8 When the oil is hot, slide the breaded chicken balls into the oil and allow to fry to a golden brown.

8 Strain them from oil to a butter paper.

8 Serve along with your favourite sauce.

MUTTON SEEKH KEBAB

Seasoned and spiced mutton mince wrapped around metal skewers and cooked on charcoal fire. The heat and smoke of the charcoal give the seekhs a very earthy and smoky note.

INGREDIENTS:

8 Mutton boneless: 500 gms

8 Mutton fat: 25 gms

8 Egg whole: 1 nos

8 Besan flour: 50 gms

8 Onion chop: 100 gms

8 Cashew nuts: 50 gms(soaked in water)

8 Ginger chop: 2 tbsp

8 Garlic chop: 2 tbsp

8 Green chilly: 2 tbsp

8 Kashmiri red chilli powder: 2 tsp

8 Garam masala powder: 2 tsp

8 Coriander powder: 1/5 tsp

8 Dry mango powder:1/5 tsp

8 Jeera powder: 1 tsp

8 Black cardomum powder: 1 tsp

8 Cinnamom powder:1 tsp

8 Black pepper powder: 1 tsp

8 Coriander leaves: 3 tbsp

8 Salt: 2 tbsp

METHOD:

1. Mince the mutton with all the ingredients except egg and besan flour to a fine mince. To this mince mixture, add

beaten eggs and besan flour and mix well.

2. Take a metal skewer and with one’s wet hands take a handful of mince and press and spread it around the metal skewer.

3. Heat up a charcoal grill and place the skewers of meat above the hot charcoal and turn sides and cook around. Apply some ghee while the seekhs are getting cooked.

4. Once cooked, loosen the ends of the cooked seekhs and slide the seekhs out of the metal skewers.

5. Cut into bite size pieces and serve along with mint chutney and onion salad.

PEEL & EAT GARLIC PRAWNS

One of the simplest recipes to make in a jiffy. Whole prawns with shell is pan sauteed with garlic, olives and parsley.

One of the easiest recipes to make this prawn preparation with garlic, olives,s chili flakes and parsley makes it very exotic, and the addition of white wine lifts the dish to a different level. The quick cooking retains all the goodness and flavour of the prawns.

The outside shell turns a beautiful orangish red, and that’s quite a visual treat. This PEEL & EAT PRAWNS becomes a fun activity by itself along with good company and conversation.

Ingredients:

8 Prawn with shell: 250 gm

8 Olive oil (pomace): 30 ml

8 Prawns (head removed and shell cut open and inside intestine removed): 250 gm

8 Garlic slice: 10 cloves

8 Chilli flakes: 1 tsp

8 Olive slices: 5 black & 5 green olives

8 White wine: 50 ml

8 Parsley: 2 tbsp

8 Salt: 1 tsp

8 Butter: 20 gm

8 Lemon wedges: 4 nos

Ingredients for butter sauce:

8 Butter(salted): 50 gm

8 Lemon juice: half a lemon

8 Parsley chop: 2 pinches

8 Soften the butter and mix the lemon juice and parsley to form a soft butter dip.

Method:

8 Detach and remove the prawn heads and discard. With a sharp knife slit open the top or hump side of the prawn along with the shell. Slightly open the slit portion and remove the veins in running water.

8 Heat up a non-stick saucepan. Add olive oil and sliced garlic and saute to golden. To this, add the chili flakes. Drop the cleaned prawns into this hot pan and toss. Add the white wine, olive slices and salt. Toss till the white wine is evaporated. Add the chopped parsley, lemon wedges and butter and toss again. Don’t allow the butter to burn but just coat the prawns which gives them a buttery and silky coating.

8 Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with some chopped parsley. Serve along with the butter lemon dip.