Aloo Tikki... Not!

Recipe:  Aloo Tikki
Video:  Link
Recipe:  4
Week:  0

Notice the uncooked-ness :(

So I decided to try something harder and different today when making my Titli recipe and I thought that Aloo Tikki would be just the ticket for me.  It seemed simple enough and I had most of the ingredients, so, why not?  I, however, was not successful at the end of this recipe though most of it went very smoothly.  Since I was not successful I thought about not mentioning it until I was.  And then I realized the purpose of this blog: it is to learn how to cook!  So naturally I am not going to be able to make everything right on the first time?  Right?  Well I do not think so.  Messing up is all part of the learning process!  So let us learn together and I will let you know what I did and maybe you can see where I went wrong but first, go read the recipe and watch the video (links at the top)!

I had never boiled or mashed potatoes before so that was a first for this recipe.  500g of potato, for me, worked out to be two medium sized potatoes.  I skinned and then coarsely chopped my potatoes, then added them to a pot of boiling water.  I boiled them for twenty minutes and when I poked them with a knife, they were very tender!  Smashing them into potato mash was much easier than I had anticipated it to be and only took a few minutes to make a very smooth pot of mashed potatoes.  I did not add any butter or salt to them, though, just as an fyi.

Mashing was more fun than I thought

While I had been boiling my potatoes, I cooked my half cup of peas and got all of my other ingredients out and ready in dishes just like Titli does in her videos.  I felt very youtube professional.  I then got a big bowl and mixed everything together.  Once again, I was pleasantly surprised at how wonderfully easy it was to mix mashed potatoes, peas, and all the spices.  Maybe it is just me, but I was expecting something a bit more challenging (then again, my arms are stronger after that carrot cake!).

Pretty much the last successful step I had

Now, rolling into balls went smoothly but I ended up with fourteen, which is two more than the recipe predicted and one more than Titli got in her video.  I think it is all just fine, though.  Flattening them into patties went smoothly enough and I had them all laid out ready to go.  I then brought oil in a flat bottom pan to heat (just a few millimeters).  I used Canola Oil because that is what I had in my home and I looked up elsewhere (elsewhere = not Titli's website) that that was an okay oil to fry with.  Now, Titli warned that if the heat of the oil was not hot enough, the patty would start to break down in the oil.  So I did a tester (I did have an extra patty after all) and it broke down before I could even flip it properly.  Darn!

So I heated up the stove so that my oil was even hotter and I saw little bubbles at the bottom.  Seemed hot to me.  I tried with patty number two and right when I added it in, it started to steam much more than in Titli's video and my kitchen was soon filled with oily steam.  And you know what!  It still broke down into the oil.  At this point the top layer of my oil was black from the disintegrated potatoes and it had become an Aloo Tikki horror scene.  Time to ditch the oil and get a new batch.

This time I started the heat of the oil hotter and let it sit longer so that it would heat up before I added anything into it.  I looked up elsewere that the oil is hot enough when a piece of bread browns within 60 seconds, so I did that test.  Passed with flying colors (and the bread crumb was pretty tasty afterwards) so I added a patty in.  Lots of steam and it broke down.  Argh!  I was getting a bit frustrated, to be honest.  But I thought, I would give it one last try.  So I sacrificed one more poor patty to the heat of the oil and it died like all the others.  Actually, it had the worst.  Flames start to spark above my oil and the steam increased tenfold.  And then my smoke detector went off.  After all of that, I decided to call it a day with the Aloo Tikki.  So I boxed mine up and stuck them into the fridge.

I really, really did need the Titlibirds to come to the rescue for this one!

Now I am turning to you all for help!  I am determined to fry these surviving patties up and make delicious Aloo Tikki!  Absolutely determined!  But I need tips for frying and you can give them to me in two ways.  You can send a quick email to me at cookingwithtitli@ymail.com or (and I would love you for this one) you can sign up to be a follower of this blog and comment.  That would be best because this blog is all about learning and then everyone can see your suggestions!  I would greatly appreciate it!

I think I will send a message asking Titli for advice, as well, and see what she has to say!

Happy Cooking!

Zielony Pie

Tortillalicious! (With Flour)

Recipe:  Flour Tortilla
Video:  Link
Recipe:  3
Week:  0

Irregularly shaped goodness :)

Flour tortillas are a simple little flat bread often used with Mexican cuisine... I did not make any Mexican cuisine, however, so it should be noted that they are great just by themselves.  This recipe by Titli was extremely simple to follow and reproduce.  So, like always, go read the recipe and watch the video and then come back and read my blog.

Ingredients are simple for this dish and you start off right away by mixing everything together.  The recipe calls for a variation of water but says to start off with 1/4 cup.  When I did this, it was definitely not enough water and I slowly added in more water until I got a nice, not-to-sticky dough.  I probably added in about another 1/8 cup of water.  But add it slowly, not all at once, just as you need it!

Finished dough

Now when it comes time to roll out the six tortillas, remember that the shape of your disk is going to have definite effects on the shape of your tortilla!  So if you are a stickler for perfect spherical-ness (because it tastes better that way... right?) make sure your discs are nice and even and round.  Or you can be like me and make fun shaped tortillas that varied from nice and round, to almost square, to something the resembled a mutated mickey mouse!  One tip that I do have is if while you are rolling the corners of your tortilla start to look torn and jagged, fold the edges in all around and re-roll.  Helps keep them smooth.

Whether the edge is perfectly round or not, it should be nice and thin!

Cooking these things was really easy.  Take a flat bottom pan and put it on medium heat then throw these suckers on.  I did not watch a clock while these guys cooked but they cook really, really quickly so just check the cooking side after a short while to see how it is doing.  Every time on my first check, it was ready to be flipped.  Once flipped, the second side cooks much faster, which, of course, makes sense because it is already heated up.  Takes no time at all to cook all six.

Now, just making tortillas is not difficult at all and rather plain (especially when you lack the Mexican food to go with it like I did).  So here is a simple Zielony Delicacy you can whip up with your freshly made flour tortillas.  Take one tortilla and spread either peanut butter or nutella on it and the roll it up into a tube.  Bon appetite!  A nice, tasty snack... or at least it is if you like peanut butter and nutella!

It tastes better than the quality of this picture!

Happy Cooking!

Zielony Pie