Copycat Taco Bell Fiesta Potatoes - Air fried

Taco Bell's fiesta potatoes are favorite in my home since the beginning, but when they discontinued last year , kids were sad , its like something is missing but now its back on the menu so all good but that teach me that get ready if that happens and to enjoy it any time , why not to make it at home. Its so easy and you can make enough from one potato to feed the family and above all its , air fried so its double happiness. 

You can use standard russet potato since its very high in starch. If you like you can leave the skin on the potatoes or not. You can not limit yourself with just the potatoes bowl, you can make it potato taco, potato burrito and more cheese, guacamole, Pico , sour cream and hot sauce and make a meal out of it. 

Same way you can make Nacho fries too. Instead of cutting potatoes in cubes, cut it length wise. 

Ingredients : 

2 Diced russet potatoes

2 tbsp. all purpose flour

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper powder

salt and pepper as per taste

cheese and sour cream as per the taste

2 tbsp. oil

Method : 

Wash and peel potatoes and cut into 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch cubes. 

Rinse well and pat dry with a pepper towel. 

In a bowl, add flour , onion, garlic , paprika powder, cayenne powder, salt and pepper and mix it. 

Drop potato chunks in to the flour and coat well and then shake off excess flour and keep it aside. 

Heat a pan with oil in it. 

When oil is hot, add seasoned potatoes in it and cook on high flame for 5 minutes. 

Mean time, in your air fryer tray  , put the aluminum foil and take out the potatoes and spread it on single layer. 

Turn on air fryer for air fry mode  for 375 for 15 minutes and cook it. I like to move the sides every few minutes. 

If you think its not ready after 15 minutes , you can air broil it to give that nice brown color. 

Take it out and put it in serving bowl , add the sour cream and nacho cheese to top and enjoy it. 

If you don't want to use air fryer, you can always deep fry it. 

Ended a meal with churros. 

Vegan Gyoza

Gyoza is nothing but the very recent innovation by Japanese. Its a type of dumpling which I made it vegan. The main difference between dumpling and gyoza is dumpling is made of wheat flour dough wrapper meat and/or vegetables and either steamed, pan fried, deep fried or boiled. White gyoza is a thinner dumpling wrapper and more finely chopped stuffing and most commonly pan fried to create a wonderful crispy texture with unique flavors.

Here I have used simple stuffing with cabbage, carrot, soy granules , ginger, garlic and basic spices. I have pan fried it to create a crunchy texture but you can simply steamed it and enjoy it too. 

Ingredients : 

2 cups of finely chopped or grated green cabbage

1 carrot grated

1/2 cup soaked and squeezed  soy granules

1 tsp. salt 

1 clove garlic chopped

2 tsp grated ginger

1 tsp sesame oil

pinch of black pepper

20 gyoza wrapper

for dipping sauce

2 tbsp. white miso

1 tbsp. soy sauce

2 tbsp. rice vinegar

1 tbsp. chili oil

Method : 

Mix grated cabbage and salt in a bowl and let it sit for 10 minutes to release the cabbage moisture. 

After 10 minutes, squeeze out water from cabbage either with hand or with clean kitchen towel. Place it back in bowl along with rest of the ingredients. 

Mix stuffing mixture well except wrapper. 

Take one gyoza wrapper on your palm, slightly wet the edge with water. 

Place 2 to 3 tsp filling in the middle, fold as a half moon shape and tightly seal it. You can make what ever design or shape you want it. I kept it simple. 

Make all till either your ran out with wrapper or with stuffing. 

After that if you are steaming it, heat a steamer with water in it and place the gyoza on steaming tray and steam it for 10 minutes. 

For pan fried version , heat a 8 inch skillet over medium heat , add cooking oil to cover bottom of skillet. Place 6-8  gyoza depend upon the space. Quickly mix 2/3 cup f cold water and 2 tsp all-purpose flour in a bowl and pour into skillet. 

Cover immediately and let it cook until its fully cooked and most of the moisture is gone , it will take 5 to 6 minutes. 

While gyoza is cooking, make the dipping sauce by mixing all ingredients or you can make your favorite sauce. 

Carefully place gyoza on a plate and serve with dipping sauce and I had it along with miso soup with tofu and broccoli.  

Puerto Rican Tostones (Fried Plantains)

Tostones are a very famous Latin American and Carribean side dish, It made from raw Plantains which others knowns as raw bananas. tostones are the word derived from the Spanish word that means "to toast:. The term is also used for 50 cent coin in "Honduras". The origin of the dish is quite mystifying as some belief it a dish from Latin American where some take it as a Caribbean dish. Whatever the origins its a double-fried plantain that goes perfectly for any side or snack.

Unlike the yellow ripe bananas that are eaten raw, plantains are made for cooking and can be steamed, boiled, grilled, fried or baked. When green plantains are twice-fried, they are called Tostones, when the sweet plantains are fried only once they are called Maduros. We will share that recipe shortly.

Cooked plantains are nutritionally very similar to a potato, calorie-wise, but contain more of some vitamins and minerals. They are a rich source of fiber, vitamins A, C and B-6, and the minerals magnesium and potassium.

To peel off the skin, first cut the plantains in 1 inches circle and then take out the skin.




Ingredients : 

2 raw Plantains
1/4 cup oil
Sea salt to taste

Chipotle sauce for dipping

Method:

Cut the plantains in 1-inch thickness, take out the skin.







Heat the oil in a deep frying pan.

When the oil is hot, add few plantains and fry till golden brown. Take out on a paper towel.

Finish with all plantains.


Take a wooden spoon, from the back of the spoon, take out plantain and press it and make it flatten.

Fry all the flattened plantains, till its golden.

Take it out and sprinkle with sea salt and enjoy with chipotle sauce.

Mix mayo and chipotle and make a sauce, or with any favorite sauce of yours.

Easy Vegetarian Laksa Soup

I was eyeing on this so long and I knew it that this will be going to become my favorite soup and it is now. It has simple ingredients but bold flavors. You don't have to go to the trouble to make laksa paste from scratch. Just take your favorite Thai red curry, add broth, coconut milk, empty fridge with whatever vegetables you have and voila, Laska soup is ready to serve. It's perfect for fall evening to have this bowl of soup for dinner but you can have it for lunch also. This soup belongs to Singapore, so if you are on that side of the world, you are lucky but for people like us we have to make it at home. You can use any toppings, bean sprouts, lettuce, cabbage. If you can find vegan fish sauce, add it, it will give nice zest.



Ingredients : 

6 tbsp Red curry paste
2 cups vegetable broth
1 tbsp oil
1 cup light coconut milk
1 tsp curry powder
salt as per taste
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp Sambal Olek
1/2 cup tofu chopped in small cubes
1/4 cup red cabbage
1/4 cup broccoli
6-7 white mushroom chopped
3 cloves of garlic chopped finely
1 and a half cup of rice noodles boiled
1 A large egg boiled and cut in half
1/4 lemon wedge
Cilantro leaves
Vegan Fish sauce -optional for serving on top

Method : 

In a saucepan, on low heat, add oil and red curry paste and garlic.

Stir well and cook the paste for 10 minutes until paste changed the color.

Add 1/4 cup broth and dissolve curry paste.

Add remaining stock, coconut milk, curry powder, salt, sugar, sambal oelek, all the vegetables.

Stire and bring to a boil, lower the heat and cover and cook for 10 minutes.

On the side, boil the noodles and egg and keep it aside.


In a serving bowl, first, have half of the noodles, pour the broth mixture on it and top it with lettuce, egg, cilantro, and lime wedge and serve immediately.



If you have vegan fish sauce, sprinkle it.

Believe me, it will be your house's favorite noodle soup.

Aloo Bhaja , Baigan Bhaja and Spring Onion Pulav - Book Review

This is a very interesting post. It's about book review by fellow blogger  Rinku Bhattacharya who blogs at Spice Chronicles. She has few books already published and when she got this one out, The Bengali Five Spice Chronicles, she asked me if I can review her book and I was always fascinated by Bengali cuisine, well who is not, who can say no to Spongy rosogulla or  soft sondesh. And everyone loved their Bhaja so I grabbed that opportunity and here I am. There are a lot of vegetarian options and I was so confused about what to make and finally, I decide to do three dishes which can be served as a diner.

I made Aloo Bhaja ( means fried Potatoes) Bhaja means fried, Fried Eggplant and  Spring onion pulav. In her book, she explains everything in details so you can understand the history and culture of Bengali cuisine too. I know about bhaja but the spring onion pulav was something new for me. I was little hesitant to make that not knowing how it will turn out but the flavor was amazing. You never know that garam masala and other spices go this well together. In the future, I will prepare a few more dishes from this book that's for sure. In these recipes, you have to use mustard oil for the authentic taste.



Ingredients for Aloo Bhaja

2 large potatoes
1/2 Tsp Turmeric
Oil for deep frying or shallow frying, whatever you choose, I did shallow fry.
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tbsp Rice flour - it is not in the book but I like the crispness of the flour and masala don't get burnt.

Method:

Peel the potatoes and cut in half and then cut into thin matchstick sizes.

Wash thoroughly in plenty of water. Dry the potatoes. and rub them in salt, pepper and turmeric and rice flour mixture.

Heat some oil in a pan. Fry the potatoes till they are done and make sure it's not burnt.

Ingredients for Bhaigan Bhaja (Eggplant Fry)

4 Medium eggplant
1 Tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp salt or as per taste
1 tbsp Rice flour
Mustard oil for deep/shallow fry

Method :

Cut the eggplant into rings.  Roll them into masala.

Heat oil in a pan, add eggplant in the oil and fry for about 2 minutes on each side. Don't overcrowd the pan, finish eggplants in batches.

When it's done, take it out on paper towels to remove excess oil.

Spring onion Pulav - Ingredients : 


1 tbsp. Ghee
1 cup chopped spring onions
1 cup of rice
1 tsp garam masala
2 or 3 whole bay leaves
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar


Method : 

Heat the ghee in a pan, add the onion and cook till its soft.

Add the garam masala, bay leaves, turmeric, salt, sugar, rice.

Mix it nicely. add enough water to cook the rice.

Bring to a boil and then cook covered on low heat for 20 minutes.

Shut off the heat and let this rest for 5 minutes and then fluff with a fork.

Serve hot with any curry dish but I made a meal out of my bhaja.

Her book