Pakora's

Recipe from Step by step Indian Cooking;

1 large potato ( I usually use a few- some yams and some white potatoes)
1 small cauliflower
1 red pepper
2-5 cabbage, spinach or Kale leaves
1 medium onion ( I use red onion)
2 teaspoons garam masala
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 1/2 cups besan (chick pea flour)
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon lemon juice
vegetable oil for frying

Kale from our winter garden

Method;
1)Peel and Boil potatoes - chop finely
2)Finley chop cauliflower, pepper, onion, shred cabbage
3)Make a creamy batter with remaining ingredients and cold water
4)Add the vegetables and mix evenly
5)Heat oil - drop tablespoonful of mixture into oil - fry until golden brown
6)Remove to a rack with absorbent paper on it. ( I use newspaper)
7)Serve hot with sweet mango chutney or tamarind sauce
Yield;  about 4 dozen depending on size

These freeze beautifully and make great appetizers or snacks anytime!

Perogies!

Perogies

This is a family favourite. The basic perogy recipe has very few ingredients
You can customise your own recipe
Anything you like on a potato would be good in a perogy.
The basic recipe is as follows;
Dough
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tea spoon (ts) salt
2 Table Spoon (Tbs) sour cream *can be substituted with plain yogurt, or water
1 egg room temperature
1/2 cup warm water
Method;
Measure dry ingredients in one bowl
beat egg and add to flour mixture that is made into a well.
Add water and sour cream
mix with your hands until thoroughly mixed into dough
let dough rest for 1/2 hour

Wash, peel, dice and boil four or five large potatoes * Russets are my favourite for this recipe
add salt to the cooking water, about 1/2 teaspoon
drain - reserve the water you boiled the potatoes in to use when mashing
mash potatoes as you would normally. Add salt and pepper, butter or margarine to taste
be sure to taste the potatoes.

At this point you can add anything you like to your potatoes
We like onions, veggie bacon and, cheese

For this part you will need

1/4 c flour
pinch of salt
cooking oil

frying pan
large pot to boil water
spatula
large slotted spoon
cookie sheets or large plates to put perogies on during assembly

fill pot with water and set to boil
roll out dough about 1/4 at a time onto a floured cutting board or clean counter.

use a cookie cutter or even a glass as I do to make rounds out of the dough.
once you have a bunch of rounds cut out - about 12 or so,
fill them with potatoes, half of the circle full
fold dough over itself and seal with a fork to be sure it is sealed, sometimes adding a little water will help if you are having trouble getting them to stick together
**put in boiling water - use a slotted spoon or have an adult help with this part
cook until the perogies rise to the surface
remove with slotted spoon and set to cool on plates. You can freeze them now or if you want to eat them right away fry in vegetable oil until crisp.

Yields approximately 4 dozen medium size perogies