Week 32 - Moldova and Nepal

The plachyndy from Moldova was nice, mine did not have the cheese but the others did. Instead of using sorrel, I used spinach and we all enjoyed it. I did a light salad to go with it. The ones which looked as thought they had been over cooked actually tasted better, as the pastry was cooked throughout. So be brave, and let it cook!

The chicken tarkari from Nepal was lovely, I do not normally like putting yogurt in things, but I did and it worked a treat. I did rice to go with it and a roti, using the recipe from a previous country. We all really enjoyed this meal and as my husband said it would be one he would like again - if I can remember to do! The only thing they did not like was the fact I hadn't removed all the cardamom pods, so someone had a nasty surprise...

Chicken Tarkari

Ingredients:

2 lbs. chicken, black and white, skinned, boned, and cut into 1.5-in. cubes
2 cups onion, chopped
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
5 dried red chilies
1 bay leaf
4 green cardamom, bruised
1 cup yogurt
1 cup broth or water
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ginger, minced
1 teaspoon turmeric
4 tablespoons cooking oil
Salt and Pepper
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro for garnish

Cooking Instructions:

In a large bowl, season chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Heat oil and brown chicken. Reserve brown chicken in a plate. Drain excess oil.
In a non-stick sauce pan, heat oil. To the hot oil, add whole red chilies and bay leaf; fry for 30 sec. Add turmeric and chopped onion, and fry until brown. Put garlic and ginger into the onion mixture; fry for 30 sec. To this mixture, add cumin powder, curry powder, chili powder, bruised cardamom, salt and pepper; mix well for a minute or so. Transfer browned chicken pieces into the spice mixture; stir well. Add yogurt and broth to the chicken mixture; set heat to low and let simmer until chicken pieces are tender, and the sauce has thickened up to a desired consistency, about 35-45 min. When cooked, turn off the heat and add chopped cilantro to garnish. Serve hot with rice and roti (flat bread).
Source: http://www.explorenepal.com/recipes/polutry/chicken_tarkari.php

Plachyndy

Makes 4
250ml kefir or buttermilk
½ tbsp distilled vinegar
½ tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
300g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

For the filling
50g sorrel, finely chopped
4 spring onions, finely chopped
1 small bunch of dill, chopped (stalks and all)
1 small bunch of parsley, chopped
2 eggs, lightly beaten
4 tbsp sunflower oil, plus 100ml for frying

1 Add the kefir, vinegar, sugar and salt to a large bowl and mix well with a fork. Sift the flour with the soda into the kefir mixture and mix to obtain a soft and pillowy dough.

2 Heavily flour your work surface, tip out the dough and start kneading, incorporating more flour as needed. The dough should stop sticking to your hands, but it should also remain soft.

3 Mix the sorrel, spring onions, dill and parsley together, then stir through the eggs. You can gently heat this mixture in a pan to help the egg coagulate a little bit, so it’s not too runny when you put it on the pastry.

4 Divide the dough into four equal pieces and flour the surface really well. Roll out each piece of dough, one by one, into a 20cm disc.

5 Moisten the surface of the pastry with about 1 tbsp sunflower oil and spread equal quantities of the filling over the whole surface of each circle.

6 Now for each flatbread, fold opposite sides of the pastry to make a parcel. Then fold the parcels corners into the centre, creating a moneybag shape.

7 Make sure all of the edges are firmly pinched inside, flour the top lightly and gently flatten the moneybag with your rolling pin or with your hand.

8 Heat the remaining 100ml of sunflower oil in a pan until hot and gently lower in each flatbread, one after the other. The first one will take around 4 minutes per side but, as the oil heats up, the next ones will take around 3 minutes per side. You can also brush them with oil and cook them under your grill. The result will be a bit different, but still delicious.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jun/11/moldovan-recipes-plachyndy-flatbread-olia-hercules