Meat Cutlets - Katlesi za nyama

This is another version of meat chops eaten in East africa. It is a snack and easy to make food you can find it at most restaurants or Migahawa.And it's commonly cooked in Ramadan, too. This chop is a mixture of cooked seasoned meat and mash potatoes. I have previously posted another version with the meat in the middle. In this recipe I used potatoes you can always substitute it with potato granules.

Ingredients
Meat:
1.5 pound of ground beef /chicken
spices: 1 teaspoon of  each : cumin whole/powdered, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and any
other spice you like
¼ cinnamon powder
ginger,garlic, cilantro, bell pepper paste - 2 spoonfuls (I usually
blend them and store in the fridge).
1 medium onion - diced.
salt
1 teaspoon of oil/ cooking spray just to coat the pan
1-2 spoons of lemon juice
Optional: 1-2 teaspoons of crushed red pepper
8 medium potatoes, boiled and finely mashed.(Do not add water or butter)
¼ cup fresh cilantro or parsley finely chopped.
2 eggs,beaten
vege oil for frying
breadcrumbs for coating

Directions:
In a saucepan heat the oil and add the spices just want them to
create an aroma add the meat and ginger paste and let it brown. Add a little
water to make sure that the meat gets cooked thoroughly. Add the lemon juice and let all the liquids evaporate add the onions and chopped cilantro in and let cook for 5 minutes only. Put your meat aside and let it cool.

Once meat has cooled mix it with the mashed potatoes. You can taste for salt and add more salt or lemon juice or red chili flakes. Then take a fist of the mixture and shape it in an oval shape. Repeat this till you finish the mixture.

The final step
Beat 2 eggs, roll the cutless into breadcrumbs then dip each cutless in the egg wash and fry.Fry till are evenly brown. Drain on a paper towel. Best eaten as a snack or with a dip.

Notes:
1. Sometimes the mixture can be very soft and sticky... put it in the fridge for 30-40 minutes. Then make the shapes.
2. If you want to store in the freezer.. shape the cutlets then put them in a tray and freeze for 30-45 minutes. Then you can store them in Ziploc bags without fear of distorting the shape. I usually put 6-8 pieces in a bag and whenever I want to cook them, I defrost them on a plate lined with paper towelto absorb any water then I continue with the final step.

Croquette

Croquettes are small fried rolls usually containing mashed potatoes, minced meat ( beef, fish, chicken or turkey) soaked in eggs and encased in breadcrumbs. This is one of the common appetizers usually made during Ramadhan (Islamic holy month). They can be shaped into a cylinder or circular. In Kenya these are known as "CHOPS" and are usually sold at street sides.

• These will make 20-30 pieces.

What you need:

• Minced beef- 3Ib
• 2 medium sized onions diced
• I ts fresh ginger ground
• 1 ts garlic ground
• 1/4 ts turmeric powder
• 2 green chilly (serrano) ground
• 2 ts kashmiri chili powder
• 2 ts garam masala
• 1 ts coriander powder
• 1 1/2 Ib potatoes
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 eggs beaten
• breadcrumbs as needed

Directions:

• Cook the potatoes until very tender, mash them and keep aside
• Saute onions on medium high heat for about 2 minutes and add the spices
• Add the ground beef and cook until color changes, continue cooking until dry and allow the meat to brown slightly
• Mix the mashed potatoes with the meat mixture until everything comes together
• Shape the chops as desired- cylinder, circle or oval
• Dip each beef patty into the beaten eggs
• Coat the patties well with bread crumbs, one at a time
• Fry the patties, a couple at a time, and serve hot.

NB- can be served with salad, I also make dips..............Bon Apetite

Vitumbua- rice patties

Vitumbua is a breakfast dish in Tanzania you usually have it with a good cup of Chai (Tea in Kiswahili) while its still warm. Back home there are street vendors whom we call "Mama Ntilie" were people would buy them straight from her pan. Its made out of rice, cardamom , yeast and coconut. There is a special pan which has shallow holes 6-7 used to make vitumbua. I dont own the original vitumbua pan (larger in size) instead I have an appam pan . So, it makes smaller vitumbua a plus as it can serve as a snack.
A quick swahili lesson : Vi- signifies plural(>1 so its vitumbua), Ki- signifies 1 so its kitumbua- 1 rice pattie.

Ingredients: makes approx 30 small vitumbua.

1 cups finely ground rice flour
4 tablespoons plain flour (I use wholewheat)
1 packet of coconut milk powder
1 egg white
1/2 cup warm water
1 teaspoon yeast
1/4 cup sugar (You can add upto 1/2 cup, like mine less sweet)
1 teaspoon ground cardamom seeds

oil for frying (some people use vegetable ghee)

Directions.
Mix rice flour, plain flour, sugar, yeast, cardamom and the coconut powder then add the water slowly to form a thick paste.(You may need to add less or more water).
Cover and keep in a warm area (oven with the lamp on) for approx 45-60 minutes you see bubbles on the top and has atleast doubled in size. Some chefs advice to leave it overnight.
Give the batter a stirring.


Heat the appam pan, place a drop of oil in each pan, pour a teaspoonful of batter so that the pan is 3/4 full. Cook for 2-3 minutes (until it browns),flip the vitumbua.
Cook the other side and repeat until all the batter is finished.
Enjoy!!!!

This link does the honours in showing the traditional way!!! Thanks.

Easy meat chops- Cutless, Kutlesi za nyama

This is another of my quick recipes. The old fashion way is to boil
potatos and later mash them. I usually prepare beforehandthe meat filling
and store it in the fridge or freezer. The filling is the same as meat
for sambusa, so if you make in excess you can use it in this recipe.

this recipe makes 18-24 meat chops
Ingredients
Meat filling:
1.5 pound of ground beef /chicken
spices: cumin whole/powdered, blackpepper, cayenne pepper, and any
other spice you like
ginger,garlic, cilantro, bellpepper paste - 2 spoonfuls (I usually
blend them and store in the fridge).
1 medium onion - diced.
salt
1 teaspoon of oil/ cooking spray just to coat the pan
1-2 spoons of lemon juice
1/2 cup of water if necessary

Shell
8 cups of Idaho mashed potatoes flakes/ granules
2 eggs,beaten
vege oil for frying
Optional :breadcrumbs for coating

Directions:
The filling
In a saucepan heat the oil and add the spices just want them to
create an aroma add the meat and ginger paste and let it brown. Add a little
water to make sure that the meat gets cooked. Add the lemon juice and
once the meat is cooked add the onions in and let cook for 5 minutes
only. Put your meat aside and let it cool.

For the shell
As I said its a quick fix - 8 cups of Idaho mashed potatos. Prepare it without adding butter but hold on the water - I usually let it be in a dough like consistency easy to mold and add 1 teaspoon of the cilantro paste mixture and salt .
Now make 18-24 small balls from this potato dough.
Take one ball divide in half and put one half in the palm of your hand and
shape it like a circle/oval being more thinner in in the center. Take
1 ½ teaspoonful of the meat filling and put it in the center. Then
carefully shape the other half of the potato dough on top of it and
close it. The goal you want to acheive is have a filling of ground
meat in between a layer of mashed potatoes which is in a
circular/oval shape.(Inshallah next time I cook will attach a photo
to this page)
Continue the same till your done with all of the potato balls.

The final step
Beat 2 eggs thoroughly, dip each meatchop in the egg wash and fry or cover it in breadcrumbs then fry.Fry till are evenly brown. Drain on a paper towel. Best eaten as a snack or with a dip.


Another alternative: The Egg chop- Kutlesi za Mayai
You put a whole boiled egg in the center and then have it covered
with mash potatoes made into a perfect ball shape.dip into the egg
mixture and fry.
Bon apetite.

Banana Bread.

This is one of my favorite recipes.I came across the recipe online cant remember which website. And have since been using it.
I like the recipe because the bread is very moist. I usually cook it in a bundt pan.To cook it in a bread pan divide the ingredients by half except for the bananas.

Dry ingredients
1 cup of oats/bran
1 cup of all purpose flour (I like using wholewheat)
1/2 cup brown sugar
nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon,as well as cinnamon
baking powder 2 teaspoons
1/2 cup chopped dates(could use apricots), 1 cup pecans(I like adding walnuts & slivered almonds plus flaxseed).

wet ingredients
1/2 cup of vege oil
1/2 cup of milk
3 ripe bananas
2 egg whites (you can use whole eggs if you like)

Preheat the oven to 350 Farenheit

Mix the dry ingredients(excluding the nuts) in a big bowl. In a
separate bowl blend the wet ingredients until frothy. Slowly add the
wet mixture to bowl with dry ingrdients, try not to stir alot and
lastly add the dry nuts.

Pour the mixture in a greased bread pan and let it bake for 40 - 60
minutes. The bread is usually very moist tends to crack on the top,
to. Please test the center to see if its ready.
Once it cools down its ready to eat.

You can try to experiment with desiccated coconut and other nuts.
Mashallah it always comes out nice. Only thing which you should look
out for is the sugar levels-increase or decrease to your preference.
Enjoy with a cup of tea or as a snack. Like making it when I go on road trips.

Kadinbudu - Lady's thigh kofte

This is my favorite turkish kofte. I used the recipe from Binnur's turkish cookbook but made some slight changes. I always use ground chicken instead of beef & as I love spices when I saute the meat I add some curry powder, whole cumins, chilly powder & sumac. I usually like eating it as a snack with salad. And its great to pack for lunch at work. Afiyet olsun!!!