Potato Pancakes

Potato Pancakes

Potato pancakes are shallow-fried pancakes of grated or ground potato, flour and egg, often flavoured with grated onion or garlic and seasoning. Potato pancakes may be topped with a variety of condiments, ranging from the savoury (such as sour cream or cottage cheese) to the sweet (such as apple sauce or sugar), or they may be served  without any garnish. Potato pancakes are sometimes made from mashed potatoes to produce pancake-shaped croquettes.

Maybe I am doing a disservice by posting potato pancakes under Germany, in my trip “Around the World in 30 Days”, for they are associated with cuisines of many European and Middle East.

Potato pancakes are an old traditions in  Austrian ,  Belarusian ,  Czech,  German ,  Hungarian ,  Iranian,  Jewish , Yiddish,  Hebrew,  Latvian ,  Lithuanian , Luxembourg ,  Polish,  Russian,   Slovak ,  Ukrainian  and any other cuisines.  It is the national dish of Belarus.

In Swiss cuisine, the Rösti differs as it never contains egg or flour. It is a traditional favourite in southern Indiana during holiday festivities.

In the North-East of England (particularly County Durham), there is a popular dish known as tattie fish, because the pancake resembles a deep fried piece of fish. The pancake consists of flour, eggs, shredded potatoes and onions. You may add tomato or cheese to the mix. A form of potato pancake known as boxty is a popular traditional dish in most of Ireland. It is made in a similar way but using more starch. The British also brought the potato pancake to Zimbabwe, Africa when Zimbabwe was a colony of Britain. They are still eaten today too.

The Swedish version of unbound potato pancakes is called rårakor  When prepared with a batter of wheat flour, milk, egg, and shredded potatoes and fried like thin pancakes, they are called  raggmunk,  the word "ragg" means crispy and "munk" derives from the Swedish "munkpanna", which is literally translated as donutpan. Both kinds are enjoyed with fried pork and  lingonberry  jam.

 In Germany, potato pancakes are eaten either salty (as a side dish) or sweet with apple sauce, blueberries, sugar and cinnamon; they are a very common menu item during outdoor markets and festivals in colder seasons.

Lihapulla /Meatballs (sans the meat )Finnish way

For alphabet F I choose Finland!! Somehow it’s always fascinated me. Why because Santa lives here officially, yes really I am not kidding check it here. The land of midnight sun, northern lights, and saunas. I wish can live there…

I knew almost immediately I was making meatballs!!

Aw! Come-on you are on a vegetarian site and I have to live up to my reputation at home of being a mad scientist! The Mad Scientist is getting seriously eroded… so here is what happened.

For Egypt, yeah alphabet E I made stock for the Koshari  as the mixture was merrily boiling away my daughters came to the bedroom where I was busy on the laptop asking me what I was making? 

“It’s delicious Mamma, my mouth is watering. “ they had already investigated and Apeksha, my elder one was  asking, yes the elder one!! will wonders never cease, asked me to make something out of the boiled vegetable. It’s delicious and healthy!!!   Yeah unbelievable!! I know that’s why I said will wonder never cease!!! 

Now I have in the past made  spaghetti and vegetable balls and wanted to make these meatballs different! My reading on street food in Finland indicated that meatballs are street food!

I found this site here and  I made Finnish meatballs.

Kushari/Koshary/Kosheri/ Koshari~ Egyptian

Kushari, also koshary, kosheri or koshari

Have you as a child watched the 1956 make of the “The Ten Commandments?” 

My mother took me and my sister to watch this movie!!! And we were fascinated the visuals and the screenplay was something we had never witnessed before.

Cut to present my elder one was to participate in fancy dress and she was Cleopatra!!

We all love the pyramids … okay I passed on my fascination with Egypt to the kiddo and she to the younger one so the choice for E in the “Around the World in 30 Days” was natural “Egypt!”

Bajiyos /Djiboutian Fried Vegetables/ Aloo Pakora

 Bajiyos /Djiboutian Fried Vegetables/ Aloo Pakora

 Hi! Joining me again today in my foodie trip around the world in 30 days? 

Today let’s visit Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, it’s a country located in the Horn of Africa bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the Southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at the east.

Djibouti is a multi-ethnic nation with a population of over 810,000 inhabitants. The Somali and Afar make up the two largest ethnic groups. Both speak Afro-Asiatic languages, which serve as recognized national languages. Arabic and French constitute the country's two official languages. Islam is a predominant religion in the region.

According to Wikipedia, “Djiboutian cuisine consists of a mixture of Somali, Afar,  Ethiopian,  Yemeni and French cuisine, with some additional Asian influences. Local dishes are commonly prepared using a lot of Middle Eastern spices, ranging from saffron to cinnamon.

Spicy dishes come in many variations, from the traditional Fah-fah or "Soupe Djiboutienne" (spicy boiled beef) to the yetakelt wet (spicy mixed vegetable stew). Xalwo (halva) is a popular confection eaten during festive occasions, such as Eid celebrations or wedding receptions. After meals, homes are traditionally perfumed using incense (cuunsi) or  frankincense (lubaan), which is prepared inside an incense burner referred to as a dabqaad.”What caught my eye here was,

” Sambuusa, the Somali version of the triangular samosa snack, is commonly eaten throughout Djibouti during the afur (iftar). The local variant is spiced with hot green pepper, and the main ingredient is often ground goat meat or fish. Xalwo(pronounced "halwo") or halva is a popular confection served during special occasions, such as Eid celebrations or wedding receptions.

Garoobey is one of the staple dishes of Djibouti. Oats porridge, it is prepared by soaking oats in milk, and is flavoured with cumin or cumin powder. Bajiyos are a regular fixture at the table and in street shops, particularly when it is time to break the fast during Ramadan. They are part of the four essential elements of the Djiboutian afternoon tea. Fruits such as mango, guava (seytuun), banana (moos) are also eaten throughout the day as snacks.”

Sounds familiar does it not?

The variety of ingredients used to make the bajiyos or bhajiyas or pakoras is amazing. I was surprised to hear about making them with cucumber, and butternut squash. That is totally new to me.

I stuck to just potato, I know it’s totally out of character especially with a name like the Mad Scientist but there is limit to my families patience with my experiments!!!  I have been feeding them totally international and….

 Okay this was deep frying I would rather not do it. I kept postponing it till the last possible moment.

Bajiyos/ Djiboutian Fried Vegetables

Cuisine: Djiboutian

Recipe Source: partly from here 

Ingredients:

• 1 medium size potato
• 1 cup besan /gram flour
• 2 tbsp rice flour
• ½ tsp ajwain/ carom seeds
• ¼ tsp red chilli powder
• A pinch of hing/asafoetida
• ⅔ to ¾ cup water
• A pinch of baking soda (optional)
• Salt as needed

Method:

• Slice the potatoes thinly in rounds. Keep them in water till needed.
• Mix well the besan, rice flour, ajwain, red chilli powder, hing and soda  with water. Remember to use little water as more can be added if needed. The batter has to be thick.
• Check the seasoning and add more if required.
• Heat oil for frying in a kadhai/wok .
• Now transfer the potato slices, few at a time to a clean kitchen napkin so that the slices are not damp.
• Dip each potato slice in the batter and place it gently in hot oil.
• Add  5-6 potato slices each time.
• Fry  till golden and crisp.
• Drain on paper towels.
• Repeat with the rest of the slices.
• Serve with chutney or tomato sauce.

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