Cajon Potatoes ala Barbeque Nation

During last summer holidays, we went back for a home trip for almost a month and during that time we made a quick trip to Chennai for a week.  While we were in Chennai we went to Barbeque Nation for lunch and they served this amazing potato salad that I loved so much and so did my youngest. I tried googling for the recipe and finally after a few months I came across this recipe which is apparently from a chef at Barbeque Nation! Thank you so much Chef, because with this recipe, I can finally make this potato salad that my son enjoys. Even my husband who dislikes potatoes, likes this recipe. I guess it is called Cajun Potatoes.

Ingredients

1 lb baby potatoes, washed and parboiled (just boil baby potatoes for about 5 mins and drain)
vegetable oil for deep frying.

for the cajun dressing:

original recipe calls for
1/4 cup of thousand island dressing
1/2 tsp of chilly powder
1/2 tsp of chaat masala
1 small shallot chopped

my version (tweaked as usual)
1/4 cup vegan mayo (I used Hampton Creek's vegan mayo - this is Gods answer to my prayers for a perfect vegan mayo
1 tablespoon of tomato ketchup
1 tsp of sriracha sauce
1 tsp chilly powder
1 tsp chaat masala
1 small shallot chopped

1 tablespoon of brown sugar

1/2 tsp of lime juice

Directions:

1. Prepare the sauce. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl and leave it the fridge for about 1 hour or more since we want a cold dressing.
2. In  a deep pan heat some vegetable oil. When the oil is hot, deep fry the potatoes until they are crispy.
5. Add the hot crispy potatoes into the cold sajun dressing and serve.

Note.
1. Prepare the dressing in well and keep it in the fridge.
2. Deep fry the potatoes when you are ready to serve the food.
3. Adding the hot potatoes into the cold dressing helps to keep the potatoes crispy.

My husband and sons said that my version was better than the one they had at Barbeque Nation! :)

Boondhi Laddoo

When I went back to home for summer holidays, I asked my mom is she was still having any use for the boondhi maker. She said that she had no use for it, in fact she was so happy that she could give it to me. Now that I have the boondhi maker, I tried to make some boondhi laddoos since it is one of Mav's favorite and also mine ;).  I using the recipe from Bhavna's kitchen with some slight addition. I like my laddoos with some cumin and black pepper. I used to buy laddoos from a punjabi lady back home at she used to sell these laddoos with melon seeds, cumin and black pepper. I remember now that I ordered laddoos from this lady for my brother's wedding too.

Ingredients

1 cup of besan or chickpea flour
1/2 cup or more water
2 teaspoons melted ghee
1 teaspoon cardamom powder
1 tablespoon melon seeds, slightly dry roasted
1 tablespoon pistachio nuts, chopped
some black pepper and cumin (optional)

for the sugar syrup

1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of water or just enough to cover the surface of the water

Directions

1. Mix besan with ghee in a bow. Gradually add with water until you get a thick pouring consistency.
2. Leave the besan batter aside.
3. Next prepare the sugar syrup. Boil sugar and water until you get a one thread consistency or if you measure it with a sugar thermometer, it should read anywhere between 220º F - 222º F.  Please refer to my post on sugar syrup consistency for indian desserts here.
4. Remove the sugar syrup from the leave it aside.
5. Next heat a pan with cooking oil under medium heat.
6. With the boondhi maker over the hot oil, pour the besan batter into the boondhi maker and gently  shake the boondhi maker. Make sure that the boodhi maker is just above the hot oil. Fry the boondhi and drain them on a kitchen towel. Continue this step with the remaining mixture.
7. Add the fried boondhis to the hot sugar syrup. Add cardamom powder, melon seeds and pistachio nuts. You can also add the black pepper and cumin if using.
8. Leave the boondhis to soak in the syrup for about 20 - 30 minutes. Once the boondhis are warm enough to handle, grease hands with some ghee and shape the boondhis into small balls. 

Note. I had a hard time trying to shape the boondhis, so I roughly shaped the boondhis and then I wrapped the laddoos in a greased plastic sheet and shaped them into smoother balls.

Sugar Syrup Consistency for Indian Sweets and Desserts

Sometimes, well most of the time I have a difficult time getting the right consistency for sugar syrup when making Indian sweets. I used to fail so often that I decided to get a sugar thermometer. I also a found a website that showed the different sugar syrup stages in Indian desserts with the equivalent temperature in Fahrenheit. I have not failed after using this table.

Temperature Sugar  Density Candy Making Stage Tar Stage  Application 212º F 0% Water boiling point 220º F - 222º F 70% Pearl Single Thread Absorption 235º F - 240º F 85% Softball Two thread Fudge, Gajak 242º F - 248º F 87% Firm ball 250º F - 268º F 92% Hard ball Three thread Icing  270º F - 290º F 95% Soft Crack Brittle, Chikki 300º F - 310º F 99% Hard Crack 320º F 100% Melting point Caramelize 350º F 100% Burnt