A fresh start

 

Tired of preparing the same old starters for your house parties? Delve into things quintessentially Mediterranean or Oriental and surprise your guests with simple hors d’oeuvres that pack more than a punch of spice.

 

Tahina chicken skewers

 

ingredients

160 gm chicken supreme 

120 gm yogurt 

1 gm cumin seeds

3 gm salt

20 ml oil 

1 gm Kashmiri chilli 

10 gm red pepper 

1 gm coriander seeds

5 gm onion chopped

2 gm garlic, chopped

20 gm mayonnaise

 

Tahini paste (30 gm):

Tahini paste (30 gm)

1 cup white sesame seeds

2 tbsp olive oil

 

method

Tahini paste:

Lightly toast the sesame seeds over low heat for about ten minutes, stirring often.

Allow to cool off and then add them to a food processor along with a 2 tbsp of olive oil to start. You can also use a mortar and pestle. 

Pulse until a paste forms, scraping down sides as needed and adding more olive oil to reach a consistency you like.

Skewers:

Pound the spices — cumin seeds, coriander seeds, red pepper and chillis.

Make a marination with hung curd, Tahini paste, chopped garlic, onions and mixed spices. Marinate chicken supreme, skewer and grill. 

Served with mayo 

dip.

 

delightful cubes

 

ingredients

50 gm rice flour.

50 gm carrot 

50 gm white radish 

3 gm salt 

1 gm sugar 

30 ml sesame oil 

1 gm chilli flakes 

5 gm garlic 

20 gm spring onion

30 gm potato starch 

30 gm wheat starch 

 

method

Make mixture of rice flour, potato starch and wheat starch.

Heat oil, add all the vegetables, add water and thicken with mixture.

Set this mixture to cool. Once it has been firmed up, cut even cubes and deep fry them.

Sauté garlic, chilli flakes serve this with fried cubes

Garnish with spring onion.

 

— The writer is the 

head chef at 

Villa69, 

Juhu, Mumbai