Small, bite-sized, brimming with flavours, finger foods are what makes house parties and get-togethers memorable affairs. With people embracing the new normal of more and more house parties, rather than hitting the pub, making bite-size appetisers at home is the way to go.
Enjoy these finger-licking good recipes shared by food bloggers and let the party begin!
POTATO CHEESE FINGERS
Ingredients:
* Boiled potatoes: 6–7
* Eggs: 2
* Onions (chopped): 2
* Red chilli powder: 1½ tsp
* Salt: 1 tsp
* Garlic paste: 1 tsp
* Red chilli sauce: 1 tsp
* Green chilli sauce: 1 tsp
* Lemon juice: 1 tsp
* Coriander powder: 1 tsp
* Turmeric: ½ tsp
* Black pepper powder: ½ tsp
* Garam masala: ½ tsp
* Bread crumbs: 2 cups
* Maida: 2 tbsp
* Peas: As required
* Mozzarella cheese: As required
* Freshly chopped coriander: As required
Method of preparation:
1. Mash the boiled potatoes and add the salt, chilli powder, turmeric, black pepper powder, coriander powder, garam masala and garlic paste.
2. Add the red and green chilli sauce, lemon juice, peas, chopped onions and coriander. Mix it all well.
3. Make round patties and add 1 tsp mozzarella cheese in the middle. Now make it in the desired shape of fingers.
4. Dust the potato fingers in maida. Keep it aside & refrigerate them for 15 mins.
5. Whisk 2 eggs in a bowl with a pinch of salt and pepper.
6. Dip the potato fingers in egg mixture and then coat it with breadcrumbs.
7. Heat the oil in a pan and shallow fry the potato fingers on medium in batches, until it turns golden brown.
CRISPY CHICKEN FINGERS
Ingredients:
* Chicken stripes: 250 gm
* Egg: 1
* Salt: ½ tsp
* Ginger garlic paste: 1 tsp
* Red chilli powder: 1 tsp
* Chilli sauce: 1 tsp
* Soy sauce: 1 tsp
* Garlic powder: ½ tsp
* Ajinomoto salt: 1 pinch
* Bread crumbs: 1 cup
* Oil: for frying
Method of preparation:
1. Wash & and dry the chicken strips.
2. Marinate the chicken with salt, garlic paste, red chilli powder, garlic powder, chilli sauce, soy sauce, and Ajinomoto salt.
3. Add an egg, mix it well and refrigerate it for 15 minutes.
4. Evenly coat the chicken stripes in bread crumbs.
5. Heat the oil in a pan, deep fry the coated chicken for 3–4 minutes until it is cooked well and turns golden brown.
6. It is ready to serve with ketchup or your choice of mayonnaise.
— Recipies by Maseera Fatima (@maseerasfoodblog)
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MOZZARELLA STICKS
Ingredients:
* Block of whole-milk mozzarella cheese: 16 oz
* Eggs (large): 2
* Breadcrumbs: 2/3 cup
* Salt: as per taste
* Freshly ground black pepper
Method of preparation:
1. Cut the block of cheese into ½-inch sticks.
2. Place the eggs in a bowl with 1/8 tsp each salt and black pepper, and whisk to combine.
3. Place the breadcrumbs in a second bowl, and season with 1/8 tsp each salt and pepper.
4. Take each cheese stick and dip it into the egg, ensuring the excess drips off.
5. Then coat in the breadcrumbs, shake off the excess, and place on a plate. Repeat with the remaining cheese sticks.
6. Once each cheese stick has been breaded, take each one through the egg and breadcrumbs again for a second coating.
7. Place the mozzarella sticks in an airtight container and freeze for two hours.
8. Heat up the oven to 450 degrees F and bake the frozen breadstick for 10 minutes or fry in oil until golden brown. Serve with ketchup.
BASBOUSA
Ingredients:
For batter:
* Coarse semolina: 1 cup
* All-purpose flour/maida: ½ cup
* Dry coconut flakes (unsweetened): ½ cup
* Sugar: ¼ cup
* Eggs: 2
* Yogurt/curd/dahi: 4 tbsp
* Baking powder: 1 tsp
* Vegetable oil: ½ cup
* Vanilla essence: 1 tsp
For syrup:
* Sugar: ¾ cup in 1 cup water
Method of preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 400F/204C. Grease a pan with oil and set aside. Whisk the eggs and mix semolina, coconut flakes, sugar, all-purpose flour, yoghurt, oil, baking powder and vanilla essence.
2. Pour the batter into a greased pan and bake for 35–40 minutes. Check the texture by inserting a toothpick/fork. Top of the cake should come into a golden brown colour.
3. While the cake is baking, pour sugar and water into a saucepan and bring it to boil until the sugar dissolves.
4. Bring the sugar syrup to room temperature. (VERY IMPORTANT)
5. Precut the cake and make lines on it. Now pour the sugar syrup on top while the cake is still hot so it can absorb all through. Rest it for 3–4 hours at room temperature.
6. You can freeze the cake and eat it cold or you can eat it directly after 4 hours.
— Recipies by Suma & Sneha (@tastesthejoy)
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POTATO-VEGGIES CHEESY BITES
Ingredients:
* Sweet corn: 2 tbsp
* Cheese/paneer: 2 tbsp
* Onion, capsicum and carrot (each of finely chopped) and boiled peas: 2 tbsp (each)
* Salt: as per taste
* Chilli flakes, black pepper and mixed herbs: ½ tbsp each
* Mixed herbs: ½ tsp
* Butter: 1 tbsp
* Medium potatoes: 4
* Bread slices: 2
* Maida: 1 tbsp
* Breadcrumbs: 4 tsp
* Oil: to deep fry
Method of preparation:
1. Firstly, lightly sauté all the cut veggies in a pan.
2. As soon as it becomes a little cool, add two slices of bread to it and grind all of them together in the mixer and make a smooth paste.
3. Now add 1 spoon of salted butter, salt (according to your taste), chilli flakes, a pinch of black pepper and mixed herbs if you have. Mix it well.
4. After making this paste, keep it aside.
5. Now it’s time to prepare Atta or maida’s semi-liquid batter.
6. Take one tbsp of atta or maida (your choice). Mix it with 3 spoons of water.
7. Please remember, the paste should have a consistency like lassi.
8. Also keep the breadcrumbs ready in a different bowl.
9. Now it is time to make a small, yummy sizzler. Take one tbsp of that paste, roll it on the palm, and give it a round shape or a shape of your choice.
10. Dip it in the paste of atta or maida you have prepared. Roll it well in it.
11 Put the uncooked atta- or maida-coated sizzler in the breadcrumb bowl and let it be there for the next 10–12 seconds. Roll the sizzler from all sides. Repeat the same with other sizzler balls too.
12. Now it’s time to fry.
13. Set a wok on medium flame and start frying. Fry it till it turns dark golden yellow.
14. Your crispy, crunch bite sizzlers are ready to eat with sauce or our all-time favourite green chutney.
QUICK TIP: Don’t over-fry it; otherwise, it gives a burnt/roasted taste.
— Recipe by Shalini N (@foodfiesta_delight)
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LUQAIMAT
Luqaimat also known as Lokma is a bite-sized fried dough food introduced by the Arabs in the 13th century. A delicious and easy dessert, it’s the best to create when one wants to quickly satisfy one’s sugar cravings.
Ingredients:
Sugar syrup:
* Sugar: ½ cup
* Water: ¼ cup
* Cardamom: 1
Dough:
* All-purpose flour: 1 cup
* Water: ¾ cup
* Cornflour: 1 tbsp
* Yeast (instant dry): 1 tbsp
* Water: 3 tbsp
* Sugar: ½ tbsp
* Baking powder: ¼ tsp
* Oil: 1 tbsp
* Oil: for frying
* Sesame seeds: for topping/garnish
Method of preparation:
1. Add the sugar and yeast in 3 tbsp water. (We have used instant dry yeast so no need to wait until it blooms.)
2. Add flour in the same bowl along with baking powder and cornflour.
3. Add water ¼ cup at a time and keep mixing with a spatula; you are aiming for a sticky donut.
4. Add the oil and mix for combined wet dough.
5. Cover it and keep aside for l5 minutes.
6. Once the dough has doubled, transfer it to a piping bag with a round nozzle.
7. Heat the oil for frying in a deep vessel on slow flame. Next, pipe the dough balls from the piping bag cutting the dough using scissors dipped in oil. Cut tiny little balls that will triple in size once fried. (Note: If the dough is not tripling, then your oil is not hot enough.)
8. Meanwhile, prepare your sugar syrup in another vessel by mixing all the ingredients. Once mixed, turn the flame to slow and keep it ready for dipping the Luqaimat once fried.
9. As soon as the Luqaimat has tripled in size and has also turned golden on both sides, remove and immediately dip it in the sugar syrup. Toss it twice and transfer to another bowl.
10. Add some sesame seeds and toss it once again and transfer to a serving bowl.
11. Repeat the above steps for the entire dough while controlling the flame to make sure your oil is at the right temperature.
12. Finally serve warm and enjoy this Egyptian delicacy.
FIG & NUT COOKIES
Ingredients:
Filling:
* Dried figs: 100 gm
* Water: 1 cup
* Orange: ½ in juice and its zest
* Honey: ¼ cup
* Vanilla extract: 2 tsp
* Crushed walnuts: 50 gm
Dough:
* All-purpose flour: 1¾ cup
* Salt: ¼ tsp
* Cinnamon: ½ tsp
* Ground cloves: ¼ tsp
* Unsalted butter (softened at room temperature): 115 gm
* Vegetable shortening: 200 gm
* Brown sugar: ¼ cup
* Granulated sugar: ¼ cup
* Egg: 1
* Orange: ½ for its zest
* Lemon: ½ for its zest
* Milk: ¼ cup
* Vanilla extract: 1 tbsp
Glaze:
* Powdered sugar: 1½ cups
* Orange: 1 for its juice
Method of preparation:
1. In a saucepan, add all the ingredients for the filling except the nuts, on very low heat simmer for around 20 minutes, remove from the heat and allow it to cool for about an hour.
2. For the dough, in the bowl of a standing mixer, cream together the butter, shortening and both kinds of sugar for a couple minutes; then, add the vanilla, zests and egg and combine for another minute.
3. Add the flour, salt, cinnamon and cloves while slowly adding the milk and mix everything until incorporated; the dough will get very sticky at this point. Dump the sticky dough on a floured surface and pull it into a disk. Add flour if needed. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for an hour.
4. Once the dough is ready, add the fig mixture and nuts in blend puree until smooth (add a touch of orange juice if the mixture has thickened too much), add the mixture to a large resealable plastic wrap and set aside.
5. Divide the dough into 2 pieces; roll each piece on a floured surface nice and thin but not thin enough that it’s see-through, cut out four 4×12-inch strips, pipe out some of the filling in the centre of each one and fold starting from the left into thirds. Now, cut them into 2-inch pieces, place them on a parchment paper baking sheet and pop them in the freezer for 10 minutes.
6. While in the freezer, preheat your oven to 350 degrees, then place the cookies and bake for about 20 minutes or until the bottom edges are golden, allow them to cool completely on the baking sheet.
7. Make the glaze by whisking together the sugar and orange juice; while the glaze is wet, sprinkle the sprinkles on top so they stick. Allow the glaze to set.
— Recipes by Tasneem Banu and Abrar Mirza (@thefoodmemo)
