Home made Snapper fish and chips in Tambura batter

For the batter 

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt (substitute sugar for sweet batter)

1 cup water (substitute beer or whole milk as desired)

Paprika, to taste (optional)

Black pepper, to taste (optional)

Method 

Place about a cup of ice water in a medium-sized mixing bowl.

Stir in one large egg. Remove the egg from the refrigerator just before adding, as the egg should be well-chilled.

Stir 3/4 cup of flour and 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda into the egg mixture.

Mix the batter lightly and don't worry about a few small lumps of unmixed flour. Too much mixing will result in doughy, non-crispy tempura.

Keep the tempura batter in the refrigerator while you prepare the foods for frying.

Prepare the foods for frying in the tempura batter ahead of time. If you are making fish tempura, wash and debone the fish, then cut the fish into small chunks. If you are using shrimp in your tempura, the shrimp should be de-veined.

Use the freshest, firmest vegetables you can find to make vegetable tempura. Wash the vegetables thoroughly.

Cut the vegetables into chunks. Avoid soft vegetables, as soft vegetables will become soggy when the vegetables are deep-fried.

Place 2 to 3 inches of cooking oil in a heavy frying pan. You can use nearly any type of oil, including canola, safflower, corn or peanut oil. However, avoid olive oil, which will alter the flavor of the tempura. If you are using a deep fat fryer, fill the fryer to the level recommended by the manufacturer.

Heat the oil to 350 degrees. If you don't have a thermometer, heat the oil then drop about a pea-sized bit of batter into the oil. If the oil is hot enough, the batter will drop to the bottom before it sizzles and bounces quickly to the top of the oil.

For the Fish 

4 Snapper fillets cup of flour 

Salt and pepper

Method 

Wash fish and pat dry with pepper towel. 

Sprinkle salt and pepper over the fish and coat  fish fillets in flour and then in the tempura batter, then place the food in the hot oil.

Turn each piece once so the food cooks evenly on both sides.

Cook the tempura until the batter is golden brown.

Remove the fried tempura with tongs, then place on a layer of folded paper towels.

For the Chips 

How to make crispy potato fries

Introduction

The secret to tasty, successful fries located in two places.

The first is the potato has the right balance of starch and moisture, which unfortunately we can not always control.

The other is the double cooking. The potatoes fried want first low temperature to soften and then to high for crispy exterior.

Cut the potatoes into sticks 10x1x1ek. and place in water.

Rinse, letting the water run for a while.

At this stage the can be preserved in the refrigerator for several hours.

Place the oil in a saucepan and bring to a temperature of 150 ° C.

Drain and pat dry the potatoes well and add the oil.

Attention to the quantity, is not too great. The potatoes should be free swimming in oil without crowding.

Stir occasionally carefully.

Fry until soft and well-being at the limit to begin to dissipate.

This is the hardest part, but as the surface breaks indentation where the oil enters the second stage of frying, and this results in extra crisp surface and special taste.

Drain potatoes, pat dry on paper and salt them lightly with fine salt while still hot.

At this stage we can preserve at room temperature for a few hours or in the refrigerator during the summer months.

Raises the temperature of the oil at 180-190 ° C and fry the potatoes until they get golden colour and crispy.

Here again attention to the amount! Not too many that flooded the pot and boil nor burn so few!

Drain, pat dry on paper, salted with coarse salt and sprinkle top with oregano.

Garlic Dip

Ingredients 

4 large potatoes

3-6 cloves garlic (depending on preference)

1 lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

olive oil as much as needed or about 1 cup

Method 

Clean the potatoes and boil in a little water.

Peel the cloves and put them in multi along with salt and half lemon juice.

Then mash if not garlic is not all minced do not worry.

Continue pouring in to the multi 1 potato and 3 tablespoons water from the boiled potatoes and a oil mash pour the mixture into the bowl and drop, the remaining potatoes one by one in the same manner.

If the penultimate potato mixture is very loose melt the last potatoe only with oil and add to the mixture. 

Taste And add lemon or oil based.

If your mix is ​​more fluid than that like you wait a while to cool and the garlic dip then you will see that it has tightened.

If you serve it with fried cod:

Boil a piece of cod with potatoes and use the broth it to melt potatoes. Garlic dip is also perfect with steamed greens.

Htapothi Stifatho: Octopus & Onion Stew

 

Ingredients:

4 1/2 pounds of octopus, fresh or frozen (defrosted)

1 1/4 pounds of whole boiler onions, peeled (or medium onions, cut in strips)

2 1/2 cups pulped fresh tomatoes (or canned chopped stewed tomatoes)

1 clove of garlic, minced

7/8 cup of olive oil

1 cup of water

1 tablespoon of good quality red wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper

3 bay leaves

Preparation:

A note about octopus: Octopus loses a lot of its volume during cooking, so expect that the finished dish will look like quite a bit less than the original quantity.

If the octopus has not been cleaned: Under running water, remove and discard the ink sac, stomach, and eyes from the large head cavity. Remove the beak, at the bottom of the head where it joins the tentacles, with a sharp knife. (Squeamish? Wear rubber gloves.)

Place the whole octopus in a pot with enough boiling water to to cover generously. When it resumes boiling, cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and drain. When cool enough to handle, rub the octopus with your hands under running water to remove the dark outer membrane. This comes off fairly easily, and if it doesn't all come off, that's all right. Cut octopus into small (1/2 to 1 inch) pieces.

In a large pot, bring the olive oil to medium heat and sauté the onions and octopus for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the water and continue to cook for 5 minutes more, stirring to make sure the onions aren't sticking to the bottom.

Add the tomato pulp and garlic, bring to a low boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered for 35-40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the vinegar, pepper, and bay leaves, stir well, and let cook for another minute. Remove from the heat at allow to sit 10 minutes before serving.

Alternative: Htapothi Krasato (Stewed with wine)

Reduce water by half and add 1/2 cup of dry red wine and a stick of cinnamon with the tomato pulp.

Tsaziki Yoghurt dip

2 large Lebanese cucumbers, trimmed, coarsely grated

5 garlic cloves, crushed more or less according to your taste

3 cup (750g) natural Greek yoghurt

1/2 cup finely shredded dill 

3tbs virgin olive oil

Juice of ½ lemons

Salt & coarse black Pepper

To make the tzatziki, Line a colander with a large chucks or cheese cloth, empty all yoghurt in to the chucks and tie ends in a knot then place a deep plate under colander so liquid stays in and not make a mess in the refrigerator, (The trick for making a creamy tzatziki is to drain as much liquid from yogurt and cucumber.) then place the colander in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours to get all the liquid out of yogurt. (Good idea is to strain yogurt it in the evening and put together in the morning or after work.)  Straining helps yoghurt to get creamy. 

       To grate Cucumber:  Wash the cucumber under running water and scrub with a cloth. (Do not peel) Grate whole on a coarse grater. After it has been crated also line a colander or any other utensil with holes with the chucks the same as the yoghurt. Place all the grated cucumber and tie all corners of the cloth and squeeze use your hands to squeeze as much liquid from the cucumber as possible.  When you feel that it looks like most of the liquid has been removed from yogurt and grated cucumber place both cucumber and yogurt  in a medium bowl add the garlic, virgin olive oil , lemon juice, ( The lemon juice will help the yogurt to set.) and the fresh dill. Stir until combined. Taste and season with salt and pepper as required. You can add more garlic or add less. Place in a container with a lid and keep in the coldest part of the fridge. It will keep for at least a week.

 KALI OREXI! 

Enjoy

 Fay