Random FOOD Thread ---/ What did you eat today?/ What did you make today?

[neelu]

Shame we can't do the 'apna' business thing. I have so many ideas for things that could work nicely as a business or product idea, but just no physical or cognitive strength to follow through with making it happen outside the context of my imagination.

neelu

that is hilarious about your relatives associating bland food with being unwell because it's similar to us or when I don't feel like eating Bengali food
I don't know why I'm not like other south Asians that are born and bred in the UK makes me feel a little sad.
I'm too much of an energy deprived slacker to use that APNA Khana for business purposes or other things, it's just not gonna happen, my ambitions are dead

Most of the time when I feel dizzy I talk about it here so Alhamdullilah it's not too often. I have a feeling it is the iron because I no longer take any iron supplements and I need to find one that doesn't make me ill

The thing about iron supplements from the pharmacy (they used to make me too constipated for a couple of months, then dr would say I'm no longer anemic, then I'd stop taking them and become anemic again- vicious cycle of bad gut, anemia etc) is that I think they give too high a dose at once so that the iron levels go up quickly within a couple of months and in the meantime it causes other side effects. The other problem about drs tests for anemia is that they only treat it if it's at a really rock bottom level, then they supplement for two months and the next test will be just above rock bottom level and the dr will say "your iron levels are in the normal range so you don't need supplements anymore". This is the wrong way of looking at it and in fact taking low dose iron after that (either through diet, supplementation or a combination of both) can help prevent you becoming anemic again.

Drs also don't pay attention to the fact that perhaps your iron is low because if like me, you're gluten intolerant then the gluten prevents the body from absorbing nutrients effectively so you try to eat a 'balanced diet' but still feel lethargic and not properly nourished. It could also be why you feel the need for rice and salan as opposed to other things (then again, one of my friends said some people can develop a rice intolerance as well though I've never come across that myself).

My guess is that you'd be better off without taking an iron supplement cos the dose is too high and the impact on your body is too strong- it's too much at once. If you take a good multimineral (took me a while to find a suitable one but I take one called Nutrient 950 by pure encapsulations), then it contains a bit of iron so it'll take longer for your body to build up the iron levels but it's at a low and manageable dose that's less likely to make you unwell and probably more likely to be absorbed in the gut properly.

[Mufti Cheesecake]

Ya'sin
Oh wow, ok that makes sense, that it was a way of preserving food. Oh ya I know Greggs, but don't think the meat is halal, and the meat pies are the only ones that interest me, so never tried their stuff. I used to go to this halal fish and chips shop and once tried their meat pies, its was ok but nothing special. I liked their fish and chips, but because of the economy they had to raise the price, used to be like £3.60 for fish and chips, now its like 7 or 8, so dont really go anymore.

Lemon tea or hot water with lemon usually shocks my system, because the sourness is strong.

[neelu]

Speaking of meat pies, years ago when I used to travel on the tube (London Underground), the main train stations used to sell pies. They had a halal label and the pastry contained a bit of turmeric so it was slightly yellow. It was basically a Jamaican pasty. It looked pretty good but I don't think I ever tried it. Has anyone tried those? Are they any good? I'd imagine they wont only be available in London so might interest you if you can find them.

Before giving up gluten, I used to make keema pastries and they were the most awesomely delicious thing I've ever made- I miss them sometimes. I learned to make pastry from scratch in school so home made pastry is even more yummy.

[Mufti Cheesecake]

Speaking of meat pies, years ago when I used to travel on the tube (London Underground), the main train stations used to sell pies. They had a halal label and the pastry contained a bit of turmeric so it was slightly yellow. It was basically a Jamaican pasty. It looked pretty good but I don't think I ever tried it. Has anyone tried those? Are they any good? I'd imagine they wont only be available in London so might interest you if you can find them.

Before giving up gluten, I used to make keema pastries and they were the most awesomely delicious thing I've ever made- I miss them sometimes. I learned to make pastry from scratch in school so home made pastry is even more yummy.

Oh jamaican pattys? love those. Used to bring them to school for lunch when I was a kid, got me popular with the black kids in my class because I'd share a bit with them. They're pretty popular in Canada, you can buy frozen halal ones in boxes in the groceries.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation made a documentary about a famous case in the 80s when a Jamaican restaurant in Toronto were selling them under the name "patty", but it wasn't a patty as defined by the meat inspection law, so there was a big dispute between the family restaurant and the government over the name, they ended up compromising and changing the name to "jamaican patty".

[Ya'sin]

Speaking of meat pies, years ago when I used to travel on the tube (London Underground), the main train stations used to sell pies. They had a halal label and the pastry contained a bit of turmeric so it was slightly yellow. It was basically a Jamaican pasty. It looked pretty good but I don't think I ever tried it. Has anyone tried those? Are they any good? I'd imagine they wont only be available in London so might interest you if you can find them.

Before giving up gluten, I used to make keema pastries and they were the most awesomely delicious thing I've ever made- I miss them sometimes. I learned to make pastry from scratch in school so home made pastry is even more yummy.

I've tried a few and didn't like it at all unfortunately
was disappointed because it looked good and I thought Jamaican food looks really delicious so had high expectations

I have made home made pasties before (with ready made sheets) my niece has asked some about the spinach and feta pasty
I think she wants me to make it because she's asked a few times, I just haven't had time or energy for it

I've never made pastry from scratch except once at school for cooking lessons for a apple crumble
It's time consuming and with my level of strength a bit hard

I've made naan bread which was easier

Gonna look into the mulit supplement

GP is an impossible mission just thinking about how unhelpful and useless they are is raising my blood pressure LOL

Trying to get an appointment a total headache

I know 100% they will tell me the same rinse and repeat which will drive me to more despair so it is mostly about me disciplining the type of nutrients I consume and managing stress

The gut issue is a really stressful one, I've read a few things and find it overwhelming, life changes are providing hard for me and it's slow

[Ya'sin]

Ya'sin
Oh wow, ok that makes sense, that it was a way of preserving food. Oh ya I know Greggs, but don't think the meat is halal, and the meat pies are the only ones that interest me, so never tried their stuff. I used to go to this halal fish and chips shop and once tried their meat pies, its was ok but nothing special. I liked their fish and chips, but because of the economy they had to raise the price, used to be like £3.60 for fish and chips, now its like 7 or 8, so dont really go anymore.

Lemon tea or hot water with lemon usually shocks my system, because the sourness is strong.

Yeh it's a rip off

The fish and chips I bought before was 9quid

But that delicious haddock so Daim good and oily
I don't like Gregg's either, only when I'm totally desperate and starving I'll get something vegetarian

Many many years ago their prawn baguette was good but they suddenly stopped making it

Also their cheese and onion pasty aswell as the Vegetable
one used to be alright but now it's just so bad, mostly potaotes

I don't really go there because of cross contamination etc

It's hard to find halal ones

[neelu]

I've tried a few and didn't like it at all unfortunately
was disappointed because it looked good and I thought Jamaican food looks really delicious so had high expectations

I have made home made pasties before (with ready made sheets) my niece has asked some about the spinach and feta pasty
I think she wants me to make it because she's asked a few times, I just haven't had time or energy for it

I've never made pastry from scratch except once at school for cooking lessons for a apple crumble
It's time consuming and with my level of strength a bit hard

I've made naan bread which was easier

Gonna look into the mulit supplement

GP is an impossible mission just thinking about how unhelpful and useless they are is raising my blood pressure LOL

Trying to get an appointment a total headache

I know 100% they will tell me the same rinse and repeat which will drive me to more despair so it is mostly about me disciplining the type of nutrients I consume and managing stress

The gut issue is a really stressful one, I've read a few things and find it overwhelming, life changes are providing hard for me and it's slow

I learned to make pastry in school as well so I would make my own shortcrust or ruff puff pastry at home. Everyone says you may as well buy puff pastry though I'd say avoid the 'jus roll' brand because it contains alcohol. Ruff puff (or puff pastry) is more buttery and tastes better for pasties (though they can be made with short crust as well which is the type of pastry used for apple pies or quiches). You're right it is a bit time consuming (especially gluten free pastry cos it's more fiddly) so I rarely make pastry now though it is delicious.

Yes I have made pastries that are filled with spinach and feta and it is DELICIOUS! I'd personally recommend lightly shallow frying some red onions until softened (not brown) and adding that to the spinach and feta. The key is to make sure the spinach isn't too soggy (eg if it's boiled then make sure the water is properly strained and squeezed out) and the filling isn't hot when it's placed inside the pastry. I do add a little bit of salt and pepper to the spinach and onion (if you follow the opinion that it's halal then a tiny bit of nutmeg is nice in this as well) so that the spinach isn't bland but not too much salt cos the feta is salty. It's fairly simple but I'm making it sound more complicated than it is.

Here's an easy trick I use: you can fill and shape the pastry and bake it in the oven the usual way or... I actually cook mine in the sandwich toaster so it looks like this (I cut it open so that you could see the filling but I'll also post a pic of a whole one that contained a different filling just to give an idea of the shape- these were home made gluten free pastries btw but I've used the sandwich toaster for wheatflour pastry and that works as well):

[Ya'sin]

neelu

I made it with caramellised onions too!

Makes a difference, I love onions and add it to most of my dishes including scrambled eggs.

I have made both rectangle and triangle shapes and we use the supermarket puff pastry because like you said, main brand has alcohol
people are usually shocked to find it is haram

That looks delicious 😋
I've made spinach and feta pasties before and everyone liked it, that's why my niece asking when I'll make it again

We just cook the spinach and wait for it to cool down in the colander

[neelu]

Oh, I forgot to add, sometimes I made the spinach feta pastry using spinach and sometimes I used blanched (ie boiled) nettles- both are good for this.

neelu

I made it with caramellised onions too!

Makes a difference, I love onions and add it to most of my dishes including scrambled eggs.

I have made both rectangle and triangle shapes and we use the supermarket puff pastry because like you said, main brand has alcohol
people are usually shocked to find it is haram

That looks delicious 😋
I've made spinach and feta pasties before and everyone liked it, that's why my niece asking when I'll make it again

We just cook the spinach and wait for it to cool down in the colander

When I first learned to make ruff puff pastry in my teens, I was taught two main recipes to use it for. One was eccles cakes (YUM!) and the other was called "Russian fish pie". To cut a long story short, we'd get one or two tins of sardines in tomato sauce and a couple of hard boiled eggs, cut the eggs and fill the pastry with that and the sardines and the tomato sauce (didi sometimes adds a little ketchup as well so the inside isn't too dry but that's optional) and bake that. We used to bake it as a big square of pastry but you could make it into triangles like I did with the spinach feta ones. I normally only like the taste of white fish such as cod or haddock and don't like any of the oily fish but in this recipe, I happen to like sardines. It's quite tasty.

I know perhaps I'm saying this due to a stereotype but it occurred to me that as you're Bengali and seem to like certain fish and seafood dishes, you might like that as well. If my skin didn't react so badly to fish and eggs, I'd love to make it again.

[Ya'sin]

Oh, I forgot to add, sometimes I made the spinach feta pastry using spinach and sometimes I used blanched (ie boiled) nettles- both are good for this.



When I first learned to make ruff puff pastry in my teens, I was taught two main recipes to use it for. One was eccles cakes (YUM!) and the other was called "Russian fish pie". To cut a long story short, we'd get one or two tins of sardines in tomato sauce and a couple of hard boiled eggs, cut the eggs and fill the pastry with that and the sardines and the tomato sauce (didi sometimes adds a little ketchup as well so the inside isn't too dry but that's optional) and bake that. We used to bake it as a big square of pastry but you could make it into triangles like I did with the spinach feta ones. I normally only like the taste of white fish such as cod or haddock and don't like any of the oily fish but in this recipe, I happen to like sardines. It's quite tasty.

I know perhaps I'm saying this due to a stereotype but it occurred to me that as you're Bengali and seem to like certain fish and seafood dishes, you might like that as well. If my skin didn't react so badly to fish and eggs, I'd love to make it again.

Oh that sounds yummy
I'm going to try that one day, thanks for the idea, haven't brought puff pastry in a long time but my brothers like eating sardine sarnies so I think they will enjoy this too in Sha Allah

I love fish anyway, haddock and cod are one of my favourites and I know many people dislike the strong smell of mackerel but I enjoy that too

I once made normal fish pie and it was terrible, I covered it with foil while it was cooking in the oven and it released so much water, in the end all the flavours were diluted and it was ruined, we still managed to finish it, it didn't go to waste but it put me off from attempting another one

I can't remember if I have tried Eccles cake, I don't think I have hmm...I've seen and heard of it though

I wonder if there's any substitute for fish that won't create an allergic reaction

[Ya'sin]

A family friend made spring rolls our of sardines, so it was like somasas and I enjoyed that
I don't think my mum was keen every time I hinted I would like to try that at home (as in make it myself).

[neelu]

A family friend made spring rolls our of sardines, so it was like somasas and I enjoyed that
I don't think my mum was keen every time I hinted I would like to try that at home (as in make it myself).

I think oily fish would work better in puff pastry (though I've never liked mackerel so never tried it with that). I think salmon en croute is also made with salmon and puff pastry which looks nice though i've never tried it.

Maybe your mum is used to spring roll pastry being used for certain things like spring rolls and samosas. I've never seen fish fillings for either and would find that a bit odd. A bit like the other day, my dad made chicken pakoras. They didn't taste bad but our whole lives we've eaten the potato and onion ones and enjoy them the most that it was kinda odd. Some people are adventurous eaters and some find adding a change/twist too far outside their comfort zone.

Then again, some cultures really are adding new changes and twists to things, like I've seen beetroot and coconut samosas on tv and also I think in the middle east sometimes samosas have sweet fillings. I'd imagine sweet samosas could work if filo pastry is used cos filo works so well in desserts like baklava, but with the traditional desi home made pastry (the thicker type used to make namak paray), I can't imagine it working.

[MyUsernameIs...]

Ive seen online people using the ready made samosa/spring roll sheets to make sweet versions filled with chocolate, nutella, nuts etc

Ive not tried it, I'm not adventurous at all with food and wouldn't be able to get over the fact that Id feel like I should be eating a samosa

[Ya'sin]

I think oily fish would work better in puff pastry (though I've never liked mackerel so never tried it with that). I think salmon en croute is also made with salmon and puff pastry which looks nice though i've never tried it.

Maybe your mum is used to spring roll pastry being used for certain things like spring rolls and samosas. I've never seen fish fillings for either and would find that a bit odd. A bit like the other day, my dad made chicken pakoras. They didn't taste bad but our whole lives we've eaten the potato and onion ones and enjoy them the most that it was kinda odd. Some people are adventurous eaters and some find adding a change/twist too far outside their comfort zone.

Then again, some cultures really are adding new changes and twists to things, like I've seen beetroot and coconut samosas on tv and also I think in the middle east sometimes samosas have sweet fillings. I'd imagine sweet samosas could work if filo pastry is used cos filo works so well in desserts like baklava, but with the traditional desi home made pastry (the thicker type used to make namak paray), I can't imagine it working.

Did your sister mash the sardines with the eggs?

My mum has gone to bed early so I couldn't ask her if there's any of the pastry sheets left I got from Asda, I would have made it tomorrow
She is quite particular but I think it's also to do with a whole pan of oil getting spoilt and smelling of fish after frying the fish filled somasa.

Even though pastry sheets and spring rolls are different, they still have the same base so for me it's not an issue to try the fish.

You know what those recipes have been around for a while but the word has only spread now due to social media.

I remember Reza Ali showing on tv how to chocolate somosas when I was a kid at primary school, it stuck in my mind ever since and I used to mention it to my mum.

I still want to make it one day

We have a pastry snack filled with coconut cooked in syrup which then fried in oil

[neelu]

You're right, these unusual variations of traditional recipes have probably been around for years but I'm only recently hearing about them. I saw an Indian food programme where they were eating things like nutella paratha and a few other unusual variations as a Delhi street food.

I also saw a food programme in which a woman made spring rolls that were stuffed with moong dal halwa. I think that sounds nice cos halwa on its own is a bit sickly sweet but wrapped in pastry might be better. I've even thought of stuff (which I may have mentioned before) like whether a paratha could be stuffed with halwa or whether certain halwas could work as a pie filling cos if you think about it: pumpkin pie filling is quite similar to halwa as well.

Did your sister mash the sardines with the eggs?

My mum has gone to bed early so I couldn't ask her if there's any of the pastry sheets left I got from Asda, I would have made it tomorrow
She is quite particular but I think it's also to do with a whole pan of oil getting spoilt and smelling of fish after frying the fish filled somasa.

Even though pastry sheets and spring rolls are different, they still have the same base so for me it's not an issue to try the fish.

You know what those recipes have been around for a while but the word has only spread now due to social media.

I remember Reza Ali showing on tv how to chocolate somosas when I was a kid at primary school, it stuck in my mind ever since and I used to mention it to my mum.

I still want to make it one day

We have a pastry snack filled with coconut cooked in syrup which then fried in oil

No. The original recipe was to mash up the sardines in tomato sauce with a fork (you can add some seasoning and a little ketchup to it though it's not really necessary) and to halve the two boiled eggs, BUT I found that shaping the pastry with such big egg pieces is a bit tricky although the egg is very nice so I'd suggest maybe slicing the egg if you have an egg slicer (see image below) or just cutting the egg into 4 to 8 pieces.

egg slicer at DuckDuckGo