How about a family movie night – a super chilled evening where you all sit down together, feet up around the telly to binge on that box set you’ve been meaning to watch for ages.
Even if you’ve had supper, it’s still good to have some snackable snacks ready to nibble at intervals.
Depending on the theme of the film you could choose to have fun and stay on theme – one way or another, think about some easy to pass around, easy to nibble savoury treats with a few sweeties to round off the evening.
We must have popcorn, right? It’s super easy to make a huge pot of popcorn. If there are kids around, they’ll love to help and then you can keep some plain or do lots of riffs on the original.
How about caramel popcorn, toffee popcorn, sriracha spicy popcorn…(see Edible Christmas Column, 17th December 2022)
We also love cheese straws; they are a bit more filling than potato crisps but disappear just as fast. We’re loving these cacio e pepe crisps, but one or two dips are also a brilliant standby, a good guacamole with crunchy nachos is hard to beat, that’s if you can get a decent avocado – no easy task nowadays. There are still lots of beetroot around so a beetroot hummus could be good as is a basic silky hummus perked up with cumin.
Sticky, delicious chicken wings are always a winner, provide lots of napkins. If you want to go Asian, cook off a batch of pakoras – spicy vegetable fritters sold by street vendors all across the Indian subcontinent.
Samosas are also irresistible – little peaky pastries stuffed with a savoury filling, mostly though not always vegetarian.
Here is the version Madhur Jaffrey showed me years ago with spiced potatoes, sweet onions and peas but could be fish or chilli mince. They also come in different shapes depending on the region – triangles, cones or crescents…
Cookies or little morsels of brownies hit the sweet spot, particularly if it’s a tearjerker, why not make one of your favourite traybakes? So easy to cut into squares to pass around and so morish.
Here’s a few snacks to play with….
Madhur Jaffrey’s Samosas
Madhur made the pastry from scratch but one could use filo. Make sure the filling goes right into the corners.
Makes 16-24
1 packet of filo pastry
For the Filling
725g potatoes, boiled in their jackets and allowed to cool
4 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium sized onion, peeled and finely chopped
175g shelled peas, fresh or frozen (if frozen, defrost them first)
1 tbsp finely grated peeled fresh ginger
1 fresh hot green chilli, finely chopped
3 tbsp very finely chopped fresh green coriander
3 tbsp water
1 ½ tsp salt – or to taste
1 tsp ground coriander seeds
1 tsp garam masala, see recipe
1 tsp ground roasted cumin seeds
⅓ tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp lemon juice
vegetable oil for deep-frying
Make the stuffing.
Peel the potatoes and cut them into 5mm dice. Heat 4 tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan over a medium flame. When hot, put in the onions. Stir and fry them until they begin to turn brown at the edges. Add the peas, ginger, green chilli, fresh coriander, and 3 tablespoons of water. Cover, lower heat and simmer until the peas are cooked. Stir every now and then and add a little more water if the frying pan seems to dry out.
Add the diced potatoes, salt, coriander, garam masala, roasted cumin, cayenne and lemon juice. Stir to mix. Cook on a low heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring gently as you do so. Check the balance of salt and lemon juice. You may want more of both. Turn off the heat and allow the mixture to cool.
Cut a sheet of filo into 10cm strips lengthways. Put the strips on top of each other. Brush the top one with melted butter. Put a heaped dessert spoon of chosen filling at the front edge. Wrap the pastry around and then fold over and over into a triangle, seal the edge with melted butter. Repeat with the others until all the filling is used up.
Heat about 4-5cm of oil for deep-frying over a medium-low flame. You may use a small, deep frying pan for this. When the oil is medium hot, put in as many samosas as the pan will hold in a single layer. Fry slowly, turning the samosas frequently until they are golden brown and crisp. Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.
Cacio e Pepe Crisps
Try this combo for your next movie night.
Cacio e Pepe is one of my absolute favourite pastas, but the flavour combination works on lots of other things – polenta, cauliflower florets…My latest obsession is to have it on crisps.
125g olive oil potato crisps (e.g. Torres)
40g Pecorino, finely grated or Parmesan
1 tbsp coarsely cracked black pepper
Preheat the oven to 220°C/Gas Mark 7.
Spread the potato crisps out in a single layer on a baking tray. Sprinkle half the cheese evenly over the crisps.
Bake until the cheese is melted, and the crisps are just beginning to brown at the edges – 4 minutes approximately.
Remove from the oven, sprinkle with the remaining cheese and freshly cracked pepper. Allow to cool a little before tossing into a serving bowl.
Enjoy.
Indian Spiced Vegetable Pakoras with Mango Relish
These can be cooked ahead and reheated or served warm with mango relish or a relish of your fancy.
Serves 4-6
A selection of vegetables:
1 thin aubergine cut into 5mm slices or into chunks at an angle
1 tsp salt
2 medium courgettes, cut into 2.5cm slices, if they are very large cut into quarters
12 cauliflower florets (walnut size approx.)
6 large field mushrooms, cut in half
spinach leaves
Batter
175g chickpea or all-purpose flour
1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
1 scant tsp salt
2 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
175-225ml iced water
vegetable oil for deep frying
Garnish
lemon wedges and coriander or parsley.
Put the aubergine wedges or slices into a colander, sprinkle with the salt, and let drain while preparing the other vegetables.
Blanch and refresh the cauliflower florets separately in boiling salted water for 2 minutes. Drain, refresh under cold water, and dry well.
Rinse the aubergine slices and pat dry.
Put the flour, coriander, salt and curry powder into a large bowl. Gradually whisk in the oil, lemon juice and water until the batter is the consistency of thick cream.
Heat good quality oil to 180°C in a deep fry.
Lightly whisk the batter and dip the vegetables in batches of 5 or 6. Slip them individually into the hot oil.
Fry the pakoras for 2-3 minutes on each side, turning them with a slotted spoon. Drain on paper towels and keep warm in a moderate oven (uncovered) while you cook the remainder. Allow the oil to come back to 180°C between batches.
When all the vegetable fritters are ready, garnish with lemon wedges and fresh or deep-fried coriander or parsley. If you fancy, you could serve alone or with mango relish.
Persian Squares (Lemon, Pistachio and Rose Petal Squares)
Cut these into little squares for lots of irresistible nibbles.
Makes 24 squares
175g soft butter
150g caster sugar
2 eggs, preferably free range
1 tsp vanilla extract
zest of 1-2 lemons
175g self-raising flour
Icing
300g icing sugar
freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp boiling water
Topping
40g Persian pistachios, chopped
1 tbsp rose petals
30 x 20cm Swiss roll tin, well-greased or lined with parchment paper
Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.
Put the butter, caster sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, finely grated lemon zest and self-raising flour into a food processor. Whizz for a few seconds to amalgamate. Spread evenly in the well buttered tin. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes approx. or until golden brown and well risen.
Meanwhile make the icing.
Sieve the icing sugar into a bowl. Add enough lemon juice plus 1 tablespoon of boiling water if necessary to mix to a malleable icing. Spread the icing evenly over the cake mixture with a palette knife.
Sprinkle chopped pistachios and rose petals over the surface.
When set, cut into squares and enjoy!
Note
In Winter when the butter is harder to cream, we add 2-3 tablespoons of milk to lighten the mixture and texture.
