Binge on small bites

ALWAYS POPULAR

Finger foods are always the favourites of food lovers who love binging on small bites rather than an entire main course.  Metrolife checks out some of the popular finger foods available for Delhi’s perennial party season.

Some of the popular finger-foods this season are Molacajete, grilled chicken with olives, chilli prawns with tomato margarita and crispy calamari, which is batter-fried squid rings.
Chef Sanjay Singh from Spoons shares his recipe for Molacajete. He says, “Molacajete is an easy and all-time favourite finger food. One can conveniently make it at home with just a few ingredients: chopped onions, tomato, coriander, green chilies, fresh avacado, one teaspoon of olive oil and salt to taste. Jalapenos and clove garlic are optional ingredients. All one has to do is to mix all the ingredients and then serve with crispies, tacos or tortillas and start munching.”

When it comes to the pan-European flavours, the favourites include corncigarillos with cucumber and chilli dip, as well as platters of cold canapes and pieces of bruschetta. For the non vegetarians, some of the popular items include hand-pounded, spiced fish cakes with tomato cilantro sauce and wasabi mayonnaise prawns. Chef Vipul Gupta, from Eurail, says, “Finger food is an all-time favourite and we have to keep experimenting with it, lest the customers get bored by the same items on the menu.”

From the coastal belt, the finger-foods that are ruling are parota sticks; mini-vadas, such as kal vada, keerai vada and Madras dal onion vada; mini-idlis, which are garnished with podi, green chutney and tadka and baby potatoes, which are served with tamarind chutney, green chutney and red-masala chutney for the vegetarians. The non-vegetarians, on the other hand, can try squid rings, stir-fried crispy anchovies and fish in banana leaves. Chef Arun Kumar, from Zambar, says, “All these coastal finger foods work great at parties and restaurants.”

Chef Manav Sharma, from Ignis, says, “The changing trend of moving from serious and uptight dining to more fun and casual dining is resulting in finger-food becoming popular in restaurants and parties.” The popular finger foods served at Ignis, he mentions, are lentil kebabs with apricot and cheese, lemon grass-scented Vietnamese grilled chicken on skewers and Lahorichapli kebabs.” The chef adds, “A lot of otherwise main course dishes are also being enjoyed as finger foods these days, such as pizzas, quiches, tarts and assorted toppings on falafel and humus on pita rounds.”

Those who are a little scared to experiment can play safe with crunchy potato and cheese balls, chicken garlic bites, the all-time favourite Cajon crispy potato wedges and vegetable spring rolls.

But to enjoy a real treat, one must try mushroom duplex. Chef DC Bhatt from Tivoli Grand shares the recipe of the tiny wonders. He says, “To prepare mushroom duplex, you need five tablespoons of ketchup, four tabelspoons of Sasso olive oil, 400 grams of mushrooms, half a chopped onion, four of five cloves of Garlic, minced green chillies, chopped red pepper and yellow pepper, two tablespoons of parsley, three tablespoons of maida, cheese and salt to taste.

Wash the mushrooms, remove and chop the stems and place the caps aside. In a pan, saute the onions, garlic and green chillies in the Sasso olive oil. Stir in the mushroom stems and saute over a medium heat until dry. Stir in the red and yellow peppers, grated cheese and ketchup and mix them together. Adjust the seasoning, turn off the heat and stir in the parsley.

Stuff the mushroom caps with the mixture, sandwich two stuffed mushroom caps and insert two wooden picks to secure. Repeat with the rest. Coat each mushroom set with the refined flour, then dip in beaten egg and roll in the bread crumbs. Deep fry the mushrooms until golden brown, then drain the excess oil. Cut each set, so that each half has an inserted pick and serve immediately with ketchup.”
Try all these and make your party happening!