My MIL is coming from Pakistan to stay with us for the Summer and so I expect loads of visitors to come and meet her while she’s here - I’d like to make a few home-made things before she comes so that when guests come I can put stuff out with chai without too much hassle, but for it to still be homemade and look nice.
I’m thinking some kind of patties or pastries which if I make now, can freeze for later and then bung in the oven if someone turns up. Also I’ve frozen cakes before, so if I make a fresh one and cut it into small pieces I can freeze that too.
Any other ideas of make ahead of time snacks? (recipes would be appreciated!!)
Re: make ahead of time snacks for surprise guest visits
Samosas, Shaami kebab, Potato cutlets, Spring rolls, Barhaas (for dahi baras), marinated chicken boneless. WIll let you know if any other idea will come in my mind
Re: make ahead of time snacks for surprise guest visits
^^haleem is not usually served with tea, is it?
OP you can make almost all kinds of kababs (chapli shami etc) shape them and freeze them in a tray, when frozen remove and put in a ziplog bag/plastic bag sealed tightly and freeze. Im not sure about potato cutlets though, my mom always said they give off water if frozen and so I’ve never frozen them.
You can also freeze most of the deep-fried snacks. (Cut, parboil and freeze french fries. Fill and roll samosas,kachuris or spring rolls, wontons etc. stuff and roll jalapenos and freeze.
You can freeze the cakes whole too or cut up brownies. You can get a pack of puff pastry and stuff them with whatever sweet or savory filling you have at that time. Boil, drain and freeze white/black chanas or any kind of beans (red beans, lobia etc). You can then use them to make chaat or masalay walay chanay. marinate chicken and freeze, later bake it and make tikkas or dip in egg and bread crumbs and deep fry. you can do that with either drumsticks or with small cubed boneless chicken. Roll up pinwheel cookies and freeze the roll, cut out into cookies and bake when needed instantly. You can freeze cheesecakes too.
you can make pakoras for quick snacks.
This is one recipe which I really love and its easy and simple to make too,I’ve tried it with chicken but the layers aren’t so evident with chicken so I put lots of black pepper soy sauce and paprika to make the chicken darker so the layers showed up. Freezer Pettis | Fauzia’s Kitchen Fun
You can get somethings like K&N’s chicken tempura or chapli/shami kababs in the freezer and make a few things yourself, everything doesn’t have to be strictly homemade
Re: make ahead of time snacks for surprise guest visits
Don’t freeze the potato tikkis/cutlets. What you do is shape them in advance, cover plate with foil or cling film and set in the fridge. Won’t have to worry about defreezing. Dip in egg wash/coat with breadcrumbs n fry. Shouldn’t become wet unless you add onion to the mix. Here’s a recipe:
Ingredients:
Potatoes
Onion, finely chopped (optional)
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp zeera
1 tsp garam masala
Take a few teaspoons of dried coriander seeds and crush them with a rolling pin
1 tsp salt
Fresh dhania, finely chopped
2-3 green chillies, finely chopped
Adjust the seasoning/mirchain according to your taste.
Boil potatoes. I prefer to do it in the microwave as they hold up better, I feel. When they’ve cooled, mash them and add the onion, spices, dhania and chillies. Mix the ingredients well. Do a taste check to see what seasonings need to be adjusted. Shape into discs (like shami kababs). A tip my mom gave me is to wet your fingers each time you shape the dics. The damp/wetness prevents them from breaking apart when you fry them. Dip each tikki in a beaten egg…and shallow fry. It’s exactly like frying shami kababs. Fry one as a test run n then fry the others.
If u have leftover keema…u can add that to the mix. Same thing with leftover chicken…just shred and add.
I use this filling recipe for tikkis, aloo ka paratha, and aloo k samosay.
Re: make ahead of time snacks for surprise guest visits
I never defreeze either. I just put them in the frying pan, cover on medium low heat for minutes-3-4, remove the lid, increase the heat, Fry till golden brown.
Re: make ahead of time snacks for surprise guest visits
You can even freeze the chicken topping and the dough for pizza and all you have to do is just put it in oven when you are expecting guests to come. You can prepare the chicken or minced meat to be used in macro is and that can be freezed too. Haleem is a nice option too. You can also freeze marinated steaks. Cheese balls, marinated finger fish even coated with egg n bread crumbs. Paties if you like to freeze. Simple cake can be also freeze as it can be used in quick dessert recipes
Re: make ahead of time snacks for surprise guest visits
Shami kabab, egg rolls, samosas, pound cakes, fruit, frozen turnovers you can just bake and serve, dry snacks, dry fruit, nuts…soooooooooooo much stuff.
Re: make ahead of time snacks for surprise guest visits
I feel that if the potatoes are mashed and spices are added while they’re still hot the flavors absorb and blend in much better than doing it after they’ve cooled down.
Re: make ahead of time snacks for surprise guest visits
Reason I don’t wanna do that is because I wanna start preparing a few weeks in advance, not a few days, so can’t really have raw potato patties in my fridge that long lol. But thanks for the recipe I think I can still use it and freeze ahead of time
Thanks for all the ideas guys loads of inspiration - what are cheese balls? A few people have said them but dunno what they are or how to make them
Re: make ahead of time snacks for surprise guest visits
I always keep marinated chicken in freezer, you can also bake chicken bread and freeze it, rets as others have mention kebabs, rolls, keep boiled cans of kidney beans and chick peas, just add some chopped onions and coriander season it with salt n chaat masla, sprinkle some lemon juice.
make ahead of time snacks for surprise guest visits
I also buy big packs of chana and boil and freeze them aswell as making imbli chutney and storing it, also homemade balay frozen ready for any guest to come all i gota do is soak in water , gently squeeze excess water n place in bowl n pour over rest of ingreudents for dahi balay.
Re: make ahead of time snacks for surprise guest visits
I think most people have posted the regular snacks, but you can also serve a good brand frozen pizza, like a spinach pizza. I was thinking of this idea as passed by the frozen food section today. You can make sliders today with small burger patties.
