Prepping amidst Pandemic - Thread 17

[Sprayitall]

Hi all, starting this thread to continue from preppers thread 16. Because we are amidst a pandemic now, I have changed the title to prepping amidst pandemic than “for pandemic”. I hope all of you keep well amidst this and get all the help, support and hope needed to cope during this challenging times. Feel free to add your thoughts, preps and ideas here.

[Neome]

Thank you for kind thoughts.

I have red onions but no brain power, a samosa recipe would be wonderful If you have it Sprayitall and Ineedabreak19.

[Weedsnseeds1]

Neome I'm sorry to hear that. It's so sad that even the funeral has to be a muted affair at the moment.
I was chatting to a factory in Ireland this morning and they said that was very hard as funerals are such a community affair there.

[Sprayitall]

@weeds I heard that too. There are these things that we have in common across borders isn’t it. In India everything is a community affair. Contrary to the culture here, if someone passes away of natural cause and old age, people celebrate their full life with flowers and men dance all their way to the crematorium. (Common among in certain groups in Tamil Nadu only though)

@Neome Of course I will share my recipe. Red onions are different to Indian pink onions neome (just a word of caution - this is an authentic recipe but I am not sure if it will be appealing to western taste palette. All the other spices and blends are the same for the meaty ones too so you can feel free to add or lessen the spices to suit your liking)

This is a vegetarian recipe that serves 4 to 6. For meaty samosas please refer some other website as I have no idea about what meat you can use.

For the outer crispy layer - All purpose flour - 2.5 cups
Ghee – 3tbsp
Carom seeds – 1 tsp
Salt as needed
Water - a little to make the dough smooth & firm.

For the filling - Potato – medium to large -4 to 5
Boiled green peas – 1/2 cup
Onions - 1 finely chopped
Garlic and Ginger (optional as needed) - I don’t add them. Infact I don’t even add onions at times.
Red chilli powder – 1 to 2 tsp (depends how hot is it)
Garam masala powder – 1 1/2 tsp
Chaat masala powder – 1 tsp
Coriander seeds powder – 2 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Salt – As needed
Oil – 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Cashew nuts halves / Pea nuts - (optional -if you want them you can add them a little)
Curry leaf - a sprig
Coriander leaves - half hand tip ful (if you all can understand what I type lol)
Tamarind paste or lemon juice (optional - only if you love it tangy)

Oil to fry

Prepare the dough by mixing all the ingredients under the outer crispy layer.Keep it aside.

Boil the potatoes and peas separately. Once cooled, peel and crumble the potatoes with a fork. Take a pan, add some oil fry the onions until they soften and add all the spices, sauté a little, then add them to the potatoes and peas, mix gently but well. The stuffing is ready. Keep aside to cool.
Oil your hands and flour the surface. knead the dough until it’s soft and pliable. Roll it into an oblong oval and cut in half across. Take one half and use a pastry brush to dab a little water and seal the cut side one over the other by pressing slightly to make a cone good enough to fill. The layer should be slightly thick enough to hold its shape when held. Use very little water to seal just like pasties. Make a small fold like a sari pleat on the other side, press and then seal. (Not sure if you can understand my explanations lol)
Fill it with the filling.Check for leaks. Repeat until all samosas are finished and then deep fry in hot oil.

Important tips : 1) The dough needs to be soft and firm. Don’t overwater.
2) Always cook samosas in low flame and wait until it turns light golden brown.
3) Serve it with ketchup or some chutneys like mint or Sweet tamarind along with a cup of creamy coffee or chai.
All this is approximate measurements only. I am a person who cooks by my eyes and not by measurements much. Enjoy your samosas!

[Weedsnseeds1]

One of the nicest samosas I ever had was a peanut one - potato, peas and toasted redskin peanuts, with amchoor powder and other spices.
I used to buy the onions in the Punjabi shop when I lived in London, they were a bit like a giant shallot ( the flat, sphere shaped ones) with a delicate rose pink colour. Lovely
The other vegetables I loved were ivy gourds ( tinda / tindola and probably a dozen other names), dasheen "elephant ear" leaves to make patra and bitter gourds, that look like little crocodiles!
I can't buy anything like that here as there is only one good Indian shop, which is in Bristol.
I hope we are released in time for mango season, those beautiful Indian and Pakistani mangoes in their little boxes, with the strands of tinsel and shredded paper are something I look forward to all year!

[Neome]

Thank you so much Sprayitall I can’t tell you how much that means to me.

I’m of mixed race so my palette is a bit of this and a bit of that👩🏽‍🌾 a non recipe person’s recipe is just my ☕️

🌷🌷🌻🌻🌷🌷

[Teaand]

Ifonly4 I have also had problems getting felix cat food. He is also not himself at the moment (he can't meow it's as if he has lost his voice) and I have spoken to the vet this morning and if there is no change I will have to take him in. Our vets is open but I would have to leave the cat basket at the door then go back to my car and wait.

I am still finding that I can't order some of the other things I normally order regularly from my on line shop.

[Weedsnseeds1]

I think Felix is made in Wisbech. There may be staffing issues or maybe logistics problems
There's not a, shortage of raw materials as slaughterhouses and cutting plants are still mainly OK.
Cats are so fussy as well, it's difficult to coax them to eat something they haven't tasted before, even if it looks identical to us!

[Ineedabreak19]

Neome sorry to hear about your dad, this coronavirus is just awful. Big hugs to you and your family.

I didn't end up making samosas yesterday but baked jam crumble slices instead. I used this recipe and the all purpose flour made a perfect crumble topping. I didn't ice it as I'm not keen on the icing top, I find icing too sweet.

[Ineedabreak19]

For samosas I use a similar recipe to Sprayitall and reduce the potatoes to 1 or 2 large (cubed) & add minced 500g lamb or beef for none veg samosas.

[Sprayitall]

@weeds almost all Indian/srilankan shops have them here. Yes the little crocodile ones are good for diabetes and the ivy gourds (Tindora in Hindi and “kovakkai” in Tamil are healthy too). The Indian rose pink onions are plenty in Tesco/Asda I heard but I get mine in Indian shops nearby and I love the tiny shallots we use for sambaar. They look more like pearl onions. I was yesterday years old to know okra and eggplants are fruits and not vegetables. My whole childhood was a lie lol Yes it’s the indian mango season now. I have Indian/srilankan shops nearby to where I live and I specially order my favourite varieties if they can get some. There are around 200 varieties of mangoes.. but my favourite ones are called “banganapalli” and “mulgoba”. Mulgoba is native only to tamilnadu and isn’t available here but can get banganapalli here - the king of mangoes and I once had one that weighed nearly a kilo 🙂 .. these are the best in taste. When I was little we had mango trees at home and we also got mangoes sent by our relatives living all over the special places. The variety “Neelam” is usually available near the end of season and some times there would be a bee caught inside which will suddenly fly when you take a bite lol Almost all my childhood summers were filled with mango milkshakes, mango lassi and home made ice creams , delicious varieties of mango pickles - many times we were so greedy and ended up with awful tummy ache ..then have to painfully endure a large jug of milk before bedtime to ease the aches along with an earful lot of “ nice” words by our grandmother lol Have you seen a mango market by any chance? I think you would love it just to see all the varieties tactfully arranged.. a raw mango with some salt and chilli powder will make people drool from a mile away. Amchoor powder can be used but it can sometimes make the flavour go slightly fruity - I don’t prefer tamarind, lemons or amchoor in samosas but I love tangy and hot chutneys to go with them.

[JackChaffinch]

Hello everyone. I barely post on MN but I learned a lot on the Brexit-prepping threads so when we couldn't get a food delivery for three weeks (we're shielding) we still ate pretty well and didn't run out of any cleaning products or personal care necessities. Prepping used to be very much my thing, but my OH thinks it amazing that we did no shopping at all from mid March to mid-April and I could still produce meals and replacement tubes of toothpaste and hand cream etc. So thanks ever so much. I may not post but I massively appreciate you all.

[Weedsnseeds1]

We don't have the community to support those shops here sadly, we have some Polish shops with interesting foods, but other than that, just the normal supermarkets.
The mangoes I love are the small yellow ones, Alphonse or one called honey mango ( it's from Pakistan, so probably has a "real" name, but that is how they sell them).
Bristol Sweet Mart is one of my favourite shops. It was founded by Ugandan Asians and sells a sorts of things I can't find anywhere else. But Bristol is a good 2 hours round trip, which is fine normally, I can make a day of it, but not now.
I know the tiny onions, I think - they come aited together like a bunch of grapes? 😁

[Weedsnseeds1]

Plaited together!

[Weedsnseeds1]

Today's loaf, date and walnut. I found a razor blade and got fancy with the scoring!

[Sprayitall]

@Weedsnseeds1 there are lot of online shops now that sell all Indian groceries as well

[Weedsnseeds1]

The problem is I mainly work away from home during the week, so there is nobody in the receive deliveries.
I'm only at home now because none of the factories are allowing visits and there are no hotels or rental places open to stay in, even if they were!
If I am working in London, Manchester, Leeds etc. I often treat myself to a little wander around the Indian/Turkish/Arabic etc. supermarkets though and stock up on things that aren't available locally.
There is a Chinese supermarket opposite my OH office, so I give him a list if I need Chinese, Thai or Japanese ingredients.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

popping in again.
Food obtaining is still stressing me, we are muddling through, our preps have been utterly invaluable, but flipping heck it's hard to replace depleting supplies without being able to go to the shops or get supermarket deliveries.

If anyone needs uht milk, www.staples.co.uk/longlife-uht-milk/cbk/5693.html has proven to be an unlikely source. Watch delivery charges though.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

I am so sorry Neome.

[LittlePrepper]

Hello Preppers

I was wondering whether you are all prepping for a possible additional lockdown in the Autumn/Winter? If so, what are you doing. I was thinking of doing something simple like make a list of the level of stock that I would like to maintain and then making sure to replace stuff as I use it (if the shops have whatever it is!)? As my name suggests I am only a mini-prepper really so a bit clueless!

[BiddyPop]

Well, I am trying to use up older things, and figure out my gaps.

I know food is not too bad, but toiletries is something I need to pay more attention to. So once shops re-open, that is something I will be working on.

And I am already working on planting more veg in the garden than normal (I grow tomatoes in a hanging basket and lettuce on window ledges normally, and a handful of peas and beans in a small bed). Some we will eat fresh as it's ready, but I will also "sun dry" (in the oven) batches of tomatoes to preserve in olive oil, roasted peppers in olive oil, and freeze peas and beans.

I also have a list of things to put into the storage unit we have (only a mile away but closed for over a month now) that we don't need, and things to get out (like jigsaws and my off-season clothes - I have 2 pairs of shorts at home right now, when it is heating up quite a lot some days...). I'm glad I had kept my Kelly kettle and camping sized charcoal bbq at home though, to cook a little differently and in the garden, for entertainment as much as needing alternatives a couple of days (I keep my 1 ring gas burner and the gas cannisters permanently here in case of problems with power in winter).

And if there is going to be the potential for another again in autumn/winter, I think more indoor entertainment options are definitely needed - like exercise ideas, and board games, books, and crafting materials for full projects (I keep finding I am missing a vital piece!!) - and finding SOME kind of hobby that DD will do herself.

And apart from actually cleaning out the shed to make space (get rid of 20 years of paint tins - at least 70% of which will never be used again!), getting enough DIY materials for DH to keep himself busy (and possibly a few bits of wood or other stuff for him to get crafty in a manly way).

I think I would like to organise some kind of overhead shelter for the garden also - a shade sail or an awning of some kind - partly to keep the sun out in summer, but also keep the garden as a usable space in winter. It doesn't need heat, we can wear enough layers, and waterproof jackets. But just keep the worst of any rain off, and maybe heat if we can find something that works - but so it's useable and not miserable as a space.

[Barbararara]

@Weedsnseeds1 that loaf is spectacular. Too pretty to eat!
@LittlePrepper I’ve been focusing on keeping track of how much we use in a week and then creating a list of supplies I want to top up. I’ve never been particularly accurate before at estimating consumption.
Some things are more easily replaced now than others, and I’m not happy to stockpile things that are in short supply when I can make do with something else for now.
I’m hoping that I can prep more earnestly in the summer months. For the moment I’m focused on creating lists and space to store, and also being careful with money because I intend spending a lot more than normal for a few months.
I’m thinking about my house and what our needs might be in a cold, dreary, wet winter. I’m musing about indoor exercise equipment etc. Most of my prepping at the moment is in my head.

[lexloofah]

Prepping for this being a long haul/multiple wave thing, plus possibility of no deal/no extension to Brexit transition, not so easy without shopping and the time and energy suck that is school at home.

This morning we have measured up for a small chest freezer in the garage, always managed with a small one in the kitchen but now feel we could use the extra space. Lots sold out though, wondering if supply will get better or worse later in the year.

I am ordering big sized and multi pack stuff from a local wholesaler like laundry powder, tin foil, oil etc

As well as veg gardening for this year am trying to plan to have stuff to harvest over winter and next spring like kale, spinach, parsnips, leeks

Neome and anyone else who has lost a loved one to this wretched thing, I am so very sorry

[Neome]

Thank you so much for sympathy, it does make a difference.

Just on prepping front I’m also thinking about winter now and again and as I’m slowly growing things here and there I’m thinking about places in my home I can keep growing for as long as possible, grow lights and other possibilities.

Not having to go out to shop and easy meals for when life makes planning and cooking hard have already been life savers. As far as I can I hope to preserve that resilience.

A fellow horticulture student a few years ago put a small polytunnel on his allotment and I’m wondering if it might be time to follow suit. I remember a team doing very interesting hydroponics but never really got to find out the details.

[Sprayitall]

@OhYouBadBadKitten @LittlePrepper Food prepping wise I am not stopping as long as I can get delivery slots .. so far I have been lucky to get a slot atleast once in ten days. I also managed to order from Costco online again topping up my supplies of wiping cloth and cleaning things along with some groceries. zoflora and 70% alcohol hand gel in stock if anyone is looking.

[Ineedabreak19]

I'm slowly going through my cupboards and updating my spreadsheet to see where the gaps are.

I'm thinking ahead to winter and potentially another lockdown plus Brexit proper amidst Christmas preparations. I have a low key winter and New Year and have a celebration at another time of year. As soon as lockdown is lifted, I will start to prepare for birthdays, festivals, winter and the new academic year.

Dc have sprouted so new clothes, shoes and underwear for the pair of them, which is going to be £££.