Spring Rolls
Spring Rolls are filled and rolled crispy appetisers. This filling can be made purely veg, or you can add chicken to it if you like. We normally prefer it with a little bit of chicken. My spring roll recipe is more 'chinese' oriented than anything else, so I don't use any 'curry' spices and keep it simple and authentic, with just the basic spices (salt/pepper/lemon/soya sauce). The only curry spices I use (and that also very sparingly) is when drying the chicken separately that I later add to the veggie mixture. It's a very yummy recipe that goes well as a filling for buns and sandwiches just as nicely as it works for spring rolls!What we want when cooking spring roll mixture, is to get the filling as dry and moisture-free as possible. Any excess moisture will ruin your wraps, and they might crack or break during rolling or storage or frying.Spring Rolls can be made in up to a month in advance, shaped and half-fried (to ensure they hold their shape and prevent them from cracking as they freeze) then frozen packed between sheets of plastic in an airtight container. When needed, heat oil then put the rolls directly from the freezer into the oil and let them fry on medium heat until the colour is dark golden brown.
Ingredients
- 3 cups finely sliced cabbage
- 3-4 grated carrots
- 2 green capsicum finely sliced
- 1/4 cup sweet corn drained completely
- 2-3 green chillies chopped
- 250 gm. or less boneless chicken cubed (optional)
- 1/4 cup spring onions chopped finely
- soya sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
- juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tbsp. butter/margarine+ 3 tbsp. oil
- 2 tbsp. chopped coriander
Instructions
- First, you want to cook the chicken separately. Take a small pan and add 1 tbsp. butter/margarine , when it melts add the chicken cubes, quarter tsp. each of ginger and garlic pastes, salt, pinch of chilli powder and turmeric. Let this cook without adding any water at all in it. Keep the pan partially covered and maintain a medium temperature, and stir every now and then. Once the chicken is tender and done, add the tsp. of lemon juice, then dry off any excess liquid/moisture until it literally begins to stick to the bottom of the pan, so you know there is no moisture left. Now turn off the heat, then using a wooden spoon, crush the pieces until all are shredded…then set aside.Take a bigger pan or wok, add the remaining butter/margarine plus the 3 tbsp. oil, once melted, add the cabbage, keep the heat on high and stir fry the cabbage for a few minutes until it JUST starts to soften. The more you cook the cabbage, the more moisture it releases and that's a big NO-NO! No more than 2-3 minutes, then add the carrots and capsicum. Please note that up to this point, we have not added the salt yet. The earlier you add the salt, the more moisture will get released from your veggies coz salt helps veggies soften faster, so don't add the salt right away. Stir fry together once more for a while (about 5 minutes or less, keep an eye on the veggies as you stir-fry, you want them just starting to soften) then add the sweet corn, green chillies, salt, soya sauce (a couple of splashes is enough). Mix together and turn the heat off.Now check your mixture, if it has any extra moisture at the bottom of the pan (sometimes it does happen even if you take all the precautions not to over-cook) then don't worry, there is a solution for this. Put your mixture into a strainer or sieve and keep a bowl under it, and let it sit there for a while until any extra moisture has seeped out into the bowl. But don't discard this water, coz all the nutrients and flavor are in there, what I do is I add it into the shredded chicken and place it on the heat again so that it is all absorbed once more into the chicken which will go into the spring rolls.Once the mixture is relatively cool, add the spring onions, shredded chicken, chopped coriander and pepper powder. Adjust salt to your taste and if you want you can add a tiny bit of lemon juice again. Then spread out the mixture on a flat pan so that it cools off completely and any extra moisture will dry up faster this way too. Once completely cool, your mixture is ready to be used!Please click HERE for detailed step by step instructions on how to wrap spring rolls.Wrap up your spring rolls and enjoy! 🙂
Notes
The trick is to try and estimate an approximate combination of the first three ingredients (cabbage, carrots & capsicum) that suits your preferences. If you like capsicums, feel free to add more. If you find the carrots too much, use less. You can't go wrong with this recipe, a little more or less is fine.
have been wanting to know how to do it will try it today
love all your recipes
Dear Fauzia,
Salam.
Please send me all your recipies to my e-mail. this will be a great help from your side.
Thanks.
Ruksana
W/Salaam, please subscribe to the website to receive all the latest recipes by email. :))
Salam.fauzia plz tell me
Salam.fauzia plz tell me whuch n how to subscribe for emails. Plz reply me so many times I msgd u but no reply Jazakalakhairun.masalamah.plz reply plz plz.allah hafiz.
W/Salaam, you are already
W/Salaam, you are already subscribed dear, that is why you can post a comment. When we send out emails you will definitely receive them inshaAllah.
can we make these and freeze
can we make these and freeze them?
Yes you can, after shaping
Yes you can, after shaping the rolls, half-fry them so they are pale in colour. Then allow them to cool and put them in an airtight bag or container and freeze. When ready to serve, simply fry them until they are golden and enjoy. 🙂
Mashallah l tried the
Mashallah l tried the vegetable spring roll they came out perfectly l say thanks fauzia
salamz fauzia! cud i know how
salamz fauzia! cud i know how to make spring rolls..can u pls tell me the ingredients…in between do u hav ghee nanakatha recipe? if so can u send me that link?
W/Salaam, recipe for spring
W/Salaam, recipe for spring rolls is above, under the pic. No I do not have ghee nankhatai recipe.
salam sister Fozia,
salam sister Fauzia,
can you please explain why you recommend to fry the spring rolls before freezing?
I made them yesterday and it turned out delicious.
jazakhallah …you are the best chef 🙂
W/Salaam, half-frying them
W/Salaam, half-frying them before freezing helps make sure they don’t crack. When they are frozen raw, chances are that they may crack. 🙂
Salam sis, love all ur
Salam sis, love all ur recipes. Thanks.
how can be spring roll’s
how can be spring roll’s dough prepared
I normally buy my wrappers
I normally buy my wrappers ready made but you can use the same technique as given for the samosa wrappers under the sasmosa recipe. 🙂
Slmz I tried this recipe and
Slmz I tried this recipe and was absolutely delist! Unfortunately I used a not very nice sprinroll pastry sheets and onCe I filled and froze them, they cracked! I fried a lot the day I filled them to taste and it was delish. Although now I’m landed with cracked, filled sprain rolls. What can I do to salvage them?
Next time half-fry them
Next time half-fry them before freezing to prevent them from cracking. You could dip them in egg and then fry, it might help hold everything together.
A.a hope u are doing gud
A.a hope u are doing gud fauzia …:-) can u tell me how to bake only
spring roll sheets
Did you mean how to bake or
Did you mean how to bake or how to make, please confirm?
Hw to bake … means if i dnt
Hw to bake … means if i dnt want to fry the sheets i want to bake them… jxt the sheets
Brush them with a little
Brush them with a little butter or oil and bake in a preheated oven until done to your requirement.
can i substitute spring onion
can i substitute spring onion with the regular round onion?
The flavour of the regular
The flavour of the regular round onions is very different from the spring onions, it would give you a different taste from what is expected in spring rolls.
Hi Fauzia
i tried spring rolls for the first time using this recipe…hubby loved them…turned out yummm…
jazakallah khair