Savoury Tarts

This potluck we were invited to required me to bring along a dish for dinner. I had long chats with S over the phone and we decided to take Lemon Rice. Then I had a chat with Siri who convinced me that finger foods would be much easier to handle. I decided I’d take savoury tarts along. I have never made these before. I didn’t exactly have a recipe on hand. But I did have a fair idea of what I wanted. And I had tart tins that I brought back from my last trip to Madras. So I set down to work. I didn’t have much time to click nice pictures, but I quickly took a few pictures before packing them in boxes.

Of all the ladies present at the potluck, I was the only working woman and all evening I had to answer/ward off questions like, “Do you plan to continue working?” and “Don’t you think it’s high time you started a family?” I find it bad enough that friends and relatives ask such questions so it is anyone’s guess how irritated I was when some total strangers asked me about my future plans. But what amused me was the fact that all 5 ladies I met there were stay-at-home mothers and none of them cooked anything for this pot luck. One brought stuff from outside and the rest got their cooks to make a dish each. I felt like a museum piece there. A working woman who actually cooks. And everyone there also inspected me like I was some figure at Madame Tussaud’s. The evening got me wondering about what these people do with their time. They don’t even read and they actually got excited about the fact that one of the children in the group had actually finished a book. I asked how old the child in question was and pat came the reply, “She’s in her final year BBA.” The less said the better here.

Anyway, the tarts came out very well and along with these Date-Walnut mini cakes , they were a great hit that evening.

For the crust:

1 cup Flour
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour / Atta
2/3 cup Margarine
5-6 tbsp Ice Cold Water
1 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Mixed Herbs
1 tsp Salt
Oil for greasing the tart tins


Grease the tart tins.


Place the flour, salt, paprika, herbs, and butter in a bowl and mix together till the mixture resembles small peas. Gradually add the water and knead gently till it forms a dough. (Do not knead as you would for chapati/poori dough.) Divide the dough in twenty portions. Roll out each portion and place it in the tart tin. Bake at 450 F for 10 minutes. (You may use baking beans to help retain the shape of the tarts. I used some dried beans and will use them only for this now.)

For the filling:

1 Onion, chopped
1/4 cup Broccoli, chopped

1/4 cup Mushrooms, chopped

1/4 cup Sweet Corn
2 tbsp Carrot, chopped

1 tbsp Olive Oil

1 tbsp Flour

1/2 cup Milk

1/2 tsp Parsley

1/2 tsp Basil

2 tsp Chilli flakes

1/2 tsp Garlic Paste

Salt and Pepper to Taste

1 slice Low Fat Cheese (optional)

Steam the broccoli, corn and carrot.

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and fry for a minute. Add the parsley, basil and chilli flakes and fry for another minute. Add the flour and fry without browning the flour. Add the mushrooms and fry for about 30 seconds. (Do not fry the mushrooms for too long as the water in them gets released.) Add the vegetables along with the milk and bring the mixture to a boil while stirring continuously. If adding cheese, add it at this point and stir the sauce well. As the sauce thickens, add the salt and pepper.

To proceed, fill the semi baked tart shells with the filling and return to the oven. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes. Carefully remove from the tart tins and serve.

While I’m sending this to Mansi over at Fun and Food for Meeta's Monthly Mingle, the theme of which is Appetizers & Hors D’oeuvres. But when Siv is back, I’m sure he’ll take Sig out for drinks and they can have these tarts along with their cocktails. I do hope they enjoy this little treat. Happy anniversary!