Recipe Redemption - Spicy Porridge & Wildflower Fritters & Bombay Mix Again! 

You have to find an excuse to make a redish coloured loaf of bread in a budget challenge so you can title the follow up "Red Bread Redemption"

Here in Czech Republic, the wildflower fritter is called "kosmatice". It's quite popular and you can make it both sweet and savory.

I think this series is one of the best ideas you've had. If I have a suggestion: you could recalculate cost and calories for these redemptions to show one of (in my opinion) the more interesting parts of the budget challenges.

Shrimp, here’s a top tip from my days working in a Japanese restaurant: when making enoki tempura after you’ve dipped it in the batter you hold the mushroom at the base and shake it in the hot oil. This makes it open up, crisp evenly and look pretty for presentation. I think with the flower tempura you don’t need to do it because the batter was thin and the flowers were already “open”. But I would maybe recommend trying it with the fritter batter since it was thicker and as a result made for clumpier fritters since the flowers couldn’t open up in the oil. Great content as always!

I have to say if and when the world goes sideways this gentleman will definitely be one of the survivors who make it through to the other side.

My mother used to fry elder flowers in an egg batter (with wheat flour, and with beer as a rising agent) dusted with powdered sugar or dunked in a water and honey solution. In autum we had the elder berries prepared the same way. A few zests of lemon lemon peel added to the batter, if I remember correctly. This desert dish was called "Holderküchle" (German for little elder cakes)

If you are in the USA and are looking for the Bombay mix, you can usually find Haldiram's brand at most of the larger Walmart stores. I probably shouldn't tell you guys this again as the last time I went to two Walmarts in my area they were totally sold out. I blame Atomic Shrimp for making such good videos that everyone wants to try the recipes.

So resourceful So creative So knowledgeable You sir are a pleasure.

Saw a Jelly Ear at the park today and wowed my folks with my knowledge of it apropos of nothing. Thanks!

There is a national Georgian sauce made of plums - Tkemali. It's also has garlic, chili, pepper, salt, cumin and coriander in it. You really should try it! Here, in Georgia and Russia, we often use it istead of ketchup

On Buddhist retreats my meditation centre serves prunes which have been soaked in Earl Grey tea with porridge at breakfast time. Really yummy!

When I was a child, I slept at my friends house....for breakfast we had porridge made with water, it had salt added, and bread and butter on the side! It was nasty, but I eat it to be polite. I think I'll try it again, maybe add a few things. I may like it now my taste has refined a bit. I hated olives for years cos I accidentally ate one thinking it was a grape....but I love olives now, one of my favourite foods

...and grocers all over the world begin to wonder why sales of Bombay mix have skyrocketed 😄😄😄

Are the wildflowers Glarded? I need to know since my batter is in a Tax Clode.

I'm not a vegan myself but I do love oat milk, and porridge with oat milk is suprisingly good - naturally I'd recommend sweetening it with something like honey, golden syrup cinnamon, etc. but that goes for any porridge

As Alton Brown taught me, put fried food on a cooling rack with paper towels underneath it so that the food doesn't sit in moisture and ruin the crispy coating.

Congrats on hitting 700k subs today!

All sugar in the UK is vegan! :) It's only really the US (and possibly other places) that they use bone char. UK sugar, unless specifically imported, is fine for vegans.

I just finished my first bowl of bombay porridge - I must say, I'm not a fan, but that's simply because I'm not very fond of Indian spices. But I did indeed get the banana, and the comparison to spiced fruit cakes is spot on!

Your vids should be prescribed by Drs for help with anxiety They help me a lot

Would a 'All the ways to make Porridge' be in the works sometime soon? I reckon it would be interesting to see how it changes based different cities in the U.K. Wander if there is as much variation as there is in our dialects?

love your challenges! love it even more when you "redeem" a recipe. you havent done any "weird stuff in a can" lately. hope to see some soon

I make my porridge with oat milk and it's delicious (does feel a bit like boiling a goat in its mother's milk though, so I get your suspicion). Btw, a spoonful of peanut butter in porridge is not uncommon, so there's another justification for using the peanuts if you wanted one!

My late father hated normal milk - no reason, other than he just didn't like it (weirdly, he loved condensed milk), and so, would eat breakfast cereals with hot water. He loved anything Scottish, and would make porage (proper Scots spelling) with water and either salt or sugar - I think that it's one of those foods that has no wrong way of making it - I have heard that it can be cooked stiff enough to cut into slices. Not to my taste, but who can say it's wrong? There's a nice recipe for elderflower fritters in the book 'A Country Harvest'. I've used it a couple of times when I've been alone at home. I'm definitely going to give your version a go - I like the idea of the spiced batter. Thanks for that.

Really enjoyed your adventures with Bombay Mix. Opens up all sorts of fascinating culinary ideas. Please do a challenge using the bag of dates. I love your creativity.

those wildflower fritters are such a lovely concept, i cant wait to make some too. never heard of porridge with bombay mix, ill try that tomorrow morning. thanks for the ideas and a great video as always!

Your flower fritters remind me of a recipe that's common here (Switzerland) Sage leaves (either salvia pratensis or salvia officinalis) fried in a batter, known as "Salbeimüüsli" (little sage mice). Tastes like summer. (the Italians, of course, do it with zucchini flowers. Usually the male ones, as they are not going to fruit anyway.)

I will say I've had elderflower fritters at a fairly fancy and nice restaurant as a side to a panna cotta, delicious. It was like you did as a more tempura style.

I made oatmeal the other day with canned evaporated milk, instead of fresh, plus a lot of cinnamon and a small bit of brown sugar. It really tasted of bananas, which was strange to me. But now that you said it too, I think it's the different type of milk and how it blends with the other flavors/spices.

I've found with light batters, if you keep your batter cool (typically by placing the bowl in a larger one filled with ice) you can get a lighter crispier batter. Although on the elderflowers, I'm not sure it would have made such a big difference. But I've definitely noticed a difference when cooking tempura vegetables.

Mike, When you do tastings of recipes, I look forward to hearing Jenny's take on your foods. Please include her more often. - a Jenny fan from the US.

But also, there is a similar snack called nada pakoda, that's also gram flour, rice flour, and salt, fried, that I enjoy mixed with fatty curds, salt and chaat masala, which is some mixture of cumin, aamchur, and other warming spices. This Bombay mix would also probably work well in that way.

Coconut and oat milk in porridge both make it taste amazing. I add dates & banana (and sometimes some frozen fruit) while it cooks and it ends up tasting more like a dessert than anything else.

Please make more of these budget videos and their subsequent recipe redemptions. They're really great!

Porridge is incredibly versatile. It goes with anything, and is really good for you!

I follow a keto diet so there's a lot of things I don't eat but watching AS' videos is almost as good. His descriptions are so vivid and interesting. Well done, sir!

Your videos are helping me through a really hard time, thank you and keep up the great work!

Might be different in Britain, but in Canada, rolled oats come in three varieties. "instant oats", "quick cook oats" and regular oats. Instant oats just get mixed with hot water and they're ready to eat. Quick cook oats need to be simmered for a few minutes, and regular old fashioned oats need to be cooked for about half an hour. When I was a kid, we only had plain oats and my mom cooked them the night before, in milk, then reheated it in the morning. It took too long to cook it in the morning. We usually served it with jam or molasses.

Elder is quite famous here in austria, often made into sirups.

Those flower fritters look amazing! Actually very similar to an Indian/Pakistani dish called "pakora" or sometimes known as bhajis, which is just any kind of vegetable fried in a batter made from gram flour (or besan as we call it, as seen in the video). You can make them from chicken, fish, or any kind of vegetable, my favourite is spinach!

Woo! Bombay mix is actually called karasev in my part of India at least, and it's best eaten by itself really.

Dates are SOOO good! Here in the US, that package of dates would cost $10.

700k now woooow

Great video as always. Here in the US we got this new Pepsi with mango. I'm not normally a huge Pepsi or mango person but I am loving it. Yesterday I decided to add a splash of my elderflower and and it might be the best soda I have ever had.

In Wisconsin we deep fry cheese curds in a beer batter and serve them with beer. Because, BEER! The elder flowers actually look better with the tempura. Enjoyed the video. Thanks for revisiting this.

Speaking of bringing out flavour that isn't there, lemon juice & tomato tastes strawberry to me.

“Goldilocks temperature” is my new favorite phrase. And I always love how excited you get when you enjoy something. So endearing!

I was brought up on porage - Scott’s Porage Oats to be specific - with a weird twist. Cold water and oats were brought to the boil, simmered briefly and then served - and milk and golden syrup would then be stirred in! Food of the gods, and I still make it sometimes. It works well with soya milk or any other plant milk. Has to be proper golden syrup though, in the tin with the dead lion on it.

I've been enjoying savory oatmeal for a while now, cooked in water or broth and topped with veggies (mushrooms, onions, peas, or whatever I have on hand), an over-easy egg, and seasonings. A bit of hot sauce (Sambal Oelek being my current favorite chili sauce) and it's both delicious and filling. I tend to do more savory breakfasts, so that's been lovely. Thank you for sharing your recipes, as always. I admire your creativity, resourcefulness, and versatility!

Can you make Jamaican Patties on the channel? I've always been interested to see how they're made and you have made good patties before.

That was a fun revisiting of the challenge. I’ve never tasted Bombay mix and this has made me so curious

Jenny sounds so much like Olivia Colman!

I really enjoy the limit budget challenges because it forces you to be creative

bombay mix sounds like something that could become a regular in my diet. Lets see if I can get that in the indian shop around the corner

Mmm, I love porridge with cinnamon and raisins cooked into it 😋 But plain porridge, half/half water/milk, pinch of salt, cooked thick, then plated with milk, butter, and brown sugar on top is my ultimate favourite!

Plz do more of these 🙏 honestly great content thats given me some ideas for the kitchen

I do really appreciate you're straight forward honesty. Please keep up with the fun/entertaining videos.

Watching this I feel like I've had somewhat of a sheltered existence when it comes to meal times. I think its time I try some different things, and who knows, maybe there's a real wild child waiting to get out. Cheer's

Just came home from a longer, stational hospital visit and I didnt have Internet... i missed your videos alot! Thanks Mister Shrimp

here in norway, usually we do both. heat up the oats with boiling water from the kettle, let that soak in, then put milk, cinnamon, sugar, butter (this preferably before milk, but i usually heat mine up separately) and all the other stuff. i say "here in norway" it probably differentiates but at least everyone i know does it this way.

I have a scam baiting idea where instead of speaking standard , English you use modern slang I think that would make the scammer quite confused and annoyed. Love the videos by the way the only channel where I watch all the videos. Sincerely warwick.

Chewra mix is my go-to for indian snackage. Cofresh do one but it looks like it's all thin noodles. KCB are the brand I usually buy

Hey Atomic, do you think you could do a beer episode, like beers to cook with beers to pair with food and beer that you might just like to sip on once and while. Cheers!

Congrats on 700k subscribers 🎉 Hope you hit 1 mil in the near future

My dad taught me to make porridge and he insisted it be mixed the night before then slowly cooked in the morning. It sits on a low heat and everyone stirs it as they wander through the kitchen, but the time everyone is dressed and ready the porridge is smooth and lovely. He also likes to put saltanas in the bottom of the dish before pouring the porridge. Then you don’t need sugar on top. Jam is also good.

I am a big fan of the 75p bombay mix from the previous video. It is spicier and although it is noodle heavy and rather lacking on chickpeas and nuts and split peas, the extra heat makes up for it, and there are lots of those lovely larger noodley bits!

One thing I quite like to do as a version of porridge - Simmer oats in water for about 15 minutes, and towards the end (when they've mostly softened/cooked) add the milk (and heat further). Tends to be about 2/3 water and 1/3 milk, and I find that is creamy enough and gives just the right amount of richness. (A teaspoon of honey mixed in helps too). Another thing: At the start I do like to toast the oats, a little, before adding the water.

Americans have a peanut soup, think it's from VA. I haven't tasted as not too keen on peanuts. I always make Porridge in the microwave using water with 1/2 cup less liquid. Then add my milk to make it creamy. Works.

I'd like to see you make something of elderberries too. There was a farm that used to sell juice or a sort of squash (?) that you mixed with water. So yummy. Even my cat liked it. :D But I guess it was too much effort to make, I don't know. I've not seen any elderberry products since then.

this channel is incredible! love it

Those elderflowers in the tempura batter are so lovely! You're right - they would make a beautiful edible garnish.

Great series and follow up to the budget challenge! The fun of cooking is always trying new things and seeing what works!

i love your content! keep doing what youre doing you inspire me so much

Love the idea of the flower fritters - especially the tempura style version as a garnish or side. I will have to give that a try!

My mum used to make elderflower fritters for us, absolutely love them. We always ate them with powdered sugar

I’m a big fan of the budget challenge videos, especially the first £1 one mainly because it didn’t have a lot of foraging. The urban foraging was interesting though and something I think I could do. Maybe one day you could do a no wild foraging version?

I just ordered some smart pots and pans. You can set the temperature of the liquid inside and it will adjust the induction cooktop power to keep that temperature. I really hope this works as well as I think it will when frying.

LOVE redemptions - twice the hit for one challenge, and my new favourite watch. Show us the chilli you use brand + size please.

I have Never heard of Bombay mix,I live in N.C. but it looks interesting, I would try it for sure.

Its always been traditional in my childhood household (one which iv used since) to make my porridge with a 50/50 mix of milk and water with oats. Its generally an equal mix of each ingredients. Cup of oats' cup of water' cup of milk. Its only relitively recently that iv become a bit more daring with my flavours such as blackberry syrup or mixing xmas spices into the porridge such as cinnamon' nutmeg etc.

Love the redo, also your first attempt at wildflower fritters is also sort of a dish. In the southern USA, deep fried seasoned batter is a pretty common side dish called Hush puppies (tastes exactly as you'd expect).

Can anyone remember Bobby's version of the Bombay mix? Used to get them at my local shop next to the nuts and they were so tasty and spicy! You can't get them anymore, but I've tried finding ones similar, but can't find any!

I love the Cofresh range of Indian snacks. Very tasty and great value. I like the Madras Mix, like Bombay Mix, but a little more spicy

I was brought up on porridge made with salt and water (but you add milk and sugar/honey/jam at the table) and while I have experimented with different ingredients since I moved away from home (like milk, bananas and peanutbutter), I honestly have never considered adding sugar at the cooking stage. For me it's always been something you add on top

I don't know about the rest of my country, but in my family, porridge tends to be sweet and savoury. However, instead of Bombay Mix (or something like it), we use a white brined cheese for the savouriness. The same goes for macaroni. Though I'm not sure what that's called. Technically you might be able to call it macaroni and cheese, but it's so far from what people usually consider that to be that it's likely to lead to confusion.

I've never seen Bombay mix in the stores here. It looks interesting & I'd like to try some.

You should be paid by the makers of these bombay mixes now as i have to source these down and eat them, they just look like such a delicious snack and ive never tried them ! I gotta thank you for this new snack discovery.

If you’ve never tried Bombay mix, you’re missing out!

An inexpensive alternative to porridge is congee. Especially if you’re not fond of sweet foods in the morning. It’s my favourite way to start the day… comfort food on a cold morning.

You're crazy but in the best way 😂Do you ever teach your kids to cook/ forage? I'd love to see that, or a challenge against someone?

In Sweden (and Scandinavia) it's not uncommon to make your porridge with water and salt and then serve it with milk poured over and something sweet (syrup, honey, sugar). I much prefer this to making it with milk. Although I eat my porridge with a pinch of salt, water and oatmeal and no milk or sweetener. Rice porridge, especially the traditional Christmas porridge, is usually made with milk. It is much sweeter than regular porridge and is traditionally one of the few sweet foods on the traditional Julbord which feature tons of savory and salty foods (fish, meatballs, ham, dark bread etc.)

An enormous amount of people seem to be simply mad about shrimps! I wasn't one of them - that is, until i found out about the Atomic variant...:D Thanks Mr Mike: been spoiling us with tons of food stuff of late, which are my fav!

Man, I love eating while watching your videos so much.

I'm in the camp that cooks oatmeal in water. I add jam, jelly, or some fruit and yogurt. I only add sugar if I'm using rhubarb. I actually prefer mixed grains, and my standby was oatmeal and Red River Cereal, until Red River Cereal was taken off the market. I'm trying alternatives, including making my own Red River Cereal, but haven't been able to find all three ingredients locally, and online sources require very large shipping fees.

you just shattered a whole reality for a lot of vegans with that sugar fact

From experience, oat milk has been one of the more creamy and flavourful non dairy substitutions, and does compliment oatmeal without just having a standard oat flavour 😊 x

Well you've done it! I just ordered a couple of different varieties of Bombay Mix.

Just FYI The cofresh brand is made in my hometown of leicester and in leicester you can find anything indian from spices to blenders

I find I like porridge best with half/half milk and water, as all water seems to, well, watery and gluey, but all milk is too creamy. (I use light milk rather than full fat or skim because it's what I have). Add a little honey, sugar and salt, and a bit of brown sugar on top afterwards with a dash of milk. Never tried adding anything else to it.

Idk why it's so interesting to watch someone inspect random food items but it is haha