Stuffed Parathas – The Indian Sandwich!

A lunch box is my household is a simple or a complicated affair, depending entirely on me, the mother and the cook. My 6 year old wants to take a cheese sandwich everyday for lunch (it’s easier to eat Mommy!). The underlying truth behind the preference is of course that there are no veggies in it. Also, she refuses to carry any food, the shape or smell of which screams our loud “Indian food” when she opens her lunch box in the school cafeteria. While I don’t entirely approve of this attitude of being embarrassed of standing out in a crowd because of food, I understand that at this age, blending in is more important and hey, nothing can really beat the convenience of a sandwich!

So basically, if I fix her a cheese or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich everyday (using wheat bread of course), things are simple and smooth, she is happy, I am not. And so, one day I thought what food would be as easy to eat as a sandwich and more nutritious, not to say sandwiches aren’t but eating the same kind and without vegetables, definitely not so much.

So here’s what I came up with as one of the alternatives for the everyday lunch box. I told my daughter that a sandwich was slices of bread with one or more fillings between them and a paratha was circles of dough with fillings in between. So it was the Indian Sandwich! The name did the trick and she was happy to give it a try!

Stuffed parathas is a common and a popular dish in most households, I simply “vegetablised” and toned it down for the lunch box.

The Dough

Wheat flour – 2 cups

Water – as needed

Oil – 2 tsp

Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Salt and pepper

Mix all the ingredients and knead dough (slightly firmer than what you would knead for a Roti or a Chapatti). Keep aside for an hour.

The Stuffing

Broccoli- 1 medium crown

Carrots – 2 medium

Potatoes – 2 medium

Cilantro – chopped finely, half a cup

Seasoned bread crumbs – half a cup

Coriander powder – 2 tsp

Lemon juice – ½ tsp

Salt and pepper

Butter or oil for shallow fry

 Boil all the vegetables, drain and mash them. Add cilantro, bread crumbs and seasonings. Mix well, set aside for 10 minutes for the flavors to blend thoroughly.

Make a medium sized ball of the dough and roll it with a rolling pin to make a circle. Stuff in one and a half tablespoons of the vegetable filling. Gather the dough circle in the center to form a ball again. Now roll it to a small circular paratha. You can also press it with your hands along the center and edges and come up with the small parathas. Heat a flat skillet, cook one side for a couple minutes and flip over. Once the other side is also cooked, grease the paratha with oil or butter and shallow-fry till crispy. Serve warm or sizzling hot!

Tips

·         You can use poha (flattened rice) in place of breadcrumbs for binding.

·         You can also roll out two small circles, layer the vegetable stuffing between them and seal the circles along the side to create one paratha.

·         Serve with ketchup, chutney or yogurt.

  Interesting fact

·         ‘Paratha’ means layers of cooked dough. It is called ‘Palata’ in Burma and ‘Farata’ in Maldives. 

This Healthy Lunch Box is going to :

http://seduceyourtastebuds.blogspot.com/2013/01/kids-delight-event-announcement.html

http://spicingyourlife.blogspot.com/2010/01/announcing-kids-delight-wholesome.html

Paneer & Carrot Kofta

I always wanted to try out kofta but it looked like too much of work – grating so many different vegetables. Also, most recipes I checked out had deep fried koftas and I am not a big fan of that very act of deep frying. But there had to be way of having your cake and eating it too, I told myself one day and this recipe is what exactly came out of it!

Ingredients

Grated paneer – 2 cups

Grated carrots – 1 cup

Diced green chilies – 1 tsp

Boiled potato – 1 small

Corn starch – 1 tsp

Chopped cilantro – 2 tsp

Mango powder – ½ tsp

Onion – 2 medium

Garlic – 2 cloves

Ginger – small piece

Almonds – 8-10 pieces

Tomato – 1 medium – 1 small

Cumin seeds – ½ tsp

Bay leaf

Dry red chili – 1 small

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

Cumin powder – ½ tsp

Cinnamon powder – ½ tsp

Cardamom powder – ½ tsp

Garam masala powder – ½ tsp

Dry fenugreek leaves – 2 tsp

Milk (optional) – ¼ cup

Oil – as needed

Butter – 1 tsp

Salt

Koftas

in a bowl combine paneer, carrots, green chilies, potato, corn starch, turmeric powder, mango powder and salt to taste. Mix well and let it stand for 15 minutes. Roll out small balls and cook them in an Appam maker using a quarter spoon of oil for every ball. Alternatively you may deep fry the balls or press them in the shape of cutlet and shallow fry on a skillet.

Gravy

Heat oil in a pan and add the dry chili and roughly chopped onion. Cook for a couple of minutes and add garlic, bay leaf, ginger, diced tomato and almonds. Cook for a couple of minutes more and stir in 1 cup of water, salt and the remaining spices. Cook cover for 7 to 8 minutes and turn the heat off. Let it cook, take out the bay leaf and puree rest of the cooked ingredients in a blender.

Heat butter and bring cumin seeds to a crackle. Pour in the gravy and cook covered for 2 minutes. Add milk and koftas. Mix everything together gently. Sprinkle dry fenugreek leaves and cook covered for 5 minutes. The koftas are ready to go on your plate.

Serving suggestions

·         With Naan, Paratha, Roti, Rice.

Tips

·         You can add any other grated vegetable of your choice to the kofta.

  Interesting fact

·         “kofta” has its origin in the Middle Eastern and South Asian cuisines.

Paneer Methi Malai

Fresh Fenugreek or Methi as we call it is known for its slightly bitter taste and multiple health advantages. Not as easily available as spinach in the part of the world that I stay in, I try and make the most of this herb and spice whenever available.

The recipe below enhances the rich, creamy taste of Paneer (cottage cheese) and at the same time also highlights the distinct flavor of the methi leaves, making it a dish to remember.

The selling point of this dish is that its flavor and appearance far surpass the effort put in cooking it. You can cook this delicious curry in no time at all and yet when you put it on the table, it looks every bit as rich and inviting as any dish you have spent hours working on.

Ingredients

Chopped Onion – 1 large

Crushed almonds – half a cup

Paneer cubes – 15 medium sized

Methi leaves – 1 cup

Dry red chilies – 2 medium

Cinnamon powder – ¼ tsp

Cardamom powder – ¼ tsp

Cumin powder – 2 tsp

Garam masala – ½ tsp

Sugar – ¼ tsp

Milk – 1 cup

Oil – 1 tsp

Butter – ½ tsp

Salt and pepper

Wash the methi leaves thoroughly, give them a rough chop and keep aside.  Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan, add the dry red chilies and onions and cook the onion for 5 minutes. Mix in the crushed almonds and cook for a couple of minutes more. Now sprinkle in the spices – salt, pepper, cumin, cinnamon and cardamom powders. Mix well and turn off the heat. After the mixture cools, pour in half a cup of milk and puree to make a gravy.

In a deep skillet, heat the butter and add cumin seeds. Add methi leaves as the cumin seeds crackle. Cook for just about a minute and transfer the gravy into the skillet. Add sugar and garam masala and cook covered for 2 to 3 minutes. Fold in the paneer cubes and the remaining ½ a cup of milk. Let everything cook together covered for a good 10 minutes. Paneer Methi Matar Malai is done and ready to be served.

Serving suggestions

·         With Roti/Paratha/flavored rice

Tips

·         You can fry the paneer cubes before adding them to the gravy, more color, more taste.

·         Dry Methi leaves can also be used in place of fresh ones, increase the quantity slightly.

·        You can make the gravy thicker or thinner depending on preference by adding more or less milk.

·         You can substitute almonds with cashews or walnuts.

 Interesting fact

·         Fenugreek in Latin means “Green Hay”.

·         Fenugreek is used in India for relief against arthritis pain.

Tangy Chhole

This one caught my eye because even after having cooked garbanzo beans a million times, I never tried cooking this dry version of the dish. I usually cook Chhole in gravy to pair it with both rice and paratha (or puri).

The best part about this recipe, as is with most of my favorite recipes is that it is easy and quick. It needs no preparation at all and is yet another recipe without onion and garlic. Not that I am collecting the ones without it but it does help to have more options when people in your family do without those said ingredients.

So look up the recipe for Tangy Chhole on my dear friend Monika’s food blog

http://vegetariansurprises.blogspot.com/2011/11/cholle-chatpate-chana-kulcha.html

And scroll below for my very own pictures of the recipe.

Things done different

I used dry ginger powder in place of freshly grated ginger

I added a couple of whole green chilies to the recipe to spice up the dish a little bit.

I used the leftovers of this dish as a base for Chaat the next day.

Paneer In Bell Pepper Gravy

Continuing with my experiments in the kitchen using my fellow bloggers’ recipes, here comes second on the list which is Paneer (cottage cheese) in Bell Pepper Gravy. The first thing that struck me when I read this one was that there was no use of onion or garlic. These days there are the “no onion, no garlic” versions of possibly all kinds of foods but after a long long time did I come across a curry recipe which does without those two ingredients per se.

It was very important for me to try this one out as I have been raised in a household which did not use onion and garlic in their cooking and my parents still follow the same rule for religious reasons.

You can check out the original recipe at 

http://prathimarao.blogspot.com/2011/11/cottage-cheese-in-sweet-spicy-red-bell.html

Things done different

I did not shallow fry the Paneer cubes or fry them at all. Just added them to the gravy and let them cook for a while.

Shortcut to Spinach Kadhi

This recipe actually came into existence only because of some leftover savory Boondi (an Indian snack made from chickpea flour). It was more like an on the spot, let’s try this if it works kind of a culinary experiment which resulted successfully into an appetizing dish, hence on this blog.

Ingredients

Boondi – 1 cup

Sour Yogurt – 5 tsp

Chopped or thawed spinach – 2 cups

Green chilies – 2 medium

Ginger paste – ½ tsp

Oil – 1 tsp

Cumin seeds – ½ tsp

Water – 2 cups

Heat oil in a skillet and add cumin seeds. As the seeds change color and start to crackle, add water, green chilies, ginger paste, salt and bring to boil. Then add spinach and cook covered for 5 minutes. Turn the heat off and let the contents cool down.

In the meanwhile, mix boondi and yogurt in a microwave safe bowl. Mix well and cook for 3 minutes or a little more. The boondi will soak up all the yogurt and turn soggy.

Combine the spinach liquid and the boondi and yogurt mixture and puree it. Re-heat and serve hot.

This bowl may look like a spinach soup or a spinach gravy but do not let it fool you, it is what it is – Spinach kadhi in 2 short steps !

Serving suggestions

·         With Rice/pulav

Tips

·     Heat 1 tsp ghee (clarified butter) in a small skillet. Add one dry red chili, couple of curry leaves, one clove, pinch of asafetida and cook for a minute. Add this sizzling mixture to the Spinach Kadhi and immediately cover to capture the flavors.

·         This is an excellent recipe to make use of leftover boondi raita.

  Interesting fact

·         Boondi comes from the Rajasthan region of India. 

Stuffed Eggplant

Some dishes always retain their exotic status no matter how often you cook them or how common they are at very many dinner tables. Stuffed Eggplant is one such dish. Of the million versions of this classic dish, I try a new each time with little or more success. The recipe below uses Goda masala, a traditional Maharashtrian spice mixture. As expected, it added a lot more flavor to the dish.

Ingredients

Baby eggplants – 8

Dry Coconut powder – 6 tsp

Chopped cilantro – ¼ cup

Tamarind paste – 1 tsp

Cumin powder – 1 tsp

Coriander powder – 2 tsp

Red chili powder – 2 tsp

Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp

Goda masala – 1 tsp

Diced garlic – 1 tsp

Grated ginger – 1 tsp

Diced Onion – 1 medium

Asafetida – a pinch

Water – as needed

Oil – 1 tsp

Salt – to taste

Dilute the tamarind paste by adding a little water so that it has syrup like consistency. Add coconut powder, chopped cilantro, cumin, coriander, turmeric and red chili powder, goda masala and salt to form a mixture. Use half of this mixture to fill up the eggplants.

Chop off the top green portion of the baby eggplants. Make 3 slits in each eggplant to carve an opening. Take roughly 1 tsp of the mixture prepared above and stuff the eggplants one by one. Set aside once all are nicely prepped up.

Heat oil in a skillet; add asafetida, diced onion, garlic and ginger. Sauté for 5 minutes or until the onions are done. Add the remaining mixture and cook for 2 minutes. Add 2 cups of water and bring to boil. Place the stuffed eggplants one by one in the skillet and cook covered for 30 minutes or so. Do not stir the eggplants too much in between. Alternative transfer the contents of the skillet to a pressure cooker and blow three whistles.

The use of Goda masala made this dish a little extra spicy, just the way we like it sometimes.

Serving suggestions

·         With Roti/Rice

Tips

·         Dry Mango Powder (Amchur) can be used in place of tamarind.

  Interesting fact

·    Eggplant has more nicotine than any other edible plant but not so much as compared to passive smoking.

Saag

A Couple of years back my exposure to “Saag” was limited to eating it at restaurants. Sarson ka Saag,  Saag Aloo, Saag Paneer were a family favorite but it never occurred to me to cook them at home. For one thing I didn’t know where I would find “Sarson” in the U.S. and more importantly I had accepted defeat before trying. It seemed to me like an typical North Indian Dish and I wasn’t going to get it, so I thought.

My friend Monika Singhi Celly of Vegetarian Surprises one day enlightened me that Mustard greens were “Sarson” and “Saag” was one of the easiest dishes to cook.

Taking a cue from her recipe, I cooked Saag at home and it still remains a family favorite. I guess I can take it as a compliment!

Ingredients

Mustard Greens – 1 bunch

Chopped Spinach – 1 cup

Broccoli florets - 1 cup

Ginger – a big piece

Green chilies – 4 medium

Finely chopped onion – 1 medium

Water – 2 cups

Cumin seeds – half tsp

Asafetida – a pinch

Salt and pepper

Oil – 1 tsp

Wash all the greens thoroughly. Chop the mustard greens roughly. Combine them with spinach, broccoli, ginger, green chilies and water in a pressure cooker. Turn the heat on and let everything cook together. Turn the heat off after two whistles. Alternatively cook it on the gas stove in a covered pan till the greens are done. Let the greens cool and then puree them in a mixture to form a thick paste. In a pan heat the oil and add cumin seeds. Let them crackle before adding asafetida and onions. Cook the onions for 3 minutes till they turn soft and gently stir in the green paste. Salt and pepper to taste, Saag is ready to eat.

Serving suggestions

·         Best with Makki (maize flour) Roti

·         Plain Roti/Paratha

Tips

·         You can go ahead and make this dish with only mustard greens.

·         Use of Onions is also optional, traditionally only leftover Saag is seasoned with Onions the next day.

·         Add Cooked Potatoes/Paneer to make Saag Aloo/Saag Paneer

  Interesting fact

·         One of the biggest health benefits of Mustard Greens is cancer prevention.

·         Mustard Greens are a good source of Vitamin K

I cant believe its Beetroot

Now Beetroot is simply impossible to disguise in form and color but for those looking to mask its flavor, there’s good news. Yes, it can be done. The primary question here is who would want to do that? Obviously people like me who find it hard to enjoy the beetroot in its original taste but find it even harder to ignore the blood purifying qualities of this bright colored vegetable.

When experimenting with a new ingredient, my motto is stick to your comfort zone. This recipe of Beetroot curry is a simple dish with a slight twist and if you had a bite with your eyes closed, you would remark “I can’t believe its Beetroot”.

Ingredients

Beetroots – 2 medium

Finely chopped red onion – 1 small

Green chilies – 4 medium

Chickpea flour (besan) – 2 tsp

Yogurt – half a cup

Water – 4 cups or as needed

Cumin powder – 1 tsp

Bay leaf – 1 small

Oil – 1 tsp

Salt and pepper

Cook whole beetroots in a vessel full of water for about 15 minutes. Let them cool, peel off the skin and chop in medium sized pieces. Keep aside. In a small bowl, mix yogurt and chickpea flour, keep aside as well.  In a pan, heat oil and add bay leaf, chopped onion and green chilies. Cook for 5 minutes or until the onions are done. Add the beetroot pieces, cumin powder, salt and pepper, mix well. Cook for 2 minutes. Add the yogurt and chickpea flour paste and water. Mix well and cook covered for 15 minutes, stirring in between. At this point the curry is done; you may cook for a little while more if you need a thicker version. Serve hot and immediately.

After a successful experiment with this one, I am ready to step out of my comfort zone, more Beetroot recipes coming soon….

Serving suggestions

*With Rice/paratha

Tips

*Boiling the Beetroot makes it easier to peel the skin off, you can skip that step

  and increase the cooking time of the raw beetroot pieces.

Interesting fact

·         There is a yellow colored variety of Beetroot too.

·         Beetroot is used as a dye for adding flavor and coloring food items such as tomato paste, jams and jellies and desserts.

·         Beetroot is well known for its blood purifying properties

·         Those with a history of kidney stones should avoid consuming beets in high quantities.

Potato slices in Spinach Gravy

I try and find ways to feed Spinach to my family because unlike me they are not so much into the color green. The task is not nearly as difficult because everybody in the house loves potatoes, rather can’t do without potatoes, so pair anything with the chubby vegetable and we are good to go.

Now this recipe on the face of it may seem like Aloo-Palak and technically speaking it is Aloo (potato) and Palak (Spinach). The difference lies in the treatment of Potato and the spinach gravy itself is much simpler.

Ingredients

Potatoes peeled and thinly sliced – 2 medium

Fresh Spinach – 3 cups

Chopped Cilantro – half a cup

Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Ginger – 1 medium piece

Green chilies – 2 small

Oil – as needed

Salt and pepper

Water – 2 cups

Wash, peel and thinly slice the potatoes. In a pan, heat some oil and shallow fry the potato slices golden brown in batches adding salt and pepper each time. Keep aside once done. In another vessel combine spinach, cilantro, ginger and green chilies and water. Bring to a boil and cook covered for 5 minutes. Cool and puree. Using the same pan in which potato slices were shallow fried, heat half a tsp of oil, add cumin seeds and bring to a crackle. Add the pureed spinach, salt and pepper and cook the gravy  for 10 minutes. Add the potato slices to the gravy just 5 minutes before serving.

Serving suggestions

With Paratha/roti/white rice/brown rice

Tips

*frozen spinach can be used in place of fresh.

*Increase or decrease the quantity of water in the recipe depending on how thin

 you want the gravy.

Interesting fact

·         Spinach is extremely rich in antioxidants and multiple vitamins and iron

·         Although fresh spinach is very nutritious, these days it is recommended to eat cooked Spinach because of E. Coli and Salmonella outbreaks in the past

·         Raw Spinach is HIGH in sodium, people who have been advised to watch their sodium should eat spinach in moderation.