Multi-Grain Veg Wraps

              What would you typically do on a holiday when the weather's too good to be indoors?? You go on a picnic!! :) Little else gets one going than the idea of spending a day out with family and/or friends and come back energized. Now... that's the fun part. The concerning part? Food!! 
              If the place we are headed to has good food options, problem solved, pack your bags!! But if it doesn't? Or if the family has young kids or elders who cannot risk it with outside food? That's when the challenge of an ideal picnic basket emerges. But trust me, a little planning and creativity can still keep the fun alive in all of this. 
Here's a healthy suggestion that would be a hit with young and old alike. Also ties in with the #PicnicTheme for our 36th #FoodieMonday #Bloghop

MULTI-GRAIN VEG WRAPS

Ingredients : 
For the Roti:
Whole wheat flour - 1/2 cup
Flax seeds meal - 1/4 cup
Soya flour - 2-3 tbsps
Salt to taste
Water

Filling :
Diced Bell peppers - 1 cup
Broccoli and/or cauliflower florets (wash and blanch them with turmeric powder and drain before use)
Paneer cubes - 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Chili powder - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Olive oil - 1 tbsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp

Mayo spread :
Mayonnaise -  4 tbsps (you can use the Eggless and flavoured varieties too, now available in markets. If using a pre-flavoured one, skip the following ingredients)
Chili flakes - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala or any masala of choice - 1/4 tsp

To serve :
Fresh cabbage, julienne
Onion, sliced
Tomato ketchup

Method : 
1. Prepare a soft dough using the ingredients and sufficient water. Keep aside covered for about 5-7 minutes.

2. Heat oil in a non-stick pan, add cumin seeds and let splutter. Tip in the bell peppers, sprinkle salt and saute. After about 5 minutes, add the blanched Broccoli, cauliflower, paneer cubes, garam masala, mix and let cook for 5 minutes more. We need the veggies only half-done.

3. Meanwhile, prepare the rotis and keep aside. Do not apply any butter or ghee on them. Mix together the ingredients for the Mayo spread and keep aside. If using a pre-flavoured Mayo or Cheese spread, use as is.

4. When ready to assemble, warm the rotis one at a time. Transfer to a plate, apply the Mayo or cheese spread. Apply a moderate quantity so that the roti doesn't become soggy. Place the vegetables along side one corner, add some fresh cabbage and sliced onions and roll. 

5. Wrap in butter paper or foil sheet and pack as desired. Serve with tomato ketcup or chutney of choice. 

Note : If serving at home, brush the wraps with very little butter or oil and grill before serving.

Leftover Roti Pizza

LEFTOVER ROTI PIZZA

Ingredients :

Leftover rotis - 5-6
Tomato puree - 1/2 cup
Paneer cubes - 1/2 cup
Boiled sweet corn - 1/4 cup
Chopped Bell peppers (green, red and yellow) - 1/2 cup
Chopped and blanched spinach - 1 cup
Chopped onion - 1/4 cup
Grated cheese or cheese slices
Red chili powder - 1 tsp
Garlic powder - 1/2 tsp
Dried herbs
Salt to taste

Method :

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add the capsicum and saute lightly. Add chili powder and salt.

2. Add the tomato puree and garlic powder. Stir and cook for 4-5 minutes. It is absolutely up to your taste to add spices of your choice here, ranging from garam masala, dhaniya powder to even Curry powder! Remove from the flame as we do not need to over cook the sauce.
(We are cooking the vegetables here, such as capsicum, spinach because unlike a pizza base, we won't be cooking a roti for long, so the vegetables might be left uncooked and a bit uneasy to digest. Onions can however be used raw as they add the crunch factor.)

3. Take a roti, spread 1 tbsp of sauce over it, arrange the paneer cubes, blanched spinach, onion, corn and finally cover with a little cheese. Remember not to over-load the cheese as the roti will be thin and will sag.

4. Heat a tawa on medium heat. Place the roti carefully over it, reduce flame, cover with a lid and let the cheese melt. Take care not to let the roti become too crisp.
Serve the 'Roti-Pizza' as desired.

Pudina Pepper Paratha

PUDINA PEPPER PARATHA

Ingredients :

Whole wheat flour - 2 cups
Black Pepper Powder - 2 tsps
Salt to taste
Chopped Green chilies - 2 to 3 tsps

Clarified butter (Ghee) - 2 tbsps
Chopped Mint leaves - 1/2 cup
Chopped Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup

Method :

1. In a clean bowl, mix together, flour, pepper powder, salt along with green chilies, mint and coriander. Add ghee and knead into a soft dough using enough water. Rest for 5-7 minutes.

2. Divide into equal sized portions. Roll out into rotis. Heat a tawa on medium heat. Cook the rotis using ghee/oil on both sides until golden brown and slightly crispy.
Serve as desired with curd and pickle.

Simple Petha Dal

A simple to make and delicious dal using white pumpkin.
White Pumpkin, also known as Petha (North) or Poosani (South), has many health benefits, ranging from anti-inflammatory properties that help arthritic conditions, improving the overall immune system, anti-ageing properties and also claimed to be anti-depressant!!

Try this simple dal which tastes excellent with rice and roti alike...

                                                                    PETHA DAL

Ingredients :

White Pumpkin (Petha) - 2 cups (chopped)
Moong dal (split green gram) - 1/2 cup
Chana Dal (Bengal gram) - 1 tbsp
Haldi - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Green Chilies - 2 (slit)
Jeera (cumin seeds)  -1 tsp
Rai (Mustard seeds) - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Dhaniya (coriander seeds) powder - 1 tbsp
Lemon juice - 1 tsp
Dhaniya leaves for garnishing

Method : 

1. Cook the chopped pumpkin and washed moong and chana dals, along with haldi in a pressure cooker till done.

2. Heat oil in a pan and add jeera, followed by mustard seeds. Once they crackle, add the slit green chilies.

3. Tip in the cooked pumpkin and dals and add salt to taste. Add the dhaniya powder and mix again.

4. Let cook for 5 minutes and finally add the lemon juice. Remove and transfer to serving bowl.
Garnish with dhaniya leaves.

Multi-grain Thalipeeth

Thalipeeth is a famous Maharashtrian dish typically made of three flours, whole wheat, millet and bengal gram flour or besan.

I've attempted a healthy and green twist to this versatile and healthy preparation ....

                                                   MULTI-GRAIN THALIPEETH

Ingredients :

Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
Besan (Bengal gram flour) - 1 cup
Bajra/Jowar flour - 1cup
Soya flour - 1cup
Rice flour - 1 cup
Rajgira Flour - 1 cup
Maida - 1/4 cup
Jeera - 2 tsps
Dhaniya-curry leaves chutney - as required (Click link for chutney recipe)
Salt to taste
Whisked curds - 1 cup
Water - as required

Method : 
1. Add all the flours and pinch salt to a clean bowl and mix well with hands. If possible, sift them together on to a large plate to allow them to mix well together.

2. Add the jeera and green chutney and mix again. You can add as much chutney as desired, based on the spice and flavour you need.

3. Now gradually add the curds and keep kneading the flours into a tight but soft dough. Add water only if required. Drizzle a little oil on to your hand and coat the dough with it. Cover and let rest for about 5-7 minutes.

4. Take 2 clean plastic sheets. Give the dough a rough kneading but do not knead too much. Divide into equal sized portions and keep aside.

5. Heat a tawa on medium heat. Place one dough round in between the plastic sheets on a counter and either press evenly into a pancake using your hands or use a rolling pin if it's easier. It's OK for the edges to be uneven.

6. Cook the thalipeeth on the tawa using oil/ghee till golden brown on both sides. Use a flat ladle to press down and let cook evenly.
Serve hot with pickle / chutney and curds.

Kadhai Roti

Utterly bored and in search of something spicy for dinner...That's when I spotted the left-over chapatis. Got to work chopping some vegetables, a dash of Schezwan sauce and masala..hey presto! Kadhai Roti ready !!


                                                                   KADHAI ROTI

Ingredients :

Left over chapatis - 4 to 5 (Chopped into square pieces)
Chopped Capsicum - 1/2 cup
Chopped Carrots - 1/2 cup
Diced Paneer - 1/2 cup
Oil - 2 tbsps
Jeera - 1 tsp
Schezwan Sauce (I used Ching's) - 1 tbsp
Karahi Paneer Masala(MDH) or Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Method :

1. Heat oil in a pan/wok. Add jeera and let crackle.

2. Add the carrots and let cover-cook till 3/4th tender, I left them a bit crunchy.

3. Add the capsicum and some salt to taste. Cover and let cook for 5 minutes more.

4. Add the Karahi Paneer Masala or Garam masala and mix well. Add the chopped chapati and paneer and mix again.

5. Now add the Schezwan sauce and mix well so that the chapati and paneer pieces especially are well-coated. [I added the schezwan sauce to create a deviation from the kadhai masala and this also prevented the preparation from being too dry.]
Cover and cook for 5 minutes more. Remove and transfer to serving bowl.

Palak Paneer

Palak Paneer is a timeless and classic Indian recipe. The very name conjures up images of succulent paneer cubes floating around in a rich spinach gravy. This recipe is timeless for me too as it's from my mother's recipe repository :) Without further ado, let's get started !!!

Tips on making paneer at home mentioned in this blog...

                                                                   PALAK PANEER

Ingredients :

Chopped Fresh spinach - 2 cups
(I've come across frozen spinach cubes or leaves available in supermarkets abroad, these can be used too)
Paneer (Indian cheese) - 200 gms (Cubed)
Onion - 1 (medium)
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Tomatoes - 2 (medium)
Cinnamon - 1/2 inch stick or 1 tsp of powder
Green chillies - 2 to 3
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil- 2 tbsps

Note : If using fresh spinach leaves, it's imperative to wash them well before use. Also it's recommended to always blanch the greens than pressure cook them, in order to retain maximum nutrients.

Method :

1. Wash and drain the spinach. If using equivalent amount of frozen spinach cubes, directly dissolve them in water.

2. Chop the onion and blend in a mixer along with ginger, green chillies and cinnamon.

3. Blanch and de-seed tomatoes. Drain the excess water and chop the tomatoes. Blend along with the spinach and turmeric powder to make a smooth puree.

4. Heat oil in a pan. Add the ground onion paste and fry for 5 to 7 minutes till the raw aroma leaves the mixture.

5. Meanwhile heat 1 tsp oil in a non-stick pan and lightly saute the paneer pieces till light golden. Immediately transfer to a saucepan full of boiling water. This will remove the excess oil from the paneer and also make it soft and absorbent. Let them soak for about 7 to 8 minutes, drain on a tissue paper.
Alternatively, you can use the paneer cubes as is, i.e without frying, to suit your tastes.

6. To the onion gravy, add the spinach puree and cook for about 5 more minutes. Now drop in the paneer pieces gradually, stirring the gravy simultaneously. Cover cook for 4 to 5 more minutes.
Remove and serve with any Indian bread or rice.

Peas - Pudina Rotis

Last Sunday my mother fished out a recipe for Peas Bruschetta (can't recall where she got it from now) and we had it for breakfast. The filling was simply out of this world.
However, we ended up with some leftover filling and we promptly deposited it in the refrigerator for future sandwiches.
Last night, to break the monotony of standard rotis, I recalled the filling in the fridge and you know what comes next!! Yep......

PEAS-PUDINA ROTIS

Ingredients :

Peas Filling -
Green peas - 1 cup
Pudina/Mint leaves - 10 to 12
Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup (chopped)
Green chilly -1
Grated Cheese - 1/4 cup
Salt and pepper to taste

For Dough -
Wheat flour - 1.5 cups
Water
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp

Method : 

1. Grind together all the ingredients for the filling in a mixer using very little water. Keep aside

2. In a food processor, or bowl, add the ground mixture, wheat flour, salt, oil and knead a firm dough using sufficient water. Let rest for about 8 to 10 minutes

3. Prepare thick rotis or parathas and cook using ghee / oil on a hot tawa.
Serve as desired.

Arbi leaves roti

Colocasia or Arbi leaves are an excellent source of vitamins C and E, potassium, magnesium, and have rich iron content as well.
The most popular use for arbi patta is the 'Patra' widely prepared in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Konkan areas.
Here is an alternative use of the leaves in an Indian bread.

COLOCASIA LEAVES ROTI

Ingredients :

Chopped Arbi leaves - 1/2 cup
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Dhaniya powder - 1 tsp
Jeera powder - 1 tsp
Chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Haldi - 1/4 tsp
Ragi flour - 1/4 cup
Wheat flour - 1/4 cup
Oil - 1 tbsp + for cooking
Salt to taste

Method :

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add jeera and let crackle.

2. Add the chopped arbi leaves and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add dhaniya-jeera powder, chili powder, salt to taste, haldi and mix well. Cook on a medium flame till the leaves are soft. Sprinkle little water to avoid the masala being burned. Remove and cool.

3. When at room temperature, add ragi and wheat flour to this mixture, along with oil. Mix well and knead into a soft dough using sufficient water.

4. Divide into equal portions and roll out into thick rotis. Cook on a tawa on medium flame using oil till both sides are golden brown.
Serve hot with curd or desired side-dish.

Bajra Aloo Roti

Bajra or Pearl Millet (கம்பு {Kambu} in Tamil), is highly popular in Rajasthani cuisine, however its health benefits make it a part of dishes throughout India. It is known to be high in proteins with a good amount of amino acids. It's rich iron content helps formation of hemoglobin in blood thus preventing anaemia.
It is also gluten free; is a rich source of fibre and helps control blood sugar levels, acidity and cardiovascular problems.



In the following recipe, the normal Bajra roti has a taste twist in the form of boiled and mashed potatoes, which also add volume and softness.

BAJRA ALOO ROTI

Ingredients : (Makes 4) 

Bajra (Pearl millet) flour - 1 1/2 cups
Boiled and mashed potatoes - 3/4 cup
Ginger-green chilli paste - 1 tsp
Chopped coriander - 4 tsps
Black Pepper pwd - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil / ghee for cooking

Method :

1. Combine potatoes and bajra flour in a bowl with oiled hands and gently mix.

2. Add the ginger-green chilli paste, pepper, dhaniya and salt. Mix all ingredients well and knead into a soft dough. Due to the moisture content in potatoes, it is not usually necessary to add water. Keep dough aside for 5 minutes.

3. Meanwhile warm the roti tawa or griddle. Divide the dough into 4-5 equal portions. Roll out into a 1" thick roti(pancake) and cook on using oil/ghee till golden brown on both sides. 
Serve hot with curd, raita or desired accompaniment.

Pudina Paratha

Paratha or Indian flat bread is an excellent accompaniment for Indian side dishes; it tends to make even the simplest dal tastier.
The word "Paratha" is said to be made up of two words : 'Parat' which means layers and 'atta' which means flour. In essence it is a multi-layered flat bread. Paratha comes in various flavours, shapes and fillings, the most popular being Aloo (Potato), Gobi (Cauliflower) and Pudina (Mint).
I share with you few of my favourite time and home-tested paratha recipes.

PUDINA PARATHA  

Ingredients : (Makes 4) 

Whole wheat flour - 2 cups

Crushed (fresh) mint leaves - 1 cup

Salt - 1 tsp

Butter - 3 tbsps

Method :           

1.  Sieve flour and salt together into a bowl.

2. Add water little by little and knead into a stiff dough. Keep covered with a wet muslin cloth for 25-30 minutes

3. Take half the crushed mint leaves and dry roast on a tawa, till all moisture evaporates. Once crisp, crush them with your hand so they resemble Kasuri methi. These will be used to sprinkle on the paratha.

4. Mix the remaining fresh leaves with the covered dough and gently knead again. Divide into 4-5 balls.

5. To prepare the paratha, roll out into a thick chapati and apply butter on the surface. Sprinkle some flour and roll the chapati into a cylinder or fold alternately like a fan. Now roll this horizontally into a spiral ball shape and keep aside for 5 minutes. Repeat the process with the remaining dough.

6. Prepare chapatis again with the spiral rolls (if you want more layers you can repeat the process 3-4 times more) and cook on a hot tawa using butter / ghee / oil. Sprinkle the roasted and crushed pudina leaves while the chapati is still uncooked and press lightly with a flat ladle.

7. Cook on both sides till brown. Serve hot with desired accompaniments.