Vegetarian appetizer for Superbowl…

I am planning to be a vegetarian for this Superbowl. Ooops did I just say that?

Much awaited superbowl is just two days away. Not just the game, even the commercials are much awaited. The other day I heard on TV that around 1.25 billion chicken wings will be consumed on Superbowl weekend, according to The National Chicken Council. Well, I am not a wee bit surprised to learn that. For non-vegetarians, without chicken wings superbowl wouldn’t be complete, period! We always  used to hit the sports bar along with friends to watch the game as we love the crowd and ambiance there. But this time we are planning to watch the game through our own big screen. So, I am looking forward to a major shopping tomorrow which obviously includes stacking up of chicken wings on my cart which is definitely going to brighten up my hubby.

For tonight’s dinner I made these veggie tacos. When I served these tacos I was expecting “where’s the meat” scream from my husband. Surprisingly, there wasn’t any scream as my hubby was busy devouring these veggie delights. He liked it, loved it and finished everything in just one sitting. And I felt relieved.

If you are planning for a veggie dish for this Superbowl, this would make a perfect appetizer. You could get the store bought crispy tacos, make the stuffing, stuff the tacos, top with cheese and bake it. It’s that easy and even the hard core non-vegetarians would sneak into it.

Veggie Tacos

Makes: 10 Tacos

Ingredients

For making stuffing

• Olive oil- 1 tbsp
• Carrot, grated- 2 large
• Green pepper, chopped very small- 2
• Tomatoes, chopped small- 2
• Black beans or refried beans, canned (optional)- 1/2 can
• Pickled Jalapeno, cut small- 7 to 8 slices
• Ground Cumin- 2 tsp
• Paprika or chilly powder- 1 tsp
• Salt- to taste
• Cilantro, chopped- 1/4 cup

Other ingredients:

• Salsa (optional)- to top
• Cheddar or mixed cheese- to top the tacos
• Crispy Tacos, store bought- 1o no’s
• Sour Cream- for dipping

Preparation:

Making stuffing:

1. Heat a pan over medium heat, add olive oil.
2. Add grated carrot and little water to it, cook covered for a few minutes.
3. Add green pepper, cook for a couple of minutes.
4. Add tomatoes, cook covered till mashed up.
5. Add pickled jalapenos, combine well.
6. You could even add black beans or refried beans to the veggies, let it heat up.
7. Add ground cumin, paprika and salt to taste, combine well.
8. Cook till all the water has dried up and veggies have cooked well.
9. Taste and add more paprika or salt if needed.
10. Sprinkle cilantro and cook for a minute.
11. Remove from heat and keep aside.

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
3. Stuff the store bought tacos with the prepared veggies.
4. If you want you could top the veggies with salsa.
5. Top the veggies with cheese.
6. Place the tacos on the baking sheet.
7. Since the tacos are folded, to make it stand straight you could lean the tacos to one another.
8. Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese has melted and is golden in color.
9. Remove from the oven and serve warm along with sour cream.

Tips:

• You could even stuff the prepared veggies into a tortilla, fold it and bake.
• For non-veg version: add shredded chicken or ground beef.

Potato Masala: spread over dosa or serve with poori, both are phenomenal combinations…

Since my last post was about egg dosa, I felt that this post should be about making potato masala. Luckily, I had the pictures of potato masala in my picasa album. Yet another popular way of serving dosa in South India is by spreading potato masala over the dosa and rolling it, which is called Masala dosa. Any day, any time masala dosa tastes delicious and is seen on the menu of any South Indian vegetarian restaurants. Both adults and kids can be seen having this with so much enthusiasm. I have to agree that restaurant style masala dosa always tastes better than homemade ones. One of the reasons is that they make the dosa super crispy and it’s huge. Hopefully, someday I can figure out secret behind this.

Isn’t dosa such a versatile vegetarian dish? As there are endless ways of serving it, you could stuff the dosa with literally anything you like. Potato masala, egg masala, chicken, ground beef, mixed veggies, chutneys, cheese etc etc the list just goes on. This potato masala can be called as an Indian style mashed potatoes. This can be served along with poori or chapati as well.

Potato Masala

Ingredients

• Oil-2 tbsp
• Mustard seeds-1 tsp
• Chana dal- 1/2 tbsp
• Urad dal- 1 tbsp
• Red dry chilly- 2
• Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
• Curry leaves- 1 sprig
• Onion, chopped small- 2
• Green chillies, chopped- 2 or 3
• Ginger, minced- 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
• Potatoes, cooked- 4 large
• Green peas, frozen- 1/2 cup
• Water- 1/4 cup
• Cilantro, chopped- 2 handful
• Salt- to taste

Preparation:

1. Peel the skin off the potatoes.
2. Cook the potatoes in boiling water till it’s fork tender, keep aside.
3. Place a wok over medium heat, add oil and let it turn hot.
4. Add mustard seeds and let it splutter.
5. Add chana dal first, saute and when it start to turn light golden in color add urad dal.
6. When the dals turn golden in color, add red dry chilly, curry leaves and cumin seeds.
7. Saute till cumin seeds turn light brown.
8. Make sure not to brown or burn the dals.
9. Add chopped onions and salt to taste.
10. Add minced ginger and green chillies to the onions, saute till onions turn translucent.
11. Add turmeric powder and combine well.
12. Add cooked potatoes and mash it using a wooden spoon, cook for a few minutes.
13. Add green peas to the potatoes.
14. Add water and cook covered till potatoes have almost mashed up and green peas cooked well.
15. You could either mash the potatoes well or partially mash it.
16. Sprinkle cilantro over it and combine well.
17. Have a taste and add more salt if needed.
18. If you are making masala dosa: spread the potato masala over the dosa and fold it.
19. Potato masala can also be served along with poori or chapati.

Tips:

• Adding chana dal and urad dal enhances the taste of this dish.

Dosa stuffed with egg masala, certainly a vegetarian delicacy…

Dosa is one of the popular breakfast dishes in South India. Making dosa batter is quite a breeze, you just have to soak urad dal and rice (1:2 ratio) and grind it to a thick batter. After it has fermented by keeping the batter overnight, you could start making dosas just like you make crepes. The batter can be stored in the refrigerator for a week or so. Usually, dosa which looks like a crepe is served with sambar or chutney. Yet another common way of serving dosa is by spreading potato masala over it and folding it, now this is called Masala dosa.

After a long time I made dosa a few weeks ago. I didn’t want to serve it with sambar, chutney nor as masala dosa. Instead, I served as egg dosa by spreading egg masala over the dosa and folded it. It was different and tasted great.

Egg Dosa

Recipe for making Dosa

Egg Masala

Ingredients

• Oil- 1 tbsp
• Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
• Dry red whole chilly- 2
• Curry leaves- 1 sprig (optional)
• Onion, chopped very small- 2
• Green pepper, chopped very small- 2
• Tomatoes, chopped small-2
• Chilly powder- 1 tsp
• Coriander powder- 1 1/2 tsp
• Tomato ketchup- 3 tbsp
• Eggs, beaten- 2
• Cilantro, chopped- 2 handful
• Salt- to taste

Preparation

1. Place a wok or non-stick pan over medium heat.
2. Add oil, let it turn hot.
3. Add cumin seeds, dry red chilly and curry leaves, saute for a second.
4. Add onion and little salt, saute till onions turn translucent.
5. Add green pepper, cook for a few minutes till it turns tender.
6. Now, add tomatoes and cook till it gets mashed up.
7. Add chilly powder and coriander powder, combine well.
8. Whisk 2 eggs in a bowl.
9. Add the beaten eggs to the veggies, scramble the eggs and cook the eggs.
10. Add tomato ketchup, combine well and cook for a few minutes.
11. Garnish with cilantro.
12. Taste and add salt if needed.

How to spread on Dosa:

1. Spread the dosa batter on the tawa or non-stick pan, let it cook.
2. Spread the egg masala evenly over the dosa, let cook for a few seconds.
3. Turn the heat to low.
4. Fold the dosa over and flip to the other side, cook for a minute.
5. Serve warm along with raita or yogurt.

This makes a healthy evening snack…

Rice flakes or flattened rice can be used for making snacks and is very popular in India. Many kinds of snacks can be prepared using rice flakes, the simplest one is made by wetting rice flakes with water which is then combined with coconut, banana and jaggery. Another variation is rice flakes stir fry, which is made by combining the rice flakes with veggies or nuts and seasoned with some spices. Some people even have this for breakfast instead of cereal, when mixed with milk or water it will absorb the liquid and becomes soft and can be eaten after seasoning with sugar. Since it’s easily digestible, even kids can have it. The other day, I made this veggie rice flakes stir fry. I added mixed veggies and seasoned the rice flakes with some spices. I wanted to retain the crispiness of the rice flakes so I didn’t add too much water while stir frying it. It turned out to be a healthy delicious evening snack.

Here is the recipe for Ghee Fried Rice Flakes Balls

Rice Flakes Stir Fry

Ingredients

• Oil- 1 tbsp
• Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
• Red dry whole chilly-1
• Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
• Mixed veggies- 1 1/2 cups
• Chilly powder- 3/4 tsp
• Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
• Coriander powder- 1 tsp
• Salt- to taste
• Rice flakes, white or brown- 2 cups
• Water- 3 tbsp
• Cilantro, chopped- 2 handful
• Lemon juice- 1 1/2 tsp
• Sesame seeds- 2 tbsp (optional)

Preparation:

1. Place a wok or non-stick pan over medium heat.
2. Add oil, let it turn hot and add mustard seeds, let it splutter.
3. Add dry red chilly and cumin seeds, saute for a second.
4. Add mixed veggies and cook till veggies get tender.
5. Add chilly powder, turmeric powder and coriander powder and salt, combine everything well.
6. Add rice flakes, combine well.
7. Sprinkle 3tbsp of water over the rice flakes, it will absorb the moisture and turn slightly soft.
8. I wanted to retain the crispiness of the rice flakes so didn’t add too much water.
9. Add cilantro and drizzle lemon juice over it, combine well.
10. Garnish with sesame seeds.
11. Remove from the heat and serve.
12. If you want you could drizzle some more lemon juice while serving.

Homemade sushi rolls couldn’t get any better…

I still remember how I used to frown at sushi, however it didn’t take too long for me to turn into a sushi addict. Now, I often get the sushi craving and I am so glad that there is a really good sushi restaurant near to my house. I had been under the impression that making homemade sushi is something beyond my expertise, so I didn’t even think of making it in my kitchen. Well, I was more concerned about the handling and the storage of the raw fish. Yes, it’s very very important that the fish you use for making sushi is fresh or it’s frozen really well so that it’s safe to consume. Honestly, I am still don’t know how to handle the raw fish for making sushi. That’s the sole reason why I made the vegetarian sushi roll.

Sushi making is such a breeze, you don’t have to deal with sautéing, grinding or any of those major cooking techniques. You just need cooked sushi rice, seaweed or nori, sushi mat or bamboo mat and the fillings. In just a matter of minutes you will get to enjoy homemade sushi that tastes just like restaurant style. When it comes to filling there are no rules, you could get creative and place anything you like in the sushi. While making vegetarian sushi rolls, some of the common veggies used are avocado, carrot and cucumber.

You should be very careful while choosing the fish, for more information about what all kinds of fish can be used and about handling them read this.

Sushi rice or sticky rice, roasted seaweed sheets or nori, sushi mat or bamboo mat are available in almost all Asian stores and in some of the North American stores.

Vegetarian Sushi Rolls

Makes: 14

Ingredients

For cooking rice

• Sushi rice or sticky rice- 1 cup (add more for making more sushi)
• Water- 1 cup
• Vinegar- 1 1/2 tbsp
• Salt- little

For filling

• Avocado, cut into thin stripes- 1
• Cucumber, cut thin long stripes- 1/2 cucumber
• Carrot, cut thin long stripes- 1/2 carrot

Other ingredients

• Sushi mat or Bamboo mat or rolling mat
• Roasted seaweed or Nori- 2 sheets or more
• Sesame seeds, black or white to sprinkle over rice- 2 to 3 tbsp
• Soy Sauce- for dipping sushi

Preparation

1. Cook the rice along with the water in a rice cooker.
2. After the rice has cooked, add salt and vinegar to the rice and combine well, let cool down for sometime.
3. Place the sushi mat or bamboo mat on a clean cutting board or on counter top.
4. Layer it with a clean plastic cover or wrap.
5. Place the seaweed on the plastic wrap.
6. Evenly spread half of the rice over the seaweed. Wet your hands with water to prevent rice form sticking to your hands.
7. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the rice.
8. Gently turn the seaweed with the rice upside down so that the rice layer will become the bottom layer.
9. On the middle of the seaweed, line the avocados and top it with carrots and cucumber.
10. Gently, fold both ends of the seaweed over the filling.
11. Starting from one end roll the sushi mat along with the plastic wrap tightly.
12. When the sushi is completely rolled, tighten the sushi mat.
13. Gently, unroll the mat and peel off the plastic wrap.
14. You’ll have a nice tight long sushi roll.
15. Using a sharp knife cut the sushi into 6 or 7 pieces depending upon how thick you want. Wet the knife before cutting the sushi so that the rice and filling won’t stick to the knife.
16. Serve with soy sauce and pickled ginger.
17. Dip the sushi in soy sauce and gracefully put it in your mouth and enjoy the delicacy.
18. You could use any kinds of fillings you want mayonnaise, cream cheese, cooked shrimp, crab etc.

Sweet potatoes aid weight loss…

Sweet potatoes as the name suggests are sweeter than regular potatoes. Ironically, sweet potatoes don’t increase our blood sugar compared to regular potatoes which is low in fiber and increases our blood sugar. They have high content of antioxidants and fiber. If you are someone wanting to loose weight include sweet potatoes into your diet, carotenoids present in it helps to stabilize blood sugar level and to lower insulin resistance. Sweet potatoes come in different colors: white skin, purple skin, orange skin etc.

Sweet potatoes when cooked will become more sweet and will make a delicious dessert. Or include as a side dish with your meal, because of its high fiber it will fill your stomach fast, hence you can cut down on your food intake.

I often bake sweet potatoes, when baked it gets caramelized and tastes phenomenal. The other day, I made mashed sweet potatoes. Instead of making mashed regular potatoes, make mashed sweet potatoes. It’s healthy and tastes yummy.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Serves: 4 people

Ingredients

• Sweet potatoes, large- 3
• Ground cinnamon- 1/4 tsp
• Ground pepper- 1/4 tsp
• Skim milk- 1/3 cup

Preparation

1. Cook sweet potatoes in boiling water till it has cooked well.
2. Let cool down and remove the skin.
3. You could even peel off the skin before cooking it.
4. Mash the sweet potatoes taken in a large pan using a potato masher or wooden spoon without any lumps.
5. Place the pan over medium heat, add ground cinnamon, ground pepper and milk to it, combine well.
6. Heat for a couple of minutes and remove from the heat.
7. Serve as a side dish.

Tips:

• If you prefer you could add cream instead of milk.
• Also, you could add any of your favorite seasoning.

When Idli got a makeover…

Just like pancakes, idlis are served often for breakfast in most South Indian houses. Idlis are steamed fermented rice cake and is served with sambar or chutneys. It’s so soft and fluffy that even kids can digest it easily.

Having idlis with sambar along with a hot cup of filter coffee is pure bliss. Those who have had this combination would agree with me. I had bought an Idli maker when I visited Kerala last year. Here, if I want to have idlis I’ve to make it at home as it’s not served in any of the Indian restaurant. However in North America, some major cities have South Indian Uduppi restaurants only there you can see idlis being served. While in Chicago, if I get the craving for idli I used to go to the Uduppi restaurant at Devon street. How I miss that restaurant now:(

Though I’ve the idli maker, I haven’t made idli in that all these days, have made idiyappam a couple of times. Hence, this weekend I decided to make idli. For making idli, you need to soak the rice and urad dal overnight and grind it to a smooth batter the next day. Again, the batter has to be kept for 8 hours for fermentation to happen. Pour the thick batter into the plates and steam cook it, idli will be ready in minutes. The best part is that the idli batter can be stored in the refrigerator for a week long.

After I’ve made idlis, I was way too lazy to make sambar. Hence, I decided to give idlis a makeover. I stir fried the idlis with onion-tomato mixture and seasoned with some spices. It tasted so good that even my hubby who’s not that keen about idli had this dish with so much enthusiasm.

Making Idli

Ingredients

• White rice, sona masori or ponni- 2 cups
• Urad dal- 1 cup
• Fenugreek seeds- 1 tbsp
• Salt- to taste (add to the batter just before you make idlis)

Preparation:

• Soak white rice, urad dal and fenugreek in water overnight.
• Drain the water and grind them after adding some water to make a thick batter.
• Don’t add too much water while grinding, the batter should be very thick.
• Pour the batter into a large bowl as the batter will rise and let it ferment for about 8-10 hours.
• The batter should be kept in a warm place only then fermentation will take place.
• In summer, the batter can be placed on the counter top to ferment.
• While in winter, keep the batter inside the oven.
• You could even preheat the oven to the lowest temperature, switch off the oven and then keep the batter inside the oven so that it will be warm and the fermentation will be faster. Make sure the bowl is very large as the batter will rise.
• After the batter has fermented, take the batter that you need in a different bowl and add salt, combine well.
• Leftover batter can be stored in the refrigerator.
  
• Grease the idli plates with little oil or non-stick cooking spray.
• Pour the batter on to each moulds.
• Stack the plates.
• Add some water to the idli cooker, place the stacked up plates into the cooker and close it.
• Cook it over medium heat till you get the whistle or for about 5-7 minutes.
• Let the pressure subside and open the cooker.
• Remove the plates carefully and let cool down a bit. (My idli batter didn’t ferment well that’s why it doen’t have much porous texture)
• Run a knife along the sides of the idli and slide the idlis on a plate.
• If you don’t grease the plates, idlis will be stuck to the plates.
• I made it in an idli cooker, if you don’t have an idli maker you could place the plates in a pressure cooker and cook without placing the whistle on the cooker.
• You could serve the idli with sambar or chutney, else give it a makeover.

Idli stir fry

Ingredients:

• Oil- 2 tbsp
• Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
• Urad dal- 1 tbsp
• Red dry chilly- 2
• Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
• Curry leaves- 1 sprig
• Onion, chopped small- 1, large
• Green pepper, chopped small- 1, medium
• Tomatoes, chopped- 2
• Chilly powder- 1 tsp
• Coriander powder- 1 1/2 tsp
• Cilantro, chopped- 2 handful
• Idlis- 12, cut each idlis into 4 pieces
• Salt- to taste

Preparation:

1. After you have made idlis, let the idlis cool down for 15 minutes. Cut each idlis into four slices, keep aside.
2. Place a wok over medium heat, add oil. Let the oil turn hot.
3. Add mustard seeds, let it splutter.
4. Add urad dal, and saute till it starts to turn golden in color.
5. Add cumin seeds and dry red chillies, saute for a second.
6. Add curry leaves and onions to the oil.
7. Add salt, saute till onions turn translucent.
8. Add green pepper, cook for a few minutes.
9. Add tomatoes, cover the pan and cook till it has mashed up.
10. Open the pan, combine the mixture well.
11. Add chilly powder and coriander powder, combine well.
12. Taste and add more salt if needed.
13. Add the cut idlis to the mixture, gently combine everything well.
14. Cook for a couple of minutes.
15. Garnish with cilantro, combine well.
16. Remove from the heat and serve warm.

Tips:

• You could even add 2 tbsp of tomato ketchup to the onion-tomato mixture.
• Idli maker is available at some Indian stores.

Puttu+Kadala Curry= Irresistible!

There are some foods in Kerala that has unbeatable taste. For instance: fish curries, spicy mutton chops, kadala curry or Chick Peas curry, Kappa…well, I do have a long list. For Keralites, puttu (steamed rice balls) tastes best when it’s served along with kadala curry and this has been one of the famous breakfast dishes. I’v never been a fan of puttu, but when it’s served with kadala curry I can hardly resist it.

In my attempt to cook variety food and to try different cuisines, I don’t often make the same kinds of Kerala food over and over. However, after a few days or weeks of trying different cuisines my tastebuds will get mad and I will be hit by the intense craving for those food that I had while growing up. Without a doubt, Kerala food is my comfort food and when I cook my mom’s or grandmom’s speciality dishes I feel an eternal joy. Lately, I had been getting constant cravings for having Puttu and Kadala curry. When I get the craving I have only one choice, succumb to it!

Last night, I made kadala curry or chick peas curry in a different way. Usually, I just cook the chick peas and onions combined with all the spice powders in a pressure cooker and would finish it off with coconut milk. But this time, I added roasted coconut paste to the chick peas and cooked it. The addition of roasted coconut paste made this chick peas curry very flavorful and aromatic. I highly prefer curries made with roasted coconut, especially fish curries. I also made puttu using red rice flour which I had bought from the Indian store.

The taste of this curry will linger on your tastebuds for very long, that I can guarantee…

Chick Peas Curry or Kadala Curry

Ingredients

For roasting coconut

• Oil- 2 tbsp
• Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
• Dry red chilly, whole- 3 no’s
• Coriander seeds- 1 tbsp
• Coconut, grated- 1 1/2 cups
• Curry leaves- 1 sprig (optional)
• Water- to add while grinding

For making curry

• Coconut oil- 1 tbsp
• Onion, chopped- 2
• Potatoes, diced- 3 medium
• Chick peas or Kadala, white or brown, cooked canned- 2 cups or 540 ml
• Chilly powder- 1 tsp, (I used Kashmiri red chilly powder)
• Salt- to taste
• Water- to thin down the gravy
• Cilantro, chopped- 2 handfuls

Preparation

Roasting coconut:

1. Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat, add oil, let the oil turn hot.
2. Add mustard seeds and let it splutter.
3. Add red dry chilly and coriander seeds, saute for 2 seconds.
4. Add coconut, curry leaves if using and roast till the coconut turns golden brown in color.
5. Make sure you don’t burn the coconut, keep sautéing the coconut.
6. After the coconut has roasted, transfer it to a blender along with some water and grind it to a smooth constituency, keep aside.

Making the curry

1. I used cooked canned chick peas (rinse the chick peas before cooking), even though it’s cooked I cooked it for some time along with the coconut gravy.
2. If you are using uncooked chick peas, soak it in water overnight and cook it the next day till it has almost cooked. Don’t over cook it.
3. I used pressure cooker to cook the curry. If you don’t have one, use a large non-stick pan.
4. Place the pressure cooker over medium heat, add coconut oil.
5. Add chopped onions to it and salt, saute for a few minutes.
6. Add potatoes, chick peas and the ground coconut paste.
7. Add chilly powder and combine well. Kashmiri red chilly powder gives vibrant red color to the curry and is not very spicy.
8. Add enough water to thin down the gravy.
9. Add salt and close the pressure cooker.
10. Cook it for 10 to 15 minutes, remove the cooker from the stove just before it makes the first whistle.
11. After the pressure has subsided, open the cooker and add cilantro to it.
12. Taste and add more salt or chilly powder if needed.
13. Serve hot with puttu, chapati, appam etc
14. Here is the recipe for making puttu, you could use red rice flour or white rice flour.

Tips:

• You could skip the potatoes.
• Since I used cooked chick peas, I didn’t cook it in the cooker for too long, I just wanted the potatoes to turn tender.
• While cooking in a pan, after combining all the ingredients cover the pan with its lid and cook for some time.
• While roasting coconut, don’t just walk away as the coconut will brown very fast.

Sssh, Kids who frown on veggies are going to like this…

When I gave chapati a fancy and colorful makeover, it became beetroot roti. Ever since we came to know about my hubby’s gluten intolerance, I literally stopped making chapati’s. After a long time, a few days ago I got the craving to eat chapati, so I decided to make chapati just for myself. Usually, I use warm water or milk to knead the dough. Well, this time I decided to make chapati in a fancy yet healthy way. I added beetroot puree instead of water. I was aware that some people add spinach puree and carrot puree to make green and orange roti’s respectively. I had beetroot in my refrigerator, hence beetroot was my pick to make the roti as I also admire the vibrant purple color of it.

I first cooked the beetroot in water and then pureed it to a smooth constituency. Added the puree to the wheat flour and kneaded it to a soft dough. Rest of the preparation method was same as that of making chapati. I was so eager to taste this beetroot roti. One bite and I asked myself “why don’t I taste the beetroot?” You can trick anyone who doesn’t like beetroot or kids who usually frown on veggies, they are not going to figure it out unless you say it loud. So, ssshhhh don’t reveal it!

Beetroot Roti

Ingredients

• Beetroot, chopped large- 1
• Wheat flour or Chapati flour- 1 cup and more for dusting
• Beetroot puree- 1/2 cup (you could even use spinach puree or carrot puree)
• Salt- little

Preparation

1. Cook the chopped beetroot in some water taken in a saucepan.
2. Once the beetroot has turned tender, remove from the water.
3. Puree the cooked beetroot in a blender after adding some water to it.
4. Puree it to a smooth constituency without any lumps.
5. For 1 cup of flour you only need about 1/2 cup of the beetroot puree.
6. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and knead it by adding about 1/2 cup beetroot puree.
7. Add the puree slowly and knead till you get a soft dough. Don’t ya already love the color of the dough?
8. If the dough is too soft, add more of the flour and knead.
9. Keep aside the dough for 5 minutes.
10. Make small balls out of it. Rest of the process is same as that of making chapati.
11. Place one ball on a chapati board or on a wooden cutting board.
12. Dust with wheat flour and roll it with a rolling pin to a round shape.
13. Keep dusting the flour to prevent the dough from sticking to the surface.
14. Place a non-stick pan or tawa over medium heat.
15. Spray non-stick cooking spray on the pan.
16. Place the rolled dough on the pan, let the bottom side just start to wilt, cook only for 15 seconds.
17. Don’t cook the bottom side for long as it gets hard and the roti won’t puff up.
18. Flip it over and cook for less than a minute.
19. Again flip it over and gently pat the sides of the roti with a flat spatula, the roti will puff up. Once it’s puffed up remove from the pan.
20. If you are cooking on a flame stove, at this point you could lower the flame and place the roti over the flame for a couple of seconds, it will puff up really good and flip it over, remove from the flame immediately.
21. Don’t place over coiled stove, roti will have burned marks on it.
22. Serve warm with your favorite curry.
23. If you are wondering what to do with the rest of the beetroot puree, you could make beetroot sauce with it.
24. I heated the beetroot puree in a saucepan and added a few tablespoons of store bought Spicy Thai chili sauce to it, combined well.
25. The sauce tasted pretty good, I even dipped the roti in this sauce.

Tips:

• To make chapati which puff up well: after you place the rolled dough on the pan, avoid over cooking the bottom side of the rolled dough, the bottom side should only get hot about 15 seconds.
• For Green colored roti, use spinach puree and for orange colored roti use carrot puree.

Vegetarian enchiladas tastes as good as non-veggie version…

Last night, we dined at our favorite Mexican restaurant “Under the Volcano”. I love Mexican food and have dined at many Mexican restaurants before, for some reason I didn’t find any of them up to the mark. After dining at Under the Volcano, I finally  have a favorite Mexican restaurant and am glad that it’s only 15 minutes drive away from my house. Their appetizer, Flaming shrimp did make me feel that I was under the volcano. Sharing the picture with you all:

We had Flautas, enchiladas, quesadilla etc. I love almost all of the Mexican specialities. After coming home, I was reminded that I haven’t posted the recipe for making homemade veggie version of enchiladas that I had tried a few months ago yet. I even made the tortilla and the enchilada sauce from scratch, homemade tortillas and sauce taste much better than the store bought ones. After stuffing the tortilla, arrange them on a baking pan, pour the sauce over it, generously spread the cheese on them and bake it till the cheese has melted. These enchiladas tasted so good and yes it’s vegetarian.

Enchiladas – Vegetarian Version with homemade Tortilla

Ingredients

Making Tortilla

• Corn Flour- 2 cups
• Warm water- 1 1/4 cups
• Salt- 1/4 tsp

Making sauce:

• Oil- 2 tbsp
• Flour- 2 tbsp
• Chilly powder- 1 tbsp
• Paprika- 1 tsp
• Water- 1 1/2 cups
• Tomato paste- 5 ounce
• Ground Cumin- 1/2 tsp
• Garlic powder- 1/2 tsp
• Salt- to taste

Making filling:

• Carrot, grated- 1
• Black beans- 1/2 can
• Corn- 1/2 can
• Onion, chopped small- 1

Other ingredients:

• Cheddar cheese, grated- generous amount

Preparation:

Making Tortilla:

1. In a large bowl, combine corn flour with salt and add warm water to it, knead well till the dough becomes soft.
2. Make small balls out of it.
3. If you have tortilla maker, place the dough ball on it and press it in the tortilla maker.
4. If you don’t have tortilla maker, follow my way.
5. Cut a ziploc bag into two halves or use any thick plastic bags.
6. Grease the cut halves with little oil. Make sure to grease before you roll each dough.
7. Place the dough ball on one of the halves, place it on the cutting board.
8. Cover the dough ball with the other ziploc half.
9. Using a wooden pin, roll it gently to a round shape over the plastic cover.
10. Don’t roll the dough too thin.
11. If the sides of the rolled dough has cracked up, place a small round plate over it and press it into the dough.
12. Remove the dough that’s hanging outside the plate, remove the plate, now the rolled dough will have a clean round shape.
13. Heat a non-stick pan, grease with non-stick cooking spray.
14. Place the rolled dough over it, let the bottom side cook slightly.
15. Flip over, let it cook and press the sides slightly with a spatula, it will puff up.
16. Remove from the heat and keep aside.