Bajre Ki Cheela

Hello friends, Diwali kept me quite busy before, during and even after the festival and with the result, blogging took a back seat. All said and done, we had a wonderful time. I hope you all had a nice Diwali too.

After all the sweets and savoury items that we devoured, I thought its time to eat healthy stuff and one such item that I came across is the Bajre Ki Cheela. I had jotted down this recipe from a TV cookery show. It seemed easy and healthy so tried it for the evening snack. I am glad to say it turned out quite well. And according to my opinion, it tastes best with a dollop of white home-made butter.

Bajra also known as Pearl millet is loaded with nutrients and has enormous health benefits.

Ingredients:

Bajra flour	1 cup
Salt	As per taste
Coconut gratings	1 tbsp
Green chilies (chopped)	1
Coriander leaves (chopped)	1 tbsp
Curds	3 Tbsps
Oil	For shallow frying

Method:

1. In a bowl add bajra flour, salt, coconut gratings, green chilies and chopped coriander leaves.
2. Mix well
3. Finally add curds and blend in to form a thick batter.
4. Take a ladle full of the prepared batter and spread it thickly on a heated skillet/ non-stick pan like a dosa - frying on either sides with a little oil on the edges of the dosa.
5. Remove and serve hot.

Preparation time : 10 mins

Cooking time : 3-4mins for each cheela

Makes : 5-6 cheelas depending upon the size

Note:

• The batter does not spread thinly so do not even try it. Once the pan/skillet is heated, keep the flame low.
• Make small dosas the size of Rawa (semolina) Bhakri or a pancake.
• If your skillet or griddle is large, you can easily make three or four at a time.
• For more info on Bajra or Pearl millet health benefits, see here :http://recipeclout.india-server.com/pearl-millet.html

Tofu Sandwich Spread

Off late I have started using Tofu instead of Paneer for the simple reason – its a healthier option. Sometime back I had watched Sanjeev Kapoor prepare this Tofu recipe on his cookery show which I had hurriedly scribbled in my dairy for later use.

The day finally arrived for me to prepare this Sandwich spread. I had some left over Tofu (after preparing Tofu Bhurji on the previous day) so thought I will try his recipe. But soon realized that I do not have the two ingredients mentioned in it namely; sun-dried tomatoes and pickled onions. So I substituted these items with tomato sauce and ginger and proceeded with his recipe.

I am happy to say that it turned out really good. It so happened that the next day, I had some close relatives who dropped by and since they are foodies, I asked them to sample it and give their opinion. I was pleased to see that they too enjoyed it.

You too can try your own version of this healthy and tasty spread instead of using the fat laden butter for sandwiches !

Ingredients:

Tofu	100 gms
Hung Yoghurt	1/2 cup
Green chilies	1-2
Tomato sauce	4 tsps
Ginger (chopped)	1 inch piece
Salt	As per taste

Method:

1. Drain the block of tofu and cut them into quarters. Squeeze out any moisture by pressing it with your hand and then place it in a blender.
2. Add all the other ingredients (mentioned above) to it and blend it to a fine paste. The paste will resemble Thousand Island dressing.
3. Remove it into a bowl and your Tofu Sandwich Spread is ready.
4. Apply this spread instead of butter on the bread slices and have a healthy breakfast.
   
   

 

 

 

 

Preparation time: 15 mins

No cooking required

Note:

I used whole wheat bread and made sandwiches with sliced tomatoes, cucumber and capsicum and sprinkled freshly ground pepper on top.

Cabbage Pancakes

Everyone would love to start their day with a nice and tasty breakfast and if it's healthy too then all the more welcome. I am always on the lookout for something new to try and what better way to do this is by watching food channels on TV. I got this recipe from the Indian Food Channel and did not hesitate to try it out as I had all the ingredients at hand and moreover, the procedure was also not cumbersome. Besides, it looked very appealing too.

Well, to cut a long story short, it turned out extremely well and the taste was fantastic too. Try it out and see it for yourself.

Ingredients:

Cabbage	150-200 gms
Onion	1 medium
Green chillies	2 or as desired
Ginger	1 inch piece
Coriander leaves	A small bunch
Gram flour	1 cup
Water	3/4 cup or as required
Turmeric powder	1/2 tsp
Chilly powder  (optional)	As required
Salt	As per taste
Baking soda /Eno	3/4 level tsp
Oil	For shallow frying

Method:

1. Put all the first five ingredients (cabbage, onion, green chilies, ginger and coriander leaves) in the food processor and run it for 1-2 mins or till all the ingredients are minced well. ( Alternatively, you can chop them all finely and place them in a bowl.)
2. Transfer the contents from the food-processor into a bowl.
3. To this mixture add gram flour, turmeric powder and salt. Mix well.
4. Now add water little at a time and mix again taking care to see that no lumps are formed. The batter should be thick and not watery. At this stage, add soda/eno to the batter and gently mix it and keep aside covered for a few minutes.
5. In the meantime, heat a skillet/griddle/frying pan on a medium flame. Add a little oil and spread it.
6. Take a spoonful of the batter and prepare pancakes (like dosas but do not spread it thinly) and fry it on both sides with oil.
7. In this way prepare pancakes using the remaining batter.
8. Serve hot with ketchup or any chutney of your choice.

 

 

 

 

Preparation time: 15 mins

Cooking time : 15 mins

Makes : 9 pancakes (roughly 4-5 inches each in diameter)

Note:

• These pancakes are soft and hence allow them to cook properly on one side before flipping.
• The green chilies that I used were quite pungent and hence I omitted the red chilly powder. You can use it and adjust according to your preference.
• These pancakes taste fine even without any chutney/ketchup.
• Ideal for breakfast.

Makai ki Roti

Makai Ki Roti is a traditional dish from Punjab (India) and normally served with Sarson Ka Saag. The rotis are generally made by hand without the use of the rolling pin. I am not very good at this technique. I have done this before and ended up with shapes resembling that of the map of India and various other countries !

Hence, in this recipe, I have added a bit of wheat flour to the maize flour to make it pliable and easier to handle. I managed to roll them out nicely though the dough needs to be handled with care as it will break at the edges while rolling it out into rotis.
All said and done, it turned out well – tastewise and appearance wise too. I also had the approval of my spouse.  We had a few rotis for lunch today and I am planning to prepare this again for breakfast tomorrow from the leftover dough. 

Ingredients:

Maize flour	1 cup
Whole wheat flour	1/4th cup
Ajwain (carom) seeds	1 tsp
Jeera (cumin) seeds	1 tsp
Haldi (turmeric) powder	1/4th tsp
Salt	1 tsp OR as per taste
Soda or Eno	1/2 tsp
Curds	1/4th cup
Water	1/4th cup OR as required

Method:

1. Crush ajwain and jeera seeds together and keep it aside.
2. In a bowl, add maize flour, whole wheat flour, crushed ajwain and jeera seeds mixture, turmeric powder, salt, soda/eno and curds. Mix it well.
3. Next add water little at a time and knead it into a soft pliable dough. Keep it covered for about 20 mins.
4. After 20 minutes, make medium size balls. Dust each ball with maize flour and roll it into moderately thick rotis with the help of a rolling pin.
5. Then heat a griddle/tawa and place the rolled out roti on it. After a few seconds, flip it on other side and fry it on the other side too. Keep the griddle on a low flame. Do not add oil or ghee while frying.
6. When light brown spots appear on both the surface, remove and place it on a plate.
7. In this way, prepare all the rotis.
8. Serve hot with a dollop of home-made white butter or with a bowl of curds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preparation time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 30 mins

Makes : 10 rotis of about 6 inches in diameter

Note:

• This is ideal for breakfast and can also be served during lunch.
• It tastes excellent with a dollop of home-made butter. But weight-watchers can also relish this with curds.
• These rotis are a slight twist to the original Makai ki Roti.

Coconut Roti

Hi  Friends, its almost a month since I last posted in my blog. After our return from our trip to Dwarka and Mumbai, I was kept busy with visitors at home and some social commitments. But all said and done, we had a wonderful time and now slowly getting back to my normal routine.

Here, the mercury is dipping day-by-day and to combat this cold weather, I thought this coconut roti would be a nice welcome. All the ingredients required, are readily available in most homes. Moreover, a little extra ghee would help us to keep our body warm! And besides, these rotis need no rolling pin, no water for kneading and no oil for frying and they taste good too. Curious? Try it out and see for yourself.

Ingredients:

Wheat flour	2 cups
Ghee	4-5 tsps
Onion	1 small
Green chilies	2
Curry leaves	1-2 sprigs
Freshly grated coconut	1/2 cup
Salt	To taste

Method:

1. Chop onion, green chilies and curry leaves finely and place it in a bowl.
2. In the same bowl add wheat flour, ghee, salt and coconut gratings and knead it well without adding any water to form a soft pliable dough. A food processor will do the job in a jiffy.
3. Divide the dough into medium sized balls.
4. Smear a little ghee on the chopping board (or any plate will also do) with your fingers. Place a ball of the dough on it and spread it with your fingers to a desired size and then remove it gently and place it on the “tawa” or a frying pan (which is preheated) and fry on both sides on a medium flame without using oil or ghee till light brown spots appear.
5. Prepare the remaining rotis in similar manner.
6. Serve hot.

Ingredients

Ingredients kneaded into a dough

Dough divided to form balls

Dough divided into 9 balls

Dough flattened with fingers to form a roti

Roti being fried without oil/ghee

Preparation time: 15 mins

Cooking time : 20-25 mins

Makes : 9 rotis

Note:

• These rotis taste good when served with a little ghee smeared on it when hot or can also be served with any chutney of your choice.
• I served it with mint chutney.

Ragi and Mixed Vegetable Roti

Ragi, or finger millet as it is also known as, is a very nutritious cereal. It is used extensively in the southern part of India and more so in Karnataka. It is specially known for its famous dish “Ragi Mudde” i.e. Ragi balls served with sambhar. I am not a fan of this particular dish but I do try to incorporate Ragi flour in dosas or chapattis as Ragi has a lot of health benefits.

Now this dish is neither a dosa i.e. you cannot spread it with a ladle nor is it a chapatti as you cannot roll it out with a rolling pin. Hence it is named "Roti". Well, you have to make use of your fingers to spread it on a dosa pan /skillet. The dough or the batter should not be stiff nor should it be watery but should have enough moisture in it. You can spread it as thinly as possible and this has to be done a bit quickly as ragi cooks very fast and spreading it will be difficult if the pan/tawa is very hot.  Thinner the rotis, crispier and tastier it will be.  Keep the flame low and every time a new roti is to be spread, sprinkle water so as to cool the tawa/skillet temperature. Another point to note - a food processor will do the job of grating all the vegetables in a jiffy. Keeping these tips in mind, you will have a perfect roti.

This recipe was given to me by my aunt. I tried this recently and it tasted really good.  It is an ideal and a healthy breakfast dish. However, it is advisable to prepare the batter the previous day and keep it in the fridge to avoid the morning rush!

 

Ingredients:

Ragi Flour	2 cups
Cucumber (grated)	1 large
Radish/Mooli (grated)	1 Medium
Simebadnekayi/Chayote (grated)	1 Medium
Carrot (grated)	1 Medium
Onion (chopped finely)	1 large
Green chillies (chopped)	1 - 2 or as per taste
Coriander leaves (chopped)	1 small bunch
Salt	As per taste
Oil	For shallow frying
Water	A small bowl for dipping fingers

Method:

1. Grind or Crush green chilies with salt and place it in a large bowl.
2. In the same bowl, add the chopped onions, all the grated vegetables and the chopped coriander leaves. Mix them well with your hand.
3. Now combine Ragi flour into this mixture. As the vegetables will leave a lot of water, it is not necessary to add any additional water. Mix it well so that no lumps are formed. The mixture or the batter should be semi-solid.
4. Now heat a skillet/griddle on a low flame. Smear it with very little oil. Take a handful of the prepared mixture and spread it on the skillet as thinly as possible using your fingers. If it sticks to your hand, dip your fingers in the water bowl and then spread it.  Dribble a little oil all around the roti. Turn it over and let it cook on the other side for another minute and remove when done.
5. Follow the same procedure for the remaining batter.
6. Serve hot with a dollop of homemade white butter.

Ingredients

All ready to be mixed

All the chopped and grated ingredients combined in a bowl

  

Ragi flour combined with the vegetable mix - the batter

 

The batter spread on the tawa/skillet

 

The roti being cooked on the other side

Preparation time: 15-20mins

Cooking time :    15 mins

Makes : 10-12 rotis depending upon the size.

Note:

• This is a great breakfast dish. As it’s spicy, needs no chutney. However, it tastes wonderful with a dollop of homemade white butter.
• Addition of chilies in the recipe is as per your taste.
• The rotis need very little oil while shallow frying.
• Any vegetables that has lot of water content can be used in making this dish.
• See here:  Simebadnekayi/Chou-Chou/Chayote - for yet another recipe of this vegetable.

Open Masala Dosa

Last week, I had a taste of this Open Butter Masala Dosa and simply loved it. It is sightly different from the normal Masala Dosa. Here the Dosa is thicker and the masala is “open” (as the name suggests) and not wrapped inside the dosa. The masala is added just before serving and is garnished with grated carrot and chopped coriander leaves. It was also served with a dollop of butter on top of the masala along with a small bowl of coconut chutney as an accompaniment. It not only looked attractive, but also tasted delicious.

I decided to try this at home as I had some left over idly batter from the previous day. I had made curry leaves chutney last week - so made use of this. I also had one large boiled potato in the fridge from which I quickly made the potato sabji/curry. I very conveniently omitted the butter and the coconut chutney !

However, to make this Dosa, you need to plan a bit in advance as it involves preparation of a lot of items.

Friends, I am taking a short break from blogging and will be back at the end of the month. Till then Cheers!

 To make this “Open Masala Dosa” you need the following:

                                           

Potato curry almost done

• Idly Batter
• Potato sabji/curry
• Dry chutney powder
• Grated carrot
• Chopped coriander leaves
• Oil for frying the dosa

Method:

1. Heat a frying pan/tawa/griddle.
2. Take a ladleful of the idly batter and pour it on to the griddle and spread it (fairly thick) evenly with the ladle.
3. Dribble a little oil all around the dosa (pancake). After a few minutes, turn it over and allow it cook on the other side too.
4. When slightly browned on either side, remove it on a serving plate.
5. Sprinkle dry chutney powder over the dosa evenly.
6. Next, place a ladleful of potato sabji in the centre of the dosa.
7. Finally, sprinkle grated carrot and chopped coriander leaves all around the sabji.
8. Serve immediately.

Step  1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

       
Note:

• In my opinion any dry chutney powder of your choice will also serve its purpose. I used Karibevu (curry leaves) chutney.
• A dollop of butter and the coconut chutney as an accompaniment enhances this dosa's taste.
• This dish is very filling and is best eaten at breakfast.