Palak(Spinach) Chapathi & Subzi

Making chapathis with palak is the best and easy way to include it in our diet.Many of you like me often get bored of consuming greens in the form of stir fries,dal,etc.This one will surely please you..Th spinach not only adds nice color to the chapathi but also gives softness to the roti.Even if you consume is after few hours,they remain soft.In my home,everybody appreciated this one ..So green chapathi is gonna be a frequenter here.

For the side dish,I first planned to make 'Aloo baingan' but later realised there were two turnips sitting on the fridge and asking me to pick them up too.So finally i settled down  making a simple stir fry with the three vegetables.

Palak(Spinach) Chapathi :

You will need:

3 Cups of wheat flour

2 bunches of Palak

3 green chillies

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

1/2 tsp of chilli powder

A pinch of turmeric powder

1/4 tsp of  garam masala

1/4 tsp of Coriander powder

1 tsp of ghee

Salt

oil 

Remove the stems off from the spinach.Wash the leaves in water and chop them .

In a wide pan,heat a tsp of oil.Add cumin seeds and let is splutter.Add the green chillies and the chopped leaves.Cover for 3-4 mins until the leaves are cooked.

Cool and puree the leaves in a blender.

In a mixing bowl,mix the flour,salt,coriander powder,chilli powder,turmeric powder and garam masala.Add ghee and mix in the flour..

Add the pureed spinach to the flour and mix...

Knead and make a soft,pilable dough...

Take a lemon sized ball from the dough and dust it in flour.Roll the ball to make a 5-6 inch disc.

Heat a tawa,and place the rolled out dough.When you see small bubbles on top,flip it on other side.The chapathi willl start to puff.If doesn't puff nothing to worry.Drizzle 1/2 tsp of oil either side.Keep the chapathis in a cloth/Napkin lined dish .

Subzi :

Chop the eggplant,potato and turnip into bite sized pieces..

In a big pan,heat a tbsp of oil..Add 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds and mustard..let it splutter.

Add the chopped vegetables.Add required salt,chilli powder,coriander powder ,turmeric powder and garam masala.Mix well and cook covered until its soft.

Enjoy!

Falafel Sandwich-Pita bread,Falafel,French fries,Grilled Eggplant & Tahini sauce

I was quite busy with my exams and was out of town for few days.Pardon me for my inconsistent blogging.I was literally away from cooking for a long time :(.So yesterday I was in the kitchen for considerably longer time.

It was in my mind since I visited Kuwait that someday I must try Falafel sandwich.My Dad boasts about this sandwich everyday when I was at Kuwait.But I couldn't taste it and it was in my heart as a deepest regret.Even this time when he visited India, he made me jealous.He said to me that his everyday lunch is a Falafel sandwich.

This vegeterian sandwich is so popular in middle eastern countries.A perfect wholesome sandwich which I guess would be a favourite of all.I made this yesterday and invited few of my friends and cousins to try it.They asked me to make it again..That itself is a great success to this sandwich.I won't  advise to make this for a few becoz it involves lot of effort and time(I spent half a day making this)..But if you wanted to invite many of your friends for this falafel party then you can definitely give this a shot.I made around 7 sandwiches which were vanished in less than no time.

First let me tell you about this sandwich.A middle eastern bread called 'Pita' is used to make this sandwich.Pita bread is locally called as 'Khubz' in arabian countries.This puffed bread is similar to Indian Naan but it is in circular shape and has pocket(puffed).Traditionally,the pocket is slit open and stuffed with falafel(A patty made of chickpeas),french fries,pickle,lettuce,tomato wedges,cucumber cubes,grilled eggplant rounds and tahini sauce (A middle eastern sauce made with tahini(sesame paste) and lemon juice).

I will explain each of them one by one.

Pita Bread(Khubz):

You will need:

2 1/2 cups of flour(Maida/all purpose) + 1/4 cup for kneading/dusting

2 tbsp active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

A pinch of sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp olive oil

Take the warm water in a cup.Make sure that the water is not too hot.Add the yeast and sugar.Stir and cover and keep in a warm place for 10 mins.The yeast mixture gets frothy.

In a large mixing bowl,take the flour and add salt.Mix well.

Make a small well in the center add oil.Rub the flour with the oil.Add the yeast mixture.Mix until all the ingredients are nicely incorporated.Add more flour if sticky.Divide them into 7 equal portions.

Keep them in a plate and cover with the wide mouthed bowl.Keep this in a warm place for 1 hour.I preheated my oven and turn it off.Kept the dough inside the oven .It became double in size.

After an hour,punch down each portion.Dust in the flour and make as a ball.Using a rolling pin spread as a circle of even thickness.Bake in a 250 C preheated oven until it puffs up and you see brown spots.Keep other portion of dough covered while rolling/baking pita.

Baked one..

As many do not have an oven,they have an alternate way.Heat the tawa ,place the rolled dough on it.When you see white spots on side flip on the other side.Wait for the white spots on other side too.Now place the pita on direct flame ,you can see it puffing beautifully.Transfer on a cloth lined basket.The procedure is same as you do for Phulka.No need to apply oil/butter for pita.

Note:Pita pocket will be frim when it is baked.And you do not get the black small dots.

            Look the picture below for baked Pita.

                            'Stove top' Pita breads are softer and spotted as shown below.

Tahini Sauce:

You will need:

1/2 cup Tahini paste

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup water

1 glove of garlice,finely minced

1 tbsp of finely chopped corainder

1/4 tsp of cumin powder

Salt

For Tahini paste:

1 cup of white sesame seeds

2 tbsp sesame oil/peanut oil

Dry roast sesame seeds on a pan for few mins on medium heat.

Grind the sesame seeds along with oil in a mixer until you get a smooth paste.This paste is Tahini.

In a bowl,add the tahini and water.Whisk until it become a homogenous mixture.

Add lemon juice,garlic,salt and coriander.Whisk until all are incorporated.Add ore water if you want it more watery.

Tahini sauce is ready.

Falafel

You will need:

1 cup of Chickpeas

1 medium sized onion

2 red chillies

1 tbsp pepper

3 gloves of garlic

1/2 tsp of baking powder

4-5 sprigs of coriander

1/4 cup of bread crumbs

salt

oil for frying

Soak chickpeas overnight.In a blender,coaresely grind all the ingredients from chickpeas to corainder.

Add the bread crumbs to the corasely ground mixture and mix well.

In a heavy pan,heat oil,make a patty out of the chickpea mixture.I used a 'Falafel maker'.If you dont have one,you can shape like 'Masala vada' and drop in oil.

Cook in medium flame.Remove from oil when it is browned.

French Fries:

 

You will need:

1/2 Kg of Potatoes(Russet vareity is very good for frying)

salt

oil for frying

Peel the potatoes.To cut the potato into strips,keep the potato in longitudinal postion and slice them into 2 mm thick ovals.You will get 4-5 ovals.Lay each oval flat and cut them into strips.

Wash the potato strip in water to remove starch.Fill a vessel with 3/4th of water,add genorous amount of salt and bring it to boil.Add the potato strips.Cook for exactly 7 mins.Now the potato strips will cooked for 60-70% only.

Strain the potato strips and spread them on a kitchen towels.Pat them dry.

Heat oil.The temp(270.C) can be higher for frying french chips as it already cooked.We just need to be crispy in the outer.I fried the chips following the falafel.Fry until you get nice golden color on the edges.Transfer on a paper towel to remove excess oil.

Grilled Eggplant:

You will need:

Eggplant

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp curry powder

1/2 tbsp cumin powder

1/4 tsp pepper powder

2-3 tbsp oil

Cut the eggplant into thin round slices.

Mix the curry powder,cumin powder,pepper ,salt and oil to a paste.

Rub the paste on either sides of  the eggplant slices .Marinate for 1/2 hour.

In grill mode,grill the slices for 10 mins.5 mins on each side.

Or heat a tawa,place the slices on tawa and roast each sides until you get it crispy and browned.

Falafel Sandwich:

Peel and chop 1 cucumber.

Cut 2 tomatoes into wedges.

One can use lettuce.I dont get lettuce here.So i used strips of cabbage.

For pickle ,I used Jalapeno in vinegar..

Traditionally,the pita is cut cross -  sectionally,and all the goodies are sutffed in the pocket.As I have puffed the pita on direct flame,they are soft and flexible so i made as a wrap.

I placed 2 falafel slightly smashed.Some french fries,1 grilled eggplant,1 tomato wedge,2 pieces of cucmber,few cabbage strip,1 small piece of pickle,and of course some good amount of tahini sauce drizzled over them.Wrapped and inserted a tooth pick to hold them.

Served the with tomato ketchup and more tahini sauce.

In few mins,

The plate looked 'Khallas' !

Mooli ka Paranthas..

Radish stuffed paranthas are popularly called as 'Mooli ka paranthas' in Hindi and these are savoured along with yogurt and pickles for breakfast in most of the Punjabi homes.Paranthas are versatile and they can be made with any kind of vegetables like potatoes,cauliflower,cabbage,carrot,onion,spinach or even paneer stuffed in it.People generally consider radish as an offensive vegetable for its pungent smell..But they can be used in making delicious radish paranthas which doesn't give a clue to the consumer that they are actually eating radish..
Imagine yourself enjoying a piece of 'garam parantha' dipped in 'chilled yogurt'..Mmmmmmm..isnt that tempting to try??




You will need:
2 cups of wheat flour
1/2 kg of radish
1 tsp of red chilli powder
1/2 tsp of coriander powder
1/2 tsp of garam masala
A pinch of turmeric
Salt to taste


Peel and grate the radish.Add salt and keep aside for a while.After sometime it leave some water.Squeeze the juice completely from the radish.


Add the spices and mix well..



Use the juice of radish with some water and salt to make a soft dough as you make for chapatis.



Take a lemon sized ball from the dough ,dust them in flour and roll it into a small circle.Place a tsp of the radish filling in center..
Gather the edges of the circle as shown in the picture and enclose them by pinching together ...


The stuffed ball will be looking like this..Turn on the stove and let the tava to heat..


Roll down the stuffed ball gently into a circle making sure that filling doesn't comes out..Dust flour whenever required..


Place the rolled parantha on the tava and set the stove on low flame..In the mean time start rolling out the next parantha...


After a couple of mins flip the parantha and drizzle some oil on the parantha..Press gently on the edges..Cook till brown spots appear..



A closer look at the parantha revealing the radish filling...



Serve hot with butter,chilled yogurt and pickle!