Fusion Chapati Rolls

Chapatis - our very own desi tortillas is a versatile dish, which can be consumed in many ways. I sometimes find having to eat chapatis with subzis or dals very cumbersome, and making a wrap makes the Indian bread a delightful treat.


This Fusion Chapati Rolls is a welcome break from the chapati-subzi monotony and is a perfect mid-meal snack, dinner or a rainy day munch! It also has the goodness of wheat and veggies like zucchini, cheese, capsicum and olive oil.

Recipe


Ingredients:


For the chapatis:
Atta (wheat flour) - 1 cup
Salt - To taste
Water - to knead the dough
Garlic butter - to toast the chapatis (optional)
Butter/oil - As required to toast chapatis


For the filling:


Capsicum - 2 cups finely chopped
Onion - 1 Big onion finel chopped/ thinly sliced
Chillies - 2 number finely chopped (optional)
Freshly ground pepper corns - 3 tsnpsn
Olives - 1/2 cup of pitted and sliced
Chilli powder - 1 tsnp
Salt - To taste
Garam Masala - 1 tspn
Jeera (Cumin) powder - 1/2 tspn
Dhania (Corriander) powder - 1/2 tspn
Olive oil
Grated cheddar cheese - 1/2 cup
Water - to cook


Method:


For the chapatis:

In a mixing bowl, add the atta and salt. Add adequate amount of water to knead the dough.


Once the dough is ready, make them into small balls (the size of 1 big lemon).


Smear them on dry flour and flatten the ball and roll it out on a rolling board.


Heat a tava and toast the chapati on both the sides. (HOT TIP: You could use garlic butter/oil/butter to toast the chapatis for a different flavour. If you are health conscious and like it plain, avoid any of the greasy items to toast your chapatis).


Keep them aside.


For the filling:

In a kadai, heat the 1 tbspn of olive oil. Add the onions and cook it until it turns brown.


Add the chillies and capsicum and cook till soft.


To this cooked vegetables, add the powders and salt. Sprinkle little water and let it cook till the masalas blend with the vegetables.


After 5 minutes, add the olives and freshly ground pepper. Give it a good mix. Let the vegetable mixture cook for 2 minutes. Remove the kadai from the stove and the filling is ready.




For the roll:

Take  a tablespoon full of the filling and put it in a chapati. Spread it evenly.


Add the grated cheese.


Roll the chapati with the filling and toast the roll once again.


Cut the rolls and enjoy the  goodness-filled wrap.


Serving Suggestions:

• Fusion Chapati Rolls taste the best with raithas, pickles.
• You could also try mint chutney or chuney of your choice.
• If you like to take fusion to a new level, you can also try the salsa dip.

Pepper Pataka Fried Rice

My love affair with spicy food will never cease. Give me any food, masala maarke, I would gorge it like there is no tomorrow.
As a dedication to my love for all foods fiery, here comes Pepper Pataka Fried Rice. This is a spicy mix of pepper, pepper, and more pepper.

RECIPE
Ingredients:

• Red, Green, and Yellow peppers - 1 each finely chopped
• Pepper Powder - 1/4 cup
• Pepper Corns (freshly ground) - 1 tbspn
• Basmati Rice - 1/2 cup ( serves 1)
• Water - 1 cup
• Potato - 1 (or 2 small) Cut into small pieces
• Onion - 1 finely chopped
• Garlic - 5 cloves finely chopped
• Salt to taste
• Chilli Flakes - 2 tsnps
• Olive Oil
• Ghee (Clarified Butter) - 1/2 tbspn

Method:

Soak Basmati Rice in water for 30 minutes.

Heat ghee in a kadai (wok). Strain the water from the rice and put it into the hot ghee. In low flame, roast the rice until it turn pink. Add water, close the wok and let the rice cook.

Keep it aside.

In a pan, heat the olive oil and add the onion and garlic and cook till it turns translucent.
Add the potatoes and cook it till it softens. After the potatoes are cooked add the finely chopped peppers and cook in medium flame. To this mix add the pepper powder, salt, and freshly ground pepper corns.
Give it a good stir till the spices and salt blend well with the mix. Cook for a 3-5 minutes.

Add the cooked basmati rice to the spicy veggies and mix well.

Peppery Pataka Fried Rice is ready to do the fireworks!

Serving Suggestions:

• It is best tasted with cucumber raitha, which also evens out the heat  the peppers generate.
• If you like it spicier, try the green chilli sauce. Be warned of the side effects!
• If you like fusion, you could even try Tabasco sauce.

Garlic, Olive, and Jalapeno Pickle

A good side of pickle is the perfect match for some creamy curd rice. I discovered this brilliant idea from : http://priyaeasyntastyrecipes.blogspot.com/2008/11/rm2-day-4-olive-pickles.html

However, I have given my own variation to this pickle by introducing jalapenos and garlic to it.

RECIPE
Ingredients:

• Olives - green pitted and sliced 2 cups
• Jalapenos - sliced 1/2 to 1 cup (depending on your taste)
• Garlic - 10-15 cloves of a big garlic bulb
• Vendhayam (fenugreek seeds) - 4 Tbspns
• Cumin seeds (Jeera seeds)- 2 Tbspns
• Red Chilli powder - 1 Tbspn
• Asafoetida - 1 tspn
• Salt - 4 tspns
• Olive oil - to fry and temper
• Mustard seeds - 1 tspn
• 1/2 cup vinegar

 Method:

Heat oil in a kadai and fry the garlic ( do not fry it till it is brown). Cook for 3 minutes. Add the olives and jalapenos and fry them till they are cooked (HOT TIP: Once the olives and jalapenos shrink and become small, you know it is cooked.)
Keep it aside.

In a pan/skillet kadai, dry roast cumin seeds and the vendhayam. roast them till they turn into a light brown. Remove from the stove. Let it cool and make a fine powder of the spices.

Heat 4 tbspns of olive oil (HOT TIP: Gingely oil also works wonderfully for this pickle). Add the mustard. Once it splutters, add the ground dry spices, red chillies, and salt. Keep stirring continuously in low flame.
Continue this procedure till the oil and the spices separate.

Remove from the flame and add the vinegar. After 20-30 minutes, mix the fried olives, jalapenos, and garlic.
Stir well for the spices and oil to blend well with the fried vegetables.

The the oil and spices in the pickle will take a day or two to settle.

Store it in a clean and dry container. Keep mixing the pickle every couple of hours.
The garlic, olive, and Jalapeno is ready to spice up your dish!

Desi Tomato Cheese Chip Dip

RECIPE
Ingredients:

• Cheddar cheese - 2 cups grated
• Garlic - 1 clove
• Tomato paste - 2 tbspns
• Multi-purpose flour/corn flour - 2 tbspns
• Milk - 1/2 cup
• Butter - 2 Tbspns
• Pav Bhaji/Subzi masala - 1 tspn
• Garam Masala - 1/2 tspn
• Red chilli powder - 1/2 tspn (Optional)
• Red chilli flakes - 1/2 tspn
• Salt to taste

Method:

Medium heat a heavy-bottom pan/vessel. Crush the garlic and rub it in the vessel for it to absorb the aroma.
Remove the garlic.
Heat butter in low flame, add the flour and keep mixing it to make sure it does not form lumps. Repeat this procedure till the colour of the flour changes to a mild brown.

Pour the milk bit by bit to avoid lumpiness. Keep stirring.

Let the milk corn and butter mixture cook for 3 minutes on low flame. Add the tomato paste and ensure it blends will the mixture that is cooking. Add the spices and salt (only if you need it as the cheese will have salt).

Let the thick liquid cook for 3-4 minutes for the raw taste of the spices and tomato to go.

Add the grated cheese slowly and keep stirring. Once all the grated cheese is transferred to the spicy mix, cook until it is partially melts (without any lumps of course!)

Remove from the stove and the dip is ready!

Serving Suggestions:

• The chip dip works very well with potato chips, Indian snacks like samosa, chakli.
• This dip can even double up as a spread for your breads and biscuits.

Brinjal Curd Relish

Brinjal is one of those very tasty yet nutrition-packed vegetables. It is rich in Vitamin A & B, calcium, fibre, folic acid, and potassium. This veggie is low calorie and is ideal for people with blood pressure and diabetes.
It is one of those wonderful vegetables that is loved and enjoyed by people across the globe.
I am taking one of my favourite veggies to make a simple yet tasty variation of the very famous tam-bhram specialty - kathirikkai thayir pacchadi aka brinjal raita. This can be serves as an appetizer or sides for your main dish.

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

One big brinjal - Sliced
Salt - to taste
Extra virgin olive oil - 5 tbspns (or less, if u prefer depending on the quantity of the slices)
Turmeric powder - 1 tspn
Chilli powder - 2-3 tspns
Asafoetida - 1/2 tspn
Chat masala - for seasoning
Curd - depending on your preference.

METHOD:

Cut the brinjals and put them into a vessel with cold water and salt. Brinjal tends to get oxidized and this will help prevent it turning brown.

Once they brinjals are sliced, remove them from the water and pat them dry with a clean dry cloth.

Marinading:

Place the brinjals on a tray/plate and spread them out. Add the salt, turmeric, chilli powder, and asafoetida. Toss them so both the sides are coated with the spices. Drizzle the extra virgin olive oil. Toss them on both sides. Let it sit for 30 minutes till all the spices and oil are absorbed.

Cooking the brinjal:
Heat the tava/pan (HOT TIP: Grease the pan lightly with oil, if you like your brinjal toasted and rich). Toast the marinaded brinjal slices on both the sides until soft and cooked (HOT TIP: If you have a sandwich toaster with the grill plates, you can try grilling them too!). This takes about 5-6 minutes for each slice. Try toasting 2-3 slice at one go to save cooking fuel.

Spread some beaten curd on a tray/plate. place the brinjals one by one. Do not immerse the brinjals completely in the curd.. Sprinkle some chat masala (HOT TIP: Use masalas or flavour enhancers of your choice for variations). Le the brinjal soak in the curd for about 15 minutes before serving.

Serving Suggestions:

If you don't like curd, this works well without it too!
Serve it with hot steamed rice or chapatis/parathas.

Cheesy Spinach and Leek Soup

"Popeye's sister," is what a colleague would call me every time my lunch box is loaded with spinach. Indeed! I love my spinach and ensure I have a serving of palak or any variety of the leafy greens at least 3 times a week. The benefits of spinach are of course well known - it is rich in iron and is loaded with vitamins. What a lot of people do not realise is that it is tasty too.
Here is a good way to savour the power packed goodness of spinach with leek and cheese.

RECIPE

METHOD:

2 bunches of palak (or any other spinach of your choice) - Cleaned and cut into small pieces.
Leek (with the tender green part) - 2 finely chopped
Garlic - 5 cloves peeled
Low fat milk - 1 cup
Low fat cheese - 2 cubes grated
Extra virgin olive oil - 1 1/2 tspn
Salt - to taste
Green chilli - 1 finely chopped (optional)
Water - to cook

METHOD:

Toss in the cut spinach leaves, garlic and green chillies into the pressure cooker. Pour water enough for the leaves to immerse. Add a teaspoon of salt. After 5-7 whistles. Turn the stove off and let the pressure cooked leaves cool.
Put the pressure cooked mixture into a blender and grind it till it becomes a soft puree (HOT TIP: If you do not have a blender, you can put this mixture into a dep vessel and mash it with a butter churner. This is a tedious process but works just fine).

Heat olive oil in a skillet/kadai and cook the pieces of leek. Cook until it turns a mild brown. Ass the puree to the cooked leeks and cook for about 5 minutes on medium flame. Once it starts bubbling, add the milk and let it boil. After the soup is boiled, turn the stove to a low flame, and add the grated cheese (HOT TIP: Leave some grated cheese/or add more before serving). Cook for 3 minutes. Remove from stove and serve.

Serving Suggestion:
Serve it with garlic bread or toasted bread.

Cream of Broccoli and Leek soup

Soup has always been my comfort food. A hot cup of soup is the food for my soul. I have been heavily dependent on soup powders for my soup fix but have always wanted to make my own.
Broccoli soup was a fairly new variant in my life. The very first I tried at Casa Picola in Bangalore, I must admit, I was in love!
It was Broccoli leek soup in fact. I tried scouting for a simple recipe for the soup and was in most case unhappy with the choice of ingredients or the complex nature of preparing it.
I have tried to post the simplest method to prepare Broccoli and leek soup. Have a so(u)per meal!

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

• Broccoli florets - 1 1/2 cup
• Leek (with the tender green part) - 2 finely chopped
• Garlic - 2 cloves
• Onion - 1 small finely chopped
• Processed cheese - 2 tspns grated (optional)
• Low fat milk - 1/2 to 1 cup
• Salt to taste
• Pepper powder to taste
• Vegetable stock/water -  2 cups
• Olive oil  - 3/4 tbspn

Method:

In a  deep pan, heat the olive oil and sautee the onions and garlic until it turns translucent. Add the finely chopped leek to the pan and cook until soft (this will take about 3-5 minutes). After the leek is cooked, add the broccoli florets and cook for a couple of minutes.

To this mixture, add the vegetable stock/water. Cover the pan and cook till the vegetables are tender. This will take about 15-20 minutes.

Remove from the stove and let it cool.

Puree the soup in a mixie/blender and add it to the pan. Add salt to the puree and heat it until it boils and add low fat milk.

Bring it to boil and simmer. Let it cook for 1-2 minutes and add the grated cheese.

Remove from stove.
Add pepper if you'd like to spice-up your soup.
Cream of  broccoli and leek soup is ready to be served!

Serving Suggestions:

• Serve the soup with garlic bread/croutons.

The Kitchen Karmic welcomes you!

This food blog primarily aims at people who would love to cook, try out new dishes, and share this huge love for food.
Join me in discovering some not-so-complicated methods to cook up some absolutely great vegetarian dishes. 
Happy Eating!

Disclaimer: This is not an entirely mixer grinder, food processor, toaster, microwave-independent food blog.