Kothu Parotta

Actually I had made it with naan so I should rather call it kothu naan. I have tried to make this not so healthy - damn spicy dish, a less wicked one by adding some veggies [Just a sort of excuse ;)]. The making of kothu parota in the roadside shops while travelling is an attention-grabbing process; the flavour, sound and looks are all quite appealing but the hygiene factor holds us aback. Making it at home with less spice, less oil and some vegetables is a guilt-free way to relish it occasionally. Store bought ready parotas or left over parathas or even rotis can be used apart my my naan version.

Serves:  2

Preparation Time:  10 minutes

Cooking Time:  10 minutes

Ingredients:

1.      Naan - 4

2.    Cabbage chopped – 1 cup

3.    Spinach – 1 cup

4.    Tomato – 1 large

5.     Onion – 2

6.    Garlic – 6 cloves

7.     Ginger – 2” piece

8.    Green chilies – 2

9.    Tomato sauce – 2 tbsp

10. Salt to taste

11.  Oil – 1 tbsp

12.Pepper crushed – ½ tsp (optinal)

Method:

Step 1: Pile the naan or roti that you are going to use; cut them into small bite sized squares and crush them slightly between fists to soften a bit. In the roadside shops they typically mince the parotas using dosa spatulas in both hands which makes that tak-tak sound. 

Step 2: Heat oil in a large kadai and fry ginger, garlic, green chilies in it and add onion after a minute and fry until it starts to brown.

Step 3: Add cabbage, tomato and spinach and toss well with required salt. Add the chopped naan and mix well.

 Step 4: Now add tomato sauce and crushed pepper if using and sauté in high temperature by rapid stirring. Adjust salt and spices at this stage. Avoid frying too much to prevent the naan/ parota from getting tough.

 

Step 5: Take out and serve immediately the crisp and juicy kothu parota along with onion raita.

Tomato, Spinach & Broken Wheat Stew or Tzavarabour

Tzavarabour, frankly I don’t even know if I am pronouncing it right but I’ve spelt it right. This is a traditional Armenian recipe (Republic of Armenia is a country near Turkey) which I happened to randomly hit on the web from George’s cookbook, http://www.georgefamily.net/cookbook. I was looking for a tomato-spinach soup and this recipe was quite interesting and so I picked it up. I replaced samba wheat rava for bulgar wheat which is used in the authentic recipe. It was a wholesome and light supper that I opted for yesterday; we both liked it.

Serves:  2

Preparation Time:  5 minutes

Cooking Time:  30 minutes

Ingredients:

1.      Tomato – 2 large

2.    Spinach – 7-10 leaves

3.    Bulgar wheat (samba wheat – broken or rava) – ¼ cup

4.    Garlic cloves – 3

5.     Butter – 1 tbsp

6.    Salt to taste

7.     Pepper crushed – ½ tsp

8.    Coriander leaves – 2 tbsp chopped

Method:

Step 1: Put the tomatoes in boiling water for a minute and peel them when cool enough (I skipped this and found the small bits of tomato peels disturbing a bit while consuming); chop the peeled tomatoes and spinach into fine chunks. Peel and mince garlic cloves.

Step 2: Melt butter in a deep vessel and sauté tomatoes in it, add wheat to it, and then add stock if you’ve or add 3 cups of plain water & salt. Let it boil in simmered heat until the wheat is well cooked and soft.

Step 3: Add chopped spinach and cook further for 3 minutes by stirring occasionally. Add pepper now and turn off heat.

Step 4: Garnish with fresh coriander leaves; stir & serve immediately.

Mixed Vegetable Curry

The other day I had tried this mixed veg curry for roti which I liked very much but Kundan only kind of liked it. It is slightly creamy and bland as though it is a tweaked version of avail (A famous kerala mixed veg dish cooked in coconut milk). Best thing about this recipe is we can make it with different combination of vegetables like carrot, capsicum, bush beans, potato, cauliflower, green peas, beetroot and so apart from tomato and onion that are added as base. It is quite healthy; however, may not go as well with rice varieties.

Serves:  2

Preparation Time:  10 minutes

Cooking Time:  20 minutes

Ingredients:

1.      Carrot - 1

2.    Beans – 5-8

3.    Capsicum - 1

4.    Onion – 1

5.     Tomato – 1

6.    Green chili – 1

7.     Oil – 1 tbsp

8.    Salt to taste

9.    Turmeric powder – 2 pinches

10.   Chili powder – ½ tsp

11.   Coriander powder – 1 tsp

12. Cumin powder – ¼ tsp

13. Chopped coriander – 2 tbsp

14. Milk – ½ cup

Method:

Step 1: Cut the vegetables into small cubes and roughly chop chili, tomato and onion.

Step 2: Add ½ tbsp of oil in a heated tawa and sauté onion, tomato and chili in it until soft by adding a pinch of salt.

Step 3: Cool the sautéed mixture and grind into fine paste.

Step 4: Heat few drops of oil in the same tawa and sauté the vegetables with required salt, one by one preferably to retain their crisp & colours (each vegetable requires different amount of time depending on their nature and cut size).

Step 5: Now add the tomato-onion paste to the tawa and sauté for a minute and then add salt, turmeric powder, chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder to sauté for another 2 minutes.

Step 6: Pour a cup of water and add the vegetables to it. Adjust salt and spices if necessary and cook covered.

Step 7: Once vegetables are soft and the gravy becomes thick add the milk and stir in slow heat until it starts boiling and then turn off heat. (Skip milk if you don't want)

Step 8: Transfer to the serving dish and garnish with fresh coriander. Serve hot with roti/ phulka.