Spinach Roti / Palak Paratha Pictorial

Adding or stuffing vegetables / paneer / leafy greens while preparing rotis can add a new dimension to them. They are not only more interesting and appealing but also are healthier. In this recipe, while preparing the dough for spinach rotis, I replaced water by fat free milk to make them more nutritious and softer. Ingredients to make a dozen rotis: 
Chapathi flour - 2 & 1/2 cups 
Spinach leaves from a bunch with stalks removed 
Fat free milk (or water) - 1 & 1/4 cups ( more or less depending upon the quantity of the flour. If using milk, let it be at room temperature.)  
Salt - 1 tsp 
Oil / ghee to fry the rotis  

Preparing spinach rotis: Cook briefly the spinach leaves adding a tbsp of water until it is just wilted. Wash them with cold water, drain and finely chop. Squeeze out any extra water present. Add salt to the flour to a bowl and mix well. Then add spinach and later milk little by little till a soft, pliable dough 
is formed.
   
Knead for five minutes, cover and rest it for at least 30 minutes. Divide the dough into 12 balls equal in size. Work with one ball at a time keeping the rest covered. On a lightly floured surface like a rolling board or the counter top, evenly roll out the ball in to approximtaely 6 - 7 inches circle with a millimeter thickness. Keep dusting lightly with flour to avoid sticking
the dough to the rolling surface.
 
 If you want layered, flaky parathas instead, roll the dough ball into a five inches circle, spread 1/4 tsp oil, fold into half and then fold one more time to get a triangle. Roll it into a thin triangle as below.
   
Heat a tava / griddle / heavy based frying pan. Fry one roti at a time on medium heat. Place the rolled triangle onto the hot griddle. Toast for about a minute. Small bubbles start to appear on the surface. Then flip it to the other side using a spatula. Add 1/2 tsp oil around the edges and spread around 1/4 tsp oil on the surface. Toast the other side too. Keep moving around and pressing the roti a little with the spatula for uniform toasting including the edges. Flip the roti one more time if required. Properly toasted roti / parathas have small brown spots all over it. Remove the roti and keep it covered.
   
Make rotis similarly with the rest of the dough. Serve it with any vegetable dish / pickle / yogurt.  

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Green Apple Relish / Chutney

A few years back, when I did see recipes for apple chutney (not from Indian food blogs and there were none then), I thought the people who came up with those recipes have gone crazy in the name of experimentation. Later, Bee piqued my curiosity when she left a comment on my quick mango chutney saying that they prepare it using green apples as well. I was in the mood of eating some tangy, chatpata kind of stuff along with upma today and remembered her comment. I had green apples in the refrigerator and so went on to prepare this instant, spicy relish. I was just hoping it to be a decent substitute for mango but surprisingly, the taste is very closer to the mango version. It is because of the tartness of this apple variety. If you don't mention the name of the relish, probably the people at the table would assume it to be the green mango chutney. Ingredients: One Granny Smith apple - seeds removed and chopped into fine cubes Lemon / Lime juice - 2 Tbsp (more or less depending upon the tartness of the apple) Chili powder - 1/2 tsp Salt to taste For seasoning - 2 tsp oil, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, a little asafoetida according to taste and little turmeric powder Method: It is quite simple and takes just five minutes to prepare.

• Heat oil in a small pan and add mustard seeds. When they start to crackle, add asafoetida and turmeric powder and turn off the stove.
• Add the lemon juice, chili powder and salt to the apple cubes. Taste and adjust the ingredients.
• Add the above seasoning to the apple mixture and stir well.

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Green Papaya Saagu

Somehow, my posts are not getting updated on Taste of India. Readers who would like to get my post updates can subscribe to Veggie Platter by just entering their email id on the side bar. Thanks. And today's recipe is saagu. Saagu, a side dish from Karnataka is prepared with loads of vegetables and usually served with pooris. However, there are a few vegetables which taste good when used alone even with out any onions and tomatoes while preparing saagu. Green papaya is one of those. This simple, non - greasy preparation would take 15 - 2o minutes. Ingredients: Green papaya - Peeled, seeds removed and chopped into small cubes - 4 cups Daliya / Roasted Chickpeas - 1/4 cup Poppy seeds - 1 tsp Cilantro leaves - 2 Tbsp Cinnamon pieces - 1 tsp Moggu / Mogga - 3 (No idea about the English name and definitely, it's not anise / star anise) Green chillies - 5 Salt - 1 & 1/4 tsp For seasoning - 1 Tbsp oil, 1 tsp chana dal, 1 tsp mustard seeds and a few curry leaves

Upper row: L to R - cilantro, papaya, green chilliesLower row: L to R -cinnamon, moggu, poppy seeds, daliya Method: Heat oil in a karhai / deep saute pan. Add chanadal, mustard seeds and curry leaves. When chandal starts turning golden - red and mustards seeds start to pop, add papaya cubes and about 2 cups of water to the pan. Cook for 10 minutes on high flame. Adjust the quantity of water if required. Papaya would be cooked well by this time. It would be done, still holding shape with out turning mushy. In the mean time grind daliya, poppy seeds, cilantro, cinnamon, moggu, green chillies with enough water and grind into a smooth paste. Add this paste and salt to the cooked papaya. (Or go on adding the paste little by little to check the taste instead of adding the whole paste). Allow it to simmer for about five minutes and then turn off the stove. Serve with rotis / pooris. Now coming to my absence from blogosphere, it was not planned. I would like to thank all my readers / fellow bloggers who kept visiting my blog during my absence and also enquired about my well - being. It initially started due to my laziness and later as I prolonged it, it seemed hard to come back. Then it was my kids' health, their schoolwork, our computer crashing down and above all, the death of a dear cousin. I am still grieving over the loss. He was not even 30, had a wonderful career and was married just a couple of weeks earlier. Related posts: Cabbage Saagu Post a Comment