Monday 27 April 2020

Beetroot Almond Chapati

It is very difficult to make toddlers eat vegetables that are healthy. I always trick my son into eating healthy vegetables by making it as a puree in chapati. He loves coloured chapatis very much and finds it very interesting. He fondly calls this "Red" Chapati. This is healthy and colourful all at the same time and we parents can happily make it without any guilt. Kids find it very attractive and colourful and hence finish it in no time.

Recently I had come across few online products where they market readymade multigrains wheat flour for toddlers at sky rocketing price. Why buy it at such high price when making this at home is very easy and cost effective. Nothing like making healthy and yummy food for your kid all by yourself.

This contains goodness of beetroot and almond. Vegetable pureed chapatis are generally very soft and hence, kids enjoy it very much.

My son loves this recipe and I will share this fool proof recipe. I have used Aashirvaad Whole Wheat Atta and find it really good. The chapatis turn out very soft and fluffy. I have used kashmiri red chili powder as they aren't very spicy. This gives nice colour to the chapati without adding spice.





Serves: 14-15 chapatis

Ingredients


  1. Whole Wheat Flour - 1.5 cups
  2. Almond Flour (Blanched/Unblanched) - 1/2 cup
  3. Beetroot - 1 small or 1/2 of large
  4. Kashmiri Red Chili Powder - 2 tsp
  5. Cumin Powder - 2 tsp
  6. Salt - 2 tsp
  7. Needed water for kneading the dough
  8. Oil - 2 tsp for coating the dough
  9. Ghee for final garnish


Method


1. Mix all the dry ingredients together - Flour, salt,cumin and red chili powder well.





2. Peel the beetroot, slice it and pressure cook for 3 whistles with 1 cup of water. After the beetroot cools down, puree the beetroot. Reserve the cooked water for kneading if required. You can even drink it as it is very healthy.
                                      


3. Add the puree to the dough and knead well. Add water depending on the consistency. It should be a smooth pliable dough. Knead well for solid 5 mins. Coat the dough with 2 tsp of oil and cover it with moist cloth.
                                    



4. After 30 mins, roll them into round chapatis and toss it on tawa.




5. You can either directly cook on tawa using ghee or try the phulka method as shown here.







6. Soft Beetroot Almond Chapati is ready. I roll it with honey and give it to my son. He loves having it that way. Elders can have it with any accompaniment of your choice and it tastes great with just a plain curd :)




Organic Homemade Rose Syrup

This is a very special experimentation for me. My maiden attempt to create an Organic Rose syrup using fresh Paneer Roses. Everybody loves Rose Milk right!!! who doesn't. I had recently made Rose Milk flavoured Coconut Ladoo (Recipe soon to be posted) for fireless cooking competition at my office. The Rose Milk essence that was store bought was made in a Chemical Laboratory and tasted pungent and horrible. That is when I understood how harmful these artificial colouring and essence are. The store bought rose milk essence are nothing but just sugar syrup mixed with rose essence and food colour.

Rose syrup made out of real roses has so many health benefits and when you can make something so organic easily at home, why at all store bought?

This Rose Syrup is completely natural and organic made with unrefined brown sugar (sweetness) and beetroot for the colour. This can be stored for about months in an airtight container in a refrigerator and used in milk, as essence in cakes and juices, in sweets, payasam etc.



Following are the Health Benefits of Organic Rose Syrup

  1. Act as a great coolant in cooling the body heat.
  2. It's anti-inflammatory properties keep problems like bloating and acidity at bay.
  3. Loaded with antioxidants, delays aging, natural glowing and healthy skin,
  4. Calms the mind and reduces mood swings.
  5. Great Immunity Booster and a healthy/refreshing summer drink.
  6. Highly kids friendly and kids love rose flavour.


Let's jump to the recipe





Ingredients


  1. Rose Petals - 1 cup tightly packed (about 13 roses)
  2. Unrefined Brown Sugar - 1 cup
  3. Water - 1/2 cup
  4. Grated Beetroot - 1/4 cup

Method


Fresh Paneer Rose


1. Remove the petals from the roses and soak the petals in a container full of water.


Wash the petals thoroughly for insects and pesticides

2. Wash the petals thoroughly to get rid of insects and pesticides.

3. Strain the petals well and allow them to dry for half hour.


Drain the water


4. Take a pan and add brown sugar. Add grated beetroot, rose petals and water.


Unrefined Brown Sugar

Grated Beetroot for color

5. Cover the pan and allow it to simmer on low flame for 10 mins with occasional stirring. This helps in removing the raw flavour of beetroot and allow the rose petals to release its essence and flavour.


                                         Roses ready to get boiled


6. After simmering for 10 mins, you will notice the syrup has turned thick and the petals have shrunk well losing all its color. Check for the consistency.


                                           Rose Syrup getting cooked


7. Strain the syrup nicely using a fine mesh.
                                                    Strain the Syrup well

8. Transfer to a clean airtight glass container and refrigerate it. Use it whenever needed for all your sweet delicacies.