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 :)

Pudhin Ki Roti

Mint is one of the most flavorful and aromatic greens packed with loads of goodness. I had once stocked some fresh pudhina/Mint leaves from market and was wondering what I can do with them apart from making rice. Just then an idea stuck, why not minty flavorful rotis instead of boring plain rotis:) Here is the recipe to a delicious minty Chapati that can make your dinner healthy and interesting.

serves: 6 rotis

Ingredients

1. Whole Wheat Flour - 1 Cup
2. Fresh Mint leaves- 1 Cup
3. Green chilies-1
4. Salt to taste
5. Ghee for spreading on roti
6. Oil for kneading- 1 tbsp
7. Water as required for kneading

Method

1. Grind Pudhina/mint leaves and chilies together.

2. In a large mixing bowl, add wheat flour, needed salt and the ground paste and knead well by adding water little by little until it forms a soft dough. Coat the dough with some oil so that moisture is retained. Cover the dough with a moist cloth or store it in an air tight container.

3. Let the dough set for 20 mins.

4. Divide the dough into equal parts and roll them into flat circular shapes.

5. Heat a tawa and place the roti on it and cook both sides until brown spots appear.

6. Spread a tsp of ghee and serve hot with any curry bowls from our menu card.:)

Butter Naan

Hello folks, this is going to be my first post after a long gap. This is a very special menu that is very close to my heart.This is my husband's favorite dish. Butter naan has become a very popular staple not just in north India, but also in the down south.The combination of Butter naan and Paneer Butter Masala leaves your taste buds longing for more.How about making a very healthy, egg less and an easy version of this popular dish at our home?? Yes, that's what I tried and it came out really well.This recipe has been picked and tried from Sailu's Kitchen and it was super successful and very soft.My husband was surprised and loved it. I would like to share this recipe and my learning here on trying this.

Serves : 8 naans

Ingredients

All purpose flour/maida- 2 Cups
Warm milk-1/2 cup
Curd/Yogurt-1/2 cup
Salt-1/4 tsp
Sugar-1 tsp
Baking Powder-3/4 tsp
Baking soda-1/4 tsp
Coriander/Mint/any green herb-Chopped(handful)
Sesame seeds-1 tsp(Black/White)
Oil-1 tsp
Melted Butter-1-2 tbsp

Method

1. Mix the flour,baking powder,baking soda and salt nicely.Sieve this to form an even mixture.

2. Keep adding sugar,milk and yogurt little by little to the above dry mixture and start kneading the dough.

3. Knead hard and evenly until it forms a soft dough, something very similar to a soft clay.

4. Apply some oil to the dough and cover it completely by a thin film of oil coating.

5. Cover the kneaded dough with a damp cloth and allow it to rest for 2 hours.

6. After 2 hours, gently knead the dough.You can feel that it is much softer.

7. Make small lemon sized balls from the dough.

8. Dust the rolling surface with flour and roll the ball to a slightly elongated shape.

9. Sprinkle few sesame seeds and few chopped coriander and again roll it so that they stick well to the dough surface.

10. Heat an iron tawa and once its hot, place the naan on the tawa and close it with a lid and cook for 40-45 sec on a high flame.

11. When you remove the lid, we can see that bubbles are formed on the naan.

12. Cook the other side directly on the flame by flipping the tawa directly.The heat should be spread evenly and brown spots start appearing indicating that the naan is being cooked.Do this only for few seconds, else will get burnt.Alternatively, instead of flipping the tawa, just flip the naan to the other side on the flame using tongs and follow the same above procedure.

13. Pour some melted butter on the naan generously and serve with the ever delightful combination of Paneer Butter Masala.

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

• Make sure both sides of the naan are cooked well by the indication of brown spots.They should not be burnt.
• The oil coating of the dough helps it from drying up and becoming hard.

Aloo Paratha

The king of parathas would definitely be Aloo paratha.Our tummy gets full just by having two masala parathas.This is a delicious recipe from Punjabi cuisine.This can be very easily made at home.I used to order aloo paratha every now and then from Hot Chips.However, After I learnt to make it, I never order it from hotels.The best time to have parathas is breakfast.Yes the ghee and aloo that goes into making these parathas needs to get digested na!!!:P However,often I make this only for dinner just to feast on delicious parathas when I return home with great hunger.

Serves:8 - 10 parathas

Ingredients

Dough Ingredients 

1. Wheat Flour/Atta-2 cups 
2. Turmeric Powder-1 tsp 
3. Red Chili Powder-1 tsp 
4. Warm water as needed for kneading 
5. Oil as needed for kneading 
6. Salt to taste 
7. Ghee/ Oil for roasting parathas

Masala Stuffing Ingredients

1. Potato-3 to 4 Medium sized(Boiled) 
2. cumin seeds/jeera - 2 tsp
3. Green Chili-1 big (finely chopped) 
4. Onion-1 medium sized(finely chopped) 
5. Coriander-Fistful(finely chopped) 
6. Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder- 1 tsp 
7. Garam Masala Powder-1 tsp
8. Coriander powder - 1 tsp
9. Chat masala powder - 1 tsp
10. Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
11. Oil-2-3 tsp 
12. Salt to taste

Method

1. Mix wheat flour and all the powder mentioned under dough ingredients along with salt well.

2. Knead the dough well using water and oil as needed.

3. Smash the boiled potatoes nicely. In a pan, heat oil and add cumin seeds. Once cumin crackles,add onions,green chili and ginger garlic paste. Saute until onions become transparent.

4. Add the smashed potatoes,needed salt, all the powders and mix nicely on a medium flame for 5 mins. Add some chopped coriander and give it a final mixing.The Aloo stuffing is now ready.Keep it aside and allow it to cool.

5. Make balls from the dough and roll it on a roller pin into flat round sheets.

6. Make balls out of the masala stuffing.Place it on the rolled wheat sheets.Cover the stuffing with the sheets as shown in the picture.

7. Dust little flour and roll it into medium size.

8. Heat some ghee on a pan, fry the rolled parathas in the pan using ghee. When one side of the paratha becomes golden brown, flip it and cook the other side.

9. Serve the parathas hot with raitha or Curd.

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

1. Make sure you don't stuff too much masala that you find it difficult to roll.The masala may squeeze out. So take a small ball of masala stuffing depending on how big you want the parathas to be.
2. Make sure, the dough is not too sticky and soft while kneading. It has to have a perfect brown no sticky texture.
3. Don't dust too much that your parathas become hard on the surface.Dust only as needed.

Phulka

This is one of my most favorite Indian Breads.Very soft in texture and light in stomach.This is my everyday dinner.Yes,this is a great diet recipe as it does not consume any oil while cooking.Whenever I go to any restaurant, I order phulka with any rich side dish.Oh my god!! It tastes divine.This is definitely a guilt free dish that can be relished everyday.

Serves: 12 phulkas(as shown in pic)

Ingredients

1. Atta/Whole wheat flour-2 cups
2. Hot water-1 cup
3. Plain water-as needed
4. Oil as needed to knead the dough 
5. Salt to taste

Method

1. Mix the atta and salt together.

2. Add hot water to the flour and start kneading.

3. Use few drops of oil as needed to knead the dough well.

4. Knead well and beat hard so that it does not stick to the vessel and becomes soft like a clay.

5. Roll out these phulkas on a roller pin with mild dusting of flour.

6. Heat a non stick tawa on a high flame.

7. When the tawa is striking hot, reduce the flame to medium and place the rolled atta sheets on the tawa.

8. Keep flipping the phulka constantly for every 1/2 minute.

9. Brown spots start to appear. Once brown spots appear on both sides of phulka, remove it from the pan and place it directly on the flame. Keep the flame high.

10. The phulka puffs up. flip it to the other side and quickly remove it from flame and transfer to a hot pack. Apply some ghee over it and cover it.

11. Phulkas are now ready to be served with spicy accompaniments.

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

1. Hot water is used to make the dough soft so that the phulkas also come out very soft.
2. Kneading plays a very important role and hence ensure you knead the dough well enough.
3. Phulkas should be rolled out thin compared to normal rotis.
4. Don't dust the phulkas with flour too much while rolling as it can become flaky.
5. You can spread a tsp of ghee on the phulkas while serving.

Poori

This is one of the most favorite and famous delicacy from South Indian cuisine.The moment I think of poori my mouth starts watering. Can there be anyone who hates this dish,This is kid's most favorite dish.When you go out for a dinner with your family, there is at least one kid in the family ordering this dish. There are many Indian breads that have entered the menu cards but nothing can beat Poori and Aloo Masal. They are a heavenly combination.:)

Serves: 25 Pooris (approx)

Ingredients

1. Wheat Flour/Atta-2 Cups
2. Rava/Semolina - 2 tbsp
3. Oil for deep frying
4. water-as required for kneading the dough
5. salt to taste

                           

Method

1. Mix the atta, rava and salt together and mix well. 

2. Add water and start kneading the dough. 

3. Divide the dough into equal small balls and start rolling each ball on a roller pin.

4. Deep fry the rolled sheets in hot oil. 

5. Puffed pooris are now ready to be served with aloo masal.

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

1. Poori puffs only on high flame. Make sure you quickly flip it and remove off the flame after it has puffed. If you don't remove quickly,then it might get burnt.
2. Poori's puffness also depends on how hard you beat the dough. Knead well and beat hard so that the dough remains soft and also puffs well.
3. Make sure the dough is not too sticky. 
4. Semolina helps the poori to stay puffed up for longer time and also gives a mild crispiness.
5. Make sure the rolled atta sheets are neither too thick nor too thin. 

Paneer Paratha

For all the Paneer/Cottage Cheese lovers out there,here is another variety of stuffed paratha where grated paneer is used as the stuffing.It is very simple and quick to make.Here is the recipe to make a simple,easy paneer paratha. Paneer/cottage cheese has no taste by itself. hence, it is very important that we add necessary seasonings and masala to spice it up so that the paratha tastes great. My initial attempt at making paneer paratha was a big failure. not sure what went wrong, but it was too rubbery with no taste. This time I had made the paratha using Paneer Burji. This has all the flavors and spices in it and can be used a great stuffing for parathas, Let's look at the preparation.

Serves:8 - 10 parathas

Ingredients

Dough Ingredients 

1. Wheat Flour/Atta-2 cups 
2. Turmeric Powder-1 tsp 
3. Red Chili Powder-1 tsp 
4. Warm water as needed for kneading 
5. Oil as needed for kneading 
6. Salt to taste 
7. Ghee/Oil for roasting parathas

Paneer Stuffing Ingredients

Refer Paneer Burji recipe which will be used as stuffing here.

Add all ingredients to the flour with warm water

Knead to a soft dough

Cover with moist cloth and rest for 2 hours

Stuff paneer burji balls inside and roll them flat

Roast them on tawa with oil

Method

1. Mix wheat flour and all the powder mentioned under dough ingredients along with salt well.

2. Knead the dough well using water and oil as needed.

3. Make balls from the dough and roll it on a roller pin into flat round sheets.

5. Make balls out of the paneer burji stuffing.Place it on the center of the rolled dough sheet.Cover the paneer ball from all the sides with the dough.

6. Dust little flour and roll it into medium size.

7. Heat some ghee on a pan, roast the rolled parathas in the pan using ghee. When one side of the paratha becomes golden brown, flip it and cook the other side.

8. Serve the parathas hot with raitha or Curd.

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

1. Make sure you don't stuff too much that you find it difficult to roll.The stuffing may squeeze out. So take a small ball of stuffing depending on how big you want the parathas to be.
2. Make sure, the dough is not too sticky and soft while kneading. It has to have a perfect brown no sticky texture.
3. Don't dust too much that your parathas become hard on the surface.Dust only as needed.