Multi-grain stuffed paratha

The paratha cover/wrap is made of flour of two grains and the stuffing with whole (sabut) brown lentil (masoor) and split black lentil (kaali urad daal) so it contains plenty of roughage and protein.

The intent was to cook the flour with some water and then use it to make stuffed parathas but I was running out of time that evening as the recipe inspiration came quite at the last moment as I got back home from work. I also didn't have enough rice flour. So a usual dough was made, standard one for any paratha/roti. But without any oil :-) .

The stuffing needs some preparation - soaking and then cooking lentils. I had some mixed soaked lentil ready as the original plan for dinner that day was daal makhani.

The dough should be mixed just about a few minutes before you're ready to roll out parathas. As it has a higher proportion of ragi which isn't as sticky as wheat and also because no oil is used in it moisture evaporates pretty quickly off the dough and the paratha cover begins cracking as it is rolled out.

Ingredients:

For the dough:

2 cups of Ragi flour

2/3 cup of rice flour

Warm water for kneading

For the stuffing:

3/4 cup split black lentil

1/4 cup brown lentil

1/4 cup chopped red onions or spring onions

1/4 cup chopped coriander

2 small green chillies, slit, stem removed and chopped

1 tbsp lemon juice / 2-3 tsp dry mango powder

2 tsp ginger paste

2 tsp red chilly powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp garam masala powder

1 tsp carrom seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp asafoetida (optional)

2 tsp sugar

Salt

(The measure and proportion of spices really depends upon how strong/weak the spices you use are, and upon your taste.)

Making the stuffing:

The lentils are soaked for about 4-5 hours in water and cooked "dry" - take some water in a cooker/larger pot and on a ring/stand place in it the vessel with lentils. Add about 2 or 3 teaspoonfuls of water to the lentil but no more. Shouldn't take more than 5 whistles with a pressure cooker, or about 20 minutes cooking slow over a flame. Once cooked and cooled, mash the lentils. They should turn out a dry powdery consistency. This is important to be able to roll out the parathas with this filling inside.

Roast the cumin and carom seeds and lightly crush them but not to a powder. Mix in this crush and all the other ingredients for the stuffing with the mashed lentils. Don't add all of the lemon juice and onion at once - leave out some of it if the lentils feel a little moist as onion and lemon juice will release further juice when mixed with salt and the spices.

The dough:

Mix together the flours with some salt and add warm water to it gradually to make soft dough. It should be a consistency that allows being rolled out. The rice flour provides bonding to the mix. Dough can be covered under foil or wet muslin cloth to keep it from drying.

Parathas:

Roll out the dough in about 3-inch diameter circles. 

Place a portion of stuffing upon it and close in the cover from all sides. Gently flatten at the top. 

Sprinkle some rice or wheat flour on the rolling board and roll out the paratha gently. Rolling out by the moving the pin in relatively vertical or linear motion and not in a circular movements. Roast on a flat pan (tawa). This variant of paratha can literally go zero oil.

Miscellaneous Comments: 

Even if the stuffing does make an appearance at a few places it does not quite ruin the paratha. As this is dry cooked lentil it begins to bond and form a layer once on the heat and catches up with the cover in terms of texture. The reddish colour given by ragi isn't very appealing, but the taste of the filling more than makes up for the looks.

Using a nonstick pan is recommended to roast/shallow fry these parathas to minimise risk of frustration and worse, delayed or missing dinner. Ragi in the covering is rather fussy and difficult and tends to stick if the pan is too hot as a cast iron pan might get.

Nutrition Facts:

The lentils are a little hard to digest being protein-heavy, so the carom, cumin, ginger, coriander and asafoetida are added to aid digestion. The paratha cover itself is very light to digest. Ragi and rice, rich in calcium and minerals and cooling. But the stuffing is a bit spicy and with the lentils used some people might not be very inclined to make this at the height of summer.

White ragi flour could be used instead of red, both have their own nutritional benefits.

The parathas do taste better when topped with ghee. Some things will never change.

Soyabean fried rice or pulao?

I wanted to make a soyabean fried rice but something more pulao than a Chinese fried rice. Yet something that used up the red chilly sauce as well as homemade white butter which was available. Many times I tend to stick to authentic cooking styles when cooking a dish. The intention is to get authentic taste. But anyone knowing a little bit about history and food history will question when claims are made of something being "purely" Indian. Influences from other cultures have been absorbed and assimilated in all aspects of human life everywhere across the globe since centuries, food being no exception. 

Using this thought as inspiration I decided to do just as I pleased and came up with the below outcome. Others who ate the rice thought it was "interesting", a second helping was had and the bowl was scraped empty. One must warn though that the dish has a fairly earthy taste so it is not for those days when you are more inclined towards fresher flavours. It is hot but not spicy and subtle once you get used to the soyabean.

Ingredients:

2 cups of cooked rice (white rice recommended over red rice)
1 1/2 cup mince of blanched soya chunks
1 cup chopped red onion
1 large red chilly
1 inch of ginger, grated
1 clove of garlic peeled and crushed
1 tsp red chilly sauce
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
2 tbsp butter
7-8 cashewnuts, halved or coarsely chopped
5-6 sprigs of coriander
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp butter or olive oil or ghee for cooking the rice
Salt

Preparation:

Soak the red chilly in warm water for about 45 minutes and chop finely or coarsely grind to a paste.

Soak rice in twice as much water for ten minutes before cooking. Add some butter/oil/ghee and a pinch of salt to it while cooking. Butter/oil/ghee prevents the grains from sticking to each other. Leave rice uncovered once cooked so that the steam escapes and no excess moisture is retained. My rice was soft, moist yet the grains well-separated from each other. Using red rice will enhance the earthy/dense taste the dish acquires because of soyabean so I recommend white rice instead to balance it out.

Blanch soya granules/chunks for about 5-7 minutes, drain away all the water and run through the blender for just a bit.

Steps:

1. Heat half the butter in a pan. Fry cashewnuts to a light golden brown, remove to a bowl and fry 1/4 of the chopped onions to a light pink. 

2. Heat the butter in the pan again and add the ginger and garlic to it. Add chillies and the remaining of chopped onion. Fry the onion to a light pink (not brown as it would dry the onion of moisture and also change its taste) and add the soya mince. Saute for a minute and ensure any remaining water evaporates. 

3. Now add the rice and mix gently to avoid breaking the grains. Add salt but remember some was added while cooking the rice.

4. Add the chilly sauce, cumin and coriander powder and the remaining butter and mix well. Garnish with the fried cashewnuts, onion, lemon juice and plenty of coriander. I agree mine didn't have plenty of it.

Here's what I got:

Mixed Lentil Adai Dosa with a twist

The Adai dosa comes out to be quite thicker than the usual one because of the mix of lentils that go into it. This makes for a perfect open wrap to fill in with whatever one fancies. It is also a very healthy way of eating lentils as they are soaked which helps in optimal absorption of protein when our body processes the food.

I made Adai dosas the other day and some fresh mushrooms and capsicum in the fridge inspired me with this filling:

(makes for two wraps):

4 button mushrooms
1 medium capsicum
red chilly flakes
white pepper (optional)
Parmesan cheese (grated, optional)
salt to taste

Finely chop veggies. In a pan, heat some oil and add the capsicum followed by the mushrooms after a couple of minutes. Add chilly flakes, salt and the crushed white pepper if you want to and let sit on a low flame until the liquid released by mushrooms evaporates.

Spread the filling onto half of a hot dosa straight off the pan, top with grated cheese and watch the cheese melt :) Fold the remaining half of the dosa over the filling (as if this needs to be told).

Now the dosa needs preparation at least 8 hours in advance. A great recipe for Adai dosa can be found on this blog: http://spillthespices.blogspot.com/2012/02/adai-mixed-lentil-dosa-dal-dosa.html .

My dosas turned out like this:

And with the filling:

A version of broccoli rice

Came up with this version of Broccoli rice recently. Stir fry, minimalistic, and as others found it, delicious.
One cup of boiled rice
About 8-10 florets of broccoli depending upon their size
1/5 th cup white shallots
1 1/2 tsp chilly flakes
1 1/2 tsp crushed white pepper
1/2 tsp garlic paste, freshly ground
Olive oil for cooking
Salt to taste
Finely slice shallots, remove broccoli stems and finely chop florets. I boiled the stems separately and minced them to add to the rice.
As goes the usual sequence the olive oil is to be heated, garlic paste added, burn it a bit at this stage and keep aside. Now add the onions, they will take long to turn pink or not turn pink at all assuming they are white shallots. So let them fry for about two minutes, then add broccoli, let fry for a couple minutes, add the rice. Add in the salt, chilly flakes and pepper and the burnt garlic. Mix well and you're done.
The broccoli lends distinct taste to the dish but the magic ingredient is the white pepper. Taste the dish before adding pepper and find out for yourself. I had thought of adding some lemon juice but believe me it is not needed.

Banana Kaju Katli

Kaju Katli is a dry Indian sweet. A simple quick recipe I found in a local magazine.

What:

2 large ripe bananas (not too soft)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup powdered cashewnut
1/2 cup full cream milk
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
2 tsp finely chopped pistachios
Few strings of saffron mixed with warm milk, optional.

How:

Roughly chop bananas and blend in a blender along with all ingredients except for the saffron and pistachios.
Pour in a nonstick pan and cook on low to medium heat, stirring constantly.
This should become slightly less thick than soft dough so it can be rolled out.
Take off the heat and stir to make sure the mixture is smooth. Add powdered sugar if needed.
Roll out on a plastic sheet in a large round shape, no thinner than 3 mm.
Garnish with the saffron and pistachios.
Cut into square or diamond shaped pieces.