Beetroot Paratha

And finally I found out a beetroot dish which my 5 years old ate without any fuss. As such he is a healthy eater and easts mostly whatever is made at home. Like every other kid there are demands for junk food and I do allow it but its very limited. Feeding him junk food makes me so guilty that for the following few days there is a doze of only healthy foods. Yeah I have accepted that I am crazy :-)

Anyway coming to beetroot, husband and I consume it regularly but kiddo didn't like it in any form whether its soup or salad or just the shallow fry slices of beet (recipe leant from MIL). So thought of giving a try to these parathas. While I was making the dough he was nearby and also asked why the dough is looking red and mentioned that he is not going to eat it at any cost :-)


Ingredients-

* 4 beetroots peeled and boiled
* 2 cups whole wheat flour. You can also take a mix of different flours like jowar, bajra, ragi etc which will increase the nutritional level.
* Few garlic cloves, grated
* Pinch of hing
* 1/2 tsp chat masala
* 1/2 tsp aamchur powder
* 1/2 tsp ajwain
* Salt and red chili powder as per taste


Recipe-

* Mash boiled beetroot though a blender or with a potato masher. Add all dry ingredients into it.
* Now add the whole wheat flour and knead with water making a smooth dough.
* Take a small ball and roll it into paratha just like any other paratha and fry from both sides putting oil.
* It hardly takes any time to make parathas if you have the dough ready.

Serve with green chutney and onion :-)

Chatpate Aalu

This is a quick recipe I have saved for those days when I am out of veggies or don't have any other recipe in mind. Be it breakfast or lunch or dinner, this potato recipe will surely come handy.

Ingredients-

1) 10-12 baby potatoes boiled, peeled and cut into halves
2) 1 onion and tomato chopped finely
3) 1 small tomato chopped into 8 pieces
4) 2-3 green chillies slit vertically
5) 6-8 garlic cloves grated
6) Cumin and mustard seeds-1/2 tsp
6) Dry spices-turmeric powder, red chili powder, and salt as per taste
7) Coriander powder- 1 tbsp
7) Coriander leaves for garnichinsg


Recipe-

1) Peal the potatoes, cut into half and keep aside
2) Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds once the oil is hot enough for seeds to crackle then add cumin seeds.
3) Add onion and saute till it turns translucent then add garlic cloves, green chillies and tomatoes.
4) Mix potatoes and  all dry spices except salt and remaining tomatoes which are cut into big pieces. Cover for 5 minutes
5)Finally add salt and mix well
6) Garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve hot with rotis.

Bread Uttappam

Prepare this instant uttappam with readily available items in your kitchen - bread slices, curd, maida and rawa and make a tasty breakfast/snack dish.

Ingredients-
1) 4 slices of bread
2) 2 tbsp rawa/sooji
3) 2 tbsp maida
4) 3 tbsp curd
5) 1 small onion
6) 1 small tomato
7) Coriander leaves
8) Salt and chat masala as per taste
9) Sesame seeds- 1 tsp
9) Oil for cooking

Recipe-

1) Cut bread into small pieces and put it in a bowl. Add maida, rawa, curd, mix well.

2) Blend it together though a mixer. It the mixture is very thick, add little water. Set it aside for 10 minutes.

3) In the mean time, cut onion, tomato and coriander leaves finely and add salt, chat masala, sesame seeds.

4) Add these over the bread mixture and mix well.

5) Grease a non stick pan with little oil and spread a ladle full of mixture.

6) Pour some oil around the sides while it is getting cooked. Cook both the sides till they are slight golden brown but not over cooked. Serve hot :)

Potato Cutlets

This one is yet another quick and easy to make snack recipe. I learnt this from my mom during my recent trip to hometown.
Prepare it for breakfast or as an evening snack or as a starter for your next party :)

Ingredients-
- 4 boiled potatoes
- 8 slices of bread
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp each cumin powder, coriander powder and salt
- 1 tbsp ground paste of ginger and green chillies
- 1/2 tbsp dried mango powder
- 1/2 tbsp sugar
-1/2 tbsp chilli powder
- Oil for frying

Recipe-

1) Grind 4 slices of bread in a mixer to form bread crumbs.

2) Mash together all above ingredients except oil and remaining bread slices.

3) Heat oil in a wok.

4) Make different shapes of above mixture.

5) Spread the bread crumbs in a plate and lightly roll over the raw cutlets so that they are coated with bread crumbs.

4) Put it in the hot oil and fry till golden brown.

Serve hot with green chutney :)

Bread Pakora

This one is my family's favorite breakfast item. My son loves it so much that he can even eat it as lunch :)

I have used white bread for these pakoras but you can substitute it with wheat bread as well. There is one more variation with this item where mashed potato is stuffed in the bread and then it is deep fried.

Lets now start with the ingredients and recipe.

Ingredients-

1) 1 1/2 cup gram flour or besan. This should be enough for 4-5 slices of bread
2) Cumin powder- 1 tsp
3) Haldi powder -1/2 tsp
4) Salt as per taste
5) Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp or finely chopped green chillies
6) Ajwain seeds 1 tsp ( I add ajwain seeds to almost all kind of pakoras. My mom says that pakoras being heavy to digest, ajwain seeds helps in digestion)
7) Oil for deep frying

Recipe-

1) Take gram flour in a bowl and add all the dry spices mentioned above.

2) Add water slowly to form a thick batter. Make sure its not too watery otherwise it won't sit good on the bread.

3) Cut the bread slices into squares or triangles. I prefer square shape. You can also remove the edges of bread slices.

4) Heat oil in kadhai. Dip the bread squares into besan paste and put into hot oil.

5) Fry both the sides till its golden brown. Transfer the pakoras on a kitchen tissue so that excess oil is soaked.

Serve hot with green chutney or tomato sauce :)

Kande Pohe

Kande pohe or poha is a favourite breakfast item in most households especially maharashtrian homes. I love it so much that I can eat pohe for breakfast every morning :)

Its a quick and healthy item and we can even add different veggies to it to make it more nutririous.

Ingredients-
1) 2 cups thick poha
2) 1 medium sized chopped onion and 1 small sized chopped potato, here you can add other veggies like carrot, cauliflower, beans etc.
3) 1 or 2 green chillies, red chilli powder can also be added but green chillies give a nice flavour
4) 8-10 leaves of kadhipatta
5) 1/2 lemon
6) 1 tsp sugar
7) Salt as per taste
8) Oil - 2-3 tbsp
9) 1/2 tsp each mustard seeds and cumin seeds
10) 1/2 tsp turmeric/haldi powder
11) 1/4 cup finely chopped coriander leaves

Recipe-

1) Wash poha thoroughly in a stainer and let the water drain. Keep it aside.

2) Heat oil in a kadhai, once hot add mustard and cumin seeds. Let it crackle and then add green chillies, kadhipatta, onion and potato (and any other veggies, if using).

3) Cover it so that potato is cooked. Add a pich of haldi and salt. This helps in cokking potato faster.

4) In the mean time, add haldi, salt, sugar and chopped coriander to the poha which is still in the stainer. If using red chilli powder, add that too.

5) Check if the potato is soft by now and then add the poha from stainer, mix well and cover it.

6) Let it cook for a minute or so and then switch off the burner. Add lemon juice now or just before serving it.

You can also granish it with some more corainder leaves and dessicated coconut while serving.

French Toast

Bread slices are dipped in egg batter and then fried to perfection. There are lot of variations in this recipe but I have adapted the one which suits our taste buds. I give it as a breakfast or mid-time snack to my toddler and he enjoys it too.

Ingredients-

1) 3 eggs
2) 5-6 slices of bread (white/wheat or multi grain as per your choice)
3) Sugar- 3 tsp
4) Milk- 3 tsp
5) Oil for deep frying

Recipe-

1) Mix eggs, sugar and milk in a bowl and beat it well till you see air bubbles forming in the batter.

2) Cut the bread slices into triangles and dip one or two pieces in the egg batter.

3) Heat oil in a pan and put the egg soaked bread in the oil.

4) Fry both the sides till they turn brownish in color. It doesn't take much time to fry so turn the sides quickly. And then put them on a kitchen tissue.

Sevai Upma/Vermicelli Upma

Another healthy snack cum breakfast recipe. I learnt it from my mom and then added a few variations of my own. However that perfect taste of upma prepared by mom still lingers on  my tongue!

I have used home made sevai here although vermicelli available in grocery store also makes the upma equally tasty. My son think of it as noodles and eats it very happily. I also add his favorite carrots to make it healthy and tempting :)
It takes a bit of time so not a good idea to prepare it while you are in hurry.

Ingredients-
1) 3 cups sevai/vermicelli
2) 2 tbsp finely chopped carrots; you can also add beans, cauliflower etc
3) 1 medium sized onion finely chopped
4) 7-8 leaves of kadhipatta
5) 2 tbsp green peas
6) 1 green chilly chopped
7) Coriander leaves for garnishing
8) 3 tbsp oil
9) 1/4 tsp each of cumin and mustard seeds
10) 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
11) 1 tsp salt
12) 1 1/2 cup water


Recipe-

1) Add 1 tbsp oil in a kadhai. Once it is warm, add vermicelli and roast till it is slightly brown.

2) Transfer it to another plate and then add 2 tbsp oil in the same kadhai. Once hot enough, add

cumin and mustard seeds. Let it crackle and then add onion, kadhipatta, green chilly.

3) Fry the onions till it turns translucent and then add green peas and carrots along with a pinch of turmeric and cover the kadhai for a minute.

4) In the mean time put the water for boiling in another vessel.

5) Now add roasted vermicelli, mix it thoroughly and keep it frying/stirring for approx one minute.

6) Add boiling water over it, mix well and then cover for 2 minutes.

Remove the lid, mix again and add chopped coriander leaves. Vermicelli upma is ready to eat :)