Roti Stir-fry......quick snack, using left over roti

As I mentioned in my previous post now a days lunch is home made ice cream, so on one such day after gorging on home made vanilla & mango ice cream around late afternoon when stomach started to rumble that was the sign that I need to go to kitchen & cook something. So this quick dish is result of all the above. I had some left over rotis(Indian flat bread), instantly the idea of roti poha on the lines of bread poha came to my mind. This dish was done in within less than 10 minutes start to finish, it's just a guideline one can add any veggies of their choice.

What U need :

• 4 left over rotis/chapatis, cut into around 1 x 1/2 inch pieces
• around 1 & a half cup of thinly shredded cabbage
• 1/3 cup of frozen peas
• 1/3 cup of frozen corn
• 3-4 green chillies, chopped
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds (rai)
• few curry leaves
• 2 Tbsp. of cooking oil
• pinch of asafoetida(hing)
• salt to taste
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder(haldi)
• 1 tsp. red chilli powder(lal mirch powder)
• 1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts
• 1 Tbsp. dry roasted sesame seeds
• cilantro or green onions, chopped for decoration
• juice of 1/2 a lime

What U do :

• Take a wide pan/wok/karahi, heat oil in that.
• Add mustard seeds once they splutter add curry leaves, also add hing.
• Turn the gas to high & add cabbage & cook it for 1-2 minutes on high heat only and then add peas & corn. Keep stirring veggies as it's on high heat.
• After another minute or so add salt, turmeric, chilli powder & chopped green chillies.
• After another minute or so add roti pieces, mix everything together. Once rotis get coating of all the flavors, around 2 minute, turn the gas off.
• Sprinkle peanuts, sesame seeds and lime juice. Garnish with green onions or cilantro.

Note : this dish is done on high heat & no liquids are used, only little oil, so make sure U keep stirring the veggies otherwise they might stick to the bottom of pan. If needed use only a spoon or two of water. Cooking them quickly on high heat helps in retaining the crunchiness of cabbage. If  U prefer little water can be used & cabbage can be cooked till it's fully soft. Once dish is done Covering the pan with lid will also helps in getting some moisture to the dish & making it little more soft.

So next time U have any left over rotis, try this recipe it's perfect as anytime snack or as morning breakfast, healthy and filling, enjoy.

Indian flat bread Roti using Finger Millet(Ragi) flour

How I made these......I had some ragi(finger millet) flour in the pantry needed to be used so I was looking for some recipes other then dosa & idlis. While surfing the net last month I found the recipe for ragi bhakri here and very same day I made these flat breads/roti. You can call it roti, thepla, bhakri or prantha basic difference is how you roll it & cook. I must say these were really tasty, I was little doubtful that my daughter will like it or not, so I twisted the recipe little bit by adding some known flavors to it. Her first reaction was why you used brown flour again(she refer to Ragi flour as brown flour as sometime I use it in idlis or dosas)........I quickly answered her it's not brown flour it's made using your favourite brown dal(whole masoor).....immediate reaction Oh! can you do that....yes Honey! why not(situation under control.....sometime it's good not to tell all the truth to the kids). She took first bite & asked....... do you have more of these? Yes! Mission accomplished. She loves it for morning breakfast or as after school snack and it hardly took me 20-22 minutes in whole : which included kneading of the dough & 10 minute resting period of the dough also.

What U need :

• 1 cup of finger millet (ragi) flour (available at Indian grocery stores)
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour(atta)
• 1/4 cup chickpea flour(besan)
• salt as per taste
• black pepper as per taste
• 1 tsp. carom seeds(ajwain)
• half onion finely chopped
• handful of fresh cilantro finely chopped
• 2-3 green chillies chopped(optional)
• 1 Tblsp. of evoo
• water to make the dough

What to do :

1. Mix everything(except water) together using hands.
2. Using just enough water knead it into soft dough. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes.
3. Divide the dough into equal size balls(little bigger than ping pong balls).
4. I have used whole wheat flour in this dough which makes it really easy to handle, so you can easily roll it using rolling pin like you would do making regular Indian roti or otherwise just pat the dough ball between your palms till you get around 5-6'' flat disc.
5. Cook it on a hot iron griddle on medium heat. I takes around 1 minute on each side depending on the thickness and size of roti. Drizzle some oil on both sides, once cooked it'll be crispy and dark brown in color.
6. If serving to kids top it with some ghee/butter as flours like corn, bajri, ragi make the bread/roti little dry kind, so it's always good to add some sort of fat like ghee/butter. I also served green chutney along with it.

This post was due from one month or so, the day Madhuram announced JFI-Ragi event, I wanted to post it but didn't had very good picture(my pic. is all glossy with the ghee as I specially made these for kids), now finally I'm posting it with the original pics only, didn't get the chance to click when I made these again. So here it goes to :

1)  JFI-Ragi event brainchild of Indira hosted by Madhuram of Eggless Cooking.
2) Sudeshna and RV's Food for 7 stages of life - Healthy Fast Food event
3) Srivalli's event Kid's Delight : Wholesome breakfast.

Roti - Indian Flatbread

Roti, chapati or as we call in our house phulka(literally meaning which has been inflated), is the basic Indian bread and is a staple food of North India, though it's also been eaten in other parts of India but in northern India it's basically part of every meal. Roti is generally defined as Indian flat bread made with whole wheat flour(atta). No rising agents are used for the dough as roti is unleavened flat bread. Unlike bread, roti is usually eaten fresh, when I say fresh that means dough can be prepare in advance kept in the fridge & at the time of lunch/dinner roti is rolled & cooked. But if you have any leftovers of roti they really taste good with acchar(pickle) or chutney or just put some cooked dry veggie on it & roll it like burrito.....nothing can match that taste.

When one of the fellow blogger asked me if I'm gonna do post on roti, I thought that's simple, but wait a minute, it's simplicity itself is main difficulty here....it's so simple & basic that we never measure the flour or water portions for this, everything is eyeballed. Whenever I finish with one batch of dough I knead next batch, no matter what, roti dough is always there in the fridge.

Roti can be eaten with cooked dry vegetables called subzi, lentils or with gravies vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian & also with seafood.

Here's the recipe for roti/chapati/phulka, I tried my best but I think for a person who's never seen roti specially the process of making it, first time it might be little difficult.

Ingredient :

For dough :

1. whole wheat flour 1 & 1/2 cup (I use Laxmi brand chapati flour available at Indian grocery store)
2. water at room temperature around 1/2 cup
3. salt 1 tsp. (optional)

For roti :

1. x'tra wheat flour(around 1/2 cup or so) needed for rolling the roti.
2. rolling pin
3. any flat & smooth surface to roll the roti (you can use clean counter top surface)
4. Tawa(flat griddle), preferably cast iron or non-stick pan will also do.
5. ghee(clarified butter) or butter can be used

Method :

For Dough :

1) Take 1 & half cup of flour, salt(if using) add little water, using your hand mix them, add little bit more water & mix it again. Never put all the water in one time, always put little at a time, when all the flour comes together, just wet your hand when needed & make one big ball of the flour.

2) Now knead it for around 2 min. or so using the back side of your fist. It'll be little sticky in the beginning. Now just cover it with either a damp cloth or with some bowl.

3) Let it rest for roughly 10 min. After resting time knead the dough for 2-3 minutes, this time it will be very smooth. Once done take 2-3 drops of oil on your hand & roll the dough ball in it. Keep it in a bowl with tight lid on it in the fridge.

4) Take the dough out of the fridge at least 10 min. prior to making roti.

Note : Roti dough is not very loose or tight dough, it's soft dough. In case if u find it's difficult to handle you can always add little more water or dry flour to get the right consistency. Every time you make the dough water quantity may vary little bit, due to temperature, different flour brands etc..

This dough can be kept in the fridge for upto 2 days or even more but it's best to use within 2 days.

To make soft rotis(specially for the kids) instead of water milk can be used, but then dough should be used within a day or so. Another option is to use around 1 tblsp. of cooking oil alongwith water.

Making Roti :

1) Heat griddle/pan on med. high. Put x'tra flour in some flat plate or bowl, big enough to hold the rolled roti(approximately 6-8" in diameter).

2) Take a little dough(little bigger then ping pong ball) roll it in your hand like a ball. Now roll it into x'tra dry flour, gently shake it to get rid of x'tra flour.

3) Put it onto the flat surface & roll it(around 3" in size) using the rolling pin,

4) Take the rolled roti turn it 90 degree & again roll it till u get around 7" or so, whenever you feel it's getting sticky gently pick it up put it on the flour plate & again back to rolling surface & roll it. It's not that difficult as it sounds and don't worry if in the beginning you can't get exact round....I have made few, actually lots of international maps when I started to make rotis. Only a little bit of practice & lots of patience.

5) To check if griddle is hot or not, keep your hands 2" away(on top side) from the pan/griddle, if it's hot enough you can feel it, you won't be able to keep your hand there for long time.

6) Now put the rolled roti on it, after around 35-40 seconds turn it upside down. Again after 35-40 sec. turn it back, this time you will see from some spots it's puffing up. Using kitchen towel u can gently press at the spots it's not puffing & soon it will start to puff up, now again turn it upside down for 7-8 seconds, if you are not comfortable using kitchen towel as hot air sometime directly blow on your hands, it's better to use spatula. Take it off the pan.

7) Apply ghee/butter. Eat fresh with Subji(cooked veggies), dal(lentils) or your favourite non-veg dish.

Note: If you want to make them ahead of time in that case line a heavy duty foil with a kitchen towel & keep your rotis inside that. You can also directly puff the roti's on the direct flame, but might be little tricky for the beginners.

To make it totally fat free and vegan ghee can be left out.