Leftovers - Spinach & Potato Roll

One of these days I was determined to make a meal with whatever ingredients I had at home i.e. no running out to the shop and buying some missing ingredient. Oh well, okay - I'll admit! I was being lazy about planning a proper meal and just wanted something warm to eat with whatever I had at home.

I had -

Spinach leaves - half a packet

2 medium sized boiled Potatoes (leftover from the day before)

1/2 slab of store bought Paneer

1/2 a medium Red Onion

An open packet of Garlic & Coriander Tortilla

2 green chillies

Chopped Garlic - in the bottle

Sandwich Masala (contains Jeera, Black salt, Black Pepper, Fennel, Tuj, Clove, Badiyan, Sindha Namak, Amchur, Chilli, Salt)

The experiment begins -

I washed the spinach leaves thoroughly. Diced the red onion and green chilli and sauteed lightly in about 2 tsp of olive oil. I then added the spinach leaves for about a couple of minutes until they started to wilt. I then added in about 1/4 cup of water and poured the mixture into the blender and pureed it. Next, I chopped the potato and paneer into small cubes and sauteed lightly with a tsp of garlic, 2 tsp of Coriander powder and 2 tsp of the Sandwich masala. I could have used the more commonly available Chaat masala but had the bottle of untested sandwich masala lying there and it seemed to just beg me to use it ;) ..Anyway, I added salt to taste, scooped the spinach mixture into the pan and heated it all together for another 2 minutes. I then warmed the tortillas in a separate pan, put one in a plate, spooned some of the paneer/potato mixture into the tortilla and rolled it.

Honestly, I was thinking...should have smashed the potato instead of cutting ...and that spinach may just taste horrible ...it looks dry from the ends but if I stuff more in, it will fall out. So, I added a little cheese to the ends of the roll and was very skeptical about the taste! Luckily...it turned out delicious! Not too 'spinachy', not too runny, a little spicy and while a proper paratha would have tasted better, the tortilla did just fine! Did not really need the cheese either. Whew...sometimes I can cook :)

Mung Sprouts...yummy??

If you mentioned Mung Bean Sprouts to me before I moved to London, I would had made a long face and said 'yech'..or something like that! I know, they are a great source of protein but I never really had them growing up and when I did (if I did??), they did not make much of an impression. Things have obviously changed since I am dedicating this post to Mung Bean Sprouts!

Soon after we moved to London, a friend took us to a Indian store in Southall. The place was huge, full of Indian goodies and next thing I know, my husband and our friend are having this animated conversation over Mung Sprouts. Seriously, I am staring at the guys and wondering if they've lost it. Am looking at the sprouts thinking, what is this stuff?! Anyway, to cut to the chase, they brought home two packets, cooked it, added in a bunch of stuff and it ended up being one of the most delicious healthy snacks I have had! So, I am now a convert and love making the following recipe whenever I want a healthy, low carb (am guessing), yet filling and tasty meal...gosh that is a tall order, isn't it?!

Ingredients

230 gm Mung Bean Sprouts

1 Medium Boiled Potato

1 Medium Red Onion

1 Medium Tomato

2 Green Chilies (dependant on taste)

2 table spoon Chaat Masala

1 teaspoon Red Chili Powder

1 1/2 teaspoon Dhana Jeera Powder (Cumin & Coriander powder)

1 1/2 Limes (juiced)

Salt to taste

Method

Boil the sprouts in water for about 20 minutes on a medium flame until the sprouts are soft but with a slight crunch. Remove from heat, strain the water out and move the sprouts to a large serving bowl. While the sprouts are cooking, chop the potato, onions and tomato into small squares. Dice the chilies and add all chopped ingredients to the cooked sprouts. Add in the Chaat masala, red chili powder, Dhana Jeera powder, lime juice and salt to taste. Mix well with a spoon and eat away! Hope you convert like I did.

Craving a basic meal

Am back and have a few holiday food pictures to share. But before I get to those - With over a week in Spain, we came back craving for some basic Indian food.. Dal-Rice!!

I made yellow dal and jeera rice the first night back. The second night (first day of work, a long day at that) we decided to have leftovers from the night before. However, I wanted something different and after racking my brains for a relatively quick and healthy add on, I had a eureka moment - how about Masala Papad??!!
The recipe/experiment is just from memory...memories of yummy masala papad served in indian restaurants.

Ingredients

Udad Papad

Red Chilli powder

Dhana Jeera powder

Spring Onion - finely chopped

Tomato - finely chopped

Coriander - finely chopped

Chaat Masala

Salt

Lime juice

Method

Roast the Udad papad - I did it over a the gas burner flame though do know of some people who microwave so they get a absolutely flat papad. I never have much luck and prefer the traditional method. Then I made two versions -

First version - I sprinkled the onions, tomato, coriander, red chilli and dhana jeera powder over the roasted papad. Squeezed lime juice liberally over the mixture to add flavor. The juice soaks into the powdered masala ensuring that the powder does not fly into your eyes when you bite into the papad.

Umm...honestly, I meant to put the lime juice - forgot and there went the red chilli into V's eyes and the light clicked on - I had forgotten the lime juice!

Second version - I kept everything the same except, skipped the Tomato and added in chaat masala.

It sure made the meal a little different from the night before.