Spinach Roti – Guest post from Sandhya

Today we have a toddler friendly recipe from Sandhya – Sandhya’s kitchen. I got connected with Sandhya through Social media.  Sandhya is sweet person, and being a mom she shares lots of tips. After starting toddler friendly recipes, I thought of asking few moms I met in this blogging world and Sandhya was one among them.  I am a big fan of her food photography and her yummy dishes. Sandhya gave me few options, and Spinach roti was my favorite! Over to sandhya. A fortnight ago, like every morning, after sending my elder one to school, I was sipping my morning tea. I was having some time for myself checking my emails, facebook , news and so forth. I read a message from Vidya about doing a guest post in her space , specially for toddlers. She such a lovely and warm person , I have known e-socially over the last couple of months .How can I refuse ? I had no second thought as I knew I was going to do that. Thank you for giving me all the time in the world and let do this interesting delight at my pace. We are a family who love to have a mixed variety in a meal all through the week. I am sure, in this modern world most people would. Our diet varies from Palakad South Indian cooking to a North Indian Paratha, Curry  to  a Pasta Bake and what not? Guess this post will have a never ending page, if I have to list the elaborate choices we have. I have grown up eating my mum’s super soft flame baked phulka’s literally every day, either for my school lunch or a meal at home. This has been one of my comfort meal any day. Undoubtedly we love our regular flame baked phulka’s with any dry vegetable curry or may b dal or paneer delicacies or if pulse arenas. We love spinach and its richess in iron is definitely something that makes us include in our diet ritually. When it comes to kids, getting my son V eat his spinach in gravy or a molagutal ( southindian lentil coconut curry) is slightly tricky. Knowing his love for Parathas , I decided to use them in the dough. It was a complete win win situation, as all the required spinach is being consumed and yet there no complain from the boy of 7 years. All that he tells me is that the Green Chapathi is Yumm. This is an easy way of sneaking the greens into our diet using the whole wheat spinach phulka’s.

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Palak Phulka Makes 20-22 Nos INGREDIENTS

Whole Wheat Flour	2 Cups
Spinach ( Palak )	130g
Water	¼ Cup + a few tablespoons
Ginger	½ Inch
Cumin Powder	1 Tsp
Salt	¾ -1 Tsp
Mango ( Amchur ) Powder  ( Optional)	½ Tsp
Green Chillies ( Optional)	1 -2 No’s
Sunflower Oil  or Oil of your choice	1 Tbsp.
Ghee	As desired.

* Cup size us IKEA plastic cup

DIRECTIONS

• In a large pot, heat some water and add the spinach leaves along with some salt. Allow them to blanch for 5-6 minutes. Drain the hot water from the spinach leaves and run them under cold tap water.

• Grind the spinach leaves along with ginger and make a fine puree. This puree approximately came up to ¾ Cup. Add very little water if required. **In case you are not making it for kids, you can include green chillies to grind along with the spinach leaves.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the spinach puree, wheat flour, salt, cumin powder and mango powder and start kneading. Add a little more water as you knead until you achieve soft pliable dough. Splash the oil onto your hands and the remaining on the dough and knead until we have a clean bowl. Set the dough aside for 20 Minutes or so.

• Divide the dough into 20 equal portions. Pick one portion of dough at a time, dust some flour and spread them with the roller into thin phulkas. Heat a non-stick pan / tava and cook each phulka on the pan slightly for a few minutes until you start to see some bubbles. Flip the phulka and cook for another a minute or so . Now put the phulka on the flame carefully , watch them begin to puff up slowly. Flip it and allow it puff up on the other side as well.  Remove from the flame and apply some ghee, if you like. Pile them into a casserole and serve them along with a paneer curry or just some yogurt and pickle.

• ** Incase you do not want to flame bake it, you may cook for a few more minutes on the pan. Put a gentle pressure using a flat spatula on each side and then set them aside in a casserole to keep it warm.
• When you are serving the kids, you may let them roll and enjoy it as it is or dunk it in some yogurt.

 VARIATIONS: I tried filling some mashed potatoes inside the spinach phulka dough and served it like a paratha to my son. It came out really well and flavours were very mild and lovable. NOTES:

• If you like your phulkas with a ting of heat, include the green chillies while grinding the spinach leaves.  Do avoid if you are cooking for little ones.
• Mango powder is optional. I love the slight hint of tanginess.
• In case you do not want to flame bake it, you may cook for a few more minutes on the pan. Put a gentle pressure using a flat spatula on each side and then set them aside in a casserole to keep it warm.

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Aloo Paratha

My co-sister’s mom is an expert in making Aloo paratha. Whenever I meet aunty, I always ask her to make Aloo paratha for me. There was time when making chappati was my nightmare – Not only during my college days, but even after marriage chappati is my scary take. Thanks to the marriage life, hubby prefers skipping rice for dinner. So I started doing many cracked wheat recipes, oh ya it all started to skip making chappati:-) when something becomes your routine you master (shall I say that, I don’t know, well let me put this way, I can manage it:-) seeing my Naan, avocado paratha and mixed veggies paratha recipes, my sister asks me – really?? U doing all this?????

Coming back to Aloo paratha,  this recipe was in my draft for 6 months. This is my second paratha recipe don’t know why but I always kept postponing to post this. Yesterady I prepared Aloo paratha and while cooking I  decided I am publishing this post today, my mind voice finallly!!!

Aloo Paratha

Preparation time : 10 mins | Standing time : 30 mins – 1 hour | Serves : 2

Ingredients:

Chappati dough:

Whole wheat Flour – 1 cup

Water – as needed for the dough

Oil – 1 tsp

Salt – as needed

Potato Masala:

Potato – 2, medium sized

Peas – 2 tbsp

Turmeric powder – a pinch

Coriander Powder – 1/2 tsp

Cumin Powder – 1/4 tsp

Fennel(Sombu) powder – a pinch

Ginger garlic paste – 1/2 tsp

Red chilli powder – 1/8 tsp

Garam masala powder – 1/4 tsp

Oil – 1 tsp

Salt – as needed

Method:

• Make a soft dough, as we do for chapathi and keep it covered for 30 minutes to 1 hour
• Cut the potato into half and boil the potatoes (I microwaved them for 7 minutes). Peel the skin and mash them (You can use a fork to mash)
• Add 1 tsp of oil to a pan. Add ginger garlic paste and sauté for 30 seconds. Add onions and saute till onions are translusent. Add garam masala, red chilli powder, fennel seed powder, turmeric powder and allow it to cook for a minute. Add mashed potato and peas, and cook  for 2-3 mins. Switch off and keep the stuffing aside. When its cool make small balls
• Knead the dough and divide into small balls, and  roll it into a small circle. Keep one potato filling

•  Seal the edges together. Then gently roll it like regular chapathi (with less pressure). Do the same for the remaining dough and filling.

• Heat a griddle and when it is hot, place the rolled paratha, drizzle some oil. and cook for a minute or so  and flip it over to the other side. Cook till the other side cooks

My Notes:

• Can add 1 tbsp of yogurt instead of oil while making dough
• Instead of keeping the filling and sealing can also make two chappati and put the potato spread, flatten it and seal the edges

Avocado Paratha

Avocado is one of my favorite fruit and after hearing its healthy benefits, I started buying them regurlaly. My frequent take with Avocado is Guacamole in Indian style. In our home we love this as side dish for chappati, put it in bread and do Guacamole Sandwich, few Mexican style dishes like Burrito and Quesadilla. Every since I saw Avocada Paratha in my friend Malar’s space, I wanted to try but somehow I kept postponing Finally I did it, and I regretted for delaying it, softest paratha I ever tasted. Now a days once a week I am doing this

Avocado Paratha

Preparation time : 10 mins | Standing time : 30 mins – 1 hour | Serves : 2

Ingredients:

Whole wheat Flour – 1 cup

Avocado – 2, small; ripe avocado pitted and mashed

Pepper powder – 1/8 tsp

Coriander Powder – 1/2 tsp

Cumin Powder – 1/4 tsp

Lemon juice – 1/2 tsp

Oil – 1 tsp

Salt – as needed

Method:

• In a  bowl mash avocado and add lime juice; mix well. Add wheat, oil, salt, pepper powder, coriander powder and cumin powder to the mashed avocado pulp; combine well and make a pliable dough. Moisture in avocado should be enough to make dough but if the required add 1-2 tsp of water. Cover it with damp cloth and leave it for 30 mins – 1 hour

• Take small portions of dough and make small balls; roll it with rolling pin, dusting wheat flour. Heat a griddle and when it is hot, place the rolled paratha. and cook for a minute or so till the chappati starts puffing , flip it over to the other side. Cook till the other side cooks

My Notes:

• Can add onion, garlic or any other Masala like garam masala, pav bhaji masala etc. for flavors
• I didn’t use oil while cooking the paratha but you can drizzle some oil/ghee/butter
• Instead of lemon juice Apple Cider Vinegar can be used to prevent Avocado from changing color
• Can add 1 tbsp of yogurt instead of oil while making dough

Butter Naan – No Yeast

Whenever I go to Indian restaurant and want to have north Indian food, Naan is the first thing that comes to my mind. Cant say no to Buttery naan. I wanted to make naan at home and I am posting a recipe without yeast and eggs.

Butter Naan:

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Standing time : 3 hours | Cooking time : 10 mins

Recipe Category: Entree

Ingredients:

All purpose flour/Maida – 2 cups

Fresh thick curds – 2 tbsp

Warm Milk – 1/2 cup + 3 tbsp

Sugar – 1 tsp

Salt – as needed

Baking powder –  1/2 tsp heaped

Baking Soda – 1/2 tsp heaped

Butter  – 4 tsp, melted in room temperature

Method:

• Mix maida, baking powder and baking soda well. Sieve the flour mix. Take the seived flour in a bowl and make a hole in the centre. Add milk, curd, salt, sugar and butter in that. Mix well with finger tips and dont knead hard. Coat the dough with little olive oil and keep aside for 2-3 hours. Better to cover the dough with a damp cloth or kitchen towel. (Can Be kept max upto 7-8 hours). Knead the dough softly and make desired size balls

• Dust the rolling platform generously with flour and roll the dough. Apply water to one side, and place it on the skillet, with the water-applied side on the skillet

•  Cover the skillet and cook on medium flame. After a minute, it will puff up.  At that stage, flip the naan and cook the other side. Apply butter/ghee over both sides and serve hot.

 

Mixed Veg Paratha

Tasty and nutritious recipe. It’s a complete and very filling item by itself. Tastes delicious with curd/pickle.

Mixed Veg Paratha:

Preparation Time : 20 mins | Cooking Time : 15 mins | Serves : 2

Recipe Category: Parathas

Ingredients:

Wheat Flour – 1 cup

Oil  – 1 tbsp (for dough) + as needed for parathas

Salt –  as needed

Warm water – as needed

Mixed Vegetable Dry – 1/4 cup

Method 1:

• Make a soft dough, as we do for chapathi and keep it covered
• Knead the dough and divide into small balls, and  roll it into a small circle. Keep 1 tbsp mixed veg filling and seal the edges together. Then gently roll it like regular chapathi (with less pressure). Do the same for the remaining dough and filling.

Method 2:

• Make a soft dough, as we do for chapathi and keep it covered
• Make two thin chapathis. Spread 2 tbsp Mixed Vegetable filling on one chapathi leaving the edges, and place the other chapathi over it. Seal both side edges by using fork or wheat + water paste or roll edges once