Roti is similar to whole wheat tortilla, naan or pita bread. Every culture has its own style of making bread and in India there are differences within the country itself! For example, in the Northern part of India, the roti’s are thicker like a pita, whereas in the Western states they’re thinner, sometimes thinner than tortillas.

Although my ancestors hail from the state of Rajasthan, I grew up in the state of Gujrat and roti’s are a must with almsot every meal. Here in the US, I make roti’s very often, but I usually prepare the dough in a food processor.

Preperation Time: 15 mins

Serves : approximately 6 chappati’s

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour

• 1/4 tea spoon salt

• 1/2 tea spoon oil

• 1/2 cup water

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour( keep it aside for applying to the dough while rolling into flat circles)

Directions:

1. Put all he ingredients, except the water, in a food processor and run the processor on pulse once or twice.
2. Slowly start adding water and run the processor till you see all the ingredients blended into a ball like shape.
3. Now remove the dough in a plate, apply little bit of oil on your hands and roll it with applying some pressure and keep it aside for 5 min. This will make the dough more smooth and even .
4. Divide the dough into 6 equal size balls and apply some dry dough to the ball as shown in the picture.
5. Now try to roll each ball into flat circle and cook it on the flat pan and enjoy!

Notes:-

1) Make sure that the water blended dough is soft enough to roll chapati’s or else sprinkle some water and keep it aside for 5 minutes.

I usually keep a bag of spinach around in the house since there are so many delicious recipes that call for spinach! And if not that, the spinach leaves are a great addition to my lunch salad.

Moong dal is commonly found in most Indian kitchens. It is high in protein and easy to store (usually lasting for 6-8 months in an airtight container).

Moong dal Palak is a combination of spinach and lentils. The flavor comes from the spinach because the moong dal is added only to give the texture of a gravy/curry. It can be enjoyed with the rice or roti . I prefer to enjoy it with roti’s since Rahul loves to eat roti’s

A bag of spinach was lying around in my fridge, but I never got around to using it. So, I decided to make this simple and extremely satisfying meal.

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Serves: 4 people

Ingredients:

• 1 tea spoon ghee /oil (optional)
• 2 dried red chillies
• 1/2 tea spoon Cumin seeds
• 1/2 tea spoon red chilly powder (adjust as per taste)
• 1/2 tea spoon coriander powder
• 1/2 tea spoon Salt (adjust as per taste)
• 1 bag of baby spinach (14.oz)( I prefer to use a prewashed bag of baby spinach)
• 1/2 cup moon dal
• 1 cup water

Directions:

1. Run your knife roughly over baby spinach and put it in to the pressure cooker.
2. Take the moong dal in a bowl, run it under water 2-3 times, drain the water and add it to the spinach in the pressure cooker, along with 1 cup of water and cook it up to 2 whistles.
3. Take a deep pan and heat the ghee in it. Add the dry red chillies and cumin seeds and let it cook until the cumin seeds are golden brown.
4. Now switch off the flame and quickly add the turmeric powder, chilly powder and coriander powder and the cooked dal mix (from the pressure cooker).
5. Then, switch on the flames and let the mix cook for a couple of minutes.
6. While serving sprinkle some chopped cilantro on the top of the dal, and serve it with roti’s . Enjoy!

There are some days where I just feel lazy to cook (and they are few and far in between), but am craving something spicy that cheers up my mood. At these times, I resort to baked dishes that do not require a lot of time or work on my part, yet do the trick of uplifting the mood.

Most of the time, not only are they easy to make, they also can be added as a side-kick to the main dish when we have a lot of people over for dinner. I usually make this dish with eggplant & potato. But this preparation can be made using different variations like adding okra, onions, eggplants, potatoes or garlic. This time I am using eggplant, potato and okra.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Baking time: 30 minutes

Serves: 3-4 people

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup ground peanuts
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon red chilly powder (check the note)
• 1 tablespoon coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon Amchur powder (or lemon juice)
• 2 tablespoon oil
• 3 small eggplants
• 5-7 sticks of Okra
• 1 medium size potato
• water to sprinkle
• Salt, as per tase

Directions:

1. Mix all the spices, oil and ground peanuts.
2. Cut the potatoes and eggplant in wedges and the okra into half.
3. Spray some oil in a baking dish and spread all the potatoes, eggplants and okra in this dish and sprinkle the spice-mix over it.
4. Sprinkle few drops of water ( 1-2 table spoons).
5. Cover the baking dish with an aluminum foil and bake it for 30 minutes in the oven at 400 degrees.
6. And… Voila! It’s ready!

Note:

1. Mine is a portable small oven so I cook it on 400 degree for 30 minutes. Adjust your oven temperature accordingly.
2. If you are using paprika then add 1-2 table spoon and this will give a nice red color to the food.
3. You can also use Japanese/ Chinese long dark purple colored eggplant. .
4. In this preparation you can put cloves of garlic if you prefer garlic flavor.
5. If you do not have Amchur powder, you can sprinkle some lemon juice instead, when it is baked

Just like pancakes (among other things, of course) make a traditional breakfast in the west, in India, puri, paratha and different types of flavored roti’s are consumed for breakfast (and lunch/dinner).

It was raining and Rahul was hungry for some traditional food. Since I had some pesto lying around, I decided to mix the two and make some thepla & puri’s with a slight twist! They turned out to be excellent.

Serves:3 people
Preparation time:20 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup gram flour (besan)
• 1 cup pesto(Heidi’s asparagus pesto)
• 1/4 tea spoon cumin seeds(jeera)
• 1/4 tea spoon carom seeds(ajwain) (optional)
• 1/2 tea spoon turmeric
• 1 tea spoon red chilly powder
• 1 table spoon coriander powder
• 2 table spoon sesame seeds
• Salt as per taste

Directions

1. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and knead the dough. If required sprinkle few drops of water to make the kneading easier.
2. Make the roti (flat tortilla) and roast it on the flat pan. Apply very little oil on both sides so it does not stick.
3. Enjoy with the spicy or sweet mango pickle.

Note:

1. Do not add any cheese while making the pesto.
2. You can also make puri from the same dough and instead of roasting them, deep fry them.

We had a farewell party for our friends who were moving back to east coast. I knew they love okra, and decided that it was going to be one of the main courses. Okra is eaten in all parts of India, however the cooking style varies from dry and roasted to cooked in a gravy. This dish is how we make it at home (western part of India).It is best eaten with Indian roti, but if you do not want to go through the arduous task of making roti, you can warm up some whole-wheat pita bread or tortilla.

Everyone loved it a lot and hence I’m putting it up here for you to make and enjoy as well!

Preparation time: 25 mins

Serves: 2-3 people

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup chopped onions
• ~20 sticks of okra (1.5 cups) cut into circular pieces
• 1/4th tablespoon mustard seeds (optional)
• 1/2 cup bite sized potatoes (cubes)
• 2 tablespoon oil
• 1 tea spoon cumin seeds
• A pinch of asafoetida (optional)
• 1/4th tea spoon turmeric powder
• 1/2 tea spoon amchur powder / mango powder (you can substitute this with lemon juice)
• 2 tea spoon coriander powder (dhana powder)
• 1/2 tea spoon chilly powder
• Salt, as per taste
• 2-3 slices of green chilly (optional)
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro

Directions

1. In a heated pan, add the oil, mustard seeds(optional) and cumin seeds.
2. As soon as the seeds splutter, add the asafoetida, potatoes, onions and a pinch of salt.
3. Cover the pan with a lid and let it cook on a slow flame for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the potatoes are soft.
4. Add the turmeric powder, okra and salt. Mix it well and cover the lid to let it cook for another 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Once the okra is cooked well, add the coriander-cumin powder, chilly powder and amchur powder (or lemon juice).
6. Stir until the okra is not sticky.
7. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish it with the cilantro.
8. Enjoy with hot rotis!

Whenever we have friends and family over for dinner, rice is almost always a staple with any meal. Instead of eating plain rice, we cook it up into a pilaf, which adds more flavor to the dish and also makes it more enticing.

Saffron rice goes well with kadhi, daal-fry, boondi-raita or just plain (for kids)!

Preparation Time: 20-25 minutes for the rice to cook and 10 minutes for the pilaf.
Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

For the Rice:

• 1 cup Basmati Rice
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (or as per taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon (or as per taste)
• 1 teaspoon ghee/oil (ghee preferable)

For the Pilaf:

• Basmati Rice (cooked as per directions below)
• 5-6 threads of saffron
• 1/2 cup mixed vegetables (green peas, carrots, string beans)
• 8-10 roasted cashew-nuts
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1 black cardamom
• 2 cloves
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 1 table spoon Ghee

Directions:

For the Rice:

1. Soak rice in water for half an hour before cooking.
2. Boil 3 cups of water.
3. When the water starts boiling, add the rice.
4. After 5 minutes, add the salt, sugar ,ghee/oil and lemon to the rice.
5. After ~10 minutes, check on the rice. If it’s cooked, drain the water.
6. Let the rice cool before proceeding to make the pilaf.

For the Pilaf:

1. Heat the oil/ghee in a wok-like non-stick pan.
2. Once the oil/ghee starts heating up, turn down the heat to low, and then add the cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaf and cumin seeds.
3. As all the spices and cumin seeds start popping, add the mixed vegetables, cashewnuts and stir it for a minute. Now add cooked rice and saffron.
4. Stir until the whole mixture is properly heated.
5. Enjoy!