Monthly Archives: April 2012

Broccoli Paratha – a Step by Step Recipe

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I make parathas often – they are a delicious, substantial meal and you can fill them with lots of different things. I usually make the traditional paneer parathas or aloo (potato) filled parathas. But lately I’ve been experimenting with different types of fillings. These broccoli parathas are a recent favorite.

Broccoli Paratha Recipe – a Step by Step

Makes 8 parathas

Ingredients for the dough
2 cups whole wheat flour (atta)
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water. You wont need all of it.
¼ teaspoon oil

Ingredients for the filling
1 lb broccoli crowns (without stalks)
¾ cup finely chopped cilantro leaves
½ teaspoon scant garam masala
1/8 teaspoon ajwain (carom) seeds. Substitute with jeera (cumin) seeds
1 green chili, finely minced. Use more or less according to taste.
Salt

More flour for rolling
Oil for frying the parathas

Method

  1. Place the flour and salt on a clean surface
  2. Make a well in the middle of the flour
  3. Sprinkle water in the well a little at a time, mixing the dough with your fingers after each sprinkle. Soon the dough will start to come together and look somewhat like scrambled eggs.
  4. At this point start kneading using the base of your palm.

5. If the dough is too tight, sprinkle more water while kneading. Gather all the loose flour around while kneading.

6. When the dough forms a slightly soft, elastic, non-sticky ball, stop kneading
7.  Drizzle ¼ teaspoon of oil over the surface of the dough and spread it evenly
8. Cover the dough with a damp kitchen towel, and let it rest for about 30 minutes. Remember – flours differ in their elasticity, and some doughs may need to be rested more than others

9. While the dough is resting, working on the filling. Grate the broccoli using the finest side of a box grater. You need about 2 cups of grated broccoli. Do not grate the stems. If your broccoli is wet, make sure to dry it very well before grating.

10. Place the broccoli in a bowl, and add the cilantro, garam masala and ajwain. Mix gently. Add salt to the broccoli filling only in the last minute, otherwise the filling will become soggy.

Note: There are several recipes that recommend you salt the grated broccoli first and then squeeze out the excess water, before proceeding with adding the spices. I’ve tried this method, and there wasn’t much moisture to squeeze out of the broccoli, so I skip this step in this recipe.

However, if you are not experienced with making parathas, it may get a little tricky to roll out these parathas. This is where salting and squeezing the broccoli will help. The salt pulls out the moisture in the broccoli. When you’ve squeeze out all the water, the filling becomes easier to work with.

But I didn’t salt the broccoli. Instead, I added salt in the last minute, so that the broccoli didn’t have much of a chance to let out water. I also worked quickly while filling and rolling.

11. When the dough has rested, knead it gently once more

12. Divide the dough into 8 equal parts. Roll each one into balls. Keep them covered with a damp towel
13. Pour out about ½ cup flour for dipping and rolling. Take one dough ball, and flatten it with your fingers. Then dip it into the flour
14. Gently roll out the dough into a 3 ½ inch round

15. Add salt to the broccoli filling, and mix well. Taste the filling and adjust salt if needed. Place 2 tablespoons of the broccoli filling in the center of the dough. If you haven’t made parathas before, use less filling, it will make it easier to seal and roll

16. Using both your hands, gently bring up the edges of the dough
17. Then gather the edges over the filling. Compact the filling down with your fingers if you need to
18. Now pinch the edges together to seal

19. Gently flatten the parathas using your fingers

20. Dip it in some flour
21. Using a gentle touch, roll out the parathas, sprinkling more flour if it sticks
22. Roll out the paratha into about a 5 inch round

23. Heat a heavy bottom pan on medium heat. Place the rolled out parathas on the pan. Cook till light brown spots appear on one side. Flip the parathas and let brown spots appear on the other side. Then increase heat to medium-high, drizzle about ¼ teaspoon oil over the parathas and cook till golden, about 30 seconds.

Serve hot with yogurt or raita and pickles.

Need more paratha making tips? See this post.

Eggless Cornflakes Cookies

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I really shouldn’t have made these cookies. I can’t stay away from them now! These buttery cookies with crunchy bits of cornflakes are an easy, eggless treat that you can make in no time. You can even make the cookie dough ahead of time and bake it when needed.

If you’ve been reading my travel posts, you may know that I am part of the wonderful Couch Surfing community (a network that connects travelers with local hosts all over the world). Now that I’ve returned from my trip to Israel and Bethlehem, I’ve opened up my house once again for hosting travelers.

I recently hosted two French girls, who are backpacking and couchsurfing their way across America. (How cool is that!) When they arrived, I made them a big pot of farfalle pasta with lots of steamed vegetables, all  tossed in garlic, olive oil and fresh basil. For dessert, I made them these addictive cornflakes cookies.

These cornflakes cookies are really easy to make, and you probably have all the ingredients in your pantry right now. Plus, they are eggless! Since there are no eggs in this cookie recipe, I added baking powder as the leavening agent, and it works very well. I also like to chill my cookie dough before baking, this helps with two things:

- Chilled cookie dough will hold its shape better in the oven; the cookies it wont spread out get flat if the dough was chilled

- Chilled cookie dough also makes a flakier more buttery cookie

If you are in a hurry, you can certainly bake the cookies without chilling. Just spread out the cookies farther apart, because they will spread in the oven.

I also like to make these cookies mini sized - just about double the size of a quarter. They cook much faster in the oven.

These eggless cookies are a cross between the Indian Nan Khatai biscuit and the Chinese Cornflake cookies. The cornflakes makes these cookies delightfully crunchy. Feel free to experiment with this recipe and use other types of cereal!

Eggless Cornflakes Cookies Recipe

Makes 32 mini cookies

Ingredients
½ cup softened unsalted butter
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup + 1/2 cup cornflakes
32 cashew halves

Method

Preheat oven to 350f

Make sure the butter is soft. If you are using butter that has been refrigerated, leave it outside till it becomes soft.

Place the softened butter and sugar in a bowl, and beat with a wooden spoon till it is well mixed, about a minute. Then add vanilla and mix well.

Place a sieve over the bowl, and sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl. Stir till everything is combined and the dough comes together.

If the dough is too crumbly and dry, add 1 tablespoon of water, and gently knead. Then form a ball, cover the bowl with a lid, and refrigerate the dough for an hour (or up to 12 hours).

While the dough is in the fridge, prepare the corn flakes. Take 1 cup of cornflakes, place it in a ziplock bag, and roll a rolling pin over it to crush the cornflakes well. You’ll be using these crushed cornflakes to coat the cookies.

Remove cookie dough from the fridge, and add ½ cup cornflakes (uncrushed). Using your hands, gently knead and incorporate the cornflakes into the cookie dough. Its ok if some of the cornflakes get broken up in the process.

(If the cookie dough straight out of the fridge is too stiff, break it up into smaller pieces, add 1 tablespoon water, and knead gently. Then proceed with adding the cornflakes)

Divide the cookie dough into 2 equal halves. Roll one half into a long log. Cut the log in half. Then cut each half again. You will have 4 even sized pieces now. Cut each one into 4 equal parts. You will end up with 16 pieces.

Do the same for the other half of the dough. When you are done, you will have a total of 32 small pieces of cookie dough.

Roll each piece into a ball. Dip it in the bowl with the crushed cornflakes and roll it around to coat. If the crushed cornflakes don’t stick to the cookie dough, take 2 drops of water in your fingertips, and coat the cookie dough ball with water. Then roll in cornflakes.

Repeat for all the cookie dough balls. Then gently press a cashew half into the top of each one.

Arrange the cookies on two parchment (or silpat) lined baking sheets, making sure they are spread out (they need space to expand in the oven; otherwise they will all stick together).

Bake in the in the middle rack of the oven. Cookies are done when they start to get lightly golden, and when you can smell them. This should take about 12 minutes, but cooking time will vary depending on the oven.

If you over bake the cookies they will get too crunchy (but will still taste the same).

When they are done, remove the cookies from the oven and cool on a wire rack. They will still be soft when they come out of the oven, but will firm up once they cool.

Laila’s Arabic Lentil Soup

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Have you entered the Herbivoracious cookbook giveaway yet? You only have 2 days left to win Michael Natkin’s brand new vegetarian cookbook, Herbivoracious! Click here to enter the giveaway!

Now on to Laila’s delicious Arabic lentil soup recipe! I was in Bethlehem a few months ago, staying with a Palestinian family. (You can read all about my adventures here!) Laila, my wonderful host taught me how to make this simple, easy Arabic lentil soup. When I first tasted it, I had no idea how easy it is to make. And I was surprised that cumin is the only spice in this soup recipe! And guess what, cumin is all this soup needs. No need for any other funky, fancy flavors. The smokiness of cumin with the earthy lentils work very well together. Laila’s soup is a beautiful example of how simple is sometimes the best.

Laila used brown lentils. I used green lentils (pictured above) because I had some left over from making my dal fry mix in a jar for the holidays. You can use either brown or green, but keep in mind that cooking times may vary.

Laila served her soup simple and unadorned. And that’s what I’ve done here too. But if you like, you can garnish your soup with chopped parsley, cilantro, chili flakes or shredded cheese. To make a complete meal out of this soup, serve it with some crusty bread or pita.

Laila’s Arabic Lentil Soup Recipe

serves about 2

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, peeled and diced finely (1/2 cup when diced)
1 medium carrot, peeled and diced (1/2 cup when diced)
1-2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
½ heaping cup dried green or brown lentils
½ teaspoon ground cumin
Salt to taste

Method
Heat olive oil in a medium heavy bottom sauce pan. Add the diced onions and cook on medium heat till soft and translucent.

Then add carrot and garlic and sauté till garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Now add the lentils and cumin and stir for 10 seconds.

Pour in 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to simmer, cover the pan, and cook till the lentils are soft. This will take about 30 minutes.

If the soup needs more water while cooking, add more water one cup at a time, letting the soup come to a boil after each addition of water. (I used a total of 5 cups of water). How much water you need, will depend on how thick you like your soup, the lentils you are using and also the type of pot you are using. Just add the extra water one cup at a time till you get the desired consistency. And remember, the soup will thicken up when you mash the lentils.

When the lentils are done, they should be cooked and soft but should still be holding their shape.

At this point, turn off the heat. Using a potato masher, mash some of the lentils. I like to mash a third of the lentils, and leave the rest unmashed. If you want a smoother and thicker consistency, simply mash up more of the lentils.

Serve hot garnished with chopped cilantro or parsley or red chili flakes and some crusty bread or pita on the side.

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