Super Tasty Millet Cutlets

TGIF!! Right? Weekend officially begins for most of us.

Well not so much for me this week. I'm working tomorrow. Not a happy feeling, I have to admit. Saturday is my favorite day of the week. I like that happy feeling that there is another day of holiday left. By Sunday, I'm usually sad that the weekend is "almost" over. Now all my plans for Saturday are out of the window and pushed to next Saturday. I wanted to go get some fresh mud to plant the variety of seeds I got free at an Organic Terrace Gardening workshop conducted a few weeks ago. 

I am looking forward to some fresh vegetables in the near future, but those plans have to wait until I get an entire weekend to dedicate to my balcony garden. 

More about that later.

So what else happened this week for you guys? 

I baked my first Vegan chocolate cake for Gee and Raj's birthday on Wednesday.  I have baked vegetarian cakes, but never vegan. It was super delicious, but so wrong in texture. I hope to keep trying to perfect it and hopefully will have it soon on the blog. 

So, none of that on top had anything to do with either my recipe for today or my new found obsession with millet. I'm beginning to use millet extensively these days, remember this post on Healthy Millet Salad? Since then I've tried out a few more recipes with Millet, but these Millet Cutlets have to be my favorite. I secretly love the fact that they are healthy too. Well not so much of a secret anymore, is it?

Usually vegetarian cutlets use potato as the base as it binds well. But this recipe, just like my Curried Brown Rice and Zucchini Fritters recipe, uses the starchy grain as the binding agent. And the good thing is, just like potato and rice, millet in itself is bland, so it absorbs all the flavor of the spices.

I used simple vegetables I had at home - frozen peas, beans and carrot. Feel free to use other vegetables like Zucchini or Beets. Next time I'm definitely adding Beets. Beets will give it lovely color and that earthy sweetness which I absolutely love in cutlets.

If you liked this, you may also like:

• Vegetable Cutlets - Mix vegetable cutlets with coriander and mint chutney
• Healthy Millet Salad - Protein packed salad made from millet, kidney beans and fresh vegetables and herbs.
• Curried Brown Rice and Zucchini Fritters recipe - My most popular recipe of fritters or cutlets made with brown rice, zucchini and spices.

Super Tasty Millet Cutlet

Shallow fried cutlets made from foxtail millet and mixed vegetables.

Recipe Type:  Appetizer
Cuisine:            Indian
Prep Time:     30 minutes
Cook time:     30 minutes
Yield:                Makes 13-15

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Foxtail Millet or Navane
4-5 Green Beans
3 Tbsp Green Peas
1 small Carrot
1-2 tsp Green Chilli-Ginger paste
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 Tbsp Coriander leaves (finely chopped)
1-2 tsp Lime Juice
1/2 tsp Jaggery or Sugar
Oil to fry
Water
Salt to taste

Method:

Wash and soak the millet in water for 30 minutes
Finely chop the green beans and the carrot.
Boil the green beans, carrot and green peas until done.
Drain the millet, and pressure cook it in 1 cup of water until the millets are cooked. Cook it for 1 whistle or for 3-4 minutes after the pressure builds up. If not using a pressure cooker, cook it the same way you would cook rice regularly until the millet is well done.
Allow it to cool until you can work with it.
In a large bowl, combine the cooked millet, cooked vegetables and mash slightly.
Add the coriander leaves, green chilli-ginger paste, lime juice, garam masala, turmeric powder, jaggery or sugar, salt and mix well.
Shape into cutlets and keep aside.
Heat 3-4 Tbsp of Oil in a frying pan and place the cutlets on it. Once the first side is golden brown, flip and cook until the other side is browned.
Serve hot with ketchup or mint chutney.

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Grilled Eggplant and Coriander Hummus Rolls

My latest addition to Finger Food that is finger licking good - Grilled Eggplant and Coriander Hummus Rolls. Silky smooth garlicky coriander hummus rolled in thinly sliced grilled eggplant. This recipe is super quick to make and has all makings of a healthy snack.

Who is a Hummus fan?? Obviously, Me, well so is Raj, there's Gee too... Well, the whole family is nuts about Hummus. The usual combination for hummus is Pita, but when you are bored to knead dough and roll out those light little pockets of Pita, I recommend trying this simple gluten free option to enjoy that amazing hummus.

As much as I like Hummus, I love Coriander or Cilantro just as much, or may be a little more. A sprinkle of coriander here, a tablespoon of coriander there. I literally, use it in everything I make. That vibrant fresh sprinkling of green, just brightens up any curry. It does the same to this Hummus. This Coriander Hummus is just one level above the regular Hummus in terms of flavor and color. I mean who does not find this lovely green appealing?

I can eat this Coriander Hummus with anything - crackers, chips, regular bread, chapati, roti, naan. I think I'm only yet to try it with rice. But on days that you are too bored to knead the dough and make your own light Pita pockets or you just fancy going gluten free, try this awesome combination of eggplant and hummus and tell me if you hear complains.

Ever since I bought my AWESOME new grill pan, I've been grilling EVERYTHING. Paneer, Eggplant, Peppers... this is just a small list. Grilling is so much fun, I love that nice char marks that I get from my new pan. Check out this super delicious Grilled Paneer Sandwich I made using the same pan.

However, I think I should warn you, these rolls are addictive and may never be enough for your family. They are also quite filling.

If you don't want to make your own hummus, you can just use your favorite store bought hummus. Roasted Pepper Hummus will also go great with the Eggplant.

If you like this, you may also like:

• Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich - Sandwich inspired by the Panera Bread sandwich of the same name.
• Olive Hummus - Hummus made using olives. No Tahini required.
• Eggplant Pizza - Grilled eggplant topped with tomato sauce and cheese

Grilled Eggplant and Coriander Hummus Rolls

These Eggplant Rolls are made by grilling finely sliced eggplant and spreading coriander hummus on them before rolling them into bite sized rolls.

Recipe Type:  Appetizer
Cuisine:            Middle Eastern
Prep Time:     15 minutes
Cook time:     30 minutes
Yield:                Makes 13-15

Ingredients:

For Coriander Hummus:

1 cup cooked Chickpeas
1/2 cup Coriander leaves
2-3 Garlic cloves
2 Tbsp Water
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
Salt to taste

For Grilled Eggplant:

1 large Eggplant or Bharta Baingan
Water
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
3-4 tsp of Oil

Method:

To make Coriander Hummus:

Chop the coriander leaves and garlic.
Blend together the chickpeas, coriander leaves, garlic and salt with water and Olive oil until it is a smooth creamy paste.
Add more Olive oil if required.

To make Grilled Eggplant:

Take a large bowl of water and add 1/2 tsp of salt to
Slice the eggplant into fine slices lengthwise and put them in the salted water. Leave them soaked for 10-15 minutes.
Pat the eggplant fry using a tea towel or kitchen napkins and rub them with oil, salt and pepper.
Heat a grill pan or a griddle. Once it is hot place the eggplant slices on it in a single layer without overlapping them.
Spoon oil on the eggplant if required. Grill for 2-3 minutes on each side until the eggplant is cooked.

To make the Rolls:

Spread the coriander hummus on the grilled eggplant slices and roll them to make Grilled Eggplant and Coriander Hummus rolls.

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Mixed Dal Handvo Recipe | Lauki Handva Recipe | How to make Gujarati Handvo

Mixed Dal Handvo or Lauki Handva is a popular gluten free Gujarati breakfast or snack, made from mixed lentils, rice and bottle gourd. Handvo is made with a rice-dal fermented batter and grated bottle gourd (lauki / ghiya). Handvo is steamed / pan fried in a frying pan or a kadhai. Handvo is suitable for a Jain diet.

In a hurry? Jump to Video or Jump to Recipe

I had been waiting for this long weekend for ages and it has gone in a poof.. Somehow, all my long weekends seem busier than my regular 2 day weekends. Any of you out there with me on this one?

So, what did you do this Ganesh Chaturthi? I hope you all had a wonderful Chaturthi.

I spent my days cleaning the house before the festival and then just cooking, cooking and more cooking. Whew! Does life get busy around festivals!

I made these super delicious Steamed Modaks. I love them sooo much more than the fried ones. I think I ate more than all others combined. 

To add to this Raj has a potluck in office and he wanted to take these Almond Chocolate Brownies. Thanks to my small oven, we had to keep baking it batches and it kept us in the house watching the oven for a long time.

But the festivities are done, the sweets have taken a toll on my weight for sure. It's now time to get back to something nutritious and healthy. These Protein Packed Mixed Dal Handvo or Handva as it is sometimes called, was just the thing I had in mind for Tuesday breakfast. 

To tell you the truth, I wasn't convinced about Handvo when I watched it on TV. I wondered if it could taste so good as the show presenter was saying. Then, I tried it at home, following this recipe from Tarla Dalal and I must say, those guys on TV weren't lying, it is absolutely delicious. And healthy too... Now I can have my cake and eat it too!!

What is Handvo or Handva?

Handvo is a pan-fried or steamed savory cake made with a fermented batter of rice and mixed lentils. Rice and a variety of lentils or dals are soaked for 6-8 hours and then blended to form a thick coarse batter. To this batter, yogurt or curd is added to help it ferment better.

You can tell that the batter is fermented by looking at it, it should be light and fluffy and should have risen. If the temperatures in your region are high, this may take as less as 5-6 hours and if they are cold, it may take 10 hours or longer. 

Lauki or Bottle gourd or Ghiya is lightly fried in a tempering of mustard, curry leaves, asafoetida (hing) and turmeric powder before adding to the batter. If you cannot find bottle gourd, you can replace it with Zucchini or skip it too.

This batter is then steamed on a greased pan until cooked.

The side facing the pan first is crispy and the inside is soft. 

You may add a tempering before serving, it is highly recommended.

Handvo tastes best with pudina chutney, but you can also serve it with ketchup or just plain.

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook,  tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo @oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com I'd love to see what you are up to.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

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Video Recipe

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Mixed Dal Handvo Recipe | Lauki Handva Recipe | How to make Gujarati Handvo

Mixed Dal Handvo or Lauki Handva is a popular gluten free Gujarati breakfast or snack, made from mixed lentils, rice and bottle gourd. Handvo is made with a rice-dal fermented batter and grated bottle gourd (lauki / ghiya). Handvo is steamed in a frying pan or a kadhai.

Recipe Type:  Snacks
Cuisine:            Gujarati
Prep Time:     16 hours
Cook time:     30 minutes
Total time:     6 minutes
Yield:                Serves 4 to 5

Author:                Anupama

Ingredients:

1 cup Rice
0.5 cup Moong Dal
0.5 cup Toor Dal
2 Tbsp Urad Dal
2 Tbsp Chana Dal
0.5 cup thick Curd ( yogurt / dahi)
0.25 tsp Baking Soda (meetha soda)
2 cup Bottlegourd (Lauki / ghiya), grated, loosely packed
2 Tbsp Oil
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 Tbsp Curry leaves, chopped
0.25 tsp Asafoetida (Hing), gluten free
0.5 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Sesame seeds (til)
Oil to grease the pan
Salt to taste
Oil to grease the pan

For the tempering:

1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 tsp Sesame seeds (til)
1 sprig Curry leaves

Method:

1. Mix the rice, moong dal, toor dal, chana dal and urad dal in a large bowl. Wash 2 to 3 times and soak in water for 6 hours.
2. After 6 hours, drain the water and blend to a thick coarse batter without adding any water. The dals would have soaked up water and that is sufficient to blend. If you still are struggling to blend, add very little and blend.
3. Remove the batter to a large bowl and add in the curd and baking soda. Mix well and cover and keep aside to ferment overnight or for 6-8 hours.
4. Next morning, heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds.
5. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add the chopped curry leaves, hing, turmeric powder and grated bottle gourd. Mix well and cook on low heat for 5 minutes or until the bottlegourd softens a little.
6. Add this to the batter and add salt. Mix well.
7. In a shallow kadhai or in a frying pan add 1-2 Tbsp oil and spoon in the batter. Sprinkle sesame seeds. You will have to cook the handvo in batches. The size of your frying pan or kadhai will determine how many batches. I made 2 handvos in a 24 cm frying pan.
8. Cover and cook on low heat until the top is almost cooked. It should look somewhat set. This may take 8-10 minutes.
9. Carefully flip the handvo and cook on high heat until the second side is cooked and has brown spots.
10. Cool the handvo a little before slicing. Handvo will appear to be sticky when hot, it will set better as it cools.
11. Just before serving, make a tempering by heating oil and adding mustard seeds, curry leaves and sesame seeds and pour on the handvo.
12. Serve warm with pudina chutney.

If you liked this, you may also like:

Matar Dhokla

Kothimbir Vadi

Sabudana Vada

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Healthy Millet Salad

This Healthy Millet Salad is made from Foxtail Millet, kidney beans, sprouts and mix vegetables. It is very healthy, very tasty and very filling. 

You go to the supermarket and are immediately drawn to the shelf that holds these exotic ingredients that you've only heard of but never eaten. It looks nice in it's classy looking packaging. You start remembering that recipe you saw on TV or that food photo that featured in the Magazine, wondering which of them should you cook. You glance at the price, and that wonderful dream of cooking with something exotic just evaporates. Smile replaced by shock. Deja vu, anyone?

I replay this scene everytime I go to stores like FoodHall or Godrej Nature's Basket. And sometimes I do it knowing that it will be an anti-climax. By now I know I will never buy Quinoa because of it's insane cost. Quinoa is being touted as THE superfood. High in protein, not high in calories, it's kind of  a win-win for those who can access it easily.

Quinoa is not Indian. Although, recently, some farmers are toying with the idea of growing Quinoa, it is still not popular enough to replace any of our ancient grains and seeds.

I use Millet instead. India has been the home of millet for centuries. Millets are just as rich as Quinoa. It is rich in fibre and magnesium. It has a low glycemic index and is a rich source of protein. And it is very light on your pocket. In short, millet is affordable super food that are easily available anywhere.

There are various types of Millet:

• Pearl Millet or Bajra
• Foxtail Millet or Navane
• Finger Millet or Ragi
• Sorghum Millet or Jowar

There are so many more, but these are the famous ones.

Let's  get back to this super tasty and healthy Foxtail Millet Salad. I've had it two days in a row and I just cannot have enough of it !!! 

This is a super simple salad. The dressing is made with just Olive oil, lime juice, honey, salt and pepper. Everything you already have at home, so there is no excuse to skip making it. Use any oil you like if you have run out of Olive Oil.

Now, usually, I say that there are things that are optional in a recipe. But in this one, the beans are definitely not optional. They are one the major building blocks of this salad. I really don't believe this salad will taste as good if you skip them. Also really needed are the fresh ingredients - tomatoes, cucumbers and mint. Everything else in the salad can either be skipped or replaced. You can substitute the coriander with parsley. Skip the sprouts if you don't have any. I personally like the light sweetness of the carrots in the salad and would recommend keeping it in there.

This salad was pretty filling due to all the protein in it and the slowly digesting millet. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 

If you liked this, you may also like:

• Kabuli Chana Chaat or Chickpea Salad - Street side style salad made with chickpeas, tomatoes, onions and spices. Hot and Tangy - explosive on your taste buds.
• Radish Salad - Fresh salad made from finely chopped radish or daikon (mooli) and it's leaves.

Healthy Millet Salad

Healthy salad made with mixed vegetables, beans, sprouts and Foxtail Millet. 

Recipe Type:  Salad
Cuisine:            Indian
Prep Time:     30 minutes
Cook time:     30 minutes
Yield:                Serves 2

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Foxtail Millet or  Navane
1 cup cooked Red Kidney Beans or Rajma
1/4 cup Sprouts
2 ripe Tomatoes
1 small Cucumber
1/2 Carrot
1/2 Capsicum
Handful Coriander leaves
Handful Mint leaves
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Honey
2-3 tsp Lime Juice
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1/2 cup Water

Method:

Wash and soak the millet for 30 minutes.
Drain the millet and pressure cook it with 1/2 cup water until done. In a pressure cooker it takes around 1 whistle or 4-5 minutes after the pressure builds up.
If not using a pressure cooker, cook it the same way you would cook rice.
Allow the millet to cool to room temperature.
Finely chop the tomatoes, cucumber, carrot and capsicum and add to the millet.
Add the red kidney beans and the sprouts to the millet.
Roughly chop the coriander and mint leaves and add to the millet.
In a small bowl, mix olive oil, honey, lime juice, salt and pepper until completely blended.
Pour the dressing over the millet and vegetable mixture and mix well.
Serve at room temperature or chilled.

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Methi Paratha

At a loss of what to pack for lunch tomorrow?

Travelling somewhere and need to carry along your own food?

Or

Just wondering what to make for breakfast tomorrow?

TA-DA!!!

Presenting Methi Paratha -  A humble, healthy, whole wheat flatbread flavored with spices and Methi leaves or Fenugreek leaves.

Methi Paratha is perfect for boxed lunch or breakfast. Number one reason being - it doesn't leak!! So you don't need to worry about a messy lunch bag. Also, it doesn't spoil for a long long time (by long long, I mean at least 2 days in tropical weather, much more in cooler weather). And the dough stays great in the fridge for at least 4-5 days. So you can make it ahead of time and store it.

And guess what's the best part?? Leftovers.... Seriously... Just cut them into small triangles and follow this recipe to get your own flavored Whole Wheat Nachos. Complains, anyone?

I've been making Methi Paratha for a long long time and I've faced certain issues with the way I was making them earlier. I never cooked the Methi leaves, I just chopped them and added it to the dough. All was well until I added the salt. After that though, my dough would just keep getting watery and sticky and I had to just keep adding more and more wholewheat flour to try and stiffen the dough a bit. And by the end of it the paratha would have the methi leaves to the flour ratio all messed up. Also, I'd end up with a messy rolling pin which would have bits of dough stuck to it that I had to clean before rolling out the next paratha.

If you are facing the same problems, read on.

Gee (in her big sister wisdom) showed me how to overcome this. Such a simple solution. Just cook the methi leaves slightly. Cooking them makes the leaves release the water in them. Also adding a little bit of salt during the cooking ensures almost all the water in the leaves is out where you can see it. This leads to a smoother dough that does not turn to sticky in a few minutes. The dough retains it's consistency and is super easy to handle. No sticky rolling pin either.

As for any paratha, Methi Paratha needs to be cooked on a medium to high heat. Cooking them on low heat, makes them hard and brittle. You may need to be watchful that you don't burn them while cooking on higher heat, but hey, you get soft parathas as a result of it.

If you liked this, you may also like:

• Baked Wholewheat Chips - Perfect way to finish off those leftover parathas
• Szechwan Paratha - An Indian-Chinese fusion paratha

Methi Paratha

Methi Paratha is a whole wheat flat bread flavored with fresh Methi or Fenugreek leaves and spices. 

Recipe Type:  Main
Cuisine:            North Indian
Prep Time:     20 minutes
Cook time:     30 minutes
Yield:                Makes 8-10

Ingredients:

3-4 cups Methi Leaves (washed and chopped)
2 cups Wholewheat Flour
1/2 cup Water
1 tsp Coriander Powder
1/2 tsp Cumin Powder
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
2 tsp Oil
Salt as required
Oil or Ghee for cooking the Paratha

Method:

In a pan or kadhai, heat the 2 tsp of Oil.
Add the chopped methi leaves into it and stir well.
Cover and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes until the methi leaves have wilted.
Now add the coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder. red chilli powder and 1/4 tsp salt and mix well.
Cover and allow it to cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and keep it aside.
In a big bowl or plate, mix together the whole wheat flour and the methi leaves mix.
Now add salt as required and water. Knead it into a smooth dough.
Made small balls of the dough and roll it out into parathas (about 1-2mm thick).
Heat a greased tava or a griddle on medium high heat. Place the paratha on it and spoon oil.
Flip and cook the other side when the first side has cooked (small brown spots appear on it).
Serve hot with butter, pickle or yogurt.

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