Cherry-Belle Radish Roti "Mooli Roti"

I picked a bunch of these cute Radishes from the Farmer's market a few weeks ago with the idea of making Paratha(Flat bread with stuffing). But making Paratha became a disastrous affair. Tricky business, that!!! I don't know what went wrong..either the dough was too soggy or the stuffing was too much..whatever! I DON'T CARE! The freaking paratha leaked and I couldn't roll. My Paratha making skills are "barely passable" at best. Which is why a regular Flat-bread eater like me hasn't posted too many of Paratha recipes..Cause making it is a pain in the you-know-where.

Lachedar Paratha(Paratha with layers) was a walk in the park cause the stuffing was flour and Ghee..no mushy vegetable to turn things soggy and all. As for that Spinach and Split-Pea Paratha, I had to struggle many times before I could get it right which is why I make Vegetable Rotis(don't need stuffings), like this one.Its easy, breezy and not back-bending!

 Ingredients(Makes 15-16 Rotis):

• 3-1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
• 15-16 Marble-sized Cherry Belle Radishes, tips cut and shredded
• 2 Tbsp Cumin Seeds, roughly powdered with Mortar & Pestle
• 3-4 Hot Green Chilies
• 4 Garlic Cloves
• 1/4 Tsp Turmeric Powder
• Salt for taste
• Warm water for the dough

Tools:

• Olive Oil Mister
• Rolling Pin
• Flat Board to roll the dough

Procedure:

• Snip the ends off the Radishes.

• Shred then using the small eye of the box grater.

• Add the flour, salt and smashed cumin seeds to the flour.

•  Roughly smash the Garlic and Green Chilies with Mortar & PestleThrow in the smashed green chili, garlic and turmeric powder to the bowl.

• Using clean hands mix them together. Please keep in mind that the grated radish has enough water-content in it. So you may not need to add water to the flour for kneading.

• Knead the mixture to make a "firm" dough. Let it rest for 10 minutes. Don't let it rest too long. You never know if the radish will turn the dough soggy.

• Divide the dough into 14-16 even-sized balls.

• Using a rolling pin flatten the dough into discs sprinkling flour as needed to roll-out the dough without sticking.

• Repeat the same for the rest.

• Heat the tava/griddle and spray with Oil.Cook the Rotis on both sides until you see a few brown spots.

• Line a bowl with paper towel and layer the cooked rotis in the bowl.

• Serve it hot with sides of choice: Fiery Tomato Chutney, Channa Masala. I just eat it with pickles and Homemade-Yogurt as side.

For this week's "Black and White Wednesday"  @Susan's The well-seasoned cook:

Learn how to make these Rice Noodles/String Hoppers here.
Enjoy!

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Lachedar Paratha

This New Year, like everyone else, I made a few resolutions..The "Two Times" resolution(s) among other resolutions --

• Will do justice to the Gym-membership by visiting the Gym at-least twice a week
• Will bond with my Yoga-mat at-least twice a week
• Will blog post at-least twice a week
• Will blog-hop and see what everyone else is cooking at-least twice a week
• Will eat meat at-least twice a week
• Will call my friends and family at-least twice a week

etc etc.. The list goes on..
25 days later, I am yet to incorporate them in my lifestyle. What I have concluded is that its so easy to make up the list..But to follow it, its entirely a different thing. I guess I need to go to a boot camp to get disciplined. :(
 Over the weekend, I dragged myself to the supermarket to get some ground meat. I made a scrumptious "African" dish with the meat + greens and made these lovely parathas to eat it with.
It also tastes good with Simple Vegetable Kurma, Channa Masala, Flambeed Orange Peppers or Maharashtrian "Sugar and Spice" Eggplants N Potatoes.

Ingredients:

• 1-3/4 Cups Whole Wheat Flour ( I use "Aashirvaad" Atta from Indian, Atta: Ground Whole Wheat grains)
• 1 Cup Warm Water + a few more tbsp, as required
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil 
• 1/2 Tsp Salt
• 1/2 Tsp Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil +  1 Tbsp Butter (liquid) mixture
• 1/8 Cup Whole Wheat Flour, for dredging and filling

Procedure:

• In a  wide bowl, add the flour, salt, sugar, 1 Tbsp Olive Oil and a cup of warm water.

• Knead the dough, sprinkling water as needed and form a soft dough. Let the dough rest in a warm spot for an hour.

• Knead the dough again and divide it into 8-10 even-sized balls. Flatten the balls into discs and set it aside.

• Roll the dough into a thin circle. Add a tsp of oil-butter mixture in the center. Add 1/2 Tsp of flour on the top.Make a paste out of the flour and oil-butter mixture.

• Smear the paste all over the circle evenly. Roll the dough, jelly-roll style into a tight rope. Afterward, roll the rope back and forth to lengthen it until its about the thickness of a cigar.

• Form the rope into a tight coil( like shown in the picture) and arrange it on a plate. Repeat the same for all the other discs. Smear any leftover oil-butter mixture on the top of the coiled discs.Cover with a  cling wrap. Refrigerate the discs for at-least 2-3 hours.

• Roll the coiled discs, dredging with flour until its approximately about the thickness of a Nickel.

• Repeat the above steps for the remaining coiled discs.

• Warm a Griddle/Tava. Dip a paper towel in oil and smear the Griddle/Tava. Add the rolled-out paratha and cook for 15-20 secs.

• Flip and cook for another 15-20 seconds. Flip it once more and cook until there are light-medium brown spots all over the parathas.

• Serve warm with any side-dish of choice. A few recommendations -  Simple Vegetable Kurma, Channa Masala, Flambeed Orange Peppers or Maharashtrian "Sugar and Spice" Eggplants N Potatoes.

Enjoy!

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Fenugreek FlatBread "Methi Roti"

Fenugreek leaves both fresh and dried are used aplenty in Indian cooking. They have a slight bitter taste and pungent odor.Comparatively, fresh leaves have milder taste than the dried ones. I remember eating plenty of dishes with this as a key ingredient post-delivery cause its believed to increase milk supply in lactating moms. Pharmacies sell fenugreek seed capsules for the very same reason. Can't find fresh fenugreek leaves in your local grocery store? Head over to an Indian store and look for "Methi Leaves"(Fresh)/"Kasuri Methi"(dried) or use watercress which is a reasonable substitute.There are numerous ways to cook these gorgeous greens/herb but if you ask me, the best way is to incorporate them in a flat bread called "Methi Roti".

Ingredients(Makes 10, 7" Round Flatbread):

• 2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 Bunch Fresh Fenugreek(Yields roughly 1 Cup Fenugreek Leaves, Packed)
• 2 Hot Green Chili
• 2 Garlic Cloves
• 1/4 tsp Cumin Powder
• 1/8 tsp Turmeric Powder
• 1/8 tsp Salt
• 2/3 Cup Hot Water(hot enough to handle by hands)

Tools:

• Rolling Pin
• Pastry Board to roll out the dough
• Tava (Indian Cast-Iron Griddle)

Procedure:

• Pick the leaves of the fenugreek and discard the stalks.Clean and drain the water from the leaves.

• Mince the Garlic and Green Chilies in a blender or using mortar/pestle.
• Roughly chop the fenugreek leaves
• Mix flour, chopped leaves, minced garlic-chili paste, cumin powder, turmeric powder and salt in a bowl.
• Add the water to the mixture and make a firm dough. It is indeed important that the dough be firm so it can be rolled with sticking to the rolling pin. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes.

• Divide the dough into 10 even balls and flatten them to disc/patties.

• Roll the flattened patties on a flat surface or a pastry board(dredging periodically with wheat flour to avoid sticking) and stretch it into a smooth 7" disc. At the most, the discs can be 2-3mm thick.

• Cook the rolled out Roti on a hot tava(Indian Cast-iron Griddle) by adding 1/8 of tsp of Olive oil around the edges for 1-2 minutes per side.More oil may be added..its all personal preference.
• Serve as it or with any of the following chutney choices -- Four Seasons chutneys-Peanut(Winter),Pumpkin And Carrot(Fall), Cilantro N Mint(Spring), Tomato Chutney my Way(Summer) , Ridge Gourd Peel N SweetPea Chutney, Fiery Tomato Chutney

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