Baked Couscous and Cottage Cheese Rolls

 

Wishing all my readers and friends a Very Happy New Year. I pray the God almighty to help all fulfil their dreams and wishes. I also hope and pray that the year brings in more peace and harmony through out the world.

I’ve just returned back after visiting my parents and the temperature and weather change is trying to show it’s effect on my body and I’m trying hard to push it. I know I’ve not been able to acknowledge a few entries sent for ‘Only’ Cakes and Cookies, have patience, I’ll make it to your blogs in a day or two. I could not do it as my dad’s computer was not functioning properly.

I am overwhelmed by the response my first cookbook review received. Do understand the word ‘response’ should not be identified with the number of comments, in those terms my blog is amongst the back benchers, LOL,… ‘response’ clearly means the page views the post received and the many mails I received congratulating me on my effort. I’m motivated to make more attempts in this field. I also want to thank all my blogger friends and others who stopped by to leave a note for me for the review post, I’m touched and your encouragement means a lot to me.

 

This is my first post of the year and I wanted to start on a healthy note and at the same time I also want to tell myself that over hoarding food items and cooking excess food has to be avoided this year.

It so happened that I was left with couscous salad made for the book review and some soaked couscous too. I was unable to bring myself to innovate something that could help me bring them to good use. To increase my despair, the milk I had got curdled while boiling and I had fresh cottage cheese too, to be consumed. I decided to combine the two products and add a few more ingredients to it to make it more tasty and then make some rolls, which I could use for snack and lunch box. Instead of frying the rolls I preferred to bake them to keep them low calorie.

To my delight the rolls turned out crispy and crunchy and the kid loved his snack box. It was appreciated by his class mates in the school. As for me, I was surely happy as all the leftover was consumed in a healthy and tasty way and the kid ate nutritious food too, surely a blessing in disguise.

Ingredients (makes 25 pieces)

2 cups soaked couscous (I used the couscous salad)

250gms grated cottage cheese

3finely chopped green chillies

2-3tbsp finely chopped cilantro

finely chopped capsicum (green, yellow and red)

1 small onion finely chopped

1tsp carom seeds (ajwain)

2garlic pods finely chopped

salt to taste

bread crumbs

corn starch

Method

Mix all ingredients and shape them into rolls.

Roll the couscous roll in corn starch and then dip them in water lightly.

Roll the couscous roll in breadcrumbs and keep aside. Repeat the procedure with the remaining rolls.

Preheat the oven at 190C. Grease a baking tray and align 7-8 rolls and bake them for 12-13mins. In between turn them once. Bake till golden brown in colour, do not over bake.

Serve hot with some salad and tomato sauce.

 

Tips

If you find mixture wet, mix a potato else refrigerate for an hour and then make rolls.

I’ve baked the rolls but these can be shallow/deep fried too.

I’ve kept the flavours very subtle, one is free to make it more flavourful and spicy.

Sending the rolls to simply.food’s

Vardhini’s New U

Priya Mahadevan’s  event guest hosted by Priya Sreeram

Kalyani’s Kitchen Chronicles, guest hosted by Veena Krishnakumar.

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Roti-Potato-Mint Cutlets.. the melt in mouth experience

Hi Everyone!!

I am resettling back into a normal routine now that the schools have reopened, blogging has taken a back seat for the time being till I settle down again in this schedule, give me some time friends I will be more regular at your space in a few days.

With the school functioning again comes a big responsibility of providing a healthy and wholesome lunch box which the kids will enjoy. My elder one gets lunch in his school so carries only breakfast but the younger one has to carry a lunch box for a mid time break. He would avoid eating roti-subzi so I have to constantly concoct new things which are interesting and tasty but at the same time provides him the essential nutrients important for his growth.

In my endeavor to provide a balanced diet I concocted this very easy cutlet which not only helps me utilise my left over rotis(Indian Bread) but also to use them in a very interesting and unusual way. I have earlier posted Rice and Roti Cutlet which was liked by many of the blogger friends and my readers, following the same line I used roti again to make the cutlets but not with rice this time.

It so happened that I had a badly managed kitchen last week as I was not keeping too well. S was trying hard to manage things at home but you can understand no matter how much he tried I am a better homemaker, I am sure all my women blogger friends will agree to that. I was left with a packet of rotis to finish in the refrigerator….now one might wonder rotis in fridge..here the temperature being too high the roti gets spoilt easily so if rotis are left, I pack them in zip lock and keep them in refrigerator and then use them later, S followed the same trend and asked me to finish them.

The end product in S’s words was the BEST FLAVOURED AND EXTREMELY TASTY THING THAT HE HAD IN LAST SO MANY DAYS. Now, I caught your attention right, I really thought it was a sweet exaggeration by S but when I tasted it personally, was bowled over by the taste, it was too good. It was extremely soft and succulent and simply melted in mouth, the flavour of mint just mesmerized me and one can not believe that there’s roti in it. Read the ingredients and procedure to believe it..do not go by my clicks I do not think they are doing a good justice here.

Ingredients

Makes about 20

4-5 leftover rotis

5-6 medium potatoes

1 small onion finely chopped

3-4tsp semolina

1-1/2 tsp amchoor pwd

a large handful of mint leaves

a large handful of coriander leaves

5-6 green chilies (check the spice level of your chilies and adjust)

4-5 garlic pods

salt to taste

2-3 tsp oil and oil for shallow frying

more semolina to coat

Method

Mash the potatoes and add semolina to it.

Grind the rotis finely in  a mixer grinder and mix it with potatoes.

On a non stick pan saute the onions lightly and mix it to the potatoes, by doing this onions do not leave water on adding salt.

Grind together coarsely the chilies, garlic, mint and coriander leaves and add this to the potatoes.

Add salt to taste, amchoor, 2-3 tsp oil  to the potatoes and mix properly.

Let the mix rest for 10 mins then make small cutlets and roll them in semolina and shallow fry.

I made in both the ways by coating with semolina and without it. With semolina coating one gets a crunchy crust and succulence inside and it absorbs less oil too. You can see both the kinds in the picture and try the kind you like.

How I gave it in the lunch box.

In the lunch box instead of assembling a sandwich beforehand along with the cutlets I gave buttered bread slices along with a cheese slice and a sachet of tomato sauce separately to avoid sogginess. The kido assembles everything in school and eats it like a sandwich. Unfortunately I am not able to provide you a picture of the lunch box as my kids leave early in the morning, will surely try to post that later.

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Crispy Rice Fritters

Hi.

As I have mentioned earlier also several times that I am a weirdo in a sense that I always cook better when I cook in anger (this is S’s theory) but another theory that I am coming up for myself is  that the best of the recipes that I concoct are always in a hurry and that too with few ingredients. A good example that comes first to my mind, just to prove you guys about my theory is the Instant Bread Dosa.

The school has advanced the school timings, it starts early and gets over by noon. So my kid has to leave by 6:30 in the morning and for that I have to get up by 5:30 am and finish cooking by 6:15 am. So one can see I must wake up with a good planning. Normally I decide at night what I want to make in the morning and finish a bit of chopping so that I have a hassle free morning.

But yesterday I slept clueless what I would make in the morning, so when I entered the kitchen I was a bit worried as I woke up a little late and I was clueless what to make. My quick savior at such times are the cheese slices and bread but today I did not have them. Sleepily I opened the fridge and checked what was available. I had some rice left over from the night meal and I had some chopped onions and grated cabbage. Instantly I had a fairly good idea what I wanted to make….Do read the recipe as it surely is a tasty savior when in hurry and good way to finish the left over rice as I finished cooking them in 15 minutes. So I can call this the Quick Best Out of Waste Fritters. One can also try the Rice and Roti Cutlet which I have posted earlier in case they also have rotis in hand.

I liked these fritters so much that I made one batch for myself later in the day and then managed to take these clicks. Yes, I had made fried stuff all for myself and I was mighty pleased as I rarely indulge in fried food, just loved every bite . This recipe is a base and one can use their choice of veggies and spices that they have in store and make these fritters. For a continental touch, one can  surely add oregano, celery as the herbs.

Ingredients

a cup of cooked rice

an egg

2 finely chopped green chilies

3 tbsp chopped onions

3 tbsp grated cabbage

2 tbsp chopped carrot

2-3 tbsp chopped cilantro

2-3 tbsp gram flour/ besan

1 tsp cumin pwd

1/2 tsp chili pwd

salt to taste

oil for deep frying

Method

In a bowl take the cooked rice and crush it lightly with fingers. Mix in the ingredients one by one and make a batter mix. The egg and gram flour helps to shape and bind  in the batter and enhances the crispiness too. Even if you do not have many veggies, only an onion or any other vegetable can be used and the fritters still taste good.

Make small fritters and deep fry them on a medium flame. Remove them on a kitchen towel to get rid of the excess oil. Serve with tomato sauce.

These can be a good starter or finger food and I surely found a good snack for the kid's lunch box. So tell me friends what is your opinion about my theory?

Sending this to Niloufer’s Twenty-20 Cooking event.

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Rice and Roti Cutlet

Hi!

I must say I am a bad planner sometimes when it comes to food in a sense that I really try hard not to waste food but some times it does happen that I have left over food which I need to finish. The challenge always is to concoct a preparation which helps me finish the food in a tasty manner so that the family enjoys eating it without making fuss.

There are definitely days when I have some Roti and Rice left over, based on how my mood is I may indulge myself in making savories out of these two. I find it a good way to consume the left over and at the same time making it more nutritious by adding veggies to it. I prefer using very low oil for frying it  or rather roasting it.

The end result is a soft cutlet with a crunchy crust which has all the health benefits of rice and roti plus the veggies. These make an excellent lunch box item and can be served for breakfast along with bread and butter or even as an evening snack item. A green chutney or tomato sauce can be an accompaniment.

I am giving an approx quantity of ingredients and giving a basic guideline for how to go about it. One is free to add their own set of ingredients and flavours.

Ingredients

Left over rotis 7-8

rice about 1-1/2 cups

5-6 chopped green chilies

3 tbsp chopped cilantro

2 tbsp chopped mint

1 small carrot chopped

1 onion chopped

hand full of peas

2 tsp ginger garlic paste

1 tbsp butter

oil for shallow frying

salt to taste

Spices

a tsp of cumin pwd

2 tsp coriander pwd

a tsp of amchoor pwd

1/4 tsp garam masala

Method

In a food processor first put the roti and run it to make it fine and then add the rice and let the two ingredients mix properly.

Heat about 2 tsp of oil in a pan and first saute the onions and green chilies followed by peas and carrots. Add the spices and mix this in the roti-rice mix.

Add the chopped cilantro, mint, butter and salt. Adding the butter makes the cutlet soft inside. The mix should not be too hard or too soft.

Mix all ingredients thoroughly and then shape them into small cutlets and shallow fry.

Serve them hot with sauce or chutney.

 

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