Goddess Of Spice: Khichdi Pattice in Pita Pockets

Another weekend has rolled by. This was a mixed bag weekend with a couple of meals eaten out and one heavy home cooked lunch with friends. And yes, one typical weekend brunch!

On Friday, one of my friends came over and I made some khichdi for her baby. Since I was making it for the little one, I added no spices to it other than turmeric powder. So, all I did was pressure cook some moong dal with some basmati rice, turmeric powder, salt and a cup of finely chopped vegetables (I used beans, carrots, potato, tomato & spinach). Finally, I heated a tablespoon of ghee and added it as tempering. It was pretty yummy despite being such a simple preparation, but it was bland for an adult. So, I did not know what to do with the left over. I suppose I could have had it with loads of pickle on the side, but I tried out something more interesting with it, and it turned out real good - in fact "bloggable" good!

I had some pita pockets and some roasted pepper hummus at home. That's what gave me the idea of using the left over khichdi to make patties! Just added some potato flakes for a good binding, some soya granules for the texture and some spices to remove the blandness - a quick fix recipe to replace falafels in the pita pockets!

For the fresh vegetables, I used left overs from a packet of classic iceberg lettuce salad mix and just added some sliced olives, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers and onions - wish I had some cucumbers though - I was out of them and in no mood to run down to the grocers just for that on a lazy Saturday morning!

Preparation & Cooking:20 minutes Serves:8

Ingredients:
Pita Pockets - 8
Classic Iceberg Salad Mix - 1 cup
Onion - ½ of a small one, sliced
Cherry Tomatoes - ¼ cup, sliced into halves
Bell Pepper - ½ of a small one, sliced
Black Olives - ¼ cup, sliced into halves
Apple Cider Vinegar - 2 tablespoons
Olive Oil - 3-4 tablespoons
Freshly Cracked Pepper - to taste
Salt - to taste
Roasted Pepper Hummus - 4-5 heaped teaspoons
Left Over Khichdi - 1 cup, approximately
Instant Mashed Potato Flakes - ¼ cup
Soya Granules- 2 heaped tablespoons (I used Nutrela)
Corianer/Dhania Powder - 2 teaspoons
Cumin/Jeera Powder - 1 teaspoon
Dried Mango/Amchur Powder - ½ teaspoon
Red Chilli Powder - ¼ teaspoon
Water - 3-4 tablespoons
Oil/Cooking Spray - to shallow fry the patties

Method:

Warm the khichdi in the microwave for about a minute.

Now add the soy granules and instant mashed potato flakes along with the water and a little salt to taste and microwave for a couple of minutes.

Add in the coriander powder, cumin powder, amchur powder and red chilli powder and mix well to form a firm mixture for the patties.

Divided the mixture into 8 portions, pat them into patties and shallow fry them in a pan on a medium flame after spreading a little oil or spraying some cooking spray on it.

After 2-3 minutes, turn them over and cook for another couple of minutes till the patties are crisp and brown on both sides.

While the patties are cooking, get started on the veggies. Empty the salad mix into a bowl and add the sliced olives, onions, cherry tomatoes and bell pepper to it.

In another bowl, take the apple cider vinegar, pepper and salt and gradually add olive oil while whisking it to make a dressing.

Add this dressing to the vegetables and mix well.

Now take the pita pockets and warm them slightly on the stove top or in a microwave. If using the microwave, wrap the pita pockets in damp paper towels and then proceed.