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.

• Next, spread a heaped teaspoon of the roasted pepper hummus on each of them.

• Now place a patty in each of the pita pockets along the a couple of tablespoons of the vegetables.

Serve them with a side of fries and tomato ketchup for a perfect weekend brunch...

Couscous with Spinach, Sun-dried Tomatoes & Pine nuts

I had some sun-dried tomatoes lying around in the freezer. During summers they get used up to make pesto and sandwiches. But during winters, I can't seem to find much use for them. I also had a packet of couscous with toasted pine nuts in the pantry. So, I thought, why not put the two together and make an

entrée for tonight's dinner? Perfect! But something was still missing - greens! And then I thought of adding some spinach - why not! The end result was a quick dinner that my kiddo absolutely loved - though he was amused with the word "couscous"!

I did have a flavored instant couscous packet, but you could replace with regular couscous as well. Just double the amount of minced ginger & garlic used in the recipe. Also add some toasted pine nuts and dried herbs (personally I would prefer dried basil & parsley, but no harm playing around with the flavors). I had homemade sun-dried tomatoes, but am sure the store bought ones would work well too, just adjust the salt and spices accordingly.

Preparation and cooking: 15 minutes         Serves:2

Ingredients:

Cousous - 1 packet
Scallions - 1 small bunch (sliced fine)
Ginger - 1 small piece, minced
Garlic, 1 clove, minced
Sun-dried tomatoes - 2 tablespoons
Spinach - ¼ cup, chopped fine

Vegetable Stock -1 and ¼ cup

Parsley - for garnsish

Oil - 1 tablespoon

Method:

1. Place the oil along with the white part of the scallions and the minced ginger and garlic for 1 minute in the microwave.





2. Now add the sun-dried tomatoes and spinach to it and microwave it for another minute.





3. Next, stir in the contents of the spice pack (or whatever spices you are adding as well as the toasted pine nuts) and the vegetable stock and cook covered for 5 minutes until the water boils.





4. At this stage, add the couscous and let the covered bowl stand alone for 5 minutes.  Remove the cover and fluff the couscous with a fork.





5. Garnish it with the green part of the scallions and finely chopped parsley.
   
   
   
   

I served it for dinner tonight with some Schezuan Broccoli

Tip: The couscous can be cooked with plain water as well, I prefer vegetables stock as it gives it a good flavor. I have cooked instant couscous for which the ratio of liquid to couscous would be the one given. If cooking regular couscous, the ratio would be different and would take longer to cook as well.

Sending this across to  Kiran’s  ”Cooking with Whole Foods – Spinach” event.