Healthy Falafel Rolls Recipe

Falafels are an integral part of the Lebanese, Palastenian, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines. Like any traditional dish, there are different versions of its recipe and preparation. The underlying similarity among them is that they are made of chickpeas. It's the herbs and spices that vary across cuisines.

Healthy Falafel Rolls Recipe

Falafels are traditionally served in a pita pocket with dips, condiments and pickles to spice it up. In my healthy version, I've shallow-fried the falafels instead of deep frying them (though the recipe remains the same if you wish to deep fry them) with little effect on the texture and wrapped them in a whole-wheat roti (an Indian unleavened bread) instead of a refined flour pita.

Healthy Falafel Rolls Recipe

Preparation Time: 8 hours (overnight soaking of chickpeas)

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Assembly Time:  2 minutes per roll

Serves: 4

Ingredients

For the Falafels

2 cups chickpeas (kabuli chana) soaked overnight
1 medium onion finely chopped
2 tbsp finely chopped flat parsley
2 tsps cumin powder
2 tsps corriander powder
2 tbsps sesame seeds
1 tbsp gram flour (besan) for binding
3 tbsps olive oil
Salt to taste

For the rotis

3 cups whole wheat flour
2 tbsps whole wheat flour for sprinkling
1 1/2 cups water
1 tbsp oil

For the Lebanese Yoghurt Dip

1 cup hung curd
2 garlic cloves crushed
Salt to taste

For Serving

1 medium onion cut into thin slices
3-4 pickled jalapeno slices per roll

Method

Falafels 

Cook the chickpeas in a pressure cooker till done (about 15 minutes). Drain the extra water.

In a grinder, coarsely grind the chickpeas.

Add in the onion, chopped flat parsley, cumin and corriander powder, sesame seeds, salt and gram flour and make a dry mixture.

Make 1 inch balls from the mixture, flatten them a little and shallow fry on both sides on a medium high flame. Make sure they turn golden brown on both sides to get the falafel crispiness.

Roti 

Knead a pliant dough out of the wheat flour and water.

Use the oil to ensure the dough doesn't stick onto the plate or your hands. It will make for a better mixed dough.

Make a dough ball of 1 inch diameter. Sprinkle some dry whole wheat flour on the rolling suface, use a rolling pin in circular motion between both hands till you get a thin roti.

Heat a flat griddle and roast the rolled out roti on both sides till done.

Lebanese Yoghurt Dip

In a bowl mix together the hung curd, crushed garlic and salt. Whip together till you get a creamy smooth mixture.

Assembling the Rolls

Whole Wheat Rotis for Healthy Falafel Rolls

First take the roti and arrange the shallow-fried falafels on it.

Whole Wheat Rotis and Falafels for Healthy Falafel Rolls

Now add a layer of the creamy Lebanese yoghurt dip

Whole Wheat Rotis, Falafels topped with Lebanese Yoghurt dip for Healthy Falafel Rolls

Finally add in the onion slices, pickles and some parsley leaves.

Healthy Falafel Rolls

Roll it all together and serve!

Healthy Falafel Rolls

Top 10 Rainy Day Foods

Mumbai has finally seen some rains yesterday and today after a few erratic showers that marked the beginning of the monsoon a month back. As I sit in the balcony with a large mug of hot tea, rainy day food cravings hit me!

There are so many things I wish to make and eat that I came up with my list of Top 10 Rainy Day Foods... and here I am typing it away. So what would be on my mind on rainy days? Here goes

1. Kulhad Masala Chai

Hot and spiced full-bodied Assam tea, boiled to strong perfection with milk and sugar, served in a rustic earthernware kulhad - that's your Kulhad Masala Chai

Kulhad Masala Chai

The fragrance of the earth as you touch the kulhad to your mouth for a sip, followed by the minty and gingery sweetness of the tea just about defines perfection to a tea-lover like me. 

2. Bhajiyas/ Pakoras

Nothing can beat the combination of hot crispy onion bhajiyas (pakoras) and chai on a rainy day. Thin slivers of onion dipped in a gram flour batter spiced with corriander powder, red chilly powder, garam masala and turmeric powder and fried to golden brown perfection... oh sigh! 

Palak Kanda Bhajiya with Dipping Sauce

I also make this different version of bhajiyas- Palak Kanda Bhajiya with a dipping sauce which mesh the interesting tastes of spinach and onion and are served with a dipping sauce that has minty and corriander tastes added to your regular ketchup.

3. Wada Pav

Wada pav is Mumbai's most famous snack and street food and I strongly believe it must have been invented on a rainy day for rainy days! 

Wadapav

Wadas have a potato filling that has boiled and mashed potatoes cooked for quite some time with ginger, garlic and green chilly paste. This filling is then enveloped in a gram flour batter and deep fried. The prepared wada is served hot in a pav (a local bun) with a fresh green corriander and mint chutney and date and tamarind chutney Though you will find a wadapav stall at every nook and corner of the city, the best wadas are always the homemade ones... and they're so easy to prepare and gobble down! 

4. Thukpa Soup (Vegetarian)

Thukpa is a noodle based clear soup from the North East region of India. Usually served with a piece of meat, I have made a vegetarian version of the soup at home.

Thukpa Soup (Vegetarian)

This garlicky clear soup with hints of ginger and pungency and loads of noodles to twirl around your fork makes it a fun and must-have meal for when you are watching the rains from your balcony! And of course because of the noodles and less spiciness, kids love it!

5. Cutlets 

Ooooh cutlets! My favourite rainy day morning breakfast when I was at St. Xavier's.

Healthy Cutlets (but don't tell the kids that!)

A cutlet is a very simple patty of boiled potatoes and myriad vegetables cooked with spices which is then coated with semolina and fried or shallow fried. This little patty packs many flavours and enveloped in a pav (bun) it makes for such awesome rainy day comfort food. 

6. Bread Butter Jam

Rainy days can make you really hungry at times and then you want nothing but a quick fix! At these times there can't be anything better than warm, toasted bread served with butter melting on it with a dollop of jam for sweetness.

Bread butter with Apple Cinnamon Jam

One of my favourite jams to have is my home-made apple cinnamon jam which is fruity, sweet and has the perfect note of spice from the cinnamon in it!

7. Ragda Patties

I can have chaat any time and anywhere! And I am sure there are many people like me! While pani puri is my go-to chaat at all times, rainy days call for some hot chaat that is filling too... and so on rainy days I make ragda patties.

Ragda Patties

Ragda patties has soft potato patties served with a spicy white chickpea curry (ragda). This is then topped with date and tamarind chutney and mint and corriander chutney, sev, chopped onions and fresh corriander. Hot ragda patties with lots of sweet and tangy flavours makes for a great rainy day chaat!

8. Paranthas

Imagine a cool rainy day when the skies are grey and you are served a hot parantha right off the tawa with a big dollop of butter... sounds just about right, doesn't it?

Delhi ki Paranthe Wali Gali Ke Paranthe

Paranthas are flatbreads, usually spiced, that are made either with or without filling. On rainy days I like making these Delhi ke Paranthe wali Gali ke Paranthe. These flaky, crispy flatbreads spiced with dry spice powders between the layers are really yummy, especially when served with loads of butter!

9. Corn Chaat

Rainy days call for corn! I cannot think of any time when we've gone and got wet in the rains and not ended the day with bhutta (corn on the cob roasted on coals and served with lime juice, slat and red chilly powder rubbed all over it).

Corn Chaat

At home, I prefer making corn chaat on rainy days with lots of boiled sweet corn, chopped onions and tomatoes and masalas for the twist and taste.

10. Oats Upma

Oats upma can be one of those healthy yet yummy things people on a diet can have on a rainy day. A large bowl of this upma can make for a great breakfast or a light lunch or dinner when watching those rains fall away.

Oats Upma

Oats upma is a recipe I tried when I was craving upma but there was no rawa (semolina) at home. So, I made the upma in the traditional way and just substituted oats for rawa and voila! I had another tasty and very healthy dish ready to eat!

So here's my list of favourite rainy day dishes... what are your's?

Pan Seared Aubergines with a Yoghurt Dip

Aubergines or brinjals are one of my favourite vegetables but no one at my home likes them really so they rarely come home. I have adapted and tried this dish from a recipe I read a few days back. It is a pretty simple dish with lovely complexities of flavours. I am now hoping that others at home like it too so that I can make aubergines more often at home! This will make for a great party dish too. It's simple, quick to cook and easy to eat!

Pan Seared Aubergines with a Yoghurt Dip

Pan Seared Aubergines with a Yoghurt Dip

Ingredients

For the Pan Seared Aubergines

1 large aubergine or brinjal

1 tbsp olive oil

Salt to taste

For the Dip

3 tbsps yoghurt

1 garlic clove crushed

10 fresh corriander leaves finely chopped

5 fresh mint leaves finely chopped

Salt to taste

Method

Pan Seared Aubergines

Pan Seared Aubergines

Cut the aubergines into half inch rounders.

Aubergine rounders

Rub each slice with olive oil and season with the salt. Heat a pan and cook these slices on both sides. 

Cooking the aubergine slices on the pan

The best way to know that these are cooked is to see the skin colour. If the aubergines are done, the skin will turn brownish throughout the width of the slice. If the middle is still purplish, let it cook for a bit more.

Yoghurt Dip

Yoghurt Dip

The yoghurt needs to be thick and creamy for this dip. You can either hang it for half an hour or use the trick I have recently learned that I used. Put the yoghurt on your everyday chhalni with a bowl under for the water to drip into.

Yoghurt-chhalni trick

Leave the yoghurt like this for about 15 minutes and voila! I collected about half a bowl of water from 3 tbsps of yoghurt using this trick. 

The water collected from the yoghurt

Whisk in the crushed garlic clove, the fresh herbs and salt till it becomes a nice creamy dip. 

Adding the garlic and fresh herbs to the yoghurt

There are two serving options. You can serve the aubergines with the dip on the side.

Pan Seared Aubergines with the Yoghurt Dip on the Side

You can also serve a dollop of the dip on each aubergine slice.

Pan Seared Aubergine with the Yoghurt Dip on the Top

Corriander Mint Chutney

My best memory of this green goodness is from about five years back. A friend had come home to help me with Maths for an entrance exam. After we were done, in true Indian hospitality spirit, I had prepared hot fresh theplas for him to eat and I had served this chutney with it. He eats a bite of the theplas dipped in this chutney and goes, "The chutney is great!" And I was thinking, I just put in effort to make hot theplas for you and all you can think of is the chutney? That was a real wow moment for me!

And it has happened many times with me when people have specifically enjoyed the chutney and given it a special mention! Here's the recipe of this attention stealing chutney!

The attention stealing chutney

Ingredients

1 bunch corriander leaves
1/2 bunch mint leaves
1 tbsp daliya
2 green chillies
1/2 tsp sugar
Juice of half a lemon
Salt to taste

Method

Wash and clean the corriander and the mint leaves and separate them from their stems.

My favourite greens with all their possibilities

Roast the daliya on a low flame for about two-three minutes till they release a dry earthy roasted aroma.

Daliya being roasted

Put in the greens, the daliya, the slit chillies, the lemon juice, the sugar and the salt into a mixer bowl with a little water and blend well to form a smooth paste.

Blending the chutney

Serve as a dip for your favourite savoury snack.

Apple Cinnamon Jam

The apple and cinnamon combination has been inspiring me quite a bit off late.

Apples and Cinnamon: My Inspiration

Apple and Cinnamon: Some more inspiration!

 After apple cinnamon oats, I now present my first ever attempt at making jam... apple cinnamon jam!

Presenting Apple Cinnamon Jam!

In this jam, the tartness of apples and the warmth of cinnamon are balanced out by the sweetness of sugar. It pairs amazingly well with toast and salted butter. A bottle of this jam can make a thoughtful handmade gift for someone too! 

Here is the recipe for this simple piece of joy!

Ingredients

500 gms apples

1/2 cup water

8 tbps sugar

1 tsp cinnamon powder

1/2 lemon juice

Method

Sterilise a glass bottle by washing it with soap and then boiling it with water for 15 minutes. Put the glass bottle in when the water is cold and you're heating it up. Putting a glass bottle in boiling hot water will cause it to crack!

Wash, peel and dice the apples in 1/2 inch cubes. You can grate them if you wish too. They are going to be mashed anyways to make the jam.

Diced apples

Heat a pan, add in the diced apples and 1/2 a cup of water. Stir it on a high flame for a couple of minutes till the water starts boiling and the apples start releasing their juices. Lower the flame and cover the pan till the apples cook through. This should take about 12-15 minutes but it is a good idea to keep checking the apples. 

Covering the apples to let them cook

Once the apples are cooked, remove the cover and use a potato masher to mash them thoroughly in the pan. Keep the flame low while doing this.

Mashing the apples in the pan

Now comes our flavour maker: add in the sugar evenly across the mashed apples. Keep the flame on low. Stir in properly and keep stirring so that the sugar doesn't burn till it is dissolved.

Stirring the sugar in

Once it is dissolved, you will need to stir it every 30 seconds. Do this till the jam starts leaving the sides of the pan and you have achieved the desired consistency of the jam. This should take about 10 minutes on the low flame. About a minute or so before you turn off the flame, or simply when the jam starts leaving the sides of the pan, add in the cinnamon powder and stir it in well. Don't put the cinnamon powder in too early as the flavour of cinnamon increases as you cook it and will become too strong and overpowering. 

Once you remove from the pan, cool the jam a little, add in the lemon juice and mix it in well.

Apply liberally on a buttered toast and serve your special handmade Apple Cinnamon jam with love!

Apple Cinnamon jam on a buttered toast

Hummus Platter

Special occassions call for special creations. My little brother had his 22nd birthday (okay, so he is not so little anymore then!) on Wednesday and I wanted to gift him something made from my love for cooking. He loves trying different types of cuisines that I try at home quite often. So I made something from a new cuisine with my twist to it for him: a Hummus platter. I made the Hummus platter with three types of Hummus: Regular Hummus, Basil Hummus and Spicy Hummus with whole wheat pita bread. He loved it! So it was quite a success!

Hummus Platter

The above picture has the Basil Hummus in the front, the Regular Hummus in the middle, and the Spicy Hummus at the farther end. 

Regular hummus is a post I have already done. You can click on the title to go to it!

Basil Hummus

Ingredients

1 cup chickpeas soaked overnight
5 tbsps seasame seeds
8-10 garlic cloves
6-7 leaves of fresh Italian basil
3 tbsps olive oil
Salt to taste
Water to adjust consistency

Method

Pressure cook the chickpeas. Roast the seasame seeds in a pan on a low flame till they are brownish and release their aroma. Blend with a little water to make the tahini paste.

In the blender, blend the garlic cloves, the basil leaves, the tahini paste and the salt to form a smooth paste. Add in the cooked chickpeas and olive oil and blend. Add water to adjust consistency as desired.

To serve, create a little depression in the middle and pour some olive oil into it (see picture above).



Spicy Hummus

Ingredients

1 cup chickpeas soaked overnight
5 tbsps seasame seeds
8-10 garlic cloves
6-7 leaves of fresh Italian basil
3 tbsps olive oil
1 1/2 tsps of red chilly powder
1 tsp of cumin powder
Salt to taste
Water to adjust consistency

Method

Cook the soaked chickpeas in the pressure cooker. Make the tahini paste by roasting seasame seeds as described above and then blending them with a little water to form a smooth paste.

Blend together the chickpeas, the tahini paste, the garlic cloves, the olive oil, salt and the red chilly and cumin powder. Keep adding water in little quantities till the desired consistency of the dip is reached.

Serve with some olive oil on it (see picture below).

Serve the different types of Hummus with pita bread toasted in a little olive oil and enjoy!

The three types of Hummus served with olive oil on them

Hummus

For me, memories get attached to a food experience. So apart from the taste, flavours, touch, smell and textures of the food I am eating, the memories I create become an integral part of the food experience. So when I want to revisit those memories, I try and cook that dish in the kitchen. Since yesterday I have wanted to revisit some beautiful memories I have created eating hummus with fried pita bread from a small shop in the food court of a local mall so here I have been able to cook it today (the chickpeas need overnight soaking!)

Hummus is a traditional Lebanese dip made of chickpeas with a drizzle of olive oil on top served with hot and fresh soft pita breads (though fried pita bread sticks make for an interesting texture combination). Though not bland, it doesn't have too many complicated flavours (and isn't a complicated recipe!) and goes well with chips, khakra, and other such kinds of bread! It is also a spread used in falafel sandwiches and rolls.

Hummus served with olive oil and a drizzle of paprika

Hummus

Ingredients

1 cup chickpeas soaked overnight
5 tbsps seasame seeds
8-10 garlic cloves
3 tbsps Olive oil
Salt to taste
Water to adjust consistency

Method

Soak the chickpeas overnight at least for 10 to 12 hours and cook in a pressure cooker till done.

To make the tahini paste (that can be used in baba ghanouj, another Lebanese dip), toast the sesame seeds lightly in a thick bottomed pan on slow heat till they are slightly brown and before they start popping out of the pan like popcorn. Blend this in a food processor or mixer with 1 tbsp of the olive oil or a bit more to ensure it isn't dry.

To make the hummus, blend in a mixer or food processor the chickpeas, garlic, tahini paste and salt  with about 2 tbsps of the olive oil and water as desired to get a thick dip like consistency.

Serve in a bowl with olive oil poured on top.

Serving tip: I serve with a pinch of red chilly powder and roasted jeera powder sprinkled on top as it goes wonderful with the flavours of the dip and suits the Indian pallet's penchant for spices.

Tip 2: I also add 1 tsp of curd to the hummus mixture to add a beautiful texture and a depth of flavour.

Hummus ready to be eaten!

Just another angle shot of the hummus

Bengali Style Pineapple (Annarser) Chutney

My love affair with Bengali food began recently about 10 months back when I was introduced to the authentic version in Calcutta. From street foods to the classic Bengali meal (Bhojohori Manna), and the REAL Bengali sweets: rossogulla, shandesh etc, the love affair has just kept growing.

Today, I tried my hand for the first time at a small but an essential part of the traditional Bengali meal: the chutney ('chaatni'). I made a pineapple chutney borrowing the recipe online, ofcourse with my own twist on it! 

Annarser (Pineapple) Chutney

Ingredients

1/4th large pineapple chopped

2 tsps oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/4th inch ginger chopped

2 bay leaves

1 cup water

4 tbsps sugar

Method

In a pan, heat the oil and add the mustard seeds to crackle. After the mustard seeds crackle add in the ginger and the bay leaves. Add in the chopped pineapple and sautee a bit.

Pineapples being sauteed in the tadka

Now add the water and the sugar and stir and cook till the chutney thickens.

Cool and serve. In a traditional Bengali meal, a course is papad served with chutney. 

The chutney

The chutney up close

The next time I am going to try and chop the pineapples a bit finer and make the chutney a little more syrupy. Though it turned a little bit dryish than what I have seen, the taste was brilliant! 

Homemade Pizza Sauce

Pizzas have seeped into our regular food so much so it has almost become a staple. Move over Pizza Hut and Dominos, every small and big restaurant including roadside stalls and college canteens serve it, even if its just a tomato ketchup with grated processed Amul or other cheese version. I know my aunty's very traditional  Gujju kitchen also has it once every couple of weeks because they enjoy it.

I believe that what makes or breaks a pizza is the sauce that is used to flavour it. The toppings or the cheese do not have much of a flavour of their own and the sauce adds layers of taste to the pizza. Here is a recipe of my homemade pizza sauce.

A fully loaded vegetarian pizza with the homemade pizza sauce

Homemade Pizza Sauce (for 4 8 inch pizzas)

Ingredients

2 tbsps olive oil

2 medium onions finely chopped

2 bay leaves

3-4 whole peppercorns

4 medium sized tomatoes pureed

 1/2 cup ketchup
1 1/2 tsps dried oregano or mixed dried herbs (thyme, basil, oregano, parsley and rosemary)

Salt to taste

Method

In a deep pan heat the oil and add the bay leaves and the peppercorns when the oil is heated. Add the chopped onions and saute till pink. Then add the pureed tomatoes and cook. Stir in the ketchup, the herbs and the salt to taste. 

To make a pizza, toast the base as desired, spread a layer of the sauce, the cheese and the desired toppings (three kinds of peppers, American corn, olive slices etc). Cover and cook till the cheese melts and serve hot!

Cheese and olives pizza with the homemade pizza sauce