Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Rotis and an Award!


I just received another award!! It's the good chat award from Cham of Spice Club. Thank you so much for thinking of me, dear! Our friendship started in the early days of our blogs. Cham, I still have some of the masala powder you sent me for arusuvai. I think of you every time I use it!

One other topic is about the Open Sesame event at Dining Hall. As you probably know, voting has started. If you liked my okra corn cakes, please log into Dining Hall and vote for me. To vote, click here. Thanks to all in advance!!

Coming to the food part of this post, I'm going to write about 2 rotis. One has been in my drafts for a while and the other is newer. They are dill-vegetable roti and spinach-corn roti.

Dill-Vegetable Roti:

This one came about when I was thinking about akki rotis I've had in the past. I don't know if it was the person who was making it or what, but I haven't been a fan of the texture of akki rotis that I've had to date. No offense to anyone! However, I love the flavor components involved and decided to change things around to my taste.

The result is a soft roti that is loaded with the goodness of vegetables and perfumed with the fragrance of fresh dill. It explodes with flavor and is a meal in and of itself!

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour/atta - 2 cups
Fresh dill, chopped - 1/4 cup
Zucchini - 1 small, grated
Carrot - 1 medium, grated
Onion - 1 small, finely chopped
Green chillies - 4-5, or to taste, finely chopped
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tsp
Warm water to mix dough

Method:

Mix the flour with oil and salt. Add all of the other ingredients with warm water to make a slightly stiff dough. It should be a little stiffer than normal chappathi dough. Allow the dough to rest for 15-30 minutes. Then, roll out using flour as required. The thickness will be a little thicker than chappathis. Fry on hot tava/griddle adding a few drops of oil until brown spots appear on both sides.

Tastes great hot, but reheats well. Enjoy on its own or with pickle/curds/side dish!


Spinach Corn Roti:


This one came out of a bit of randomness. I think I was still in a corny mood after making my okra corn cakes (excuse the pun!) and decided to try corn flour in a roti. I had some frozen spinach on hand and was able to throw these together. The taste was awesome, but these should definitely be eaten hot. They won't reheat well, so just keep that in mind.

Ingredients:

Corn flour - 1 cup
Whole wheat flour/atta - 1 cup
Frozen spinach - 1/2 cup (I didn't squeeze it dry)
Green chillies - 4-5 or to taste, chopped
Garlic - 2 cloves, grated
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece, grated
Chilli powder - 1 tsp, or to taste
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Amchur (dried mango) powder - a pinch, optional
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tsp to mix into the dough
Warm water

Method:

Mix the oil and salt into the flours. Now, add the remaining ingredients except water. Toss to combine and add enough warm water to make a slightly stiff dough. Allow to rest for about 30 minutes. At this point, I wasn't able to roll the rotis out, so I just took balls of dough and patted them out with my hand as thin as possible. Then, place them on a heated tava/griddle and drizzle a few drops of oil. Cook until you get brown spots on both sides and serve hot.

These came out pretty thick, so the texture was a bit different, but still tasted great! They were good on their own, but even better with a little bit of South Indian style mixed veg pickle!

Needless to say, these are both off to Srivalli for her roti mela. I'm also sending the following previously posted rotis:

Garlic-Avocado Rotis

Methi Rotis

30 comments:

Cham said...

So good to know u like my masala and still use it ! Yes, I still remember those days i started blogging and u re still there behind kalai :) U really deserve to get this one from me...
I love the variety of rotis seems very healthy!

Hetal said...

Congrats and nice recipe.
Hey I have one more treat for u in my blog..

Seema said...

Rotis sound so different & sounds interesting! Nice one & great variation too from our normal ones!

Priya said...

I bought dill only once and did not like it that much, too strong I thought. Need to give it another shot...

kamala said...

Congrats on ur award Kalai...Rotis looks yummy and nice to see with variations.Great entry

Uma said...

Congrats dear chatter! Lovely recipes for roti mela! both of them look delicious and healthy.

Madhavi said...

Congratulations on ur award gal :) Rotis looks great, very nice recipe. Thanxxx for sharing !!!

Kalai said...

Cham, thank you so much for your neverending kindness! It's great people like you that make me so happy to have entered the world of blogging! :)

Hetal, thanks so much, dear!

Seema, glad you liked them! :)

Priya, it can definitely be an acquired taste. Try starting with a smaller amount at first. :)

Kalai said...

Thanks, Kamala! :)

I guess it's a compliment, right, Uma? Thank you! :)

My pleasure, Madhavi! :)

Meera said...

Very nice rotis, dear! I make corn methi roti which is almost similar to your spinach corn roti. Great entries!

Laavanya said...

Perfect rotis for even kids who don't like veggies I think... and congratulations on your award Kalai. May the chatting coninue... :)

ST said...

Congrats on awards.....Rotis are pefect and healthy.

Arundathi said...

Love the idea of the corn roti - thanks. And btw, akki rotis are my favorite kind - I actually love the crispness of it. Gotta go check out the Garlic-Avocado Roti - sounds really unusual!

Anonymous said...

Hey congrats on the award.The rotis look yummy!

Daily Meals said...

Healthy rotis...Congrats on your award Kalai!

Trupti said...

Hey kalai, Congrats on your awards. Enjoy those awards. All roties looks delicious.

Uma said...

Hi Kalai dear, congrats on winning the open sesame! Enjoy! I am so happy for you dear!

Sagari said...

very creative rotis kalai

bha said...

nice variety of rotis...loved those corn spinach ones....congrats for your award

Pravs said...

Congrats on the award. Like the roti's. I remember making corn roti and it was good when hot...so spinach with other spices will be great in taste.

Sia said...

wonderful roties kalai. i always loved dill inspite of its strong flavour and using it in roti is just brillient.

Medhaa said...

love the varities of roti. Spinach and corn are classic combination, the roti sure must taste great.

Unknown said...

Congrats on the winning.I liked open sesame, this time i am also trying to participate and got thru the riddle part :D.I know how you must be feeling if you u hear someone back home is sick.Loved both the rotis and beetroot halwa.

Lisa Turner said...

I don't know how I could possibly figure out which roti to try first, but I do have fresh dill growing in my backyard.

Srivalli said...

kalai dear, I didn't even know you posted for my event. Only today I was checking out your site I came know!..:((..Do send me the details in mail. Or if you can't, let me know I will try to take the details myself...

congrats on winning the open sesame...and the other awards!...enjoy!

Mishmash ! said...

Hope you re back in good spirits :)
ANd congrats :)

Shn

Namratha said...

Congrats on the award Kalai dear :)

The rotis look awesome! Very different recipes, good ones.

Raaga said...

I love the variety or rotis :-) I must bookmark to try :-)

Archana Doshi said...

You sure have a lot of ideas, WIll steal them for my kids snack box:). BTW, I am hosting a ONE DISH MEAL EVENT, I would love for you to participate. The details for the event are in my site.

Sunshinemom said...

Lovely! My Mom used to make akki rotis with only dill during my sisters pre and post delivery times - It is very good for lactation:) And this is a fun way to have it - Must give this idea to others too!