We invited Get Ahead readers to share quick-fix office recipes with us -- easily-prepared foods that takes less than an hour to whip up before you head to work in the morning. We've been flooded with responses and as part of an ongoing series, present three lunch recipes that you can carry in your dabba.
Shilpi Dutta shares her recipe for Egg Rolls:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup maida (refined wheat flour)
- 1/4th cup refined oil
- Salt to taste
- 3 eggs
- 1 sliced cucumber
- 1 sliced onion
- Tomato ketchup
Method of preparation:
- Knead a soft dough using maida, 4 tsp refined oil, salt and water.
- Make three balls of the dough.
- Roll each ball on a flat surface using a rolling pin and make round parathas.
- Fry in oil on a tawa and keep aside.
- Now beat one egg, add salt and put it on the tawa with hot oil to make an omelette. Put the paratha over it. Turn it upside down and place the sliced cucumbers, onions and ketchup. Roll the paratha with the stuffing inside and lunch is ready.
Vaibhavi Pandit shares her recipe for Corn Upma:
Ingredients:
- 1 packet sweet-corn kernels (easily available in any vegetable or super market)
- 1 green chilly (or as per your taste)
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1-2 curry leaves
- 1/2 tsp chilly powder
- 1 pinch asaphoetida (hing)
- 1 tbsp chopped corriander leaves
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- Salt to taste
- Cooking oil
Method of preparation:
- Boil sweet-corn kernels, along with salt, in a pressure cooker for few minutes (one whistle on high flame).
- Grind coarsely along with green chilly.
- Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds.
- When mustard seeds cracke, add hing and curry leaves.
- Then add ground corn-chilly mixture to the pan and stir.
- Add chilly powder and lemon juice and turn off the flame.
- Adjust salt if required.
- Garnish with corriander leaves.
Here's Ruchi Jain's recipe for Bread Chops:
Ingredients:
- 4 big slices bread
- 4 tsp tomato ketchup
- 4 big slices onion
- Oil for frying
For the stuffing:
- 4 medium size potato, boiled
- 1/2 inch ginger
- 8 raisins (kishmish)
- 4 clove
- 2 green cardamom
- 4 cm cinnamon stick
- 2 pinches turmeric powder
- 2 dried red chillies, finely ground
- 1 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 16 peanuts
- 1 tbsp oil
- Salt to taste
- 1 tsp lemon juice
For batter:
- 1/2 cup besan (gram flour)
- 1/2 pinch baking soda
- 1/2 pinch soda bicarbonate
- Salt to taste
For Green Chutney:
- 1 cup coriander leaves
- 1/4 cup mint leaves
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 pinch aestofodia (hing)
- 1 tsp cummin seeds
- 2 green chillies
- 1 tsp raw mango (freshly chopped) OR 1/2 pinch citric acid
- Salt to taste
For Imli Chutney (Tamarind Chutney):
- 3 tsp tamarind powder
- 6 tsp sugar
- 2 pinches red chilly powder
- 2 pinches cinnamon powder
- 1/2 cup water
Method of preparation:
For Stuffing:
- Mash the boiled potato and keep aside.
- Heat the oil in a pan and add all the dry spices saute.
- After 30 seconds add ginger paste and fry next 30 seconds.
- Add kishmish and peanuts and fry it for another 30 seconds.
- Add potato mash and fry it for five minutes till it becomes dry (sometimes it may take more /less time depending on water content in the mash.)
- Add salt, lemon juice and coriander leaves, mix and keep aside to cool.
- Make four balls of stuffing.
For Batter:
- Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and add water to make a thick batter.
- With an electric beater, beat the mixture for around 15 minutes, till fluffy (Tip: after beating, drop a small drop of batter in a glass of water. If the batter floats it means it is done, if it settle downs then it requires more beating).
For Chutneys:
- Green: Mix All ingredients and grind.
- Imli: Mix all ingredients in a bowl and keep aside.
For Bread Chops:
- Take bread slices and with the help of a cutter, cut circles of bread (one big circle from one slice).
- Spread green chuttney on the round and place one onion slice on it.
- Keep one ball of stuffing and press it little.
- Dip it in batter and fry in hot oil on medium flame. (While putting it in pan for rying, put it with the bread facing towards the base of pan when half fried then turn it upside down)
- When golden brown, place on paper napkin and cut an 'X' mark above it. (Do not cut the whole bread in pieces just cut a little deep into the stuffing), put green chuttney on one diagonal of the cut and tomato sauce on the other.
- Serve hot with imli chutney.
Do you have any quick-fix preparations that you'd like to share with us and other readers? It has to be something appetising and easily whipped up (in under an hour). Simply mail in your tiffin recipe ideas to getahead@rediff.co.in and we'll publish them right here on rediff.com
Channel your inner chef and help people economise without compromising on their meals!