Tiffin recipes: Peas Pulav, Papri Chaat & more

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.

Dhanashri Pardikar shares this recipe for Peas Pulav and Beetroot Raita:

Ingredients for Peas Pulav:

• 2 cups rice
• 1 cup green peas (frozen will do)
• 1 tsp turmeric/ red chilli powder
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp jeera (cumin) powder 
• 1 tbs dhania powder (coriander)
• 2-3 kadi patta (curry leaves) 
• 2 tbs ghee (clarified butter)

• Salt for taste

Method of preparation:

• Wash the rice in water and keep aside.
• Heat the ghee in a pressure cooker and add mustard seeds and jeera.
• Once the seeds start to crackle, add curry leaves and peas, and cook for 2 minutes.
• Then add turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, chilli powder and salt and mix well.
• Add washed rice and mix well.
• Add two cups of water and put the cooker lid on.
• Let it cook for three whistles or for 10 mins and your pulav is ready! Garnish with grated coconut and cilantro.

Ingredients for Beetroot Raita:

• 1 beetroot
• 2 tbs yogurt (curds)
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp jeera (cumin) seeds
• 2 chillies, cut in small pieces
• 1/2 tbsp hing (asafoetida)
• 1 tbsp oil
• Salt, sugar to taste

Method of preparation:

• Grate the beetroot.
• Heat the oil in a small kadhai (wok) and add mustard seeds, jeera. After the seeds crackles, add hing and chilly pieces and let it crackle. This is the tadka (tempering). 
• Then add this tadka to the grated beetroot.
• If you will be consuming the raita after 2-3 hours, then keep it in the refrigerator. Ten minutes before serving, add curds,salt and sugar and mix well. You can garnish it with cilantro.

Shobha Venkatesh sends this recipe for Tadka Rice:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cooked rice
• 2 tsp of oil
• 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp channa dal (Bengal gram)
• 1/4 tsp urad dal (black gram)
• 1/2 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
• 2-3 curry leaves
• 3 green chillies
• 1/2 medium size onions, chopped
• Salt to taste
• 2 tsp chopped coriander leaves

Method of preparation:

• Heat the oil in a pan and put all the ingredients, except salt, in same order above one after the other.
• Fry for 8 to 10 minutes, then reduce the heat, add rice and salt and mix nicely.
• Sprinkle some chopped coriander, it's ready to pack and go.

Next up is Romi Chatterjee's Papri Chaat recipe: 

Ingredients:

For Puris:

• 1 and 1/2 cup wheat flour
• 3 cups maida (refined wheat flour)
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 tsp red chilly powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/4 tsp hing (Asafoetida)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp ajwain (carom) seeds
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• Salt to taste

For Green Chutney:

• 1/2 bunch coriander leaves
• 1/2 cup grated coconut
• 2-3 drops lemon juice
• 1 green chilly
• Salt to taste

For Red Chutney:

• 4-5 dates
• 1 tbsp tamarind
• 1/4 tsp red chilly powder
• Salt to taste

For Yoghurt Mix:

• 4 cups yoghurt
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 2-3 curry leaves
• 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp oil
• Salt to taste

Other:

• 2 potatoes

Method of preparation:

For the Puris:

• Crush the cumin seeds and the ajwain seeds coarsely in a mixer.
• Mix maida, wheat flour, red chilly powder, turmeric, salt, hing,oil, crushed cumin and ajwain seeds together.
• Knead into a slightly hard dough by adding water.
• Roll out very small even size round puris of the dough.
• Deep fry in oil and keep aside.

• Mix the grated coconut, washed and chopped coriander leaves, salt, lemon juice, green chillies in a mixer to make a fine paste. Keep aside.

For the Red Chutney:

• Boil the dates and tamarind together in water till they are cooked. Remove the seeds and crush in a mixer to make a fine paste. Add salt and red chilli powder and keep aside.

For the Yoghurt Mix:

• Beat the yoghurt nicely and add to it sugar and salt.
• Heat some oil and season with mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves and then pour it hot into the yoghurt.
• Mix thoroughly and keep aside.

Final steps:

• Boil the potatoes and mash them. Add salt and little chaat powder to it.
• While serving, crush the puris a little. Put one tbsp of mashed potatoes. Then put three tbsp yoghurt mix over it. Add 1 tsp of green and red chutney. Sprinkle a little red chilly powder and chaat powder and serve!

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

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