Tiffin recipes: Tangy Paneer, Masala Roti & 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.

Shrirupa  Sengupta shares her Tangy Paneer recipe:

Ingredients:

• 100 gm paneer (cottage cheese), cut into pieces
• 1 sachet tomato ketchup
• Sugar to taste
• 1 tsp oregano (optional)
• A few coriander leaves
• Salt and chilly powder to taste
• 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1 tsp kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
• 1 tsp oil

Method of preparation:

• Taste the tomato ketchup. If you don't find it sour, don't add any sugar. If you find it sour, add around 1/2 tsp of sugar.
• If you are adding oregano, add it to the ketchup with salt and mix well.
• Put in the paneer pieces.
• Cook in a pan till the paneer pieces gets coated with the sauce mixture.
• Now, add ground pepper, kasoori methi and coriander. Add a tea spoon of oil and stir the paneer pieces for a few minutes and your tiffin is ready!
• You could serve it with salad (both fruit salad and vegetable salad suit this recipe). Or with Wai Wai (a dry fried noodles of a ready-to-eat variety, available in Rs 10 packets). Or with bread/ paratha.

Swarupa Rani shares her recipe for Masala Roti:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup wheat flour
• 1 cup jowar flour (sorghum) 
• 1/2 cup rice flour
• 1/4 cup besan (gram flour)
• 1/2 cup Safal cholesterol management oil (optional)
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and grated
• 1 tsp red chilly powder
• 3-4 green chillies, finely chopped
• Small bunch of coriander, finely chopped
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/4 cup grated coconut (optional)
• Salt to taste
• 1 pinch sugar
• 1/2 cup curds
• 2 tsp oil / roti 

Method of preparation:

• Mix all the above ingrediants and make a dough adding a little water if required. Make orange-sized balls.
• Spread oil on a tava or frying pan and make a thin roti or pancake by patting with hands.
• Cook on a slow flame till the roti turns golden brown.
• Can be eaten plain or with pickle / chutney and curds.
• You can make rotis with any one or two flours listed above. You could also add finely chopped fenugreek, dill leaves, along with coriander.

K Seeta Rajani sends in her recipe for Bread Uthapam:

Ingredients:

• 3 slices bread
• 3 tbsp rice flour
• 1 green chilly
• 1 onion
• 1 sprig coriander leaves
• 1 carrot
• 1 tbsp oil
• Salt to taste
• 3 tbsp curds

Method of preparation:

• Crush the bread slices finely.
• Add the rice flour, curd and salt and mix well.
• Cut the onions into small cubes, finely grate the carrot and add it to the mixture.
• Add the coriander leaves and green chilly and prepare smooth a dough with minimal water.
• Take a pan and heat oil in it. Spread the dough on the pan evenly with fingers.
• After five minutes turn it and let it fry for another five minutes.
• Now simply remove it from the pan and slip into your tiffin box.
• This not only can be whipped up in a jiffy, it is healthy and nutritious too.

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!