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.
Deepali Gupta sends in a recipe for Tangy Pizza Bhindi:
Ingredients:
- 250 gms bhindi (lady's-finger), chopped in 1/2" pieces breadth-wise
- 1 cup finely chopped onions (and/or tomatoes)
- 2 finely chopped green chillies
- 2 tsp oil
- 1 tsp saunf seeds (fennel seeds)
- 1/2 tsp dhania powders (coriander powder)
- 1/2 tsp channa masala powder (this can be bought at any supermarket)
- 1/2 tsp oregano and chilli flakes
- Salt and lime juice to taste
Method of preparation:
- Pour the oil into a pan and when hot, add the saunf, green chillies and onion.
- Fry till onions are tender.
- Add the chopped lady's-finger and the dhania, channa masala and cover to cook for 10 minutess on a low flame
- Once the lady's-finger is tender, turn off the heat and add salt, oregano, chilli flakes and lime juice.
- Mix well and the tangy pizza bhindi is ready to be packed!
Lakshmi Grandhim sent in two quicky recipes. The first is a Chapati Roll recipe:
Ingredients:
- 2-3 chapatis (freshly made or day-old chapatis)
- 1 grated carrot
- 1 finely chopped onion
- 1 tomato with pulp removed and finely chopped
- 1/4 tsp pepper powder
- 1/2 chopped green chilly
- 1 tsp olive/sunflower oil
- Salt to taste
Method of preparation:
- Heat the oil and add the chopped green chillies and onion and saute till they change color.
- Add grated carrots and saute till they are done.
- Now, add chopped tomato and saute till the skin of tomato wilts.
- Sprinkle little pepper powder and salt and remove from stove. You can garnish with coriander.
- Spread the above veggies on the chapatis and make a roll. You can pack it for lunch or have it for breakfast. (The veggie paste also serves as a good spread over bread.)
The second is Broken Wheat Pongal/Dalia Pongal:
Ingredients:
- 2 cups broken wheat (dalia)
- 1/2 cup yellow lentils or split, deskinned green beans (hesarubele)
- 1 cup mixed vegetables of your choice
- 10 green chillies, slit lengthwise
- 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
- 2 curry leaves
- 1 tbsp oil
- Salt to taste
- Lemon juice (optional)
Method of preparation:
- Roast broken wheat on hot pan till the raw smell of wheat dissappears and you start getting the aroma of roasted wheat. Remove from heat and keep aside.
- Roast yellow lentils or split, deskinned green beans (hesarubele) in the same hot pan till golden brown.
- Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add mustard seeds. When sputtering stops add green chillies, chopped onions and all other vegetables along with curry leaves. Sautee for two minutes.
- Add in roasted broken wheat, lentils and mix adding 3 1/2 cups of water and some salt.
- Allow the mixture to boil. Check the amount of salt salt and adjust if required.
- Close the cooker lid and cook for three whistles. Set the pressure cooker aside and let it cool.
- This dish does not taste good when hot. You read it right! Serve an hour after it's cooked. It is great for packing in your lunch box as it will have time to cool. By lunchtime the broken wheat would have settled down and it'll taste good. If you eat it hot, you may feel as though you are eating half cooked wheat.
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!