Homemade Chicken roll for breakfast

Hello! Hello! 
Wish you a very happy new year 2022! 
I know it is a little late but January is still on and so I guess is valid. 😊
With so many posts waiting to see the light of the day here, I was wondering which one to start the year with. 
And then zeroed in on this Chicken roll or chicken kathi kabab or whatever you may choose to call it. 

The first time I bit into a chicken roll was when I was very young. A new restaurant had opened in our little town and Ma took me there for my first experience of a chicken roll. 

I remember the crisp paratha, rolled, with bits of dark coloured meat and white slices of onions peeping at the end. One bite and I fell in love with the flavours.

The paratha was sweetish, the pieces of meat had a flavour of garlic and there came some ketchup in the following bites. The crunch of the onions brought everything together. 

My next rendezvous with the chicken roll was when I was visiting my mamabari and one of the elder cousin dadas took us to a street side shop. He was studying engineering then and we young ones looked up to him as he had seen more cities than us and had so much to say. 
He taught us how to tear the wrapping paper from the roll as ate it, while expertly guiding us across the road, yapping all importantly all the while. 
I don't remember much about that particular roll. 

Then I came to Pune and was introduced to the very famous Kapila's kathi kebab on Dhole Patil road. 

As students, we would go there in the evening, get one roll each and sit on the steps of a bank adjacent to it and chat the evening away. 
I have eaten a lot many rolls henceforth in life, but nothing comes close to Kapila's kathi kebab. Ever. 
And in all these years, their masala and taste hasn't changed even an iota. 

I still go for one once in a while .... and go back in years and get flooded with memories from all those years back. 

Now I make rolls at home.
The last time I made some chicken meat balls a few days back. If you have seen my stories on insta, you will know. I baked them in the oven and it was way quicker and easier than pan frying them. 

 I have given up deep frying them ages ago. These turn out beautifully juicy inside and crisp outside.
I make a big batch and freeze them for later use.
They are so versatile and can be added to a variety of dishes. 

I also love to munch on them as snacks too. 😊

Today I treated myself to a chicken roll for breakfast . Made some soft squarish parathas that I have grown up seeing Ma make .... a result of her growing up in Delhi. 

Reheated some kabobs in the oven and crushed them lightly on the porotas .

Stir fried some onions and green chillies on the tawa as the rollwala from the street would do.

A sprinkle of dry masala spices, some drops chilli sauce and our chicken kathi roll / kathi kebab  was good to go.

With the beautiful weather outside, with the clouds hanging low on the hills beyond and a light spray of rain, I loved this little treat to myself, relaxing with my current read .... yes, I read while eating 😄

 Here's wishing you all a wonderful new year again. 
Stay safe. Stay healthy. 
And may this year bring you all the happiness and freedom that have been kept away from us by the dreadful pandemic. 
Much love 💝 

Besan chila ki dahiwali sabzi ..... part of a vegetarian meal plate

I spent most part of the last week relaxing and catching up with my reading, knitting and some bingeing on some light series on Netflix. They are mostly light romances or just simple stories with a backdrop of a small town and the people there. I had loved Virgin River and am right now on Good Witch.
Somewhere in between, I binged on the K drama Heaven's Garden. And was totally smitten by it. I will start on Crash landing on you soon.

The other day I was reading an article about this current craze for kdramas / Korean tv serials .
If you ask me the reason, I will happily give mine.
For starters, they are extremely well made.
The actors are fine, the stories clean and realistic, beautiful locations and above all, you can watch them forever without having a cringe inducing scene jumping right at you or a burst of foul language that will push you to seek for the fast forward ⏩ button.

Honestly I am totally over our desi series.
They are unnecessarily gory, filled with foul language and over the top crime and extremely distasteful scenes of physical intimacy.
I actually check out the ratings first and then decide if they are 'safe' for me to watch 😄

However I am very much a desi when it comes to home cooked food .
This lunch plate has  -  

Besan cheela ki sabzi : 

Make a thin batter with besan /  gram flour, salt, cumin seeds, hing, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and water. 

Make cheela / crepes on a flat pan or tawa like so. 

Cut into thick strips. 

Beat curd with a little besan and water in a bowl. 
Add turmeric powder, salt. 
Heat a little ghee. 
Add cumin seeds and hing. 
 
Add the curd and cook on low heat till it starts to simmer. 

Let in the chila strips and cook till they soak up enough liquid. 

Serve hot. 

Kale chane ki sabzi : 

Soak and boil black chickpeas. 
Cut potatoes into cubes. 
Chop onions and green chillies. 
Heat ghee. 
Add jeera and the onion. 
Stri fry till pink and add the potatoes. 

Add turmeric powder, coriander powder and salt. 
Cover and cook till just done. 

Add the boiled chickpeas, red chilli powder and the green chillies. 

Cover and cook till everything comes together. 

Sprinkle a little garam masala powder and serve hot. 

My oil free Hing ka achar : 

Mooli ki bhuji 

Cut radish / Mooli into strips. 
Heat oil .... I use 1 tsp of ghee. 
Add jeera / cumin seeds and hing. 
Add in the radish strips and turmeric powder + salt. 

Stir and cover. Cook till done. 

Another look of the full plate. 

 You can see the post here too.  

And here too. 

Enjoy!! 

Soupy noodles with vegetables and Chilli oil

The last few days have been very cloudy.
Not the huge, 'raring to go' kind of cumulus; but the quiet , grey ones. Slowly spreading across the sky, overcasting the city with quiet deliberation. The air has turned colder ... well it was cool all these days, but now it is positively colder.
The ghee in the kitchen has solidified.
And we have taken out the light Jaipuri covers to snuggle under.
So that is a sign.

I decided to make noodles  for lunch a few days back but B wanted something hot and soupy to sip on.
So I made this noodles soup that my youngest maasi used to make and I have grown up eating.

How to : 

Boil the noodles till they are half done.
Drain them and keep aside. 

Stir fry chopped garlic, ginger, carrots, green chilli and add some water.
You may use vegetable or chicken stock too. 

Bring to a boil.

Add salt and a little vinegar.
I added lots of crushed black pepper too .... you can add according to your liking. 

Add in the boiled noodles and a little of the water the noodles were boiled in. 

Serve topped with chilli garlic oil. 

For the Garlic chilli oil, I fried lots of chopped garlic in hot oil. 
Added chilli flakes at the end and removed from heat. 
Done! 

It makes for a great topping on any plain dish. 

 You can add pieces of chicken too , while stir frying the vegetables. 
Or drop in beaten eggs when it is boiling and make it an egg drop soup. 

Whatever way, it makes for a great hot meal. 
Perfect for any cold weather ..... damp oor otherwise. 

Enjoy!!