Cooking everyday meal is not a big deal for experts but when you have to cook for a larger crowd, for a party or a get together, you tend to make mistakes. We may cook many varieties and cook a little extra food to please our guests, which eventually results in leftovers. The only thing that can be done with leftovers is: share it with your friends and family, feed the poor, or ‘Reuse to make a new dish’. Throwing away is not what I prefer. There are numerous ways to consume your leftovers with a twist, to make it a delicious food. Let us see some useful tips and quick recipes to reuse some Indian food with a new taste.
Quesadilla
This is a quick Mexican recipe which is made using tortillas. I often make using leftover chapatis. This recipe is perfect for kids who are fussy eaters as it includes some beans and veggies with their favorite cheese. Mix some boiled beans (kidney beans, black beans, pinto beans), chopped tomatoes, bell pepper and olives. Add a pinch of salt and black pepper, tomato ketchup/ red chili sauce as per taste. Sprinkle some dried herb of your choice (oregano, basil, thyme). Mix well. Now heat a pan and add some butter. Place one chapati on the pan. Add the filling onto the chapati and spread it evenly. Top it with shredded cheese and cover the other chapati over the filling. Press slightly to make sure the chapati sticks to the stuffing. Add some butter on top and flip the chapati to cook from other side. Cook until the chapatis are little crisp and the cheese melts. Quesadilla are ready. Cut the Quesadilla into 4 pieces and serve.
Vaghareli Rotli
This dish is quite common as a breakfast in Gujarat. Whenever I have some leftover chapati’s (Indian flat bread) I quickly turn it into this quick and filling meal. Roughly make small pieces of chapati or crush them. Take a pan and put some oil in it. Once the oil is heated, put some cumin seeds and let it crackle. Now add a teaspoon of chopped garlic and some chopped green chilies, and a pinch of asafoetida. To it add turmeric powder, red chili powder and chapati pieces and mix well. Add a cup of buttermilk to it. Sprinkle some salt as per your taste and a new dish ‘Vagahreli Rotli’ is ready. Garnish it with chopped cilantro. If you want a crispy version of it then omit buttermilk and add some dry mango powder to make it tangy and let it cook on low flame till the spices incorporate the chapati.
Rice Balls
If you have some excess rice, you can make a variety of dishes with it like fried rice, rice pudding, curd rice, veg pulao, rice balls (pakoras). Rice balls are a deep fried snack. Mix 2 cups cooked rice, 1 finely chopped green chili, salt as per you taste, red chili powder, turmeric powder, ½ tsp ginger garlic paste, 1 tbsp chopped curry leaves and 2 tbsp chopped cilantro, ½ tsp dry mango powder, a pinch of asafoetida and ¼ tsp caraway seeds. Mash a bit with the back of a spoon. Add 2 tbsp. gram flour, 2 tbsp. corn flour (or rice flour) and mix well till the mixture is non-sticky. Make small balls of the mixture and roll in breadcrumbs till well coated. Heat oil in a pan. When sufficiently hot, lower the flame and carefully drop the balls in the oil and fry till golden brown. Serve hot with your choice of chutney or ketchup.
Potato Sandwich
There are many different recipes using boiled potatoes (aloo): aloo paratha, paneer potato tikki, aloo chaat, potato curry and sandwich to name a few. If you got some boiled potatoes, then make some quick sandwiches. Mash the potatoes. Heat a pan and add 2 tbsp. oil to it. Once the oil is hot add mustard seeds and cumin seeds and let it crackle. Add finely chopped onions and saute till golden in color; add a tsp of finely chopped green chilies and 1 tsp ginger garlic paste. Let it cook for a minute. To it add all the dry spices turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder and stir well. Add mashed potatoes to the pan. Add salt as per taste, ½ tsp dry mango powder, chopped cilantro and mix well. Potato stuffing is ready to be used for sandwich. Stuff this potato stuffing between two bread slices and toast it in sandwich maker else you can grill it too. Potato sandwich can be relished with some cilantro mint chutney and ketchup.
Dal Paratha
Dal paratha is very easy to make and is highly nutritious. If you have some dal, which no one is willing to eat, then you can bind the paratha dough with this dal and make hot & delicious parathas. Take some wheat flour, add all the spices according to the flour like turmeric powder, red chili powder, ½ tsp. caraway seeds, 2 tbsp. flax seed powder, 2 tbsp. oil, garlic paste, and chopped cilantro. Add very little salt as dal has salt in it. Mix it well. Now make dough using dal instead of water. Your paratha dough is ready. Roll parathas and roast evenly on both the sides in a medium hot pan. Once cooked put some butter/ ghee on it. Delicious parathas are ready to serve with curd and mango pickle.
These are some of the ideas to reuse your leftover food and re-make a new recipe from the old one. If you like our recipes and have some of your reprocessed recipe which you often make, then please don’t forget to share it below. Do let us know if you try any of the above recipes. Remember to Stop Food Waste, and Save the Planet.
