Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Leftovers Heaven - Fodni Chi Chappati and Fodni Cha Bhat


Leftovers are ingredients for a whole range of yummy dishes and some so good that you deliberately keep food aside to enjoy them in a new form the next day. Two of my favorite leftover dishes are fodni chi chappati (translated as tadka chappati) and fodni cha bhat (translated as fodni cha bhat). As a kid, I would avidly wait for there to be leftover chappati and rice so that mom could make these dishes the next day. I was always advised not to eat them as fresh food is more nutritious and that made these dishes all the more inviting:D. My eagerness to eat these made me try them with fresh ingredients instead of leftovers the next day and trust me they do taste better with leftovers. I was watching a Khana Khazaana episode dedicated to reusing leftovers and there were some lovely recipes like spinach rice, rice fritters which I am definitely going to try the next time if I can have enough of these two:). I have also made curd rice with tadka, pulihora and tamarind rice with leftovers before and they taste good too. Chappati is really a luxury for me today. I make it sometimes but most times I bring it from outside. So to save it for this dish is hard sometimes and I don't get to make it as often. I now really admire the effort my mom took to fresh food especially the chappatis on the dinner table and that too with 3 kids. Whew! These women of the older generations really were super women. On that thought, here are the recipes -

Fodni Chi Chappati:

Ingredients:
  1. 4 or 5 stale chappatis - cut into small 1/2 inch size pieces, if possible do this by hand instead of a knife
  2. Yellow onion - 1 medium sized, finely chopped
  3. Curry leaves - 10
  4. Fresh corriander - 2 cupes finely chopped
  5. Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
  6. Oil - 1 tsp
  7. Turmeric - 1 pinch
  8. Green chillies - 1 finely chopped
  9. Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
  10. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
  11. Jeera - 1 tsp
  12. Salt
Directions:
  1. Heat oil and add mustard, jeera and turmeric.
  2. Once the mustard seed sputter, add the green chillies and curry leaves.
  3. After a min, add the onion and saute till well done
  4. Add the chappati, chilli powder and salt and cook till well done and the chappati start becoming a little crisp.
  5. Add the coriander and lemon juice and mix well. Take the pan off the gas.


Fodni Cha Bhaat:

Ingredients:
  1. 2 cups leftover rice
  2. Oil - 1 tsp
  3. Mustard - 1 tsp
  4. Jeera - 1 tsp
  5. Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
  6. Hing - 1/4 tsp
  7. Onion - 1 medium, chopped
  8. Green capsicum - 1, cubed
  9. Green chilli - 1 finely chopped
  10. Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
  11. Corriander - 1 cup, chopped
  12. Lemon juice - 2 tsps
  13. Salt
Directions:
  1. Heat oil in the pan and add mustard, jeera, turmeric and hing.
  2. Once the mustard seed sputter, add the green chillies.
  3. After a min, add the onions until they are not totally cooked and slightly underdone.
  4. Add capsicum and saute for 2 mins.
  5. Add the rice, chilli powder and salt. Mix well and let the rice steam and get cooked thoroughly for a few mins.
  6. Add the corriander and lemon juice and the dish is ready.
Note: When cooking with stale food, it is always important to make sure the dish is heated and cooked well.

5 comments:

Vinitha said...

Nice!!! I have tried many recipes with left over rice, but not with chapatti.. and as u said there are not many left over chapatti days :) sounds yum, will give it a try with fresh chapatti if not old ones. :)

Smita said...

Thanks Vinitha! Still waiting for your blog update:)

ditty said...

Very nice Smita.. Looks yummy too

Vindhya said...

Oh thats a good thought to use Chapati when it gets leftover, sometimes when left outside the chapati gets dry so it can be used for this . Good idea Smita. And I totally agree with you about our moms being super woman . She has always made sure each one in the family gets whats they like to eat . I now realise how picky I have been growing up and how hard it is to make different stuff for each person. Great work mommy.

Smita said...

True Vindhya:)