Sweet- Savory Crepes and School Lunch Box Week 2

Savory Crepes is what my mother called Dim er Parota. I mean she didn't know what savory crepe was. She just made Dim er Parota and it was fantastic.

Once I knew what crepe was I started making the savory version like my Mother with onion and green chilies in the batter or the version without them which could be slathered with something sweet like Nutella.

It all starts with one single batter.

In one wide mouthed bowl put

1 Cup of Maida/AP Flour
3/4th Cup of Milk
2 eggs
pinch of salt
1/2 cup of water
1 tsp of Oil

Make a smooth batter.

Now if you want savory crepes to the above batter add
finely chopped onions(quarter of an onion)
finely chopped green chillies(1 tbsp)

For sweet crepes skip the onion and chili. Add a little sugar to the batter and maybe a few drops of vanilla.

Now put a non-stick tawa or griddle on the stove. Grease it lightly. You can just rub it with a stick of butter or use few drops of oil.

Pour 1/4th cup of batter in the center of the pan and then swirl it around to make a round. This step is similar to that of a pancake or utthapam.

Cook for a minute or until you see the edges turning golden curling up. By now it should be easy to slid a spatula under it.

Flip and cook the other side for 1 more minute. You will see a few brown spots on the surface.

Gently take it out on a plate and continue with the next.

For savory crepes you can add a stuffing at the center and then fold the crepe around it

1. A green pea stuffing like the Koraishuti Kochuri stuffing is great.

2. Usually I make a potato stuffing with boiled potatoes coarsely mashed and sauteed with some onion in olive oil

For sweet crepes, slather the inside with nutella and roll the crepe.

Organic Spinach and Cheese Ravioli from Costco -- This is a big favorite with both my girls and it indeed tastes very good. I cook it according to package directions. Then heat some olive oil in a pan. Add the marinara sauce. Gently add the cooked ravioli in a single layer. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the raviolis are lightly golden on both sides. Next day heat and pack in a thermos.
Need To Buy -- Organic Ravioli from Costco

Lemon Rice -- Big Sis loves lemon rice so much that she could live on it. I have a very simple version of it where I put cooked rice in a bowl. Then I heat little oil+ghee in a small kadhai. Temper the oil with curry leaves, green chilli and mustard seeds. I also add a pinch of turmeric powder to this. I then add this oil+ghee to the rice. I also add lime/lemon juice, salt and sugar to taste, Mix it well. I add fried peanuts if the kids want it
Need to Buy -- Rice, Curry Leaves, Lime/Lemon/Lime Juice, Peanuts



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School Lunch Box -- Week 1

So, the holidays are over and we are all back to routine tomorrow. January and February are the coldest months here and with all the glitz and the glamour of festivals that start from October being over, the start of the year looks kind of bleak. A new project, new resolutions seems to be necessary to push through these two months until Spring arrives and we can dump the resolutions and go back to having fun.

The last few weeks have particularly been a whirlwind with me. I went on my first solo trip to India for a cousin's wedding and though it was only for a week (or 9 days as Little Sis will correct me), there was a lot of guilt and emotions tied to traveling sans the kids. I thought someone would be miserable (me or them) but it turned out to be good though. The girls managed fine with their Dad and friends while I had a great time at the wedding with my parents. I was back just before Christmas to wrap gifts to put under the tree and welcome friends over for the Christmas break. Mostly the husband-man did the cooking but I did make a date-apple cake, chicken roast and butternut squash soup for the Christmas dinner. This was followed by Dilwale, night long adda and more friends.

Then there was the New Year's eve party at my friend's place with great company. New Year's Day was welcomed with Koraishutir Kochuri, Aloor Tarkari and another friend. The finale to the holidays was watching Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. Mesmerizing show and the experience will help us survive school tomorrow.

There has been a lot of binge eating the last couple of months and we are trying to get back to more simple homecooked meals. There is nothing that keeps you fit like a home made meal even if it is nothing but plain dal-rice. Dal and rice is not a favored option when packed for school lunch though so we have to get creative there.

 I will try to post the Weekly school lunch box menu here with recipes for reference. You need to know some thing about them:

• These can double up as dinner the night before or the same day. 
• Since I am not great at rolling parathas or rotis, you won't be seeing much of those here. 
• The lunch that I pack are all made the night before and warmed and packed in the morning.
• Also one day a week, the girls get to pick school lunch and that depends on the menu provided by the school.
• Finally, take this as a base and create your own depending on what dishes are preferred at your home.

Be creative. And have a meal cooked at Home. It is not that difficult.

Homemade Marinara Sauce and Pasta -- Make marinara sauce according to the recipe. Then follow the pasta recipe in the same post.  To make pasta with Broccoli, boil the broccoli florets separately and add the broccoli instead of the vegetables suggested in that recipe.The marinara sauce stays and can be used for another pasta dish the same week.
Add sausage or meatballs.
Need to Buy -- Organic Canned Tomatoes(Costco has good ones). Good Quality Roma Tomatoes.Basil. Garlic. Olive Oil. Whole Wheat Pasta. Broccoli.

Quinoa Pulao -- I love Quinoa and though it is not a coveted lunch box item with my kids I do pack it once in a while. Big Sis will eat the pulao made according  to this recipe though she is not a fan. Little Sis might not eat it and she will get a regular pulao instead.
Add eggs or sausage or meatballs or paneer.
Need to Buy -- Quinoa, Vegetables like carrot/cauliflower/green beans or a pack of frozen vegetables. You can be creative with the spices but some Garam Masala or Biryani Masala is a great addition.

Pasta with Roasted peppers and Ricotta -- Don't get hung on the ricotta for this one. If you have ricotta great. Otherwise just use roasted red peppers and spinach and follow recipe for pasta with Marinara. You already have the marinara sauce so why not?
Need to Buy -- Olive Oil, Whole Wheat Pasta(Penne or Farfalle), Red and Yellow peppers, Ricotta cheese

Frittata with Vegetables -- This can be made with any vegetable on hand and is super easy to make. I will make it the night before, and then warm and pack the next morning. If you have a thermos lunch box, you can cut in squares and put it in the thermos.
Need to Buy -- Eggs

Snacks 
1. This is a good season to eat Clementines. I love the cute tiny clementines from Halos and two of those make a great snack.
2. Apple slices stay good with a squeeze of lime juice and will not develop brown spots. They also area a good snack with or without nutella
3. Annie's Bunny Graham crackers from Costco are for snack this month so a pack of that will be added off and on.
4. Grapes and Cheese is another favorite snack which both my girls would prefer to have after school. Pepper Jack, Gouda or Manchiago are loved at our home.


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Baishali'r Enchor Kofta -- Green Jackfruit Kofta Curry

Enchor Kofta or Jackfruit Kofta
There was a time when if you talked about food it would always be closely linked to family.

Ma's chhanar dalna with its soft pillowy cottage cheese squares plumped with the sweet jhol, Dida'r chingri cutlet where the red-orange tail of succulent prawn peeked just so from one end of the cutlet , Boro Mashi'r jhol with gondhoraj lebu. Food was closely associated with family and recipes were mostly handed down from one generation to other, the secrets guarded zealously within boundaries defined by blood.

There were winter afternoons when that guard was let down and recipes were exchanged over fences and terraces, but those moments were rare and in between. Crochet patterns and knits and purls were more frequently exchanged than recipes. I think it was something to do with those times when the kitchen was a woman's domain and a recipe her closely-guarded personal asset.

My Mother did learn to make a variety of papad from our neighbor Jain auntie and once in a while something different like a Bandhakopir kheer from another neighbor but mostly what she cooked was what she had learned from her family. She also would try out recipes from newspapers which were sketchy and relied a lot on the cook's knowledge. Those were made with her own adaptations and so we always tagged them as ma'r recipe.

But now boundaries have expanded and we venture out to cook from books, television, internet and above all friends. Barring a few people most folks are generous with their recipes. My repertoire of recipes teems with N's jhaaler jhol, R's chicken korma, J's eggless date cake, A's broccoli pasta, S's zucchini chingri and so on. My kids often request for this mashi's chicken or that mashi's shrimp scampi.

Sometimes these recipes are more helpful than the original as they have more precise measures and adapt with the ingredients easily available now. Though not linked by blood these recipes have a tie of their own.

Today's Enchor er Kofta recipe is my friend Baishali's.

I have known Baishali from a time when we were unencumbered with social media and thus related obligations. We happened to meet through a common friend and the lovely, warm person that B is, she immediately invited us to their home.

At that time when cooking was not something that came easy to me, Baishali and her husband were cooking up a gourmet storm. I still remember the whole red snapper that her husband cooked and the baked egg she made on our first visit to their home. The food was beyond delicious and those baked eggs have been since made several times by the husband-man to rave reviews.

We still call it "Baishali'r baked dim, as in "Achha party te ki Baishali'r dim ta hobe?"