Tuna pinwheel

Click: FLOUR

By September 2008, my four year old will be in kindergarten. The thought of packing her lunch scares me. It got to be something that can be eaten easily, is tasty and appealing to the eye and, of course, delicious. Hmm! Sandwiches are an easy option – easy to make and easy for a kindergartner to eat.

So other than those good old chutney sandwiches, what else? Tuna came to my mind as that is what I eat when I need something quick on the run. Here is a healthy tuna sandwich, sans mayo but with spices.



Ingredients:

• 1 onion sliced
• 1 tomato chopped
• 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
• Pinch of fenugreek seeds (optional)
• 2 cans of tuna in water (drained)
• 3-4 sun dried tomatoes in oil chopped
• Few sprigs of coriander leaves chopped
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• ¼ tsp chili powder
• ½ tsp of coriander powder
• Salt to taste

Method:
Heat a tbsp of oil in a pan and add the fenugreek seeds. Within a few seconds it will emit its aroma, add the sliced onions and sauté till translucent. Add the ginger garlic paste and sauté for a few seconds. Add the tomatoes and sauté till the tomatoes are mushy and the oil starts to separate. Add the chopped sun dried tomatoes and turmeric, chili and coriander powders. Add the drained tuna and salt. Saute till the moisture from the tuna evaporates. Add the chopped coriander leaves. Let it cool.


To make the pinwheel
Take the slice of bread and flatten it with a rolling pin.
Remove the crust. Spread the tuna mixture on the bread and roll it.

Khandvi

This is one of my favorite teatime snacks, I used to have it at my gujju friends' place when I was growing up in Mumbai. It also used to be my favorite shopping snack, ie, my snack of choice when out shopping.

I tried making Khandvi a few times at home, whenever I craved for it. However, to my disappointment, it was always a big flop. I could get the taste right, but would never be able to roll it. In the end I would eat the shapeless flops as they were.

The key to making Khandvi is to get the batter to the right consistency and to get it to roll (like a Swiss roll). So since this month, Gujrati cuisine is the theme of Regional Cuisine of India (RCI) (hosted by Mythili @ Vindu), I thought this is the perfect time for me to give this yummy dish a try. I started my search online to get the right recipe. I came across this recipe from the easy cook book blog by Preeti and Sachin. I used garlic red chili paste instead of ginger garlic paste.

Khandvi has a soft texture that melts in your mouth. The buttery taste comes from the yogurt; the chili paste gives it a mild kick. The sweet crunchy grated coconut along with the mustard and fresh coriander makes this dish perfect for a teatime snack.

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup yogurt
• ¼ cup besan/gram flour
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp hing/Asaefoetida
• 1 tsp garlic and red chili paste
• ¼ tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp sugar
• Salt to taste
• Oil

Tempering:

• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• a pinch or two of dried red chili flakes (optional) or few green chilies slit horizontally
  

Garnish:

• 2 tsp grated coconut
• ½ tsp sesame seeds
• Chopped coriander

Method:

Use a balloon whisk to beat the yogurt, water and gram flour. Make sure there are no lumps in the batter. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

Grease 2-3 plates or thali’s and keep aside.

Heat the batter in a pot(preferably a non-stick) on a low flame. Stirring continuously (I used my trusty silicone balloon whisk). Stir it for around 7-8 minutes until the batter thickens and starts to coat the whisk.
Spread the mixture on the greased plates in a circular motion (as when you make a dosa). Let it cool. It is important that the mixture should be cool - around 10 minutes. This is where I was impatient and went wrong when I made it earlier and the whole thing flopped.

Roll the Khandvi and cut it in bite size pieces. Arrange them in a serving dish.

Tempering:

Heat oil and add the mustard seeds. When the seeds pop, add the chili flakes (optional). Turn off the heat and pour over the Khandvi. Garnish with gated coconut, sesame seeds, and chopped coriander.