Like Indian food but not the calories?

[andtckrtoo]

Found this great recipe - tried it last night and YUM! even my Indian DH loved it. I served it with some green chutney (easy to make, too) and a salad...

Samosa Quesadillas

Potato- 1 medium sized one boiled
Onion-1 small one chopped
Frozen Green peas-1/2 cup defrosted
Red chili powder-1/4 tsp
Coriander powder-1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds-1/2 tsp (toasted and powdered)
Black Pepper-1/4 tsp
Turmeric-1/8 tsp
Garam Masala- 1/2 tsp
Cilantro leaves-3 tbsp chopped
Salt-1/4 tsp (to taste)
Lemon Juice-1/2 tsp
Canola/Vegetable oil -1 tbsp
Grated cheese- about 4-5 tbsp
Oil for brushing
6 small tortillas or 2 big tortillas.
Preparation:
1. Heat the oil in a deep skillet and add the onions. Sauté the onions for a few minutes and add the spice powders, stirring further to cook the powder. Add the peas and cook till the peas get cooked, without adding any water. Stir in the chopped potatoes, lemon juice, salt and cilantro leaves. Mix well and take it of the flame. It should be a dry mix. The potatoes should be dry. I normally cook it in the microwave as I can never get it to boil in water and yet be dry on peeling.
2. Using a cast iron pan or skillet, place one tortilla on the skillet, spread the filling and cheese and cover with the second one. Now press down on the tortillas with something heavy for a minute till the cheese melts and starts sticking. Cook on one side for a minute or two, flip over and repeat till it gets toasty.

For Vegans - skip the cheese. It honestly did not add too much to the recipe.

 

[star_dust]

sounds delicious! thanks!

 

[Gayle]

Thank you, Christine!! I'm printing this off now.

Would you mind posting the recipe for the green chutney? I'm all for easy.

 

[andtckrtoo]

Gayle - not at all... Here's the recipe for Green Chutney - it's also good as a spread for sandwiches (replaces mayo, mustard...) and for many other things. You can add mint leaves if you want as well:

Cilantro Chutney:

1 bunch Cilantro (stems removed)
1 small onion
1 tomato
1 jalapeno pepper (I use Serranos as they are hotter)
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt


Blend the first four ingredients in a blender in this order: start with the tomato, then add the onion and pepper, and lastly the cilantro, this way you will not have to add any water to blend, the whole mixture will be watery enough once you are done. If you do have to add water, add the minimum amt possible.

Add lemon juice,salt, and ground cumin. You can adjust these to taste. The result should be slightly tart.

This will keep indefinitely in the fridge in a sealed jar.

 

[nancy324]

Christine,
Reading your recipe almost made me want to <GASP> cook . I love every single ingredient in that recipe. :9 :9 :9 :9 :9 :9

 

[lainiefig]

Wow, this recipe looks sooo good. I love Indian food. Gotta go hook up to the printer now.

[font face="comic sans ms" font color=teal]***Lainie***

My fitness blog: http://web.mac.com/lainiefig/iWeb/Site/Exercise/Exercise.html

 

[andtckrtoo]

Nancy - we'll have you heading out for a good cast iron skillet yet. :+ It is very good, and it's easy.

Lainie - I love Indian food, too, and I agonize over the fact that it's so high in fat and calories. Another good thing, if you eat meat and have an Indian store nearby, is to grill some chicken and some rice and serve it with whole wheat tortillas and some mango achar. It gives the flavor without all of the calories. We do that a lot.

 

[atiman]

I love Indian food, too, and I agonize over the fact
>that it's so high in fat and calories. Another good thing, if
>you eat meat and have an Indian store nearby, is to grill some
>chicken and some rice and serve it with whole wheat tortillas
>and some mango achar. It gives the flavor without all of the
>calories. We do that a lot.

I cook Indian food without it being high in fat or high in calories. I just spray the pan and add a tiny bit of oil to saute the oinions, garlic, ginger and spices. If it starts to stick then I add a few drops of water, chicken broth or water down tomato paste. As long as you cook the spices long enough, you'll get the flavor without all the fat.

I know what I cook is very good. My (Indian) parents, especially my father, usually have me cook the curries since I get them very flavorful.

Most traditional daily Indian foods are not cooked like what you get at the restaurants. Most of the food aren't cooked with cream or those high fat products. These are usually for special ocassions. I have a very difficult time eating at Indian restaurants, too. They more than "way" overdo the oil.



Namita

 

[Manmohini]

Yes, I agree with Namita. Indian Food that is served at restaurants in North America is overly fried and fatty, but Indian food doesn't have to be that way. My husband and I are vegans and cook mostly Indian food. You don't need to chaunce to bring out the flavor in spices. We sometimes steam veggies and add even dry, ground powders (coriander, cumin, tumeric, etc) to a cold oil mixture. The spicing tastes wonderful. You also don't need to use heavy whipping cream as they do in many restaurants. We have found that South Indian restuarants in America tend to better than other Indian restaurants in terms of tastiness and healthfulness.

We make a stuffed bitter melon which many people pan fry but find that baking it makes it taste just as good. Even the more opulent Indian recipes can be tweaked to make them lighter, but as Namita points out, in India, opulent food is not consumed every day but only on special occasions or festival days.
Manmohini

 

[Gayle]

Thanks, Christine!

 

[andtckrtoo]

Namita and Manmohini - I absolutely agree that traditional Indian cooking does not use a lot of oil or heavy ingredients, but relies on spices for flavoring. My husband is Indian and a lot of my friends are. Believe me, I'm spoiled by home cooking, and I rarely go for Indian food outside, unless to the one restaurant in our area that is good.

Unfortunately, many of the recipes I see are too Americanized to really be any good. This one was different and I enjoyed it a lot. Plus, I LOVE Samosas - which are traditionally deep fried - but this gives me that flavoring, without the deep frying.

My DH is cooking for friends tomorrow night... Curried chicken, chick peas, and a lamb/spinach dish that is to die for. I'm going to be waddling all day Sunday.