ninasnosh

We’ve had a very busy month and I have been less than attentive to my children’s eating habits! Realising I had been dishing out a lot of pasta (homemade sauce of course) and fish fingers  – I decided to make some vegetable roti as a heathy snack.

These are a wonderful snack and you can pack them full of almost any vegetable you have lying around. You make a spicy or a non-spicy version so they are perfect for kids. If I ever feel like my kids aren’t eating enough veg I roll out a few of these and they are eaten faster than I can cook them. They are also great to take on a picnic or if you want something tasty to pack when you are going on a long journey.

Ingredients

• 1 & 1/2 cups of Atta (chappati/roti flour) – you can buy this in the supermarket
• extra bowl of Atta for dusting
• 1 medium potato cooked in the microwave – skinned and chopped up roughly
• 1/2 cup of frozen peas – cooked
• 1 carrot chopped up and cooked
• 1 tbsp of oil
• 1 tsp of sesame seeds
• 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds
• 1 heaped tsp of ground cumin and coriander ( 2 parts coriander to 1 part cumin)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp fresh masala (optional – only if you want the spicy version)
• 1/4 tsp chilli powder (optional – only if you want the spicy version)
• small bowl of oil and teaspoon for cooking
• boil some water in the kettle

Method

1. Cook the potato in the microwave, skin and chop up roughly
2. Boil the peas and carrots
3. I didn’t do this because I was being lazy but I would generally advise roughly chopping the peas and carrots in a chopper/blender once they are cooked
4. Heat a heavy based frying pan/tawa on a low heat
5. In a large bowl add the Atta and oil – rub the oil through the Atta using your finger tips
6. Next add the rest of the ingredients to the Atta – vegetables, seeds and spices
7. Using your hands bind the mixture together to form a dough
8. The liquid from the vegetables should be enough to bind it together but you may need to add some boiled/hot water to help you bind it together
9. The dough should be soft, smoothish and not dry
10. Divide the dough into 3/4 golf ball sized balls
11. When ready to roll out the roti – roll the ball in your hand to smooth and squeeze it between your 2 palms to flatten
12. Coat each side in atta to help when you roll
13. On a lightly floured work surface or rolling board gently roll the roti – using a narrow rolling pin if possible
14. The roti should be round and about 5mm thick  – but don’t worry this will come with practice and as long as it’s even it’s a good start

To cook

1. Place the rolled out roti on to  the heated pan
2. Turn heat up slightly
3. Cook on the first  side for about 7 seconds
4. Flip over to cook on the other side 10-12 seconds
5. While it’s cooking on the second side dip a teaspoon in the bowl of oil and rub it on to the roti
6. After 10-12 seconds turn it over and rub the other side with oil
7. Cook for a further 10 seconds – turn over cook for a couple of more seconds and remove from the pan
8. The roti should be nicely toasted and not oily – adjust cooking time if needed
9. The roti is now ready to eat

I roll and cook at the same time. If this your first time making anything like this it would probably be a good idea to roll a few (or all) then cook.

Remember you can use other vegetables – sweeet potato (pre-cook), broccoli (pre-cook), spinach, methi, etc