Food from waste: Paratha rolls

Well, i am of the opinion to use as much natural things as possible and to make sure the waste happens to minimum. To the extent, that i recycle my kitchen waste for composting (nothing big to brag about, as everyone should do this) and making sure to eat fresh and natural than the processed stuff. I am reading a lot about homesteading these days, and as much as i want to have my own kitchen garden here, i can't! All thanks to the cute 4 legged's i board who keep going to the balcony either to eat the leaves or at times even release their nature call. :P So, now i am trying to develop our fish room balcony into a kitchen garden. Though it's small, i am sure i can at least harvest some basic herbs in it. Just waiting for the weather to get a little better as it rained here today, and the wind chills have increased. So cosying up below my blanket, here i am writing today's post.

Cooking, i believe, is an art learnt by practicing. It's all about sharing, observing and practicing as compared to any other art of craft, drawing or music where people have an innate talent. I can say this, as through my 2 years of cooking journey (yes, if you have read my first few posts, you would have known that i started cooking only after marriage!), i have observed my own growth. The way food tasted when i cooked first and now, has improved tremendously and am sure 5 years down the line, i would have had much more expertise with experience.
Just as our mothers and grannies don't cook with 'measurements', but 'judgments', we too would reach that level with patience and practice. 

This recipe is just an example of how my journey has helped me to think of this innovation. I always used to wonder why we throw away the stems of all the leafy vegetables that we eat - like spinach, methi or even mooli. Is it because they don't taste well? or is it because they are bad for our health? or is it because they don't have any nutritional value? I don't think the reason is any of this, and neither did i find any answers to it in Google except for the fact that they are dirty and they are thick. So what? Wash them thoroughly and make a paste of it! Simple! I tried incorporating it in our diet and here is what was born...

Looks tempting, isn't it? We love it so much that now the stems will never see the compost bin, but our tiffin boxes :) Yes, this makes for a great breakfast or tiffin recipe. Now lets get to method :

Ingredients:

Stems of all leafy vegetables like spinach, methi, mooli etc. - i took remains of about 1/2 bundle of each

Whole wheat flour (Atta) - 1 n half cup (Add more or less depending on the puree that you get)

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Corriander powder - 1 tsp

Garam masala - 1/2 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Ginger-garlic-green chilli paste ( Just chop them and make a coarse paste in mortar and pestle of about 5-6 garlic, 1/2 inch ginger and 1-2 green chillies )

Salt - to taste

Oil - 1 tsp in dough plus to fry

Mayonnaise - as needed

Tomato ketchup - as needed

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Ajwaiin - 1/2 tsp

Recipe:

Chop the stems and wash them thoroughly under running water so that no dirt remains.

Now in a mixer grinder, make a fine paste of these stems. Initially don't add water. Then add little water if needed. If the paste is a little coarse, not a problem.

Now in a mixing bowl, add all the dry spices, the stem-paste, flour, salt, ginger-garlic-chilli paste and 1 tsp oil and knead into a nice dough. Add flour little by little checking the consistency of the dough. The dough shouldn't be too sticky, hence add water accordingly too. Knead a nice soft dough as we make a roti or paratha dough.

The dough looks like this :

Now divide them in equal sized balls and roll out into a paratha.

Heat a tava and fry the paratha, adding oil on both sides and frying till you get nice brown spots on each side.

Now spread some tomato ketchup and mayonnaise on the paratha, and roll it. Now cut it in two halves.

You can also add any filling of your choice or even some leftover sabzi or aloo sabzi, just for a different taste.

Now, isn't that interesting? Food from waste!!! Let me know if you have any such more ideas.

Happy Cooking :)