Falafels and other tasty tiffin recipes

Shweta Dwivedi sent in this recipe for Falafels:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup soaked chole
• 1 small bunch of corriander leaves
• 1/2 inch ginger
• 1 or 2 cloves of garlic (optional)
• A few green chillies (to taste)
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 6 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 6 tbsp mayonnaise (optional)
• 3 slices of pita bread
• Oil for frying

For salad:

• 1 cup beaten yoghurt
• 1 tsp dried mint leaves
• 1 tbsp grated carrots
• 1 tbsp shredded cabbage
• A few lettuce leaves
• A few slices of onion

Method of preparation:

• Grind the chole, green chillies, corriander, cumin seeds, ginger and garlic in a blender with just a table spoon of water, if required (it's preferable to do it without water).
• Add the salt and onions to the ground mixture; make 10-12 bite-sized balls of it and then flatten to make tikkis
  (you can make them the previous night to store in the refrigerator, or freeze and then fry them when required).
• Deep-fry these tikkis in oil on a medium flame, till they become a crispy golden brown colour. Set them to drain off excess oil on paper towels.
• In a bowl, mix the yoghurt, pinch of salt and dried mint to make a dressing for the salad. Mix all your salad veggies, ie lettuce, finely chopped onion, tomato, cabbage and carrots into it.
• Take each slice of pita bread, cut into half. Then create an opening in the centre of each half slice, to make a pocket out of the bread, which you can stuff with the salad and tikkis. Use a table spoon of ketchup on the inside of each half-slice, followed by mayonnaise and then stuff in the salad. Put in one tikki and then top off with some more mayonnaise and your falafel is ready. Pack it into your dabba.
• Here's a tip: You can also pack your salads, bread and tikkis separately till you're ready to eat. If you dont get pita bread, you can make falafels using naan or chappati. Only thing is that the chappati should be thicker than usual.

Here, Seema Nayak from Mumbai shares her Konkani recipe for Stuffed Brinjal:

Ingredients:

• 1/4 kg small round eggplants (brinjals)
• 3 cups onion
• 2 tsp very thick tamarind extract
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp urad dal
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 3 cups grated coconut
• 7-8 red chillies
• 4-5 strands coriander leaves
• Salt to taste

Method of preparation:

• Heat 1 teaspoon of oil and add the urad dal, coriander seeds, red chillies and turmeric powder;fry for 1 minute.
• Next, add these ingredients and a half a glass of water to the coconut and grind to a paste. Set aside.
• Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a kadai and add garlic. Fry for a few seconds, then add onions and fry till they turn translucent. Remove from heat, cool.
• Now mix this with the coconut paste and add salt.
• Insert 4 slits into each brinjal, keeping the stems intact. Stuff some of the mixed masala into them.
• Heat oil in a nonstick pan. Add the brinjals, pour the remaining masala on top and fry for some time.
  Pour a little oil on top and cover the pan with the lid. Cook on a very low flame till brinjals are completely done (it takes around 30 minutes).

And finally, Santhosh from Bangalore tells you how to prepare Bread Besan Bhajji:

Ingredients:

• 4 slices of bread
• 1 cup channa dal
• 1 spoon chillie powder
• 1/4 spoon corriander powder
• A few coriander leaves
• Salt to taste
• Oil for frying
• 1/2 a diced onion (optional)

Method of preparation:

• Make a paste of the channa dal by adding some water and mix salt, chillie powder, corriander powder and corriander leaves (add onion too, if desired).
• Cut each slice of bread into four pieces. Dip each piece in the channa dal paste and deep-fry till golden-brown.
• Serve with hot sauce or ketchup.

Do you have any quick-fix preparations that you'd like to share with us and other readers? It has to be something appetising and easily whipped up (in under an hour). Simply mail in your tiffin recipe ideas to getahead@rediff.co.in and we'll publish them right here on rediff.com

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