Egg Frankie Roll, a healthy Wrap.

My greetings to all who are reading this post. Finally I am back home here after a 20-day vacation to India to escape the harsh summer days of the UAE and to enjoy the rains in my hometown. With the schools re-opening after a gap it is back to packing nutritious lunch for my Jr. The Egg Frankie is one of the favorite lunchbox food in my household.

When living in a multicultural place with many nationalities and the subsequent presence of different cuisine restaurants and food outlets, with kids having specific food liking, it is a balancing act for this mother to give them as much healthy food as possible and also not to deny them convenience food/junk food that all kiddos are so much fond of. I have tried packing their lunch boxes with as healthy and always fresh homemade food with a lot of varieties of Wraps, Frankie, Parathas, Sandwiches, Burgers etc as snack time food or main meals and hence wish to share my recipes here with my Co-sisters, family members and all other readers who have small kids and who wish to introduce some new menu for the daily eating.

Wraps are the best on-the-go food item that can serve as a snack or main meal of the day. Being an Indian, and habituated to eating a complete balanced meal of rice, dal, roti and sabji during both the main meals of the day, I find Wraps as quite filling for the tummy and can become a complete meal with the addition of some accompaniments. The inside filling of the Wraps can be of anything, and this opens up a whole lot of food choices and combinations for us to decide and make use of. The whole family loves eating vegetarian, as well as non-vegetarian Wraps.

I first happened to eat this egg Frankie during my school days in the Coffee shop of my schoolmate. I had never even heard of it before as mother never made it. Her family had newly moved from Delhi and they had opened up a small Coffee and Frankie outlet. Egg rolls, as they are also known as, are very common sight on Delhi streets. The shop sold the best egg and chicken frankies then, freshly made in front of us and occasionally I would parcel them en-route home from school. Now I make these myself in my kitchen and my kids never say no to a frankie breakfast or for the school lunchbox. It is absolutely easy to prepare and the best in taste.

Let us get making these super yum breakfast-Egg Frankies. For the Wraps, I use the whole wheat flour dough for making the roti. You can look up the roti recipe here. One can use refined flour dough too, but I try to keep it as healthy a choice as possible.

INGREDIENTS: To make the dough Rolls: Click link to follow Fulka recipe to make rolls.

Whole wheat flour or Refined Flour: 2 Cups
Water: 1 glass, sufficient to make a medium-stiff dough
Eggs: 3
Onion: 1
Tomato: 1
Optional: Bell peppers-1
Lemon-1
Oil- 2 Tbsp

Seasoning:
Black Pepper powder: 2 Tsp
Chaat Masala: 1 Tbsp
Salt: To Taste

Makes 4-5 depending upon the roll size and thickness. The roll should be bigger and thicker than Fulka.

METHOD:
Make thin slices of the onion and tomato. The bell peppers should also be thinly sliced. Try and keep them the same length as the tomato and onion slices. Season the slices with salt, pepper powder and chaat masala.

Ingredients for making the Frankie rolls.

Break the eggs into a bowl, season with salt and pepper and beat using a whisk. keep this ready.

Follow the Fulka recipe, and roll out the dough to make a 8”-9” chappati (own preference). Heat a fry pan and put the chappati and cook on both sides, then pour the beaten egg mix on the roti and as the egg gets cooked add the oil.

Roti with beaten egg

Flip the egg part down and apply oil to top part of the roll, take care not to burn the egg. Flip the roll and let the bottom part get bit crisper, then remove from pan. Make all the Frankie rolls and keep.

Prepare the roll with the onion tomato filling.

Squeeze lemon juice, sprinkle salt, pepper, and chaat masala on the Frankie roll. Put the seasoned onion,tomato, and bell pepper slices on the Frankie and tightly roll it.

Egg Frankie Rolls

NOTE: One could use finely chopped green chilies or sprinkle red chili flakes on the frankie roll to make them more hot in taste. Adding Tandoori Chicken (for recipe click here) chunks inside the roll also makes them very tasty.

Tip: The bottom surface of the Frankie roll should be made a bit crisper, this makes the roll taste best and adds a crunch to the bite.

SERVING: Cut the roll into two by giving a slant cut using a sharp knife, and serve with either Tomato or Chili sauce.

I loved bringing this recipe to the blog, and hope you too would enjoy making it in your kitchen. Until the next post, here is wishing you all lots of happiness.

Ashu

Freshly made jam and pancakes for breakfast

Nowadays, the week just flies as if we are flipping through the pages of a book, and soon it is the weekend time, a time that everyone eagerly waits for. For some, these could be the days when lot of chores in the house have to be attended to or for some it might just be relaxation with nothing much to be done. Same way in my house, this is the day that starts with a slow lazy morning, kids waking up leisurely, but with the whole family together at the dining table in anticipation of a very yummy, hot, and nutritious breakfast. Taking into consideration the choice of my kids, one of the items on the breakfast list is hot pancakes. Pancakes are made of flour and sugar, the carbohydrate source of the dish, eggs that is the protein source and butter, which is the fat source of the dish. Fruits are a good source of fiber and vitamins, so to include them and as variety,  I make fresh jam/chutney. So here I am, sharing with you all the pancake and fresh red apple jam breakfast recipe.

Pancakes are delicious, easy and fast to cook meal, a no extra efforts needed dish.

Ingredients:  All purpose flour (Maida)-1 bowl, eggs-2, sugar 1 ½ tbsp, milk-250-300 ml, butter for frying-2 tbsp.

Method: 1. Take the flour in a bowl.  Making a well in the center, break the eggs into the flour and stir, mixing the eggs and flour. Gradually, add the milk in which sugar is dissolved, making a smooth batter.  This batter should be beaten well, mixing thoroughly. Those who want the pancakes to be less sweet can reduce the amount of sugar in the pancakes.  Leave it to stand for few minutes.

2. Heat a pan and melt butter. Then pour the batter to make soft, round pancakes of desired sizes. Flip the pan to turn the pancake or use a spatula to do it, spread little butter on the turned surface, when golden brown remove it onto a plate.

These hot pancakes can be served with freshly made apple jam; this was the combination I used for breakfast.  Some of the other combinations that one can serve it with are honey, chocolate sauce, or Nutella.

Red Apple Jam:  

Ingredients: Red apples-2, Sugar – 50 gm, nutmeg for flavor, 1 tbsp butter.

Method:
1. Peel the apples to remove the skin and chop them to small pieces.
2. Heat a pan, and add the butter and apple pieces to it.
3. Stir the apple pieces to get a golden brown appearance, add the sugar and cook till the sugar is completely dissolved and the apples are soft and sugar liquid is reduced.

4.Grate nutmeg on this mix and remove the sugared apple mix from heat, cool, and then grind to get a smooth mix, I like it this way.

If one likes the soft apple pieces in each bite, then no need to use blender.  Also, one can adjust the sugar according to own preferred sweetness. This is one of the advantages of making it fresh in our own kitchen. The goodness of the fresh fruits combined with flavor of nutmeg, absolutely no coloring agent or preservatives, adds to the healthy factor. Go ahead, try out this healthy fruit jam.

ashu 🙂

ZhatPat rice-My dinner recipe

As the name itself suggests, yes, this is a rice preparation that can be cooked within no time, and without much efforts. After a long day, with the fridge vegetable basket empty, the tummy craving for a yummy meal, but with no inclination for spending much time in the Kitchen, this is the perfect dinner menu for that day. Today I am going to be sharing recipes for the Zhatpat boiled egg rice as well as the Chicken rice that I cook on those days.

Boiled egg rice: 

Ingredients:  Onions, garam masala, salt, and oil of choice for cooking.

Method: Heat a pot on the stove and add oil according to ones cooking requirement, then add sliced onions and fry till they are almost dark brown in color.  For cooking one bowl of rice, I use 1 large onion for frying.  Add the washed rice to the dark browned onion, 1 ½ tbsp of garam masala, salt to taste, and required quantity of water, and cook till rice is half done, then add shelled boiled eggs to the rice and cook till it is completely done.

Cooking the rice along with the browned onions and spices gives the egg rice a good flavour, and the desired brown color. This can be served with a salan or curd raita of choice. Instead of boiled eggs one can try making it using soya chunks.

Zhatpat Chicken Rice:  

Ingredients: Rice, shredded or small chunks of chicken, mint and coriander leaves, garam masala, salt, oil to cook.

Method: Cook the rice with some salt added to it. In a pan heat some oil and add the shredded chicken pieces and sauté adding salt, chilli powder, turmeric powder, and garam masala (ground spices) to it. When the chicken is almost cooked, add chopped mint and coriander leaves.  Add the cooked boiled rice to the chicken and mix it properly so that the herbs and spices are evenly mixed with rice.

The fresh herbs added give a distinct flavor and minty taste, and the green color adds a nice appealing look to the rice. It can be served hot with papad and curd raita of choice.

As you can see, both these preparations do not need longer cooking time or any elaborate preparations, are very simple to cook and yet wholesome, nutritious, and healthy. Try them out and find out for yourself if you like the recipe.

ashu 🙂

Boiled Egg Curry, Very Spicy

As the name suggests, it is a very spicy dish using fresh green and dried red chillies and ground spices. It is a very simple, tasty and easy to cook dish that goes very well with hot steamed white rice.

Ingredients:

4 Boiled eggs

1 Medium or 2 Small Onions

1 long or 2-3 Small green chillies

1 ½  tbsp Desiccated coconut

4 Garlic flakes

1 Small ginger piece

1 Kashmiri red chilli

1 tsp Turmeric powder

2 tsp Red chilli powder

1 tbsp Garam masala (ground powder of cumin/coriander seeds /black pepper/cinnamon/green and black cardamom/clove/bay leaf/red chilli)

30-50 ml Cooking oil (Depends on personal cooking habit)

Salt- to taste

Method:

Start with heating the pan and dry roasting the desiccated coconut, onions, and Kashmir chilli till the contents are almost brownish. Grind these dry roasted ingredients with ginger, garlic, green chilli to get a fine paste, we can add little water to get a fine smooth paste.

Heat Kadai/pan, add oil and saute the masala paste on medium to slow heat, add the dry powders (shown in the picture) and stir this till the oil leaves the sides of the masala in the pan. Add the boiled, shelled eggs to the pan with adding sufficient water to get medium thick gravy. Boil it for 3-4 min, simmer for a while, and then remove from heat. Sprinkle some fresh coriander leaves. This spicy egg curry can be served with hot, steamed white rice.

ashu 🙂