Chilli Chapathi

When there is leftover chapathi,we are often stumped…Ok..there are a few choices-Heat it up and eat it yourself,pass it over to the servant maid,if she is fussy then throw it..Nah….actually you have a few more options -Make an indianised Frankie…But what if your lil one recognises it as the previous nites !!You are stumped again!!!

Not necessarily..We shall convert it into chilli chapathi- chilli parotta’s cousin…. :)..No need to eat them as such or throw them away..Redress the chapathi and impress your people at home…

The birth of Chilli Chapathi[in my kitchen] thus goes…..We stayed in Chennai for a few months soon after my wedding and many times we would dine out.And one day hubby dear introduced me to ‘Chilli Parotta’..It was spicy but I loved it..Soon it became my fav and we used to have almost every time we dined out…

After moving to China I had no option to dine out..No vegetarian food in any of the restaurant and we don’t have an Indian restaurant in our area..The nearest Indian restaurant is a 3 hour drive from my home!!!No matter how sick I was or how much I needed a change I just could not go out to eat.

When I first ordered a vegetarian meal at a restaurant ,I told the waitress that I don’t eat meat [assuming that she would under it betterinsted of telling her ‘I am a vegetarian’ ].She smiled and got me a fried rice and to my horror it had scrambled eggs and shrimp!!!The waitress smiled again this time in triumph[or so she thought].I told here again that I don’t eat meat she looked at me like I was out of my mind and replied -‘No meat only egg and seafood’..I almost fainted..

I soon found out that vegetarianism is almost unheard of here..I also realised that while eating out my options were numbered,like, I could go for french fries,ice creams ,fruit juices,milkshakes and of course fruit salad.. Sometimes the veggie salad had diced boiled eggs..

So I have to cook at home no matter what…In a way this is a blessing in disguise.I learnt a lot of new recipes or improvised some dishes so that we don’t get bored with the regular meal and one such improvised recipe is this chilli chapathi….

You need:

Left over chapathi – 2,Cut into 1″ strips or roughly torn
Capsicum – 1,small cut into 1″ strips
Onion-1,sliced finely
Tomato -1 chopped
Red chilli powder- 1 teaspoon
Garam masala-1/2 a teaspoon
Soya sauce-1/2 a teaspoon
Coriander leaves to garnish
Jeera-1 teaspoon
Oil-1 tablespoon

Heat oil in a pan and put in jeera

When it crackles add the onion and capsicum and saute till the onion is translucent.

Put in the tomato and cook till it is soft/mushy.Don’t add water.

Add the soya sauce, red chilli powder and garam masala and mix well.

Put in the chapathi strips and mix to coat the chapathi.

Cook for a few more minutes and remove from heat. [don’t be tempted to wait until the capsicum is soft..It won’t taste good.The dish tastes best when the capsicum is crunchy]

Serve garnished with coriander leaves.

Can be served as such or with onion raita / tomato sauce.

A few tips:

You can add coloured bell pepper[green,red,yellow] to enhance the color of the dish.

Don’t add salt because we are adding soya sauce.If u feel u need to add salt,check taste and then add.

Instead of tomato u can also use 1 tablespoon of tomato sauce.

If the mixture is too dry,sprinkle a little water.If u add too much water the chapathi will turn soggy..

Add paneer cubes for a protein rich chilli chapathi.