Eggless Omelet

This is a very popular breakfast item, made of gram flour instead of eggs. Its called dhirde in Marathi, you could say its a kind of instant dosa or pancake also. It can be made plain or with addition of desired finely chopped veggies & herbs. It can be eaten with any kind of chutney/ketchup/butter etc.

Here's how I make these eggless omelets:

1 cup gram flour
2 tbsp rice flour
2 tbsp any other flour like soy flour etc. (optional)
2 cups water
1 tsp salt or to taste
pinch of sugar
1 tomato - finely chopped
1/4 cup onions - finely chopped
handful of finely chopped cilantro
1 green chilli pepper (finely chopped)/ red chilli pwd/black pepper pwd to taste

Mix the flours with water to form a runny batter. Add the seasonings and veggies, stir well.

To make the omelet, heat a non-stick or cast iron griddle on medium heat. Pour 2 ladleful of batter in the center and spread into a circle with the back of the ladle. Drizzle some oil around the edges and cook for a few minutes until golden brown. Flip the omelet over, drizzle some more oil and cook another few minutes.

Serve hot with chutney/ketchup/butter.

These Eggless Omelets go to the Breakfast Club - Pancakes event at Krithi's Kitchen. This event was started by Helen.

My daughter loves this as an omelet sandwich for breakfast and in her lunch box. For this, I make the omelets much smaller in size to fit the bread I am using. I usually toast the bread a bit, add 2 small omelets, slice of cheese, some lettuce and thats it. A real easy option for weekday breakfast and/or lunch. Actually this idea came from her, one day she said to me "Mom, I have a tip for you when you don't know what to pack for my lunch. You should pack an omelet sandwich"!

These Eggless Omelets and the Omelet Sandwich goes to the Breakfast Mela at Cooking 4 All Seasons.

Microwave Pulav

I'm back after a prolonged break. Been busy at work the past 2-3 months with tax return prep. Now that the tax season is over, I've reduced my work hours greatly.

As a much-needed break, we went on a weekend trip to Great Wolf Lodge. Had a thoroughly good time there - getting soaked in the water park and going on the magical runes quest with my daughter.

Coming to the recipe, I had carried this quick, easy pulav that I cooked in my microwave. The recipe is adapted from Tarla Dalal's Microwave Desi Khana. Here's how I made it:

1 cup Basmati rice
1 tbsp oil
1/4 cup chopped onions
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup paneer - cubed
1 tbsp tomato ketchup (optional)
1 tsp salt or to taste
pinch of sugar
1 tsp cumin pwd
1 tsp coriander pwd
1/4 tsp red chilli pwd (increase for more heat)
1/4 tsp garam masala pwd

Wash the Basmati rice in 2 - 3 rinses of cold water. Then soak in warm water for 10 mins. Drain and keep aside.

Combine oil, onion, ginger and garlic pastes in a microwave safe glass bowl. Microwave, uncovered, for 2 mins.

Add the tomatoes, rice, salt, sugar, ketchup and masalas. Stir to mix and microwave, uncovered, for 1 min.

Add the paneer cubes and 2 cups hot water. Stir, cover and microwave for 10 mins., stirring atleast once in between.

Add the frozen peas and microwave another 5 mins till rice is cooked.

Let stand for 5 mins before packing/serving.

This Microwave Pulav goes to the MEC Lunch Box event at Flavors and Tastes. This event was started by Srivalli.