Thursday, March 29, 2012

Chila Sandwich

Today for the last of the Marathon i choose Chila Sandwich..I am sure most of you have heard of Chila..I didn't know about this until a year back! Chila is basically a dosa variety made of Chickpea flour/Besan and is the closest replica of an omlette :)..As i write this post, i have to narrate the incident how i learnt about this recipe!! 



There was a time, when i would make frequent trips between Chennai & Blore... I would come to Blore on Fri night & leave back to Chennai on Mon morning in Shatabdi and go directly to work! I would choose the Mon morning trains bcoz i would get an extra night with mom :).. we would talk all night & i would catch up on sleep in the train! (I am one of the blessed people, who can sleep comfortably during travels ;)).. Needless to say, i prefer the window seat, so i don't have to disturb anyone & vice-versa..On one such travel, my co-passenger was a lady with 2 kids .. a 4-5 yr old girl and a new born! She was visiting her parents in Chennai and first time traveling alone with her kids...Husband was relieved to see a lady next to his wife.. explains his constraints on how he can't travel :)..Sensing maybe they need a moment together, i stepped out on pretext of making a call & when i came back, i notice, the lil girl has taken my window seat  :( !!
Now... the kid is busy staring outside ( though you can't see anything outside, thanks to the tinted glasses), i didn't have the heart to ask her to exchange, so sat in the aisle seat..thinking 'time to sleep rasi :)' and my lady companion starts speaking!!!! I do talk a lot..can get instantly started too.. but if i have to choose between talking or sleeping.. Sleep would my choice :) (exceptions for a few though :D)... Madam starts off & during the journey, i knew where she was brought up..to her wedding details.. to her honeymoon..& her day to day activities,,her family members.. her choice of clothes...i even saw her honeymoon pics :) beat that!!! I think those were the quietest 5 hrs of my life..where all i did was nod..say few words like ..yeah..oh nice.. cool..& smile :))
When she has told me about everything.. how could recipes be left behind?? I was just learning to cook & was still by hearting the name of the lentils & the recipes .. she was explaining their breakfast, lunch dinner menu :D..She had told me about this Chila Sandwich ..and the good thing of listening for 5 long hours is, i remember the recipe till date :)..so typical of me to remember one thing so vividly, but can't figure out what her name was :)!! Off to her recipe now...easy, tasty & super quick..

Ingredients
1. Besan/ Chickpea flour - 1/2 cup
2. Onion - 1/4 cup
3. Tomato - 1/4 cup
4. Green Chilli - 1
5. Ginger - 1 inch
6. Curry Leaves - a sprig
7. Turmeric powder - a pinch
8. Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
9. Water - 3/4 cup
10. Oil - to drizzle
11. Bread slice - 2
12. Green Chutney - 2 tsp
13. Tomato Sauce - 2 tsp
14. Butter/Cheese - 1 tsp

Preparation Time!!
1. In a bowl, take the besan, add onions,green chillies and curry leaves to it

2. Then add ginger, tomatoes, turmeric and red chilli powder  and salt . Add initially half cup water and then slowly increase it to make a semi-liquid dosa batter ( I used 3/4 cup water)


3. Take two scoops of batter and make a dosa in a heated pan. As there are veggies in the batter, pour & slowly spread it.. Drizzle oil around the dosa and once cooked, flip around and cook for another minute..the  chila is done!


4. To make the sandwich, take two slices of bread ( I used whole wheat variety).. toast it on the pan and once it turns brown, remove off pan.. On one bread slice, apply green chutney & on the other sauce ( i used maggi hot & sweet variety)


5. Fold the Chila and place it in the centre on of the slices & add grated butter on top ( Its ideally cheese, i didn't have it so replaced with a little butter) and enjoy...


The butter had started melting, by the time i started clicking :)


Pointers
* You could skip the sandwich part & have chila alone..it tastes good with some chutney or sauce
** You could skip butter & cheese too.. that was for kids ( according to her :))
*** 1/2 cup besan makes around 3-4 medium chila's


A quick Recap of what i did during the previous six days :)
Day 6 : Uttappam
Day 5 : Jini Dosa
Day 4 : Menthya Dosa
Day 3 : Tavala Dosa
Day 2 : Rava Masala Dosa
Day 1 : Set Dosa
Check out the Blogging Marathon page to see what the fellow Marathoners are doing this BM#14

Chila safely tucked in!


Sending this to Valli's Kids's Delight hosted by Rujutha, Kalyani's Holi Fest, Nayna 'Lets Cook Speedy Snacks'Gayatri's Walk through Memory lane hosted by Roshan and Charu's Tea time


37 comments:

  1. I've heard of chila but never of a chila sandwich. That's a lovely idea.

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  2. Looks very delicious.... Loved the clicks

    foodydelight.com

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  3. This is absoultely 2 in 1 brekfast super idea!!

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  4. First Time hearing of this name Chila. But the recipe is definitely a must try one. Ur ur step by step pictures are really great n easy to understand. Thanks for Sharing dear.

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  5. haha, what a nice read this made :D i sleep like a baby while travelling too, even an earthquake wudn wake me up. but ur co-passenger does sound like a nice companion to have when traveling long distance, atleast ur entertained the whole time :D love this vegetarian omlette, my husband doesnt eat eggs (cant stand the smell apparently) and now i know what to make for him when i cook omlette for myself, im sure hel love it :)

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    1. ohh ya its like the almost perfect replacement..the chickpea flour indeed gives a eggy smell :D

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  6. wow thats was an amazing sandwich dear....yum

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  7. Rasya, I enjoyed your week long treats, this beats all ok..I can imagine you being stunned in not talking. That lady must have been something. Or else maybe only then she had a chance to talk..hahah..anyway it was nice to know and so glad you took up this theme. :)

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    1. i was like i can so understand ur need to talk.. i need sleep plsss ;)

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  8. Wow, that's a wonderful idea, never thougt of a sandwich like this..

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  9. ahha. such a nice idea. instead of omelet you used chila to make sandwich. hats off to your thinking.

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  10. Delicious chila and lovely travel post:)
    favourite breakfast at my place..quick and simple to make..you have done it perfectly.
    Anjana

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  11. well we do make this sandwich once in a while:)..n that lady must be someone like me..jabber jabber...u wont believe ..but at present one of my best friends was made in a train...imagine our husbands too are friends now:))..

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  12. Sandwich chila is such a fun idea! It reminded me of the time when I was in hostel and besides three square meals there was nothing else that we could get from the hostel mess. My room mate and I used to have bread butter and we use to add namkeen as a filling! It was fun and tasty!

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    1. ohh college days are fun esp the mid night cravings.. the nankeen & butter..oh i can so imagine :)

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  13. My Mom would always tell me that people come into our lives for a reason;That would have been me too just acknowledging the woman & not uttering a sound , but instead you walked away with something so delicious, a dish that "keeps on giving" Now I am going to make the chila as well!

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  14. every time I open your blog, you make me hungry. Your photos are just too clear and inviting..there the stomach growls start...all because of you!

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  15. Healthy one,makes me hungry..beautiful clicks.

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  16. Never had a chila with bread. Nice idea.
    BTW, I laughed hard and really had to mention that there is a typo in the pointers section, the first one. :))

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    1. thanks for letting me know.. i was laughing my head off too :)

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  17. Lovely dish!
    http://followfoodie.blogspot.com/

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  18. Good one never had it as a sandwich!

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  19. Hahaha!!! very funny read Rasi, I'm stunned to know there was a time you had to nod and keep quiet but you are quite good in remembering the right things.Lovely dish and looks super yummy. (On a side note, I'm imagining that lady to be one of your readers....hehehe!!!)

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    1. god!.. imagine that :D she must be so grumpy right now!

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  20. This looks yummy, will surely want to try it:)

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  21. lovely step by step capture..looks yumm

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  22. At first I felt sorry that you missed sleep. But after seeing this awesome recipe and pics I am thinking I am not sorry. Else we would have not seen this awesome recipe. :D

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  23. Very creative Rasi. Fantastic alternative to Egg sandwiches for vegetarians!

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  24. Very interesting idea looks yummm like bread omlete..

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  25. Same thing happened to me on a train journey.An elderly lady started telling me the details of her wedding,birth of her children,their wedding,birth of their grandchildren and all the other things that were totally unimportant. I was so bored that I would really wanted to run away from that seat :(...
    At least you got to learn a recipe from her :).Looks very filling and the second last click is awesome...

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    1. very true PJ.. at least i got a recipe after such a long sleepless talk :D

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  26. That lady must be somebody like me I think.., going on and on :), well, may be I would have ended up with recipes.., I usually poke everybody I meet asking them about their authentic recipes.., I had heard about this chila as a dosa.., from my north Karnataka friend.., her mom has given me n number of recipes!, but not as a sandwich though, this is a lovely idea.., healthy and filling for my kids lunch box.

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Really look forward to your opinions, comments & suggestions :)...Glad you took time to say something on my dish..Its a yay! moment for me :)