So much food goes uneaten in most of our kitchens every day. It is not
only a big waste of resources, but also a big waste of time and energy.
After all, you have spent a lot of time soaking, grinding and perfecting
the idli batter. There are a lot of fun ways to recycle your leftover
food to entice the kids. Leftovers readily available in the
refrigerators are a powerful resource you can bank on when your little
one has a hunger pang and you do not have the time to start
from scratch.
When South India meets China
Well, what do you know about inter-racial romances? Not just among
people, but between food items. We are talking about refashioning that
extra batch of idlis you made for breakfast into something as dramatic
as a Chinese stir fry. An idli is the perfect blend raw material that
can adapt to any taste whatsoever. It is like sponge and it will soak
the flavors in. Then why are you compelling yourselves to match an idli
only with chutney and sambar?
Idli Manchurian Recipe by Rakhee
Shah
The crime scene somewhat goes like this. You are faced with a hungry kid
just back from school and all you have is some cold leftover breakfast
idlis in the fridge. You chop them nicely into sophisticated cubes of
equal sizes. Chop onions and capsicums and tomatoes and whatever other
vegetable you have at hand. Keep a sprig of coriander handy. It is a
very good habit to grind and keep ginger and garlic in the fridge at all
times. Now heat a kadai, splutter some mustard seeds, sauté the ginger
garlic paste, sauté the veggies, add a dash of soya sauce and red chilli
sauce and finally introduce the idli slices. Whisk all the ingredients
well. Let the idlis soak the flavours in for a couple of minutes.
Garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves and serve it in a bowl.
When curry meets paratha
You need not be the punjabi cuisine maestro to master the art of paratha
making. There is an easy way out to make yummy parathas without having
to work a lot. And the number of flavors you can incorporate is endless.
Take any leftover curry, and knead it in to the dough. Be it an aloo
curry, chicken curry, mushroom and paneer or even egg curry.
Left over Dal Sabji Paratha Recipe by Samiksha
Jain
Make sure that you shred the meat or egg or other curry pieces into
small bits before adding it to the dough. Wouldn't that be great to have
an Andhra style chicken paratha or to have a Kerala style egg roast
paratha for lunch?
When upma meets pakoda
Upma is so easy to make that often times it takes the role of the
inevitable breakfast, whether you like it or not. But unfortunately in
every household, there will always be at least one person who does not
like upma. In such a situation, chances of leaving a plateful as
leftovers is unavoidable. Don't worry, nothing is going waste. You can
make a pakoda out of it. Even the upma hater in the family will not
recognize the main ingredient in the tea-time snack.
Schezwan Pakode Recipe by Sanam Merchant/Rachna
Chadha
The method is really simple. Other than the leftover upma, you would
need some potatoes, besan/egg, bread crumbs and oil. Boil and mash
potatoes. Mix it with the leftover upma. Knead it well into a nice mix.
Make small lemon-sized balls and lightly flatten them. Make a besan
pakoda batter if you are of the vegetarian kind. If you prefer the
cutlet texture, go for the egg whites and bread crumbs method. Either
you dip the pakodas in the besan batter or you dip them first in egg
whites and coat them with bread crumbs. Deep fry the pakodas in oil
until the surface is golden brown. Enjoy the pakoda with chai.
Egg rolls for the faint hearted
If you are not too enthusiastic about experimenting with the leftover
food, there is always the ultimate leftover classic called the egg roll.
This is by far the simplest and safest you can go with leftovers. Once
you taste the ease of repurposing food, you might want to try different
combinations with different styles of cuisines.
Egg roll Recipe by Nisha
Srivastava
Make a couple of extra rotis and save them to make the most filling egg
roll you have ever had. Take out the rotis from the fridge and leave
them outside for a while. Butter a pan and heat both sides of the roti.
Once the roti is warm, beat an egg, add a pinch of salt and pepper to it
and spread it evenly on the roti. Let the omelette side of the roti cook
well. Once the base is done, add chopped vegetable stuffings of your
choice into it and roll. You can think about chopped onions, carrots,
cabbage leaves, lettuce leaves, olives, chicken pieces from left over
curries, tomatoes, cheese, sauces of your liking, and whatever you can
find in the kitchen which you want to try in a roll. You can eat rolls
every day for breakfast without getting bored. Keep changing the
stuffing and you have a new tasty roll every single day.
Rice, rice baby
If there is a substance which has endless recycling potential, it is the
humble rice. In fact, to make fried rice or any other rice variant, it
is best to use leftover rice which was cooked earlier for a previous
meal. The choice with rice is endless. You can convert the simple white
rice into sambar rice, tomato rice, curd rice, lemon rice, fried rice,
tamarind rice or any other rice variants. Just do the ideal seasoning
and add the leftover rice and there you have a dramatic makeover for the
simple white rice. If it were in a restaurant you would have paid double
for the spiced rice. The best part is, you can eat an entire meal
without having any side dish whatsoever. If you have a salad and a
pickle, it is a party.