Stovetop Pitas Stuffed With Baked Beans and Cabbage

Whenever I've made baked beans for bread at home from scratch, I've used rajma. But I've always liked the kind of beans they use in the canned version but didn't know what they were called. A few weeks ago I found these dried, small, white beans called butter beans at Nilgiris and they looked quite yum. So I picked them up and last week I decided to cook them. Well it turns out they were the exact beans I'd been looking for! It pays to experiment :)

My poor oven's sick :( Whenever I turn it on the power trips at home. The poor thing held on till I'd finished baking that big batch of walnut chocolate chip cookies (2 weekends ago) and then went *phut*. Need to get her fixed. So until then for my bread I'm making do with stovetop pitas. Fortunately they turn out just as yum :)

The procedure is pretty much the same as regular pita bread. You mix the dough using the Basic Bun Recipe But after the dough has risen and been punched down, you pinch off balls and tap or roll them flat, like pizza. Then you have to heat your skillet oh a high flame, place the pitas and cover and cook on both sides. Covering the skillet will make the pockets form better.

The filling is simple....

For the beans...

Quick soak the beans and pressure cook them.
Add salt and spices (your choice, I just added my Asian Super Spicy Chilli Paste) and boil for a few minutes.
Scoop a ladle full of the cooked beans and grind into a smooth paste adding a little water if required.
Put the paste back in with the cooked beans and boil for a couple more minutes.
Turn off the heat and add a big splash of ketchup.
Mix and keep aside.

For the cabbage...

Chop cabbage and microwave for 7-10 minutes.
Heat wok/frying pan and add a couple of spoons of oil.
Add mustard seeds and let them crackle.
Add sliced green chillies and curry leaves and stir for a few seconds.
Put in the cabbage and stir fry on medium flame for a few minutes.
Add salt and stir fry for a minute more.
Turn off flame.
Squeeze fresh lime juice and mix.

Now all you have to do is quarter the pitas. Gently open out the pockets (use a knife to slice and form a pocket of required). Fill a bit of the bean mixture, top with the cabbage. Enjoy! :)



Hmm these pictures have turned out a tad too nice! I feel like having munching onsome sort of stuffed pitas again tonight :D
*runs off to go mix the dough*

Asian Super Spicy Chilli Paste

My Reiki guru Jairam is a master of many many arts, cooking being one of them. He particularly loves spicy food and there are a few pastes and masala powders which he makes in large quantities at a time and stores in the pantry. When it comes to sharing knowledge he's the most generous person I've met and sometimes recipes are a part of the many things we learn from him. A few weeks ago he made onion dosa for me and served his special chilli paste on the side. A teeny little drop of the paste came a long way because of the really strong flavors and high spice content. After I'd licked up the paste and told him how yummy it was he shared his recipe with me. And then, the following week when I went to visit him, he gave me 200 grams of the special super-spicy red Bellary chillies which he uses in his paste and encouraged me to make some in my own style. I used the basic method for making the paste but used a slightly different mix of ingredients to give the paste a marked Asian flavor.


Asian Super Spicy Chilli Paste

Ingredients

100 gms Dry Red chillies (the spiciest you can find)
1/2 inch ginger chopped
1/2 C chopped garlic
1 T soy sauce
1 T jaggery or brown sugar or molasses
3 T olive oil
a pinch Ajinomoto (MSG) - optional
salt

Remove the twigs and clean the red chillies (warning: this causes a lot of sneezing).

Heat 1 T of the olive oil and lightly fry the garlic and ginger.

Bring water to boil in a large pot.
Add chillies, cover and turn off the heat.
Leave for 2 minutes and drain off the water.

Blend all the ingredients (except the remaining 2 T olive oil) into a paste.
Add olive oil and blend once more.

Allow to cool to room temperature.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Could be used in cooking or served on the side as a dip.

Mom makes chapathis stuffed with a similar mixture (sans the tofu) and my sis and I absolutely love them! The spring onions are a prime ingredient and when my homegrown ones sprung up looking delish I decided to make something on the same lines but stuffed into thin layers of bread instead.

Stuffed Bread Packets

Ingredients:

1 portion Basic Bun Recipe

For the filling:

1 C sliced carrots and beans

1/2 C chopped spring onion

1 large onion sliced thin

1 package extra firm tofu cubed
1 - 2 t spicy Asian chilli paste

2 T olive oil

a pinch omum (oregano) seeds

salt

soy sauce

ketchup

Nuke the carrot and beans in a microwave safe glass dish for 8-10 minutes.

Heat oil in a wok or pan. Add the omum seeds and let them crackle. Add the onion and stir fry for a few minutes till it's translucent. Add tofu and stir fry till it's slightly browned. Add the microwaved veggies, salt and chilli paste. Fry for a few minutes. Turn off flame and mix in a dash of soy sauce and a splash of ketchup. Keep aside.

How to proceed:

After the bread dough has risen for an hour divide it into 12-15 balls and roll them out flat to about 5 mm thickness. Place some filling in the center and fold the sides in over each other sealing carefully. It helps to fold the top down, then the sides and then the bottom layer up.

Place on a baking sheet and let the packets rise for half to one hour. You can bake them immediately too if you're in a hurry but letting them rise a bit makes them slightly fluffier.

Preheat oven to 320 C/480 F and bake for about 20 minutes.

Enjoy! :)