Vegetable Galettes with Vegetable Upma

Has it really been a month since I posted last? Ok, I blew it AGAIN! But there were few major reasons that kept me busy around. I also hope that my readers will go easy on me when I say that food blogging was down on my list of things. This time, there is no false promise of being regular but an honest try to post recipes when I can and always the best ones.

Also, one of my loyal readers and a very dear friend suggested that the looks of Vegetarian Zest were slightly unattractive. I could feel an increasing urge to revamp it and hence here is the result. I would love to read more feedbacks on this one.


Usually the mornings are good for oats or fruits. But lately we realized that I don’t cook enough of? South Indian breakfast. Hubby keeps talking about his mum’s south Indian recipes and complains that I never try. It’s not that I don’t like to cook south Indian recipes; I just find the process very lengthy. Anyway, today was a gorgeous day that we had sun come out. We decided to sit down on the back deck with our breakfast and hot coffee.


Not sticking totally to the south Indian theme, I cooked vegetable galettes with vegetable upma … something that we both like and it was super quick to make. Here is the recipe.



Ingredients for vegetable upma


Sooji / Semolina 1 cup


Mixed vegetables…Beans, Peas, Carrots & Sweet Corn (chopped) 1 cup


Onion 1 medium (finely sliced)


Mustard seeds 1 teaspoon


Chana dal 1 teaspoon


Curry leaves 5 - 6


Green chilies 4 – 5 (finely chopped)


Water 2 ½ cups


Salt to taste


Canola oil 2 tablespoons


Roasted cashews (optional)




Method


Heat a wide mouth cooking pan over medium heat. Add sooji and dry roast until it turns pale brown. Transfer the roasted sooji to a plate. The roasting process prevents the sooji becoming gooey.


In the same pan, heat canola oil. When oil is hot, add curry leaves, chana dal, and mustard seeds. Sauté the ingredients to fragrance and till chana dal turns somewhat red. Add onion and chili pieces. Sauté to pale pink. Add vegetables and 2 ½ cups of water. Sprinkle salt. Mix well and cover the pan with a lid. Increase the heat to high.

When the water comes to boil, slowly add the roasted sooji to water. Constantly stir to avoid any lumps. Reduce the heat to low. Partially cover the pan and cook the sooji till the water is all absorbed. Turn off the heat.


Garnish with roasted cashews.


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 Ingredients for vegetable galettes

Beets ½ medium (shredded)


Carrots 2 medium (shredded)


Potatoes 1 medium (shredded)


Ginger & garlic paste ½ teaspoon


Green chili paste 1 teaspoon


All purpose flour ½ tablespoon


Breadcrumbs 2 tablespoons


Salt to taste


Canola oil 1 tablespoon



Method


Blanch all the vegetables and place them in a mixing bowl. Allow it to cool.
Add ginger and garlic paste, green chili paste, all purpose flour, breadcrumbs and salt to the vegetables.

Combine thoroughly all the ingredients using your hands.
Divide the mixture into lemon-sized equal rounds. Press and shape each portion into a round patty, about your palm size. Keep them side by side on a plate ready to cook.
 Heat a flat skillet on stovetop. Grease it with oil. When the skillet is hot, place the Galettes side by side with gap between them. Cook each side for about 2 to 4 minutes on medium heat until a golden-brown crust forms on top.

You can even serve galettes with mint chutney or ketchup.