Baked Veg Enchiladas

Enchiladas is a traditional mexican dish made of corn tortillas wrapped around a filling and topped with enchiladas sauce.. Its again my love for mexican food which  piqued my interest in making this dish..

This dish is divided into 3 parts ie the enchiladas sauce, filling and tortillas..

                Enchiladas sauce is made of tomatoes as the base.. This sauce also contains roux (butter and flour cooked together to thicken sauce), which gives the sauce a body and texture.. Donot omit this step as it is important in making of the authentic enchiladas sauce..

                Ok,, now there is one variation to this sauce.. Incase you want to go in for swiss style enchiladas, go in for white sauce / bechamel sauce.. It has a very subtle taste and lends a creamier taste to the enchiladas..

                Filling is generally made of refried beans or pinto beans.. But then i use our very own regular kidney beans to make the filling.. Not much difference in taste.. You can even use tinned baked beans as the filling.. Or go for everyone's favorite cottage cheese filling.. It is sure to taste awesome..

                Tortillas are made of maize flour which is lightly fried and not roasted.. I know many of you would like to roast the tortillas as against frying them.. But then trust me, its lot different in texture as well as taste when fried than roasted..

                Now, lets look at the recipe..

Ingredients:

For the tortillas

1 cup all puropose flour

1 cup maize flour / cornmeal

1tsp salt

2tsp oil

For the enchiladas sauce

1/2 kg tomatoes blanched, peeled and chopped

2tbsp oil + 2tbsp butter

2tbsp all purpose flour

1 big onion chopped and boiled for 5minutes

Salt to taste

1tsp Red chilli powder

1tsp Garlic powder

1/2 tsp cumin powder

2tbsp tomato sauce

For the filling

1 big onion finely chopped

1 green chilli chopped

3-4 cloves garlic chopped

1 capsicum finely chopped

1/2 cup kidney beans boiled

Salt

Method: To make the sauce - Blend tomatoes and onion together.. Heat oil and butter in a pan.. Add flour and saute for a minute till the raw fragrance disappears.. Add in the pureed tomatoes and all the spices.. Mix well and cook covered on a medium flame for around 10mins till it is thick.. You can add a tablespoon or 2 of water also incase you find it too thick.. But im sure, you would'nt want to add it.. Taste and adjust seasoning accordingly.. The sauce is ready.. Keep it aside..

For the filling - Heat 1tsp oil in a pan.. Saute onions, garlic and green chilli for 2mins.. Add in capsicum and saute again.. Add in kidney beans, salt and mix.. Mash it lightly with a fork.. Add a ladle full of enchiladas sauce to the filling at the end, to make it more flavourful (optional).. Your filling is ready..

For tortillas - Mix all ingredients of tortillas and make a soft dough with warm water.. Rest the dough for around 10mins.. Roll out thinly and prick with fork.. Fry it lightly in oil for about 10secs on each side.. Donot fry long, otherwise it will get crisp and will not be pliable.. Make all the tortillas same way and keep aside..

To assemble - Take a baking dish, spread some sauce on the bottom.. Place a tablespoon of filling in the middle of tortillas and roll it.. Make all and place it in the dish with seam side down.. Top it with more sauce covering the tortillas and grate cheese on top.. Bake in a preheated oven at 180c for around 20mins or till cheese melts and browns lightly.. Serve warm..

Pictorial representation of all the 3 parts:

Making of sauce

Preperation of filling 

 Making dough

 Assembling

Pumpkin Dhokla, South Indian Style

             

  A Gujrati dish with a South Indian twist.. Dhokla made with pumpkin puree with an added flavour of sambar masala.. A lip smacking snack and fulfilling too.. This dhokla is light and airy as the dhokla is generally supposed to be, but then it gives you a feeling of fullness, coz of the vegetable content used in it..

                The first time I tried this out, I was bit unsure of the taste.. And so i made a small batch of this dhokla.. But then I was delighted by the way it turned out.. There was a burst of flavour in my mouth.. Creaminess of pumpkin, spicy flavour of sambar masala and mild sweetness of coconut... It was mind blowing.. Never did I think a dhokla can be made so flavourful..

               

                You got to try this for sure....

Pumpkin Dhokla, South Indian Style

Ingredients:

For the vegetable batter

1/2 cup pumpkin chopped

1/2 cup carrot and beans chopped

1 big onion chopped

2-3 green chillies slit

Salt to taste

1-2tbsp sambar masala

2tsp chawal ka atta

3tbsp chopped fresh coconut

1tsp roasted jeera powder

Other ingredients:

2 cups pumpkin and vegetable batter

1 cup curd

1.5 cups semolina

Salt to taste

1tbsp oil

1tbsp eno

For tempering:

3tbsp oil

1tsp rai

15-18 green chillies slit

For garnish:

2-3 pieces pumpkin grilled

coriander chopped

1tsp coconut shredded

Method: For the vegetable batter - Heat 2tsp oil in a pan and add 1/2tsp rai, 1/2 tsp jeera, 1/2 tsp hing, onions and green chillies.. Cook for few minutes till the onions are transluscent.. Add in pumpkin, carrot and beans.. Mix well and add salt.. Cover and cook on sim till the vegetables are tender.. Then add in sambar masala, haldi and mix well.. Cook for a minute.. Add in chawal ka atta and cook for another 2minutes till all the vegetables are well combined.. Cool the mixture, add coconut and jeera powder and grind into a fine puree.. Now take this in a bowl and add in curd and mix well.. Add semolina, salt and oil.. Mix really well.. Now add eno and mix well.. You will find the batter to be light and airy.. Pour it in a greased mould and steam for 12-15minutes till a skewer comes out neat and clean.. Cool it and unmould.. Cut in desired size.. Now heat oil in a pan and add in rai and green chillies.. Add in dhokla pieces and mix with light hands.. Garnish with grilled pumpkin, coriander, shredded coconut and serve with mint chutney..

Below is a pictorial representation on the recipe..