BREAD & VEGETABLES SNACK MEAL

I was in a dilemma what to share today in the Blog. What I wanted to share may not match with what I am going to share. I do keep cooking & clicking; doing it less for a month now though. Eversince the son has left home, I did cook from the blog and updated the pictures; rest of the time I was cooking for myself and Cristine to survive. I did not feel the necessity to cook elaborate with exotic fish & meat varieties. Tomorrow, I may run to the market to get a hilsa & a good quality mutton, if not then I may get lamb. Yet, I am not wanting to get involved in cooking as much as I had been earlier. At this age, we do not need much of food; only that I enjoy food, love to have it. 

Today, I was out on a work in the morning. People around refused to lend me a ride and also did not guide me properly with regards to the new direction I wanted to try. It took me double the usual time to reach and got a severe headache that was caused sitting inside the confiner of the cab for barely ten minutes. People misread me, it is not always my misery; I get sick in a confined atmosphere, here they keep the blower at low. My fat deposits are also responsible for the unfit self. In such a scenario, I should have slept on my couch back home but I did not wish to prove myself more of a parasite; what I can do is share with you an easy snack meal recipe with bread & vegetables and name it BREAD & VEGETABLES SNACK MEAL.

I refuse to call this dish Bread Pulao, that may come in another post. I mean what has potato to do in a pulao or does any country or region have any such pulao dish with potato, vegetables ? Dry fruits can be used in it, somedays I add, on some I do not! I just love this dish as a snack, as a meal too but I do not do it much. I usually fry the bread pieces before adding it to the fried vegetables and dry fruits. Now I have got an healthier version, instead of frying, I grill the bread pieces until crispy. This is not a family recipe but it is been done since the mid 80's in our family when I had learnt about it and expressed the wish to our mother to cook it. I do not think this vegetarian snack BREAD & VEGETABLES SNACK MEAL is a good lunch box idea, it should be eaten fresh and hot with a hot cuppa. Though our Gujarati school mate Jaya Gupta used to get something similar in her lunch box. She was a vegetarian, her lunch box would have a variety of vegetarian food. Think about it, I tasted something similar back in 1985-86-87!

I feel so sleepy, whilst I was to experiment with bread baking with cheese slices, tomato slices; why it has to be particularly an exotic one? As I always say, we do stop by where it is needed, do some charity but life goes on. It takes a heart and the guts to get out of our comfort zone and do some field work. What is the issue bothering me / many of us at this date; five years or a decade from now, we will not remember. Not a blog, real life experiences & protests need a book to record.

INGREDIENTS :

BREAD SLICE : 7-8 [I have used multigrain brown bread]

ONION : 1

CARROT : 1

POTATO : 1

GREEN PEA : 2 TBSP

SWEET CORN : 2 TBSP

GREEN CHILLI : 2-3

RED BELL PEPPER : 1/2 OF ONE

GREEN BELL PEPPER : 1/2 OF ONE

TURMERIC POWDER : 1/4 TSP

BLACK PEPPER : 1/2 TSP [CRUSHED]

SALT : AS REQUIRED

SUGAR : 2 TSP

OIL : 2 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

Cut the bread slices in small squares discarding the corners, grill them or just toast crisp on the tawa / pan.

Discard the two ends of the onion, peel and slice it, wash. 

Peel the carrot, discard the two ends and cut into cubes, wash.

Peel the potato, cut into cubes and wash. 

Wash the bell peppers and cut into cubes.

Wash and chop the green chillies, get the green peas & sweet corns ready near you.

Add salt and turmeric to the potato and carrot cubes.

Heat the oil in a wok or pan. Add the sliced onion, chopped green chillies to the oil, fry until golden brown; take out.

Add the marinated potato and stir fry at minimal heat for 3-4 minutes.

Add the carrot pieces and stir fry at low heat for 2-3 minutes and cover cook for 4-5 minutes at minimal heat, check in between to avoid burning.

Add the green peas, sweet corn, the red and green bell peppers to the wok, also the sugar, salt if required and stir fry at low heat for a minute or two.

Add the crushed black pepper, the fried onion and green chillies, give a stir. 

Serve it fresh & hot with a choice of beverage.