Ashy's vegetarian recipes ©2002

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Stuffed porotas

There are many different kinds of porotas but the ones we're going to do here are like chappatis with vegetables inside them. You start this recipe the same way as you do chappatis so have a look there for more detail on making the dough. What you have to do, is roll out two small chappatis for each porota, put a layer of filling between them, seal the edges then roll it out a bit more before frying. Start with balls of dough about 4 cm in diameter and roll them out until they're about 20 cm in diameter. Use your finger or a pastry brush (if you possess such a luxury item) to wet around the edge of one circle with water and spread about three teaspoons of filling on it without going too close to the edge. place the other circle on top, press round the edges to seal them and, on a floured surface, roll out the porota to about 25-30 cm in diameter. When you roll out the dough-balls at first, you can be quite heavy handed, but be gentle the second time otherwise the filling might break through the dough. That's not a complete disaster, but it makes for untidy porotas. You don't want that, do you? Toss the finished porota gently from hand to hand to shake off the excess flour before cooking.

You can fry the porotas in oil or cook them in a dry pan. I prefer doing these one's without oil. I'll do another recipe for a more substantial, oil fried porota soon, but in the meantime, here's how to cook them without oil. Heat a frying pan until it's fairly hot and slap in a porota. Turn the heat down a bit and cook for about 3 minutes each side. As you cook, keep adjusting the temperature so that the pan is hot enough to make the porotas puff up, but not hot enough to char them. You'll figure it out after the first few. This is where it's handy to have a dog around to eat the one's you make a mess of. If the pan starts to get clogged with flour - and it might - use a spatula to scrape it clean between porotas or the flour will start to burn. Put the cooked porotas on a plate covered with a damp cloth. That will stop them drying out.

Fillings

Cauliflower and coriander

Mash cooked cauliflower with some chopped green coriander and a little salt.

Potato and chilli

Mash cooked potato with a little butter, finely chopped green chilli and salt.

Dhal

You can use any kind of dhal except chick pea. It's too lumpy. Use the dhal as it is. Just spread it on.