Brown Lentil Chilla with Ginger Tofu Paneer Filling

 Brown Lentil Chilla with Ginger Tofu Paneer Filling

By Namit Kathoria

 

Soaking time: Overnight

Preparation time: 25 min

Cooking time: 30 – 40 min

 

Serves 2-4 people.

Ingredients:

Chilla

1 cup dry brown lentils

¾ teaspoon Himalayan rock salt

½ inch ginger roughly chopped

Up to 1 green chilli roughly chopped

¾ cup vegetable stock

½ white onion roughly chopped

Small handful fresh coriander roughly chopped

⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon coriander powder

 

Olive oil for frying

 

Filling

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ tablespoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon nigella seeds (black cumin seeds)

1 tomato diced

½ white onion diced

½ inch ginger grated

½ green chilli finely diced (seeds taken out if you want it to be less spicy)

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon Himalayan rock salt

1 teaspoon tikka masala spice mix (or substitute with garam masala if tikka masala not available)

½ inch tumeric freshly grated (or ¼ - ½ teaspoon turmeric powder if fresh not available)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

2 tablespoons tamari sauce

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 block (250-400g) tofu (drained and cubed)

1 green pepper diced

1 carrot diced

1 small handful spinach

 

1 handful fresh coriander

 

Preparation:

1.      Wash the lentils and soak them overnight in water.

2.      Drain and rinse the lentils.

3.      Add all the main ingredients including the lentils into a blender. Blend for a minute on a high setting.

4.      Heat up a little bit of the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan bringing it to a medium to high heat. Once the oil is warm, add the chilla batter in forming small circles starting from the centre. Use a half-cup measure to make this easier. Once there is enough of the chilla batter on the surface of the pan, you can use a spatula to flatten the mixture out and then cook for about 2 minutes until it become crispy on the bottom.

5.      As soon as this happens, add some more olive oil over the edges and the centre of the new chilla and then leave for a few more seconds.

6.      Scrape below the edges with the spatula and then flip the chilla over. Cook for another minute or two until it becomes crispy on the bottom of this side as well.

7.      Take the chilla out and repeat until all the mixture has been used up. You should have around 5 chillas in total.

8.      Once the chilla have been made we start with the filling. Mix the two oils together in a pan (the same pan that you used for the chilla if you want to), heat up on a medium to high heat and add in one piece of the onion. As soon as it starts to sizzle, add in the onion and the tomato and cook for about 4-5 minutes until the tomato becomes soft and the onion becomes translucent. Whilst the oniom and tomato are cooking chop up the vegetables and the chilli and grate the ginger and the turmeric.

9.      Now add in the ginger, the chilli, the turmeric and the seeds with a little more oil. Fry for about 30 seconds constantly stirring so that nothing burns.

10.   Add in the spices, the salt and the black pepper with a little bit more oil again. Keep stirring for about 30 seconds more.

11.   Add in the tofu, the carrot, the green pepper and the tamari sauce. Stir occasionally and cook for about 6-8 minutes till the tofu starts to become crispy.

12.   Now add in the garlic, the onion powder, the nutritional yeast and the spinach and cook for around another minute. As soon as the spinach starts to wilt switch the heat off.

13.   Take one chilla at a time, put the filling inside, fold and top with the fresh coriander. If you want to, you can serve with a spicy tomato sauce.

 

Where does your protein come from?

It comes from a mixture of the tofu which is in the filling and the lentils which are in the actual chilla itself.

 

To get more inspiration for healthy plant-based recipes please see our new nutrition and recipe book “Life” which is due to come out in 2022.