Cooking with Ish

I usually roast beets to make a salad or soup.  Roasted beets with roasted walnut and goat cheese, seasoned with honey, balsamic vinegar and pepper for salad. As for Borsht Soup, how can it be made without beets? I pressure cook Celery, onion, garlic, potato and tomatoes along with roasted beets. It is ready in about 15 minutes. Then, all that is needed to enjoy it is a dollop of sour cream and and some freshly ground pepper

But this fall, I have been making a lot of  beet ~ paronte (flat bread) ….

As for making the beet dough: Boiled beets, onions, jalapeno, spices, flour & Oil, I like to keep the dough as moist as possible

Mash the boiled beets

Add spices

Add Flour

Blend with a ladle or hand

Add oil

Blend together till it

Forms a smooth dough

Roll handful of dough into smooth rounds

Roll out the smooth rounds of flour into circles, apply oil and layer it into a square shaped flat bread, roll and cook on a hot griddle…

Flatten dough round into disc

Roll it out

Apply about oil

First vertical left fold

Second vertical right fold

Fold halfway from top

Fold to shape into square

dust with flour

And roll

Put it on the hot griddle

Flip

Cook until brown spots appear

Brown spots on both sides

Enjoy with blue squash soup

We had them with some blue squash soup today, but you can have it butter, yoghurt, applesauce or spiced potatoes. Well! just about anything….

RECIPE

Makes about 6 - 8 Paronte (flat breads)

2 Cups of boiled mushy beets,
1/2 cup of chopped onions
2-3 chopped Jalapeno or Serrano peppers
2 -3  cups of whole wheat flour or gluten free flour
2t cumin/garam masala
2t salt

1. 1. Mash the beets to make a smooth paste
   2. Add chopped onions and peppers
   3. Then add spices to the beet mush
   4. Add whole wheat flour  little bit at a time
   5. Mix well
   6. You can pound the dough with your knuckles until soft and smooth
   7. Add a little bit of oil ( 1 – 2 tbsp) if needed to make the dough smooth
   8. Take a handful of dough and roll it in white flour to make it smooth
   9. Roll it out into a disk with a rolling pin about 4 – 6 inches in diameter
   10. Smear it with a little bit of oil
   11. Fold from all sides to make it a square
   12. Add more flour
   13. And roll out the dough softly
   14. Till it is about 8 – 10 inches square ( well almost)
   15. Cook on the hot griddle at 450 degree F
   16. For about 2 -3 mins on each sides
   17. Brush with a pastry brush dipped in oil
   18. Enjoy with soup/yoghurt/ butter & pickle or apple sauce
   19. Maybe a cup of hot chai!!!!!

But Beet greens?

When they are tender, they are so flavorful.. so I have been using them in smoothies, stir fry and flat bread