From 'raita' to 'basi roti': How to reprocess left over food

Usually whenever we host a lunch or dinner, a lot of meal is left over. Infact on regular basis also, you can see your refrigerator packed with some or other left over dish, be it some vegetable, ‘daal', ‘roti', or ‘raita'.So what do you do with the left over meal? Do you throw it away or keep eating it till the time it finishes? What if we tell you that this left over meal can actually be reprocessed to make some yummy dishes?Surprised? Yes, it's true!Check out the below recipes, that will help you convert those left over meals into delicious dishes which your family will find hard to resist and bring smile to your face too-Boondi RaitaUsually after meals, the ‘raita' remains as it is. While it is easy to process ‘plain curd', we wonder what to do with the ‘raita' as it turns sour if it is kept for a long time. So, here's how you can use it in your very next meal.You can use the left over ‘boondi ka raita' to make delicious ‘kadhi'.All you need to do is, make besan mixture as you do for the normal kadhi. Sieve besan in a bowl and make a thick mixture by adding water to it. Now add the left over boondi raita in this besan mixture. Make sure there are no lumps in the mixture.Take 1-2tbsp of oil, and put jeera, heeng and methi seeds in it. Heat it till jeera turns brown. Now add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, green chilli and the raita-besan mixture in it and stir it till it gets thick and starts to boil. Once the kadhi starts to boil slow down the flame and stop stirring.Make sure you don't make pakoda's this time as the boondi in the raita will sum up for it.Add salt and red chilli powder in the kadhi and cook it on a medium flame for 12-15 minutes.Left over vegetablesIf you have some left-over raw vegetables in your refrigerator, you can use all of them to make a healthy dish. You can use vegetables lauki, brinjal, cauliflower and like wise to make delicious and healthy ‘Sambhar'.Cut the vegetables into pieces. Do ensure that with other vegetables, you have included onions, tomatoes and green chillies, ginger for sure. Put them in a pressure cooker along with 3-4tbsp of water and salt as per taste. Add some turmeric to it. Now cook these veggies till two or three whistles or till the time they become soft.In another pan, fry mustard seeds (‘rai) and then some curry leaves. Fry them. Add Sambhar masala and fry for 1 minute.Once all the pressure is released from the cooker, open its lid and mash the veggies. Now add some ‘arhar dal' to the veggie mixture. Also add water according to how thick you want the Sambhar.You may also add tamarind (imli) paste to it and mix it well and cook it for next 4-5 minutes.Delicious Sambhar with left-over vegetables is ready to serve. You can serve it with idlis or can cook plain boiled rice with it. Basi rotiSometimes, one or two chapattis get remained from a meal. By the next day, nobody wishes to eat them but a wise lady like you can use it effectively to make yummy pakodas with them.Take ‘basi roti' and cut it into small pieces (the way you cut bread for pakodas). Now take besan in a big bowl, and prepare a mixture by adding water along with salt and red chilli powder as per taste. Again the besan mixture should be the way you make for other ‘pakodas'.Now take roti pieces and dip them in besan. Fry these till they turn brown from both sides. Take them out in a plate with absorbent paper.Serve with green chutney or ketchup.Dal ChawalTake wheat flour in a bowl and add salt, cumin, 1 tsp of oil, left over dal, and left over rice to it. Mix it well and knead it to make soft dough. Cover the dough and leave it for 20 minutes.You can also add green chilli, red chilli and green coriander to the dough as per your taste and preference.Now make small balls from the dough and dust it with flour before placing it on the rolling board. Make thick paranthas out of the roll.Now place the parantha on the pan and grease it from both the sides with oil.Roast the parantha on medium flame from both the sides till it turns brown and crispy.You can serve it with curd, or pickle, or chutney.Alternatively, you can also use the rice mixture as stuffing in the paranthas and can make them the way aaloo paranthas are made. Left over dalsTake all the left over dals in a pressure cooker along with some water, salt and turmeric powder. Close the lid and cook it till one whistle goes off before turning off the flame. Let the steam come out.Now beat some black Pepper, laung, and cardamom. Take a pan and heat some oil and add some cumin seeds. Once the cumin seeds start spluttering, add red chilli powder, beaten masala, ginger, green chilli and cook it for a minute.Add this mixture to the dal. Mix it well and cook it for five minutes. Garnish it with coriander leaves before serving it with chappattis.