Leftovers are never appetising, now, are they? But, given how creative Indian cooking is, you are bound to find some good dishes that you can make from these leftovers at home. And with the lockdowns imposed, now is the best time to utilise those leftovers and give your creative twist to it.
And, while many people have stockpiled their foods, some have had a hard time managing their leftovers, resulting in either wastage of the food, or eating the same thing day after day. This is definitely not something you want to experience around.
To give you an idea of things, we have sorted out some of the best Indian recipes that you can make from leftovers.
Lemon rice
Now, one of the most common leftovers that people have at home is rice. Be it of any variant, the fragrant basmati rice or even the normal short grain rice, you can whip up some flavourful lemon rice with it to eat the next day. Not only does it taste pretty amazing, it is also flavourful and takes 10 minutes to be done.
Ingredients
- Cooked rice – as per requirement
- Lemon juice – 1 whole lemon
- Peanuts – 10-15
- Curry leaves – handful
- Green chilli – 1
- Salt
- Asafoetida – 1 pinch
- For tempering – urad daal, chana daal, mustard seeds,
Process
- Start by sorting out the rice first and heat it a little
- Once done, dry roast the peanuts in the pan till the skin comes off
- Once done, remove the peanuts and clean the pan with a cloth
- To that, add 2 tbsp of oil and let it heat up
- Add the tempering ingredients and let it sizzle for 10 seconds
- Add the curry leaves to it and let it sizzle
- Add the asafoetida to that and let everything become light brown in colour
- Once it has fried for a minute, add the rice and mix everything through
- Add a pinch of turmeric, salt and the lemon juice and mix everything again
- Once everything has been mixed thoroughly, add the peanuts and mix again
- Finish it off with some chopped coriander leaves
Lamb Keema Samosa
Now, you must be thinking, who even has lamb keema lying as leftovers around in the house, right? Well, you would be surprised to know that many people do. In case you have some lying around in your house and you have been trying to look for a good way to use it up, lamb samosas is the way to go.
Ingredients
- Cooked lamb mince
- Coriander and mint leaves
- Samosa pastry sheets (in case you want to make it yourself, make a dough with refined flour, oil, sugar, carrom seeds and water and knead it into a thick and stiff dough)
Process
- To start this, take the lamb mice mixture in a bowl and add the chopped mint and coriander leaves to it and mix everything well
- To make the samosas, take the pastry sheets and fold them to make a triangle cone and fill the lamb keema filling inside. Use flour and water to seal the edges
- In a wok, heat some oil for deep frying, making sure that you leave the oil on low to medium heat
- Add the made samosas into the oil and fry it in medium heat till it is cooked from both sides and has a light brown colour to the pastry
- Take out the samosas and keep them on a plate lined with tissue paper to absorb the excess oil
Daal Paratha
If you are from North India, you know for a fact that there isn’t anything that can’t be made into a paratha. Any vegetable and any leftover can be used as a filling to make a filling and hearty paratha that you can enjoy for your lunch. Leftover daal makes for one of the best options.
Ingredients
- Whole wheat flour – 2 cups
- Cooked yellow daal
- Cumin seeds – ½ seeds
- Asafoetida – 1 pinch
- Spices – turmerice, coriander and cumin, chilli powder
- Salt
- Oil – 1 tsp
Process
- Start by taking the flour into a bowl, and add some oil and salt and water to it and knead it into firm dough. Set it aside and cover it with a wet cloth
- In a pan, add some oil, and add some cumin seeds
- When it starts sizzling, add some asofetida, cooked daal and the spices and mix everything well
- Cook the mixture on medium heat till the oil separates and the mixture is completely dry
- Leave the mixture to dry out and cool under the fan for some time
- Take the dough out into big balls and then roll out it
- Add the daal mixture inside and then fold it inside to make a pocket and then roll it out again
- Roll it out till you can see the filling from the dough
- Heat a non-stick pan on the stove and then add the rolled out paratha
- Oil both sides of the paratha and cook it till it’s cooked on both sides
Curry Omelette
Curries are what constitute the majority of the Indian cuisine. In case you have some left over from the day before, one of the best ways to transform it is by making it into an omelette. It makes for a healthy and hearty breakfast meal that you can enjoy the day after.
Ingredients
- Eggs – 2
- Leftover curry – mash it
- Milk – ½ cup
- Salt and pepper – according to taste
Process
- Start by cracking the eggs into a bowl and beating it with a fork
- Once done, add the milk and a pinch of salt and pepper and beat it again
- To that, add the leftover curry and mix everything through till it is uniform and consistent
- Heat up a pan and add some oil to it and let it heat up
- Pour the egg mixture into the pan and let it cook from one side first and then flip to cook the other side too
- Once it has browned from both the sides, take it out and eat it as part of your breakfast
Leftover Sabji Rotla
Rotla is a traditional Maharashtrian dish that is cooked with a mixture of flours, veggies and rice at times too. The one that we are going to share here is a mixture of the leftover rice, flour and curry from the day before. It makes for a very healthy and appetising meal that you just can’t get enough of.
Ingredients
- Leftover rice – 1 cup
- Leftover curry – 1 cup (mashed)
- Multigrain flour – 1 cup
- Spices – Turmerice, Cumin, Coriander, Chilli Powder, Aamchur powder
- Coriander and mint leaves – chopped
Process
- Start by taking a big bowl and add in the leftover rice and curry into it
- Knead the mixture with your hands till it becomes mashed and smooth
- To that, add the spices and the flour and mix everything till it becomes a dough like consistency
- Once done, you can take lightly grease your non-stick pan and add a ball of the dough
- Using your fingers, flatten out the rotla ball and make some holes in it
- Let it cook on the pan over medium heat for some time
- Add some oil from the sides to speed up cooking
- Once done, flip the rotla and cook from the other side too
- Serve with some curd and pickle on the side
If you have been worried about the leftovers in your home, we are pretty sure, these Indian recipes will suffice all your needs. Always make sure to never waste food and be careful with the way you can repurpose them the next day.
