Stuffed Casserole

A slightly time consuming recipe by Ms. Tarla Dalal from her amazing cookbook Exciting Vegetarian Cooking.
 It tastes excellent. Just the right combination of sweet, sour, spicy. It did incorporate a lot of refined flour (maida) and God-knows-how-much butter. So I altered it somewhat to make it healthier. There are some aspects of the recipe which are still fattening, but then I guess, I am not that calorie conscious either.

Ingredients

For the pancakes

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 egg (optional)
• 1 tsp olive oil
• salt to taste
• water (as needed)

For the stuffing

• 1 cup mixed vegetables finely chopped (cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, french beans)
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp chopped garlic
• 2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary 
• salt to taste 

For the casserole

• 1 cup white sauce
• 1 cup tomato ketchup
• 1 cup baked beans
• 3 tbsp grated cheese
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp paprika
• butter (optional)

For the white sauce

• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp refined flour (maida)
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp pepper powder

First make the white sauce
 Heat the butter in a saucepan. Add the refined flour and fry well till it bubbles. Add the milk and pepper powder. Stir well to avoid lumps. If lumps do form eventually, blend it in a mixer.

Now the pancakes
Mix all the ingredients of the pancakes, and add water little by little to make medium soft dough. Divide it into 4 to 5 small portions and roll out each portion into a very very papery thin chapati.

Stuffing
Heat olive oil in a pan and add the garlic. Saute for a minute and add the rosemary. Now add all the chopped vegetables, red chilli powder and cover with a lid. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes stirring occasionally or until the vegetables are cooked. Add salt to taste.  

Assemble
Spoon out a teaspoon or two of the stuffing into the pancakes. Seal it shut using a little bit of water. Keep them aside. Now in a casserole dish apply a small layer of white sauce, then top it off with ketchup. Place the stuffed pancakes side by side on to these layers.

Keep layering the white sauce, ketchup and pancakes in this way. The ketchup layer should be  last. Line along the sides with baked beans. Sprinkle a tsp of oregano and paprika, and top it off with grated cheese.

Preheat an oven to 180 degrees centigrade and place the casserole in it. Bake for about 20 minutes and serve hot!

Okay well, I know that this photograph is not as great as some of the other pictures on this blog. I'll promise to do better next time.

Happy Cooking!