Greens Paratha - Kale, Spinach and Mint Parathas

Of late, Kale has become a staple in my kitchen. We pick it from the grocers week after week and I always end up using it in different ways in all the dishes I make ..and yes, even including baby food. My one and a half yr old also gets Kale in her food. Poor kid. I started out using Kale predominantly in smoothies and juices. But now, anything I cook with Spinach or other greens, I make with Kale. I still have to try Kale Paneer though..hoping to do it soon.

One of my favorite recipes, and I do mean favorite because I've already made this many times, is this paratha. I like to just call it the greens paratha. This featured recipe has three greens - Kale, Spinach and Mint. But feel free to add more greens or swap these with other dark greens. The greens just enhance the taste of the paratha and makes it an healthier one too. 

Start off with fresh greens. Wash them well and roughly chop them up.

In a bowl, add multi grain wheat flour (atta), salt, pinch of turmeric, red chilli powder, and some coriander-jeera powder and mix well.

In a small saute pan, add less than a tsp of oil, and heat the greens till they are soften up. I saute each of the greens individually.

Add the semi cooked greens to flour.

Throw in some black jeera (these are my other new favorite nowadays too - love them in everything!)

Some Ajwain seeds (Carom seeds). Also, add some white sesame seeds - I was out of them and hence skipped.

Add about 1 tbsp oil to the dough. This will make the parathas soft and you would also not need to add a whole lot of ghee while cooking like the traditional parathas.

Adding water a little at a time, knead the flour into a soft dough.

Make small balls of the dough and roll into parathas or chappathis.

Cook on a flat griddle or a tawa. Turn both sides and cook until done. I don't add ghee on top while cooking. You could do this if you want richer parathas. These do remain soft because of the greens and you would not need all that fat.

Serve hot with some Daal and Cucumber Raitha.

I had friends for lunch and made some of my favorite Kadai Paneer and also some Quinoa pulav which does look delish in the pictures thanks to the cashews :)

Enjoy the greens parathas with your loved one. Send me a note if you like it and try it out!

Enjoy. Peace Out!

Go Chaatz at Fremont

So I go on one of those trips to the Bay area again. You know that one. The one where I meet 10 of my friends and have way too much fun. The one where we all meet up to party and lose track of our kids. The one where we talk so much that at the end of the day, our jaws hurt and our ears keep buzzing. The one where our husband kind of gives up on us and learn to fend for themselves. Honey - I don't know which suitcase your socks are in - go figure it out yourself - I'm too busy talking. The one where we all get perennially hungry (maybe because of all the talking) and keep eating all day like all calories are invisible and can never get to us. Let me explain a little on this last point. You'll see where this going. 

See, I work in IT and work on projects with deadlines, production moves, test issues etc. That is my job. And then this blog is my passion. But what if your passion was your job. You never have to work a day in your life...like they say. Right? Yes, to a certain extent. But no one talks about the hard work it takes to do that.  This friend of mine I'm talking about here has taken her passion and gone big with it. And I personally got to see behind the scenes with her. You've already met her in one of my previous posts - Anu (great food lovers named alike!), the owner of this awesome Ice cream place in the Bay Area - Nirvanaah. She has taken the next step and started this wonderful eatery called Go Chaatz at Fremont, California. I got to visit this with a first hand tour from her and an introduction to some of their signature dishes. 

What a catchy logo - bright and inviting. The Go Chaatz brand is a well established brand in India and she has the first franchisee here in the west coast. The food features Indo-Chinese fusion cuisine and includes many all time favorite dishes served with a twist. 

They've warned you - go with the flow!

Interiors are bright with a red and white theme all across the restaurant.

Here's a quick look at some signature dishes - a couple of them are my favorites already.

Introducing the chefs. The chef who creates all the Indo-Chinese specialites - don't miss the manchurian!

The South Indian chef. His specialties are featured in the breakfast menu. I've heard he makes a mean mysore masala dosa! I have to go back once for breakfast.

Peace to the Chaat chef - he's busy making some of the signature attractively packaged chaat platter!

Let's get to the food here already. We started off with this. Some desi style vada pav - served with little bits of extra bites and some sexy fried green chillies. For that extra oomph. Loved it!

There's the chaat platter - a little pani puri, a little sev puri and a little dahi sev puri with a cup of pani. Absolutely loved it.

Ok. This was the dry Gobi Mancurian. I remember we were fighting over each other to finish this and by the end of it, we were like- if you don't want the last piece, I'm taking it. My most favorite of all, I would say. Perfect texture, perfectly spiced and really enjoyable.

Honey Chilli Potatoes. This is one of their signature dishes. Its basically frech fries tossed up in a spicy and sweet Honey Chilli sauce and then garnished with sesame seeds and cut green onions. This is one of these dishes that you get addicted to in two bites. And then you have to keep eating it until its over to decide if its sweet or spicy!

While we all attacked all the other dishes like a pack of hungry wolves, my friend, the owner stuck to eating her simple mini-idlis with sambar and chutnies.

This is just a really pretty raitha. Served with the Biryani. Loved how each mint leaf was garnished with turmeric and red chilli powder.

I spoke about Biriyani right. Here it is. Intricately spiced, jazzed up biriyani. The flavors were all right - nothing overpowering or nothing less. Just the right amount of flavor. I'm sure if you have to sit at home on the couch and watch a movie and eat this hot, there would not be a better day.

This is another of their signature dishes - the Chilli Garlic Noodles. Kind of on the spicy side. If you're craving spicy indian chinese, do order this.

We had to try some north Indian stuff too, right? By now, we were all so stuffed but of course, that did not stop us. Hah! Why would it. You have no idea how much to go stuff we packed!

Here are some simple Laccha parathas.

And some Paneer Makhani to go with it. (by now, I'm promising myself another week of a Juice cleanse diet :) )

And some really pretty looking Paneer Pasanda. This was a rich and heavy dish - made with cashews and milk and other good things. (Now that Juice diet is confirmed)

This is the Vegetable Jaisalmer. Mixed vegetable cooked with spices and served on a roasted papad. This is a good dish to serve with some plain rotis. Check out the orbital onions.

Was that a feast or what? Do not miss the pani puri when you go there.

Go Chaatz is a good place to go with your buddies. Hang out for a bit, chat up and Chaat up! All dishes are very reasonably priced. If I worked close by, I would sure stop by for lunch at least 2-3 days a week. There are way too many dishes to try and you should go back to try a new one each time.

I thoroughly enjoyed visiting Go Chaatz. Send me a note if you've been here before and share your experiences. If you live in the Bay Area, but not been here before, you should go. Plan to go this weekend. And if you meet Anu, tell her a Hi from me!

And yes, the owner is a friend. But she did not ask me to write the review. Its a review I wanted to write after enjoying a good meal at the restaurant. This place has good things to offer and a nice food experience. So go enjoy some!

Enjoy. Peace out!

Restaurant Address:
39150 Paseo Padre Parkway, Fremont, CA.

Link to Go Chaatz FB Page