Receta Recipes | Healthy Dill and Potato Oats Crackers – One opportunity leads directly to another
‘When you take the step towards your dreams, you will be met with fears because you have never traveled this way before. As you go, you will discover that you had nothing to fear.’ ~ Gardner
Just as risk leads to more risk, one opportunity leads directly to another. And talking about this opportunity, quite honestly, I never thought that such opportunities could come my way through food blogging.
Some days back, I received a call from a representative of a very popular multinational food manufacturing company Kellogg.
“Kellogg’s Asia pacific has organized a two day ‘Product Ideation’ workshop in Mumbai and they have selected you as one of the participants. The workshop is to generate ideas on Indian breakfast recipes which are convenient to cook in morning and are healthy too. There will be a mix of participants from India and abroad in a team to work on a given platform.” He informed me over phone and asked me to confirm my participation through mail.
And as I always do, I opened the topic to hubby on the dinner table that night. “It sounded like a good idea with lot of scope for learning, sharing and making new friends. But then again, the thought of leaving children, traveling and staying alone makes me little apprehensive.”
“Stop giving reasons now, you are fortunate enough to have been given a second chance to start a new life. Cease every wonderful opportunity coming your way. Learn new things and grow as a better person. Isn’t that what you want to show your children?” My hubby replied matter-of-factly and waited for my next question.
Well, hubby’s pep-talks have become a sort of ritual of late, before I take my first step to any new assignment
I took the assignment after a few days of cross-checking and bothering the concerned people from the company with my mails.
And it proved to be a wise decision!
It was one of those events where you meet people from across the world and get to learn the cross-cultural perspective of food.
The cheerful and friendly ‘Ideation team’ at Hotel Novotel in Mumbai.
Met the talented trio of Mumbai food bloggers….Rhea, Kalyan and Romi.
A click with the celebrity chef Ranveer Brar who pampered us with some of the most delicious spreads for two days.
Room with a view
I took the early morning flight and reached the venue directly. My room was booked in the same hotel. The day was hectic with lots of engaging activities and insight on the food industry.
Evening was quite, I went out for a walk on the beach. With overcast skies and intermittent showers, the weather was amazing in Mumbai. The enthusiastic evening walkers and playful children around the beach kept me engaged till it was too dark.
Back in my room, I started working upon the platforms given to us for the next day session. The sounds of the sea and splashing waves was soothing. I was completely at peace in my calm and serene room facing the magnificent Juhu beach.
As the lunch menu was too heavy, I skipped dinner and opted for a cup of warm Chamomile tea with a few Dill crackers I baked at home.
Healthy Dill and Potato Oats Crackers
Dill or Suva is an annual aromatic herb used commonly in many North Indian dishes such as flat breads (roti), cold salads (with boiled aloo) and lentil (daal) recipes.
Due to the sweet after-taste of Dill, it is used as mouth freshener or Mukhwas in West India. Dill has good digestive properties and imparts a distinct flavor to any dish.
I often use Dill seeds in baking savory dishes. These crackers are a twisted version of dill and potato rotis we make at home.
Check this recipe for more flaky and crispy biscuits.
Check this recipe of quick and healthy warm chickpea salad with Dill leaves.
Ingredients;
(Make about 15 crackers)
- 1 cup Oats
- 1/2 cup Wheat flour
- 3 tbsp oil + 1 tbsp butter
- 1 cup mashed Potato
- 2 tbsp. chopped dill leaves
- 2 tbsp yogurt
- 1 tsp dry red chilly flakes
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. carom seeds
Method; Preheat the oven to 190°C and grease a baking tray with oil.
Boil and mash the potato. Coarsely grind the Oats (I used quick cooking Oats).
Wash and finely chop Dill leaves.
Take both the flours in a large bowl, add carom seeds (ajwain), dried red chilly flakes, chopped Dill leaves, baking powder, salt to it and mix well.
Add oil in the above flour and mix lightly to get bread crumbs like texture.
Add mashed potato and yogurt in the bowl and bring all the ingredients together to form hard dough.
Take a large portion of the dough, dust it lightly with dry wheat flour and roll it into a large thin sheet with a rolling pin.
Cut the rolled out dough into squares or rounds with a sharp knife or a cookie cutter.
Arrange all the squares onto a greased baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes. Turn the crackers to other side and bake for another 10 minutes.
Notes;
Two plastic sheets would be very handy to roll the cracker dough into thin sheet.
Baking time would depend upon the thickness of the crackers.
Olive oil works wonder to give lovely taste and healthy tough to these crackers.
Crackers are generally hard and dry in texture, add a little butter to make these crackers crisp.
Replace oil and use softened butter for much flakier crackers.