Monday, January 11, 2010

Quesadilla



Quesadilla, a mexican snack food made of cheese, pronunced in spanish as "kesa diya" or "kesa dia", literally means "cheese tortilla" or "cheese cake".
In this recipe cheese and other ingredients are sandwiched between two flour tortillas and grilled on an oiled griddle, flipped so both sides are cooked and the cheese is melted, finally served after being cut into wedges. This type is often called "sincronizada" in Mexico.

Ingredients :

For flour tortillas:

1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tbsps butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking pwd
approx 1/2 cup mix of warm milk & water, 1:1 ratio


For the vegetable filling:

onions (chopped finely), cabbage (chopped finely), carrots (shredded), capsicum (chopped finely), spring onions (chopped finely, including onion greens), tomatoes (chopped finely) or any vegetables of your choice
salt to taste
red chili flakes
3/4-1 cup grated cheese
1/4 tsp black pepper grounded
1 tbs chili sauce
1/4 tsp chili powder
4 cloves garlic
1 tbs olive oil

Method :

For Tortillas :
Combine all the ingredients except milk in a wide utensil and mix well so that baking powder gets nicely incorporated within the mix. Now slowly add the warm milk & water mix to knead to a soft dough. Keep aside for 30 minutes.
Divide the dough into 8 equal balls and roll them into thin chapatis of approx 7″-9″ diameter.
Pre-heat a griddle and place each tortilla on the hot griddle for only 3-5 seconds on each side and remove. This step is done to ensure that tortilla don't stick to each other when stacked. Keep aside all the lightly toasted tortillas.

For Veggies :
In heavy bottom pan heat olive oil and saute crushed garlic cloves, once the raw garlic smell is gone add all the veggies.
Remember to keep the flame on medium high. Stir in all the other ingredients like salt, pepper, chili flakes etc and turn off the heat.
Remember veggies should not be raw, neither should they be thoroughly cooked, we need them to hold that crunchiness.
This whole process should not take more than 3-4 minutes.
Prepare this mix before hand so that by the time you prepare quesadilla, veggies would cool down to room temp.



For Quesadilla:
Place a tortilla on a clean surface and spread the veggie mix on it, shred some mozzarella, cheddar or any kind of cheese, run a damp finger around the rim of this tortilla and place another tortilla on it. Seal the rim by pressing these two tortilla together. You can also take a fork and press along the rim.
Pre-heat a griddle and on medium heat roast both sides of the quesadilla flipping over to toast both sides. Ensure that you cook it over medium heat, you want the cheese to melt inside.
Remove quesadilla onto a serving plate, slice into triangles and serve hot with garlicy salsa or tomato ketchup.

Tips:
Adding sweet corn or baby corn enhances the taste.
You can also add in cottage cheese into veggies and top it with mozzarella or cheddar cheese for more creamy quesadilla.
Alternatively we can spread salsa and cheese or salsa and sour cream for that perfect quesadilla.

3 comments:

  1. Wow!! Perfect Maxican Dish :) I loved the combination of your veggies. And you made it from scratch...right from making tortilla at home! Hats OFF!!

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  2. Thanks Chaitali, I did have fun making it.

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  3. Hey Moks, here sharing a recipe to make Macroni. A friend of my hubby shared it with us and we tried out. it tastes simply delicious.Here it goes...

    First of all what is needed ;

    Vegetables : Cabbage, Onion, Capsicum
    Baked Beans Tin.
    Cheese
    Butter
    Oil
    Macroni
    Garam Masala
    Dhana Jeera Powder
    Black Pepper(crushed one)
    Salt
    Oregano Pizza.

    First of all Boil the Macroni as required.

    In the meantime chopp the vegetables viz., onion, cabbage and capsicum.

    Then take a big bowl/utensil in which you can make the receipe.

    Get oil and butter in that and fry onion first in that till it gets somewhat brownish.

    Then add the cabbage and capsicum to it and let it cook for 10-15 min till it gets cooked one. Also add salt to it at the initial time.

    Then add Baked Beans, garam masala, dhana jeera powder, black pepper powder and boiled macroni to it.

    Mix the material well and let it bake till it gets bake for around 15 mins or so.

    Also add cheese some minutes before the food is almost ready and on top of that spread the oregano pizza powder.

    Bake it for some more time and then your Macroni is ready.

    I have taken snap too but I guess it's not possible to post in comment. will mail u the snap.

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