For those who take it easy on Sundays and wake up at leisure, brunch is a great way of minimising time spent in the kitchen. Since it’s too late for breakfast, it’s best to settle for brunch, which ideally combines some of the lightness of breakfast and the wholesomeness of lunch. While brunch commonly includes egg recipes, pancakes, stir-fry veggies, grilled meats, soups, salads and desserts, in India it often includes traditional breakfast favourites such as idli, dosa, upma, paratha, poha and chilla, but prepared innovatively. Treat yourself to a lazy brunch with fluffy pancakes with a drizzle of maple syrup, give the humble roti a twist by sprinkling herbs such as rosemary, oregano and basil, and stuff pani puri with interesting ingredients. Serve vegetable stir-fry with cream and tortillas, or cupcakes with fruit juice frosting.
Here are some brunch recipes.
PANEER PIZZA
Ingredients
Pizza base: 1
Gravy: 100 gm
Cheese: 100 gm
Paneer: 60 gm
Onion: 30 gm
Chilli garlic sauce (adjust to taste): 10 gm
Pizza seasoning: half tsp
Coriander leaves, chopped: 1 tsp
For the gravy
Ingredients
Coriander seeds: 2 tsp
Dry red chillies: 5-6
Finely chopped ginger-garlic: 2 tbsp
Finely chopped green chillies: 1 tsp
Finely chopped tomatoes: 2 cups
Tomato puree: quarter cup
Dry fenugreek leaves: 1 tsp
Garam masala: 1 tsp
Oil for cooking
Salt to taste
Method:
Combine the red chillies and coriander seeds and dry roast on a hot griddle for a few seconds. Keep aside to cool. Blend in a mixer to make a fine powder. Keep aside. Heat oil in a pan; add the ginger-garlic and sauté on medium flame for a few seconds. Add the prepared powder and sauté on medium flame for a few seconds. Add green chillies and sauté for 30-35 seconds. Add the tomato and mix well. Cook on medium flame for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mash the mixture well. Add the tomato puree, dried fenugreek leaves, garam masala, salt and some water. Mix well and cook for 2-3 minutes. Keep aside. Take a pizza base and spread this gravy evenly on it. Top it with cheese, paneer and onion. Bake it in an oven at 300 degrees C for 7 minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves and pizza seasoning. Serve hot.
FRUITY PANI PURI
Ingredients
For the pooris
Semolina: half cup
All-purpose flour: half tbsp
Soda water: 3 tbsp
Oil for cooking
Salt to taste
For the filling
Mixed fruits of your choice: 1 cup
Sprouts: 1 tbsp
Boiled, chopped potato: 1 tbsp
Cumin seed powder: half tsp
Chaat masala powder: half tsp
Mint paste: 1 tsp
Coriander paste: 1 tsp
A pinch of sugar
Salt to taste
For green/tikha pani
Fresh sweet lime juice: 1 cup
Mint leaves paste: 1 tbsp
Green chilli paste: 1 tsp
Ginger paste: quarter tsp
Roasted cumin seeds powder: quarter tsp
Salt to taste
For meetha pani
Pineapple juice: quarter cup
Fresh pomegranate juice: quarter cup
Cranberry juice: quarter cup
Tamarind juice: quarter cup
Jaggery syrup: 1 tbsp
Chaat masala: 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Method:
For the pooris, mix semolina, plain flour, soda water and salt. Knead well to make a soft dough. Cover it with a clean, wet cloth for about ten minutes. Divide the dough into equal-sized marble balls and roll each into a poori. Heat oil in a pan and deep-fry these pooris until they puff up and turn a golden brown. Set aside. Mix all the ingredients for the filling well. Mix the ingredients for green tikha pani and store in the refrigerator till use. Mix all the ingredients for meetha pani and refrigerate. To assemble the puri, break open a hole on one side and drop a teaspoon of fruit mixture and spoon tikha and meetha pani into it. It's ready to eat.
