Whether you've had a long day and want a quick meal to throw together or whether the kids are demanding a snack, this is an easy and fast recipe to make. This delicious quesadilla contains sauteed vegetables and melty cheese folded into a chappati. Now, what's not to like about that! If there is cheese involved, and it only takes 15 minutes to make, I’m not complaining! Plus this dish is totally kid approved - especially if you add a little squirt of ketchup when making the vegetables.
A traditional Mexican quesadilla uses tortillas, which is flat bread made with corn. But for this recipe, I am using our very own chappati, because it is works the same way a tortilla would. To speed up this recipe, you can half cook the chappatis ahead of time and reserve them. Then simply pull out the already made chappatis and proceed with this recipe. You will have dinner ready in no time.
I like using capsicum, onions and mushrooms for the filling, but you are only limited by your imagination as far the filling goes! Shredded carrot, sweet corn, fresh palak leaves or fried paneer will all taste great in this dish.
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I am a huge fan of mushrooms and love them in quesadillas. The best way to clean a mushroom is to wipe it with a towel. Washing mushrooms in water will make them rubbery and also cause them to release a lot of liquid while cooking. If your mushrooms do get watery while cooking, let them cook on high heat until all the liquid is absorbed. You don’t want the quesadilla filling to be too wet.
The fresh, lemony mango cucumber salsa is a great counterpoint to the spicy, cheesy quesadilla. Pile a spoon full of this salsa on every bite and you’ll be in heaven.
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Makes 4-6 quesadillas
Ingredients
1 tablespoon oil + more for the chappatis
1 cup sliced onion
1 1/2 cups sliced capsicum
6 white button mushrooms, wiped clean with a towel and sliced
1 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder, use more if you wish
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt
2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves
4-6 uncooked chappatis
1 cup grated mozzarella or cheddar cheese
Method
1. Heat one tablespoon oil in a large kadai or wide skillet. Add the onion and capsicum and cook until they are slightly soft, about 3 minutes.
2. Now throw in the mushrooms, cumin, coriander and chili powders, and oregano. Crank the heat up to high, cook stirring just until the mushrooms cook. If the mushrooms let out too much liquid, keep cooking on high heat until the liquid evaporates.
3. Sprinkle salt and coriander leaves, toss well and set aside.
4. Heat a tava or flat skillet. Drizzle a few drops of oil on it. Place a rolled out, uncooked chappati on the tava. Sprinkle some cheese all over the chappati. Then put 2 spoons of the capsicum filling on one half of the chappati.
5. Cook on medium heat just until the cheese starts to melt. Fold the chappati over the vegetable filling to make a half moon. Carefully flip the quesadilla and cook the other side until it is golden and the cheese has fully melted.
6. Remove the quesadilla onto a cutting board and cut it in half. Serve hot with mango cucumber salsa (recipe below).
Mango Cucumber Salsa
1 ripe mango, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and cut into small cubes
1 teaspoon lime juice
Salt and pepper
Combine all ingredients together and mix well. Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to serve.
Food blogger and enthusiastic traveller, Sala Kannan combines her passions for cooking, culture and photography in one delectable blog: >Veggie Belly.