Leftover Lunch

To Dinner Makeovers

Amti

Amti is a favourite and almost a staple dish in Marathi households. It is basically a dal tadka with some tangy taste gained from adding aamchur powder. Whenever dal from lunch is left, it gets transformed into amti. All you have to do is heat oil, add basic spices, and pour over the leftover dal. Once it is boiled, add a teaspoon of amchur powder to it, and your amti is ready. It can be paired with roti, rice, or you can also have it independently, like a bowl of soup. What distinguishes amti from dal tadka is the tang from amchur, which gives it a new taste altogether different from normal or tadka dal.

Phodnicha Bhaat

A bowl of leftover rice is a very common sight in Indian kitchens, and one such Maharashtrian recipe that utilises this rice is phodnicha bhaat. The word phodni means tadka in Marathi. Phodniccha bhaat is a part of the Maharashtrian dinner whenever there’s leftover rice. Making this dish is very simple; all you need is oil, basic spices, curry leaves, peanuts, and rice. Put all spices in a pan after the oil is heated, and add the rice to it. Give it a good mix, let it cook for a minute, and phodnicha bhaat is ready. You can have it with nimbu achaar, schezwan chutney or ketchup, as you please. This is the perfect desi version of fried rice that you will love making over again!

Paratha Rolls

Like dal and rice, leftover rotis and parathas too sometimes sit sadly on the kitchen counter or dining table, waiting to get transformed like their companions, and paratha rolls are a perfect answer to that! Leftover rotis, when toasted on tawa with ghee or oil, and stuffed with sauteed vegetables, scrambled eggs, and topped with some green chutney or yoghurt sauce, make for perfect rolls. You can use these rolls as starters, and many of your family members won’t even realise that they have been made from leftover ingredients. That’s the magic of Indian kitchens!

Dry Sabzi To Sandwich Filling

Many dry sabzis like aloo, cabbage, spinach or methi can be repurposed as sandwich fillings beautifully. Even if you have some gravy sabzis like paneer, you can simmer it for some time till the gravy is absorbed entirely by the paneer and then use it as a sandwich filling. All you need to do is toast the bread slices, add the filling along with some sauces and green chutney, and your sandwich is ready! This sandwich will have a desi taste, and might actually make you forget the OG filling that you make for sandwiches.

Khichdi Into Fritters

You might not have heard it before, but khichdi can be transformed beautifully into fritters! To make these fritters, all you have to do is mix besan or gram flour in the khichdi and some basic spices to adjust the quantity. Set it aside for some time, heat oil, shape the khichdi into patties, and shallow fry them. Pair these fritters with some salad or chutney, and your dinner, aka khichdi 2.0, is sorted! 

Leftover Lunch Supremacy

The above recipes not only give a new taste and flavour to regular items, but they also help reduce waste by making the kitchen sustainable. By doing just a few additions, you get to experience your leftovers in a new form, which sometimes overshadows the original ones!