Besan chilla or tomato omlette is a very easy snack recipe. In 10 minutes flat you can prepare this dish.

Besan is not very frequently used in Bengali cuisines. Its only used for pakoras or any other fried snacks in Bengal. But besan finds wide usage in North and Western cuisines. Many main course items are also made of Besan in this part of the country.

I came to know about the existence of such a dish only when I came to Bombay the erstwhile Mumbai 9 years ago. On the very first day at office I saw a "Tomato Omlette" listed on the Menu in our canteen. Being a hardcore non-vegetarian, for me Omlette always meant something to do with eggs. So I happily ordered for the "Tomato Omlette". I was pretty puzzled when instead of a lucious egg omlette I was served two yellow pancakes with chopped tomato and a slight hint of chopped onion. My Maharashtrian colleagues laughed at my expression and explained that this is what is known as a vegetarian omlette in this part of the country. With an awkward embarrassed smile I finished the tomato omlette. Though it didn't taste like an egg omlette but it tasted really good. I began liking this new kind of omlette from that day.

But soon I realised I was not the only one caught off guard because of this confusing name. Once I was travelling to Pune via the expressway from Mumbai and we had stopped at a roadside food mall on the highway. I had ordered the usual Vada pav and I heard one of my co-passengers order"tomato omlette" . When I went to the counter to collect the food I heard a heated argument taking place between that co-passenger and the server. He was literally screaming at the top of his voice - " You name it omlete and serve me this besan thing?? Either you give me an egg omlette or change the name of the dish. I demand a refund. blah blah..." The sight was pretty amusing as I could very well related to the persons exact sentiments, reminded me of my first day at the office canteen.

Its kind of a comedy of errors whenever some non-Maharashtrian has their first encounter with this dish. Later on I came to know it was also known as Besan ka Chilla in the Northern states of India.


Preparation Time: 5 minutes  

Cooking Time: 5 minutes

Serves: 1

• Besan or Gram Four - 1 cup
• Hing or Asefotida - a pinch
• Totamto - 1/4th cup chopped
• Onion - 1/4th cup chopped
• Green Chilli - 1 chopped
• Carrot - grated 2 tsp
• Curd - 1 tbsp
• Turmeric powder - a pinch
• Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Sugar as per taste
• Salt as per taste
• Refined Oil for frying
• Water

Procedure:

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day as it kickstarts your metabolism and keeps you charged up for the day. During childhood days I used to look forward to the weekends when my mother would prepare an array of feasts for breakfast which I would leisurely devour. Fluffy Luchis, tinkona porota(Triangular flatbread), Begun Bhaja(Fried Brinjal), Potol Bhaja(Pointed Gourd Fry),Cholar Daal (Lentil Soup), aloor dom and sometimes accompanied by sweets like Payesh (Rice Pudding), Kheer kodom, roshogolla, jilipi or Golapjam. I was never a fussy eater and loved traditional or experimental food likewise. During those days no one told us to count the number of Luchis we had or the number of sweets we pigged on. Calorie count was something unknown. The deep fried, dipped in oil stuffs were actually savored with extreme delight. Everything was considered healthy as long as you relished it. It was a convention to stuff you kids well which would help them grow – horizontally or vertically was not actually a concern area.  Lean and thin kids were tagged as unhealthy and their parents made to feel like a social outcast as they didn’t stuff their kids enough. All foods were healthy, there was no concept of organic or farm fresh food to be safe and others to be unsafe.

I loved to eat and was always on a bit “healthy” side. I remember when I reached my teens and was suddenly going through this height surge, I lost oodles of weight. I had almost started looking like an anorexic. And every time I went to the local market with my dad or mom all the known uncles and aunties would twitch their nose in disapproval over my lean look. They almost indicated that my parents were probably having my share of food as well! But I was not that unhappy as I had started looking taller due to the lean frame and I could slip into any dress and look good. Unfortunately my lean look vanished as soon as the hormones came to be at peace. From then on it has always been a struggle for me to please the weighing scale.


Anyway as the years rolled by and our lives became superfast and enjoying a meal leisurely without a worry in the world became a thing of past all the new age food concepts started staring at us from the magazine covers and internet sites. “5 foods to boost a flat tummy” or “5 fruits to detoxify your body” and every other 5 tips in the world you could ever think of. Now we were talking of healthy breakfasts and wholesome cereals. White bread replaced by brown breads, full cream milk replaced by toned milk, butter replaced by margarine, cornflakes replaced by wheatflakes, more fruits and less fried food. Luchis and Parathas became a strict no-no anytime during the day let alone breakfast. We have now started becoming more English than Indian.

During such a time when you only have bread, cereals or oats as an option how do you pep up your breakfast course with something interesting. Trying out different type of egg white omelets is surely a good option. But if you want to have vegetarian and yet keep your protein intake intact you can always fall back on the most reliable candidate – mushroom. It’s the only non-meat that comes close to aping the flavors of meat. They are a powerhouse of nutrients and give a big health boost.
The humble looking button mushroom packs quite a few antioxidants than its other expensive variants. The great thing about mushrooms is that they are flavor sponges. They can soak up so much flavor that even while you store them in the refrigerator you should take care so that it does not absorb any smell from the other ingredients inside the fridge. The earthy flavors of button mushroom when combined with the right ingredients gives off amazing flavors.


There are many people I know who dislike the earthy smell of mushroom and hence would not eat them. Here’s a simple and delicious recipe of mushroom that is bound to even make the worst of mushroom haters appreciate the dish.

A blend of butter, garlic, vinegar and some herbs make this sautéed mushroom recipe healthy and full of flavor.

Preparation Time: 5 minutes 

Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Serves: 2


Ingredients:
1. Wash the mushrooms properly and wipe them clean. Slice the mushroom in halves or quarters depending on the size.

2. Melt butter in a saute pan and toss in the finely chopped garlic. Wait for the heavenly aroma of butter infused garlic to come. The slightly pungent slightly buttery fusion. Add the pepper powder and saute for a second.
3.  Add the mushroom and coat it with the butter garlic sauce. Saute for a couple of minutes. Add the vinegar and soya sauce and fold in. Vinegar will give a slight tanginess to the sautéed dish.


4. Add salt as per taste. Note that butter also has salt so add salt accordingly.


5. Reduce the flame to the lowest and cover the sauté pan. The mushroom will get cooked in its own moisture. Stir occasionally to ensure the mushroom or garlic doesn’t burn. Cook for 10 minutes till the mushrooms are cooked

6. Switch off the heat and toss the mushrooms with oregano. I had some leftover oregano mix from the home delivered pizza which I used here. And it really gelled with the taste.

Plate it in a serving dish and sprinkle some chilli flake over it. Serve the buttery garlicky mushrooms hot with buttered bread toast. Or simple have the sublime mushrooms on their own as a side dish with a chilled glass of Wine.