Chappati Flautas

"It's not leftovers that are wasteful, but those who either don't know what to do with them or can't be bothered." (~Julian Baggini)

(Flauta is a Mexican dish consisting of a small tortilla, rolled up with some sort of filling. This roll is crisp fried)

Hmmm...there are many reasons for food getting leftover, and chapattis are often leftover and generally never reused. In India, it is a common sight to see women carry chappatis leftover from last night's dinner out of the house, in search of a cow any where nearby. These are then fed to the cow. Some look for a stray black dog to feed them to. Whatever you may attribute this custom to, it is becoming less frequent in big cities where women don't have the time for such things and neither are cows and black stray dogs so easy to come by even though cows and stray dogs still roam the streets. And absolutely impossible within a gated residential complex.

Leftover chappatis were a rare thing in our home. But on the rare occasion that I had a reasonable amount, I'd reuse them. There is a lot one can do with leftovers! Here is a flauta made with leftover chappati. The atta we get here isn't like the one back home and a leftover roti from last night's dinner usually tends to crack when folded. So the flauta I made wasn't a perfect roll, but it was a good treat for breakfast. I use whatever is available and generally keep it simple and basic. 

Ingredients

Chappatis

Cheese

Ketchup

Gherkins

Leftover veggies

Leftover mince or chicken

A little EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

I had a bit of zucchini sabzi. I had gherkins.  

There were two delicious cheeses: Queso con mostaza (cheese with mustard) and Queso con tomate y aceitunas (cheese with tomato and olives) I combined both.

And of course 4 chappatis!

You can use anything you've got. Any cheese, any vegetable or sauce.

Warm a non stick tawa or flat pan. Don't heat yet.

Add some olive oil and spread around.

Place a chappati on the warm tawa. 

Very quickly, spread some grated cheese down the centre of the chappati.

Top it with whatever you're using in the filling.

Or keep it as it is.

Or just cheese and ketchup.

Or vegetable. I wanted to use the zucchini sabzi (sabzi is a vegetable preparation) and I threw in some sliced gherkins to add some zing. 

Make it into a roll by folding both sides over the filling so that they overlap.

Turn the flauta so it is seam down.

Turn up the heat to medium high and allow to roast for a couple of minutes. 

Then turn over and do the other side. Drizzle a wee bit of oil for both sides to get crisp.

Eat hot from the tawa to get the best of its crispiness!

Enjoy hot, crispy chappati flautas with melted cheese oozing out.

You can have it with guacamole and a garden salad or fruit salad.......or then with only a cup of hot ginger tea to wash it down.

I have done some other chappati rolls too, however they aren't with leftovers! Do check them out here: You could just type the name of the dish in the search box on the page too.

For Kebab Roti Rolls - http://chef-on-the-run.blogspot.com/2014/03/kebab-roti-rolls-and-potato-raita.html

For Tuna Roti Rolls: http://chef-on-the-run.blogspot.com/2014/03/tuna-roti-rolls-with-baby-potatoes.html

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