Delight's on a roll

Running out of ideas for fast, wholesome food? Try a wrap.

From the ubiquitous shwarma stand found at every street corner in the Arab world (complete with a queue of salivating customers), a dosa corner in India, quesadillas in Mexico to the ever popular crêpes in France, every country seems to have favourites when it comes to wraps.

Home-made delicacy

Today, we focus on a variety of wraps: It could be a delicate bread roll with a fancy filling, a home-made roll (which is better than a bakery product that often has just a little meat buried in a huge amount of pastry) or a hearty kathi (a combination of wheat, meat and vegetables that makes it a tasty and nourishing meal).

Quesadillas

Heat each tortilla in a hot frying pan.

Place a spoonful of cream on one half of the tortilla, top with grated cheese, onion, chilli powder, green chillies and coriander.

Fold over the other half of the tortilla and secure with a toothpick.

Heat a frying pan until a few drops of water sprinkled on it begin to sputter.

Cook one quesadilla at a time, on each side, for about a minute till the cheese melts.

Serve immediately with a dollop of guacamole and freshly chopped lettuce.

Kathi kebabs

Rub the chicken with halved lemon and a little salt. Leave aside for an hour.

Grind the onion, garlic, coriander, cumin, cardamom, add the remaining spices (drain the liquid and keep aside) and marinate the chicken in this for a few hours in the refrigerator.

Bake the chicken in a hot oven or barbecue, basting frequently with reserve liquid.

To complete

When the chicken pieces are almost done, brush with ghee and sprinkle with mango powder and garam masala.

To make kathis

Filling

Combine and mix into the prepared tikkas

To serve

Whisk the eggs and add the salt, pepper and chilli powder.

On a heated griddle, pour a little egg mixture, heat and then add one paratha at a time, cooking both sides.

Remove from heat, spoon in some of the chicken mixture, roll up and skewer with a wooden toothpick, wrap in a paper napkin and serve immediately.

Note: The filling can be pepped up or toned down to suit your family's taste.

You can also take the easy way out by buying ready-made chicken tikkas and then assembling the kathis when needed.

Meat roll up

Cream together the cream cheese, butter, salt and pepper.

Add the sifted flour and knead to form a ball. Cover with cling film and chill for 15 minutes.

Boil the meat for a few minutes, drain and cool.

On a lightly floured plastic sheet, roll out the pastry into a rectangle, cut into strips.

Put a pinch of mustard on each meat portion, then roll each into a pastry.

Keep the ends exposed and seal the edges of the pastry.

Place each meat roll on a greased baking tray, combine the egg yolk and milk, and brush each roll with this mixture.

Place on a greased baking tray, sprinkle with sesame seeds (if you so like it) and bake in an oven for about 12-15 minutes.

Serve hot.

Nirmal Khanna is a UAE-based freelance writer who has family, friends and guests eating out of her hands