When You Can’t be Bothered

The year is in full swing and people are getting back in the routine of prepping the children for school, rediscovering their rhythm at work and in life, and some of you might have decided to go back to the gym again as a new year’s resolution after failing last year.

That’s OK. I myself had resolved to do the same since the holiday kilos were more pronounced this year. I walked to a local famous gym, worked out for an hour and walked out again. It was packed to the ceiling. To each their own, I guess.

There has been a ridiculously slow start in the kitchen for me, with everything I make being rather “meh,” (that means bland, ordinary and lacking vigour). I guess I haven’t taken to the new year with the same enthusiasm that I usually do, and I chose to approach it with a bit of caution. I even celebrated my birthday a few days ago and the most I did was have a cup of coffee and go out for ice cream at a cheap fast-food place.

And to think this is the year I was supposed to go all out – I mean, this was the big one. However, as I said, meh!

It can get a little mundane in the kitchen when inspiration is lacking, and sometimes the insta food posts and food content on TV are just not doing.

What does one do in such an instance? I believe in taking a break from always wanting to do something revolutionary and mind-bending in the kitchen and sticking to the classics. Go for what you usually go for and tweak it a little.

What inspired this week’s recipe was pure laziness and boredom really. I had mince, a few veggies in the form of onions and peppers, and very little else. It would’ve gone one of two ways: a bolognaise with spaghetti or tagliatelle (but I didn’t have enough tomatoes to make it epic), or rice and mince. The latter didn’t seem to appealing.

My pantry always has staples so that when days like these come, I will not be found wanting. Bread flour was my rescue this time, and I know people usually pair it with yeast, but I found baking powder gave me the results I wanted for the flat bread.

Flour, salt, warm water, baking powder are all the ingredients I needed for the perfect vessel.

No-bother ‘tacos’

Ingredients:

For the filling:

500g mince

1 diced onion

½ each of red, yellow and green peppers, diced

1 large tomato, diced

2-3 tablespoons oil to fry

3 tablespoons of vinegar

1 teaspoons paprika

1 tsp turmeric

½ tsp black pepper

½ tsp chilli flakes

½ tsp salt

5 garlic cloves

For the bread:

2 cups flour (bread or better yet, all-purpose flour)

½ tsp salt

1 tsp baking pwder

3 ½ tbsp oil

3/4 cup warm water/milk

Method:

Add the salt and baking powder to the flour and mix the oil and warm water/milk together.

Add water/milk mixture to the flour gradually while mixing until a slightly firm but workable dough is formed.

Knead the dough well. You should be able to press a dent in it, which should spring back slightly and not be flakey. Adjust accordingly by adding more water if too dry. Cover and set aside.

Fry the mince in oil and add the spices when the meat starts browning.

Add half the diced onion and sauté until soft, then add garlic and remove from the heat.

In a separate bowl, make a random salsa by adding the remaining onion, peppers, tomato. To it, add a pinch of salt, a pinch of black pepper, ½ tsp of chilli flakes, vinegar and two tablespoons of oil. Mix and set aside.

Divide your dough into eight, roll into a ball and flatten before placing on a very lightly oiled pan until cooked, turning once.

Assemble with a sauce of your choice or mayo on the bread, then the mince, then the salsa. Enjoy!

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