Protein Cigars – A filling vegan and heart healthy appetizer

Protein cigars is one of my most loved appetizer recipes that is tasty and filling. It makes a great treat to serve to your guests. An appetizer that is full of flavors and is wholesome too. A quick and easy recipe to make that you can enjoy anytime.

About Protein Cigars

For this dish I made the stuffing of green moong in Indian style by adding Kolhapuri masala powder. All the ingredients for the stuffing are easily available in your pantry and refrigerator. For best results, I recommend that you soak green moong overnight. But you can also directly pressure cook it in about 2 cups of water without prior soaking. The green moong stuffing needs to be little strong in flavors to balance the bland phyllo sheet covering. For those who do not know what phyllo sheets are, it is a paper-thin flour sheet that originated in Greece. A worldwide known dessert that is made from phyllo dough sheets is Baklava. These sheets are now easily available in most super markets and grocery stores.

Protein Cigars is easy and quick to make. The stuffing takes just about 30 minutes to make. You can assemble all the cigars in 10 minutes and bake them for 15 minutes.

With the given quantity you can make up to 14-15 protein cigars. These protein cigars are quite filling. Recommended serving size – 2 cigars per person.

I usually serve protein cigars with ketchup, but you can serve it with any other sauce or dip of your choice like chili-tomato sauce or tamarind-date chutney. The sweet and tangy flavor of the ketchup adds a little extra to this dish. You can also experiment with the stuffings of your choice. You can make a corn cheese stuffing, cheese-spinach stuffing or any non-veg stuffing that you fancy.

So enjoy this wonderful appetizer and let me know if this was your tummy-to-heart moment…

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Ingredients

• ½ cup green moong / green gram

• 1 cup or 145g onion, chopped

• ¾ tsp cumin seeds

• ¼ tsp salt

• 2 tbsp chopped cilantro / coriander leaves

• ½ tsp red chilli powder

• ¾ tsp garlic paste or
  paste of 2 medium size garlic cloves

• ¼ tsp turmeric powder

• 3 tbsp oil

• 10 curry leaves

• ½ tsp Kolhapuri masala powder

• 7-8 phyllo dough sheets

• Melted Salted Butter for applying

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Directions

• Making the stuffing
• Soak green moong overnight. Then in the morning pressure cook soaked green moong.
• Later drain the extra water from pressured cooked green moong and keep it aside for further use.
• Next in a pan heat oil.
• Later add mustard seeds and let it crackle.
• Next add cumin seeds and let it crackle as well.
• Add curry leaves and sauté till they become little crispy.
• Next add chopped onion and sauté till it becomes translucent.
• Later add garlic paste, turmeric powder, red chili powder and Kolhapuri masala powder. Blend everything.
• Next add green moong, salt and coriander. Mix everything.
• Cover pan with a lid and cook for 5 minutes more.
• Later turn off the heat and keep the stuffing aside to cool.
• Assembling the cigars
• First fill a piping bag with green moong stuffing. Only fill 3/4 of the piping bag. Then close the opening on top and tightly pack the piping bag.
• Place a phyllo sheet on flat and plain surface. Brush melted butter on half part of the sheets.
• Next fold the sheet vertically.
• Tear the sheet with a knife / scissor / pizza cutter in half.
• Now pipe stuffing on one side of sheet and roll it. Repeat with the pipe-roll process with the other piece of the sheet.
• Prepare rest of the cigars similarly.
• Next place the cigars in a baking tray. Brush melted butter on top of cigars.
• Bake them at 400-degree Fahrenheit or 200-degree Celsius for 15 minutes in a preheated oven.
• 15 minutes later remove the tray from oven. Serve Protein cigars warm with a Ketchup or any dip of your choice.

Protein Cigars – A heart healthy appetizer

Recipe by Amruta

Recipe rating: N/A

Course: Snacks, AppetizersCuisine: IndianDifficulty: Medium

Servings

15

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

30

minutes

Calories

121.3

kcal

Protein cigars is one of my most loved appetizer recipes that is tasty and filling. It makes a great treat to serve to your guests. An appetizer that is full of flavors and is wholesome too. A quick and easy recipe to make that you can enjoy anytime.

Ingredients

• ½ cup green moong / green gram

• 1 cup or 145g onion, chopped

• ¾ tsp cumin seeds

• ¼ tsp salt

• 2 tbsp chopped cilantro / coriander leaves

• ½ tsp red chilli powder

• ¾ tsp garlic paste or

• paste of 2 medium size garlic cloves

• ¼ tsp turmeric powder

• 3 tbsp oil

• 10 curry leaves

• ½ tsp Kolhapuri masala powder

• 7-8 phyllo dough sheets

• Melted Salted Butter for applying

Directions

• Preparing the stuffing
• Soak green moong overnight. Then in the morning pressure cook soaked green moong.
• Later drain the extra water from pressured cooked green moong and keep it aside for further use.
• Next in a pan heat oil.
• Later add mustard seeds and let it crackle.
• Next add cumin seeds and let it crackle as well.
• Add curry leaves and sauté till they become little crispy.
• Next add chopped onion and sauté till it becomes translucent.
• Later add garlic paste, turmeric powder, red chili powder and Kolhapuri masala powder. Blend everything.
• Next add green moong, salt and coriander. Mix everything.
• Cover pan with a lid and cook for 5 minutes more.
• Later turn off the heat and keep the stuffing aside to cool.
• Assembling the cigars
• First fill a piping bag with green moong stuffing. Only fill 3/4 of the piping bag. Then close the opening on top and tightly pack the piping bag.
• Place a phyllo sheet on flat and plain surface. Brush melted butter on half part of the sheets.
• Next fold the sheet vertically.
• Tear the sheet with a knife / scissor / pizza cutter in half.
• Now pipe stuffing on one side of sheet and roll it. Repeat with the pipe-roll process with the other piece of the sheet.
• Prepare rest of the cigars similarly.
• Next place the cigars in a baking tray. Brush melted butter on top of cigars.
• Bake them at 400-degree Fahrenheit or 200-degree Celsius for 15 minutes in a preheated oven.
• 15 minutes later remove the tray from oven. Serve Protein cigars warm with a Ketchup or any dip of your choice.

Recipe Video

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Nutrition Value

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