Binoculars, a bread savoury

Nitu and Viraj are our first friends after marriage. They are also two absolutely nutty people who are super bright and super nice. With these guys there are some amazing memories. Viraj and I would argue on everything, food, movies, actors, singers, books, you name it! 19 years later, the other day when Aayush and his dad had a spat, he came to me crying, ‘why did you not marry Viraj, why did you marry Dadda?’

The police would catch us because the pillion rider was wearing the helmet and we would argue in half Kannada because we would not want to pay the fine. So many more stories tucked into our memories, Nitu remains the same spirited warm and funny girl with a zest for life and zing for food. She can give us all a run for our money for her versatility. In India for the past few years, mother of two, she has been in a hot shot IT based corporate career, wears sarees, plays the tabla and wants to pursue a career in acting. As eclectic as her personality she has shared this interesting recipe called the binoculars or the doorbeen.

Stuff that you must have:

1 loaf of white bread

175 grams of French beans

175 grams of carrots

3 cloves crushed garlic

1 chopped onion

1 teaspoon chilli powder

2 tablespoon oil

2 tablespoon butter

3 tablespoon tomato ketchup

100 grams grated cheese

What to do:

Cut the French and carrots into small pieces and boil them.

Heat oil, add onions and fry a little.

Add garlic and fry for a minute.

Add the boiled veggies, tomato ketchup, chilli powder, half of grated cheese and salt. Cook for a minute. Cool the mixture.

Remove crust from the bread slices and divide slices into 2 equal halves

In part of slice, make 2 small holes (that explains binoculars) and place this part on top of the uncut part of the half bread slice. Arrange slices in a well greased baking tin.

Melt butter and apply with a brush over the top parts

Bake in hot oven at 400 F for 15 min or until crisp (don’t overdo it, slight browning is good)

Spread a little filling on each uncut part and put the part with holes on top of it

Sprinkle remaining cheese and put back in oven

This lip smacking, crispy, cheesy snack will be ready in minutes.

How to serve:

Just pile them on flat platters and serve with chips or fries.

Trivia:

Binoculars, like the telescope, took centuries before they were developed into your present day spy scopes. Its name was actually taken from the roots bini which is Latin for “two or double” and ocularis which means “for the eyes”