Chole Bhature

This weekend is gonna be fun. Prediction is that the temperature is gonna be in the 40s (C). And so we have planned for loads of shopping. Then there is gonna be baking, red velvet cupcakes to be precise. Its gonna be real fun and I am looking forward to the weekend which I haven't been doing for sometime now. Added to that its been nearly two weeks since I have gone out. Grocery shopping or anything shopping has been taken care by the huss and so "I am looking forward to this weekend".

Let's talk chole bhature. To those who are new to the name, Chole bhature is a popular Punjabi cuisine which is a combination of chole (spicy chick peas) and deep fried bread called bhatoora. I totally love this dish and whenever I visit a vegetarian restaurant back in INDIA, this would be one among the few that I would order. It is one awesome combo. Usually the poori is made very big, big as in the size of a regular dosa but since I didn't have a big wok, I stuck to the regular poori size. Also I was frightened that the poori would not puff up properly if I rolled it too big. And then there was the fear of spluttering hot oil. First timers, I would advice you to go with the regular poori size.

~*What U Need*~ For the Chole: Onion - 1, big Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp Tomato - 1, pureed Channa masala - 1 tbsp Red chilli powder - 1 tsp Oil - 3 tbsp Salt Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp, chopped Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp Bay leaf - 1 Cinnamon - 1" stick Chickpeas - 1 cup, soaked overnight For the bhature: Maida / All purpose flour - 2 cups Semolina/Rava/Sooji - 1/4 cup Baking powder - 1/4 tsp Sugar - 1/2 tsp Curd - 1/2 cup Salt - to taste How I Made it: Soak the chickpeas overnight and pressure cook for 5 whistles till soft or you could use a can of garbanzo drained off the liquid. Heat oil in a pan, add the bay leaf, cinnamon and once fried, add the cumin seeds. Once brown add the onions and saute till golden brown. Add the ginger garlic paste and mix well. Fry till the raw smell goes off. Add the tomatoes and fry. Once the oil separates, add the red chilli powder and channa masala and saute. After 3 mins, add the peas and mix well. Add enough water and allow to boil in medium heat till the oil separates. Add chopped coriander leaves, season with salt and remove from flame. To make the bhatures, in a mixing bowl, add maida, sooji, baking powder, sugar and salt and mix well. Add yogurt and mix well. Knead to a smooth dough. Cover it with damp cloth and allow to rest for 3 to 4 hrs. After 4 hrs, knead the dough well and divide into equal balls. Roll it to pooris and fry in hot oil till puffed & crisp on both sides.

Serve warm!!!

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!

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Unnakkaya stuffed Poli | Flat bread stuffed with sweetened mashed bananas & coconut mixture

Unnakkaya or unnakaya is a traditional dish of Kerala or to be precise, Malabar. Ripe Plantains are steamed, mashed, stuffed with a mixture of coconut, nuts and raisins and then deep fried in oil. I had two ripe plantains in my fruit basket and when the huss was not ready to eat them, I had to resort to other ways to use them up. My search ended up here and I started assembling the ingredients. Put the plantains in the pressure cooker to steam em up and switched on the tv. Bling..."Re-telecast of last night's Grey's anatomy" which I had missed watching and there I was sitting in front of the tv, hooked to it. With the second ad series, I remembered the plantains and I ran into the kitchen. I had forgot to place the pressure knob, thanks to that, and calling all available gods to save me, I opened the cooker. There they were, fully disintegrated and floating around in bits. I drained them yet they were too mushy to be handled. Not knowing what to do with the residual mushy plantain, I was scratching my head to find a way.

Then I thought about the most famous puran poli and thought of adapting that technique here. Mixed all the ingredients together, popped it over the heat to evaporate off the water and formed lemon sized balls out of it and that replaced the traditional paruppu stuffing. The sweet hint of banana with the tropical coconut-y flavor seeing through the soft chapathi was very new and we loved to have it with tea.

~*What U Need*~ Ripe Nendrapalam - 2 nos Ghee - 2 tbsp Almonds - 1 tbsp, chopped Dry grapes - 1 tbsp Grated fresh coconut - 1/2 cup, divided Sugar - 4 tbsp Cardamom powder - a big pinch For outer covering Maida - 1 cup Salt - a pinch Water - to knead Oil - 2 tbsp + to fry Turmeric powder - a pinch

How I made it:
Mix maida, salt and turmeric powder with enough water to get a soft dough. Add 2 tbsp oil and knead to get a non sticky, elastic dough. Cover and allow rest for 3o mins.

Meanwhile, steam and mash the bananas after removing the black seeds. Heat ghee in a non-stick pan, add the chopped almonds and raisins and fry till brown and toasted. Add 1/4 cup coconut and fry till brown. Add sugar and stir well. To this add the mashed bananas and mix well. Then add the remaining coconut and combine. Remove from flame. Divide this mixture into lemon sized balls and set aside.

Take a plastic paper, spread some oil. Oil your hands and pinch equal sized balls from the maida mixture. Spread this on the oiled plastic, place a banana ball on the middle, close from all ends. Spread to get a paratha. Heat a tsp oil in a pan, place the poli and fry on both sides till you see brown spots.

Serve hot as evening snack!!!

** My Notes:
** I used a mix of all purpose flour and wheat flour to make the outer dough but you can use either all purpose flour or use only wheat flour to make it extra healthy.
** You can also add chopped dates in the stuffing.
** Be generous in adding the oil as that gives the soft texture to the poli.
** Soak the dough in oil for minimum of half an hour.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!

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Beetroot Chapathi with Dried Methi Leaves

Whenever I go away from my home for a vacation, I make it a point that I clean all the easily perishable veggies from my fridge or at least handover them to my MIL so that I don't waste anything. So the week when I went to my native, I started cleaning up my fridge starting Monday. There was a fresh batch of curd which turned up as a tall glass of lassi, carrots and radish which made themselves into a refreshing salad, again radishes and 2 small beets. Knew wat I could make out of the radishes but the beets were too small to make a stir fry for 2. So I thought of this healthy and colorful beetroot chapathi.

~*What u need*~

Wheat flour - 2 cups
Beetroot(medium) - 1
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Salt
Oil - for toasting
Dried Methi Leaves - as needed

How I Made it:

Grate the beetroot and cook the beetroot for 3-4 mins. I kept it in microwave high for 2 mins. Remove and cool it.
Grind the cooled beetroot to a smooth paste along with the cumin seeds, ginger and chilli powder. Add very little water and make a smooth puree out of it.

Sprinkle required amount of salt and oil to the wheat flour and mix well.
Knead the flour to chapathi dough consistency by adding beetroot puree slowly to it. Add water if needed
Cover the dough and allow it to rest for 15-20 minutes.
Make medium size balls out of it. Roll it out once using the rolling pin, take 1 tsp of dried methi leaves, place it in the center of the dough and roll out as usually. Apply more pressure in the region of the methi leaves to press it into the dough. However you will see some leaves coming off during toasting... Thats OK... Repeat with the entire dough.
Toast each chapathi in a hot tawa on both sides till brown spots appear adding little oil.

Serve hot with any curry or raitha. We had it with a simple Radish raitha and Mint Coriander Chat chutney.

Notes:
You can substitute the chilli powder with green chilli.
I had 2 small beetroots which was not sufficient enough to make a stir fry and hence I used both the beets for this recipe and that is why my chapathi looks so bloody red. Try using 1 medium beetroot as suggested and you will get the right color (... I guess)...

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Triple layered chapathis

I learned making these chapathis from my dad… The chapathi dough is the one which we use regularly, only that the way we roll it out is different but quite easy. The chapathis are super soft and kids will love eating this.

~*What U Need*~
Atta / Wheat flour – 2 cups
Water – to
knead Oil – 1 tsp
Salt – 1 tsp

How Made It
Knead all the above ingredients to chapathi dough consistency. Set aside for atleast 30 mins.
Roll out as shown in the below pictures applying oil for each flip made.

Roll out in the form of a triangle.
Heat tawa and fry till brown and puffy on both sides.

Serve with any side dish. On tearing the chapathis, you will find that it separates into layers.

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Gobi Paratha and Radish Raitha

I had a large cauliflower residing in my pantry for a long time. I didn’t want to make cauliflower pakoras nor its hybrid Gobi Manchurian. I have heard of Gobi parathas but never have tried or tasted them. Ya you heard me rite. So finally after lots of googling stuck to this recipe and we loved it a lot.

~*What U Need*~

For the dough:
Wheat flour – 2 cups
Water – to knead
Salt – as needed
Oil – 1 tsp (optional)

For the filling:
Minced cauliflower - 1 cup
Onion - 1/4 cup, minced
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Oil - 2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Chopped coriander leaves – 2 tbsp

How I Made It

Add salt, oil and sufficient water to the wheat flour and knead to chapathi consistency. Set aside for 30 mins.

Cut the cauliflower into florets. Clean well. Add salt to water and heat the cauliflower in this water till warm. Set aside. After cooled, mince the cauliflower as tiny as possible. I gave it 2-3 pulses in the mixer.
Heat oil, add the cumin seeds and allow to splutter
Add the minced onion and fry till golden brown.
Add the ginger garlic paste and sauté
Add garam masala, chilli powder and salt and mix well.
Add the cauliflower, coriander leaves, sprinkle some water and cook covered on low heat for about 10-12 mins. Give a stir in between.
The cauliflower should be cooked well by now.

Make big balls and divide each ball into two as shown below.

Roll out each half.

Spread some prepared filling on one half and close it with the other half


Dust with some flour... roll. Make sure you smooth out the edges or it will be thick. Take care that too much filling does not come out.

Heat a tawa and cook the parathas until both sides are golden brown.

Serve hot with raitha / curd. I made radish raitha. Read on to know how I made it

Radish Raitha

~*What U Need*~

Grated Radish – 1 cup
Curd – 1 cup
For Tempering:
Oil – 1 tbsp
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Dried Red chilli – 1
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Urad dhal – 1 ½ tsp
Salt

How I Made it
Heat tawa. Add oil and when hot add the ingredients from tempering section and fry till done…
Now add the radish. Stir for 2 mins. Remove from heat. Add the curd, mix well and serve…

Note: Do not drain the water from the radish.

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Wheat Poori and Paneer Bhurji

Who doesn't like paneer... I adore them... I had an entire packet of paneer hiding behind my stack of vegetables and I wanted to use it in one sitting. So made this delicious paneer bhurji with Atta poori and we loved the combination...

~*What U Need*~
For the poori
Wheat flour - 2 cups
Salt - to taste
Water - to form dough
Oil for frying

For the bhurji
Grated paneer - 1 1/2 cups
Finely chopped Onion - 1 cup
Finely chopped Tomato - 1/2 cup
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Red chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
Ginger Garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 2 tablespoons
Salt to taste

How I Made:

Wheat/Atta Poori:
Mix the wheat flour and salt till well incorporated.
Now add water little by little and bring it to poori consistency. The dough should not be sticky.
Heat oil for frying in a pan.
Pinch small balls out of the dough and roll using rolling pin. Do not dust with extra flour.
Drop the pooris into the hot oil and fry till it puffs up and browns evenly...
Remove extra oil by placing on tissue paper.

Paneer Bhurji:
Heat oil in a non-stick pan.
Add the curry leaves and allow to splutter.
Now add the onions and saute till glassy / transparent.
Add the ginger garlic paste and saute till done.
Add the tomatoes and saute till oil starts oozing out.
Add the turmeric powder and chilli powder and fry.
Add salt and combine well
Now add the paneer and saute. The paneer will shed some water.
Once the water has evaporated and the paneer looks non-sticky and crumbly, do a taste check and turn of the flame.

Serve hot with Pooris

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Paneer Aloo Parathas, Boondhi Raitha & Smoked Potato

So finally I am here with the paneer aloo parathas. This is gonna be a long post cos there are recipes for two other dishes added with this... So sorry first and please do spare some time to read thro all the recipes... Thanks in advance.

I love paneer and aloo for their own flavors. I made home made paneer which I posted sometime back. The final outcome was that I had only a small quantity of paneer which would not be sufficient to make paneer parathas. And then I had an idea *chinnggggg*. Why not combine aloo and paneer... Knew that the flavor would be a hit and hurriedly cladded on my apron.

Click here to go to Bhoondhi Raitha
Click here to know how to make Smoked Potato

~*Ingredients*~
For the dough
Wheat flour - 1 1/2 cup
Oil -1 tbsp
Salt

For the stuffing
Paneer - 1 cup (crumbled or grated)
Potato - 1 (medium sized)
Onion - 1 finely ch0pped (small size)
Ginger - garlic paste - 1 tsp
Green chilli - 1 finely chopped
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Coriander leaves - little (finely chopped)
Turmeric Powder - a pinch
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Salt - as needed

Oil for frying parathas

For the raitha
Kaara Bhoondhi - 1 cup
Roasted peanuts - 1/4 cup
Thick curd - 1 cup
Water - 1/4 cup
Salt - as needed
Pepper powder - for flavor

For the smoked potato
Boiled and peeled baby potatoes - 5
Thick curd - 2 tbsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Salt - as needed

The Making

Mix wheat flour, add 1 tbsp oil, salt as needed and make a soft dough by adding water little by little and bring it to the chapathi consistency.
Knead it well, cover it and let it sit for 20 minutes.

Lets prepare the stuffing

Boil and mash the potato. Grate or crumble paneer
Add all the ingredients mentioned in the stuffing section.
Mix well and set aside

Stuffing for the paratha is ready.

Make equal sized balls out of the dough.
Roll it out into small chapati, place a tbsp of stuffing on the top, gather and close it from all sides

Now dust wheat flour and roll it out gently with the stuffing. (with the sealed part on the top).
Note: Take care that excess stuffing does not come out. Be careful when rolling.

Heat a tava and put the rolled out paratha on it .Wait for bubbles to appear, then apply a tsp of oil on the top and flip it over to the other side. Repeat the same on the other side. Fry both sides till brown spots appear. Repeat the same with the rest of the dough.

Serve with raitha. We had this with boondhi raitha, one of my huss's favorites and smoked potato.

Bhoondhi Raitha...
Mix kaara bhoondhi, peanuts, curd, water, salt and pepper powder. This should be in a semi gravy consistency.

Smoked Potato...
Mix all the ingredients in the smoked potato section and allow it to marinate for 1/2 an hour
Prick it with skewers or kebab inserts and show it over medium flame rotating it evenly so that it gets charred on all sides.
Serve hot...
We really loved the flavor of this smoked potato...

Sit back and relish this trio... Was so yummy.

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