spoon

Puri / Poori, Recipe 1

7

Posted on 16-06-2011 | By: Radha

Category : Flat Bread / Chapathi / Paratha / Rotti, Tiffins / Snacks, Vegan

Puri by itself is not such a great snack to munch on. But puri with any curries or sugar will be simply awesome. I love Puris. It goes really well with saagu, a potato curry made in a simple South Indian way. It also tastes fabulous with Channa or Cholle (Garbanzo beans curry). Most people in South are afraid that eating Channa will lead to indigestion and gas problems. To some extent it’s true. My arguement is, first of all the combination tastes phenomenal, just like a perfect marriage. Next, Garbanzo beans are loaded with proteins and tonnes of fiber. So why worry?? Just do not go out in public if you have raging gas issues. Better yet, take a beano…gas gone!

Poori1

Puri, Version 1,

Ingredients:

  • 1 Cup Atta, 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tsp Sugar
  • 1.5 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp oil / ghee

Poori2

Method:

  • Take the flour, add salt and sugar.
  • Add 1 tsp oil / ghee.
  • Mix well.
  • Add 1/2 cup cold water.
  • Knead for 10 minutes.
  • Wrap tightly in plastic and let sit for an hour.
  • Unwrap, take a small ball of atta in hand.
  • It should be the size of a quarter.
  • Dab a wee little bit of ghee and roll into a 2.5 inch disc.
  • Prepare disks and set them on a tray and make sure they are covered securely the whole while.
  • Heat 2 cups oil, and drop the discs very carefully into the oil.
  • With a slotted spoon, rotate the disk while fully immersed in the oil.
  • It should puff up beautifully.
  • Gently flip the puri and cook the other side.
  • Drain on a paper towel and serve hot with your favorite curry.

Poori

Notes:

Buy Whole wheat flour or Chapathi atta available in Indian grocery stores, it will be perfect.

Always sieve the flour to remove clumps and husks.

We add sugar as it carmalizes and adds a beautiful brown color.

While rolling the discs, using ghee will help to make sure that the dough does not stick to the bottom.

Dusting the disc is a good idea, but when frying it in the oil, the flour will get burnt in the oil ruining it.

Adding cold water makes the kneding process very easy.

Puri-aloo1

Vidya’s Cucumber Rotti

Posted on 24-01-2011 | By: Radha

Category : Flat Bread / Chapathi / Paratha / Rotti, Gluten Free Recipes, Kids Lunch Ideas:, Vegan

Vidya’s Iyengar cooking series continues and here is another version of my beloved akki rotti. This needs practice and patience to master; but it’s well the the efforts. I love a dish that has very few and simple ingredients readily available in the kitchen. I personally think that a wedge of lime and a butter dollop should be served with this. But Vidya thinks all those ‘extras’ are not required as this dish can carry itself super well.

Ingredients:

Grated Cucumber, 1 cup

Blend:

Grated coconut, 1 cup

Green chili, 5

——————-

Rice flour, 1.5 cups

Salt, as required

———————

Oil, 1 tsp for each rotti

——————–

 Method:
To the rice flour, add ground paste, salt, grated cucumber and little water as required to make a stiff dough.

On a wax paper, roll out a golf sized ball of dough, using a little oil to help roll out or if you like it to do it Vidya’s way, then just spread it out with your fingers.

On a hot griddle, heat the rotti uniformly on both sides using a little oil.

Usually, this dish is eaten by itself.

But Erragadda Kaaram (recipe on the blog) sounds super delish to me.

In most homes cucumber is substituted with finely chopped onions which is then called Eerooli rotti.

Bobbatlu, obbatu : Iyengar Style

Posted on 13-01-2011 | By: Radha

Category : Desserts, Flat Bread / Chapathi / Paratha / Rotti, Tiffins / Snacks, Vegan

Bobbatlu, obbatu : Iyengar Style

 Vidya Janardan, my best friend has compiled her family recipes for me and my readers. Puran Poli or bobattu is made precisely in this method in her kitchen. Puran Poli is like a stuffed bread, albeit sweet in taste. This usually is made during festival times. Poli is the bread that is made exactly like a chapathi dough. Puran or poornam is the sweet stuffing. You roll the dough, keep the stuffing in the center, fold the dough all around the stuffing and gently roll it out.

Poli:

Maida- ¼ Kg or 1/2 pound

Chiroti Rawa/ Really fine suji 200 gm or 1 cup

Oil, 300 gm,or  1.5 cups

Turmeric, 1 pinch

Salt, a pinch

Ghee, ½ tbsp 

Poornam:

Kadlebele ¼ kg or 1/2 pound

Bellam or Jaggery ½ kg or 1 pound

Coconut, 1 small, about 3/4 cups, finely grated

Elaichi, 1 tsp, powdered

Oil, 1 tbsp

Turmeric, 2 pinches

Method:

Mix rawa and maida with salt, turmeric powder, ghee and add water and make like chapathi dough.

Add cold water when making this dough. 

Wrap the dough tightly in a plastic sheet or bag and let sit for an hour in the fridge. 

While the dough sits in the fridge, pressure cook channa dal till soft. Make sure there’s not too much water, the dal should be fully cooked without any extra water.

Blend all poornam ingredients when the channa dal has cooled down.

Roll out the dough like chapathi, thin in the center and thick around the sides.

Stuff the poornam in the middle like a soft marble.

Wrap the dough around the stuffing completely and gently roll out into a circular disk.

Heat a tawa/pan with a tsp of ghee. Fry the puran poli until well done on both sides.

Serve hot with more ghee on top.

Radha’s Fit Mutli Grain Roti:

1

Posted on 07-01-2011 | By: Radha

Category : Flat Bread / Chapathi / Paratha / Rotti, Radha's Fit Recipes, Tiffins / Snacks, Whole Grains

These whole some (tortillas, rotis) are a great way for me to manage my weight and ensure that I have consumed enough fiber for the day. I like to make these fresh and I love the piping hot rotis. I make a bean burrito, or simply stuff mesclun / boiled veggies. I make sure I eat atleast 3 rotis a day, preferably during lunch time. It fills me up and I don’t feel drowsy at all. The taste is remarkable and I have a great feeling of positive energy flowing through my body.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Multi Grain Roti Powder

1/2 Cup Cold Water

Salt (Optional)

Oil, 1 tsp (optional)

Method

Sieve the flour to make sure it’s well mixed and there are no lumps.

Add very cold Water (a tsp at a time as required), Salt, and Oil.

Once you have a firm dough, knead it for five more minutes.

It’s a great idea to wrap the dough in plastic and let sit for 10 minutes.

Alternately, oil the dough ball, and put a moist towel on top and let sit for 10 minutes.

Dust a clean surface with dry flour.

Knead the rested flour once more and divide into four balls.

Knead each ball and dust with dry flour to prevent sticking.

Roll out the ball with a rolling pin to make thick or thin discs as you like.

On a heated pan, toss the roti and quickly flip to the other side.

With a flat spoon, press the roti until it puffs up. Press at the corners.

Flip on the other side.

If you have gas flame, you can put the half done roti on direct flame till it puffs up.

Remove to a clean plate.

Dab with Walnut oil or ghee.

Serve hot with curry or stuffing to make you favorite tortilla / rolls.

Spinach, onion, carrot, potato flat bread (paratha)

Posted on 01-10-2010 | By: Radha

Category : Flat Bread / Chapathi / Paratha / Rotti

Palak(Spinach)-Carrot-aloo(Potato) paratha (Vegetable Flat Bread)

This is a delicious paratha which we love a lot. This is once again my MIL’s recipe. She makes these quickly for breakfast. We eat these with chutneys or pickles and yogurt. My kids happily eat this paratha because Popeye loves spinach. So I’m happy serving these veggie loaded parathas.

Ingredients:

  • Palak, aloo, and carrots, take 100 gms each, approximately ½ pound
  • besan 100 gm, Gram Four; ¾ cup
  • Atta 400 gm, Whole Wheat Flour, ¾ cup
  • red chili powder 2 tsp
  • Oil 1 Tbsp
  • Green Chilies, 3
  • finely chopped onion, 1 cup
  • Garam Masala powder, 1 tsp
  • Ghee, as required for dabbing on parathas.
  • Salt, optional.
  • Water, as required.

    • Method:

  • Grate carrots. Boil and mash potatoes. Chop palak(Spinach) finely.
  • Finely chop green chilies and onion.
  • Add garam masala, oil, and salt to the flours and mix well.
  • Add the chopped vegetables and mix well.
  • Add very little water and knead to make a tough dough.
  • Cover the whole dough immediately in a plastic wrap or a moist towel to prevent crust formation.
  • Heat a tawa or a pan. Let it be on medium flame.
  • When time to make parathas, knead the dough well again.
  • Divide the dough into a big lemon-sized balls.
  • Lightly flour the surface near the stove.
  • Flatten one ball of dough with your hand.
  • Carefully roll out the patty into a 5 inch diameter disc.
  • Turn the patty several times while rolling, dusting a little in dry flour if needed to prevent sticking.
  • The center of the paratha should be thicker and the sides a little thinner.
  • As you cook the paratha, start rolling out the next ball and keep serving hot parathas while simulataneously making new ones.
  • Notes:
  • Spinach and onion lets out water a lot making the dough soggy.
  • So this dough should immediately be rolled out and cooked.
  • Paratha can be thick or thin to your preference.
  • Parathas are made in different shapes, the recipe here is similar to a thick chapathi.
  • This is not a layered paratha.
  • The paratha might snag and tear due to vegetables in it.
  • A little extra dusting, rolling extremely gently or patting with hand, and a little experience will result in excellent parathas.

    • Tasty and healthy!

    Crunchy Spinach-onion Flat bread (paratha)

    Posted on 01-10-2010 | By: Radha

    Category : Flat Bread / Chapathi / Paratha / Rotti

    Palak-Onion Paratha

    This is a simple spinach paratha recipe usually made with left over spinach which is just not enough to last in any one particular dish. If the spinach is very less, we add the onion. If there is just enough, then we skip the onion. Another one of my MIL’s gems which is somewhat regular in my home. Very easy to make.

    Ingredients:

  • Chapathi flour, 250 gm (Whole wheat flour), 2 cups
  • 50 gm besan (Gram Flour), ½ cup
  • 150 gm spinach leaves only, no stems, finely chopped, about 5 ounces
  • 3 green chilies
  • 1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
  • Red chili powder, 1 tsp
  • Oil, 1 Tbsp
  • Salt, as required
  • Ghee, optional, spread on parathas to taste better.

    • Method:

  • Chop spinach, onions, and green chilies finely.
  • Mix both the flours in a big bowl.
  • Add the chopped ingredients to it.
  • Add salt and oil.
  • Add water accordingly and make a hard dough.
  • This dough needs to be used immediately as onions will begin to leach water.
  • Roll out dough balls just like chapathis and cook them.
  • Add ghee on both sides while roasting on low flame.