Gozleme - Turkish flat bread

when Spill the Spices posted a picture of the Gozleme on facebook I had to go over to her blog for the recipe.  While she used the traditional spinach and feta stuffing, I opted for a desi filling with Indian masala, more because I wanted to make the gozleme the same day and did not want to postpone it for lack of any ingredient.  And this is all about the bread and not the filling.  If you want the recipe for the spinach stuffing, hop over to her blog .   For step by step pictures of the procedure, do check out Ozlem's Turkish Table

I did think the gozleme was a cross between a bread and a kulcha.  The filling is of course upto you.  Only ensure that it is dry otherwise it can result in a soggy product. Best served hot.  This recipe uses yeast, but you can substitute with self raising flour or it has been even made without leavening agents, in which case the dough needs to be kept overnight before use.

Ingredients: ( yields 5-6 nos)

Plain flour - 3 cups

Yeast - dry, active - 7 g

Olive oil - 3 tbsp

Yoghurt - 2 tbsp

Salt - pinch

Water - 260 ml ( warm)

Use 150 ml of the water, warm, add the yeast to it and keep for about 10 minutes till the mixture is bubbly and frothy.

Sift flour into a bowl

Make a well in the centre, pour in the yeast mixture

Add the salt, yoghurt and olive oil

Form a dough by bringing it together.  Add the remaining warm water till it forms a soft dough.

Knead thoroughly

Divide into 5-6 portions.  Make them into round balls.  Keep on a floured surface, cover with damp towel and keep for 30 minutes or till doubled in size.

Meanwhile prepare the filling

I have made a filling of potato, carrot, spring onions and peas with Indian spices

when the dough has doubled in size take each round ball, place on a floured surface and roll out , dusting more flour if necessary, till you get a thin rectangular sheet.

Fold the left and right sides of the sheet lengthwise, till they meet in the middle.

Place the filling in the middle generously -2-21/2 tbsp

Fold the top and bottom layer over the filling

The filling should be covered and edges should be pressed together to seal well.

Repeat for the other balls

Brush one side with olive oil

Place the oiled side of a well heated griddle or non stick pan

Keep for 2-3 minutes till well browned

Meanwhile oil the top portion.  Flip over.  Keep for another 2 minutes till the side is browned.

Brush both sides of the cooked gozleme with oil.  This helps keep it moist.

Cut in halves or quarters.

It is generally consumed with tea.  

You can experiment with the accompaniment.  We had it with sauces.

Bedmi Puri - With added split black lentils and spices

It is definitely more work than making the usual puri , but absolutely worth it.  It has spices that are freshly ground and that does add a great flavour to the puri.  The recipe has been sourced from Archana's Kitchen. Serve them hot with your favourite aloo curry.

Ingredients:

Split black lentil or urad dal soaked for 5-6 hours - 1 cup
Whole wheat flour - 21/2 cup
Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
Ginger grated - 1 tsp
Fennel powder - 2 1/2 tsp
Red chilies - 3 nos
Coriander seeds - 2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Amchoor powder - 1 tsp
Green chilies - crushed - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp + More for frying
Salt to taste


Dry roast red chilies, coriander and cumin seeds till they give out the lovely aroma. Do not burn.

Cool and grind to coarse powder.  Keep aside.

Drain soaked urad dal, and blend to a coarse paste without using water. Or very little water if absolutely necessary.

Transfer to a bowl
Add the ground powder, amchoor, oil, ginger and salt.

Now gradually add wheat flour and knead the dough, adding water as and when required to make a smooth but firm dough.
Cover and rest for half hour.

Knead once again.  Make small balls.  Roll into puris and fry in hot oil on a medium flame until golden brown.

Serve with aloo curry.

Pithi Paratha

I saw Chef Kunal Kapoor make this on his programme My Yellow Table.  It looked interesting.  Seemed simple enough for me to try it.  A meal by itself with a bit of pickle, chutney or a raitha.  Mung dal or split green gram/ dal, can be a boring ingredient.  But the powdered spice powder adds a new dimension to the taste.  I did not add ghee as KK did in his preparation.  Keeping that in mind, if you are making a healthy option use oil, if you want to indulge, add the ghee.

I find most recipes for Pithi Paratha using urad dal (split black gram dal) for the filling, but I prefered to follow the recipe that used mung.

Ingredients - Makes 4-5 parathas.

Dough

Whole wheat flour - 250 gms
Ghee/oil - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Water to knead.

Make a dough with the above ingredients.  Knead till you get a soft but firm dough.  Just cover it with a bit of ghee to prevent drying up as it rests.  Keep aside.

Stuffing 

Moong dal - 100 gms - soaked overnight or at least for a couple of hours
Salt to taste
Ghee/ Oil - 1 tbsp
Turmeric - large pinch
Green chilies - chopped fine - to taste
Ginger - chopped fine - a small piece
Hing/Asafoetida - generous pinch

Powder- to a coarse powder

Coriander seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Jeera - 1/2 tbsp
Pepper - 1/4 tbsp
Fennel seeds / somph - 1/2 tbsp

Strain the mung dal
Heat water.
Take the dal in a pan, add the hot water, turmeric, a bit of salt.  Give it a boil.  If you want it soft cooked simmer a while, but a single boil is sufficient.
Strain the water.
Keep the dal aside.

Take oil or ghee in a pan, add hing.
  Followed by the powdered masala.
Then the chopped green chilies and ginger
Now add the blanched dal, a bit of salt
Toss till well mixed.
Remove from heat
Allow to cool

Take the rested dough.  Make about 4-5 round portions.
Take one portion.  Roll into a small circle.
Place the spiced dal mixture in the centre.  Fold dough around it.
Roll into parathas.
Toast on hot pan/tawa with ghee till brown spots appear.
Flip to other side.
Remove.

Serve with pickle, raitha, any thing.

Aloo Kulcha - Indian Stuffed Bread

We generally have rotis for dinner.  Sometime after our evening tea, V mentioned he wanted a different kind of roti.  Something like naan.  I have been wanting to try out the Kulcha for a long time now.  I had bookmarked the recipe from Daasana's site.  She even has a step by step account of the recipe.  I just modified it a bit.   The kulchas puffed up on the hot pan and they were crisp on the outside and soft inside.  It was very good.

Ingredients:  Makes about 8

All purpose flour - 2 cups ( you can use a part of whole wheat flour)
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 2-3 tbsp ( if you want a rich taste - use ghee)
Curd / yogurt - 3 tbsp
Sugar- 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste - but add a little more than you would for rotis
Ajwain/Carom seeds - a large pinch
Water for making the dough
Oil while making the kulcha

Stuffing:
Potatoes - 3 large - Boiled
Green chilies - to taste - finely chopped
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp ( optional)
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Jeera / Cumin Powder - 1/4 tsp
Dry mango powder - 1/2 tsp - I used pani puri masala - it has that nice sour taste
Garam masala - 1/4 tsp - I used Chinese five spice
Coriander leaves - finely chopped - few
Ginger - 1/4 tsp - finely chopped
Salt to taste

Make the dough-
Take the flour.  Make a well in the centre
Add the oil, salt, sugar, baking powder and soda, curd, ajwain.  Mix well.
Because of the curd it will be a little moist.
Add just enough water to make a soft dough
Knead well till smooth.
Cover and keep aside for an hour or two in a warm place.

For the stuffing
Mash the boiled potatoes.
Add all the other ingredients.  Mix well and keep

Take a ball of the dough
Roll into a circle.
Take an equal quantity of the stuffing - make a round ball of that too.
Place in the middle of the rolled out dough
Bring up the sides of the dough to the centre over the stuffing
Dust a bit of flour - I also put a bit of oil on the rolling board
And roll it evenly into a nice circular shape.

Meanwhile heat a pan
Put the stuffed kulcha onto the pan
You can put some oil or ghee while making the kulcha - all to your taste
Keep flipping it over both sides till evenly done
The kulcha puffed up nicely too
Once there are enough brown spots , remove.
Serve hot preferably.
They can be stored wrapped in foil, or a  moist cloth for later

This so good, you can have it plain.  Or with a lob of butter.  With curd and pickle or a curry of your choice.

Ajwain ki Puri - Puffed bread with Carom seeds

Ajwain or Carom seeds have a very strong flavour.  But when added in small quantities to certain dishes, the flavour that it imparts is amazing.  While puris can be enjoyed without any added ingredient, I must tell you to try this little twist.  I found this on Vahrevah.com.

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 1 cup ( or a mix of wheat flour and all purpose flour)

Ajwain - carom seeds - 1/4 tsp ( you could perhaps add a wee bit more - but do not go overboard)

Semolina ( Rava) - 2 tbsp

Chilie powder - to taste

Salt to taste

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Oil for deep frying

Make a stiff dough with the above ingredients with a little bit of water

Make equal balls of the dough

Roll them into small circles

Fry them in hot oil

Have them hot - seen here with dal with spring onions

Enjoy

Whole Masoor Paratha

I had some whole masoor that I had soaked and pressure cooked to make some curry.  Turned out that I had cooked more than required and also strangely I had somehow put in less water and had an almost dry but well cooked sabut masoor when I opened the cooker.  While I used half of it for a yummy curry that I forgot to take a picture in the hurry to pack the lunch box, I used the rest - since it had no moisture content whatsoever - to make a stuffed paratha.

Ingredients:
( for the stuffing)
Cooked whole masoor - 1 cup
Onion - 1 medium - finely diced
Oil - 2 tbsp
Chilie powder - to taste
Salt - to taste
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Jeera Powder - 1/2 tsp
Chaat Masala - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Kasuri Methi - 15-20 gms
Garlic - 3 nos - crushed

Make roti dough as you would normally with whole wheat flour, salt and water.

Take a pan.
Heat the oil
Saute the finely diced onion till transparent.  Add garlic
Add the cooked masoor and the powders, salt, kasuri methi
Keep for a few minutes.  Mix well.  Make sure it is a dry mixture.
Take off fire.
Cool and then make a few round balls which will serve as stuffing

Roll out the roti dough into a small round.
Fill in the stuffing.  Pinch the dought together.
Roll into normal rotis - do it carefully without applying too much pressure.

Now make the rotis on a pan - use as much oil / ghee for the frying of the paratha.  I have not used much here.  But the quantity of fat used will have a direct bearing on the taste!

Serve with pickle and raitha.

The paratha is very filling as compared to a veggie stuffed one.  

Hara Bara Paneer Paratha

This was by chance. What I actually set out to make were the Hara Bara Kebab.  But the blanched spinach retained too much liquid and the resultant mass was not dry and I did make a few kebabs but they were oily and chewy. So the dish was abandoned and I was left with a mixed spinach-potato spice mixture.  I hate to waste food and since the taste of the kebab was good, I converted the mixture to a dough for paratha.

Ingredients:
Wheat flour - 1 cup ( this can vary as per consistency of dough)
Spinach - 1 large bunch yielding about a cup of blanched paste
Potato - 1 large boiled
Ginger - 1/4" minced
Green chilies - 2-3 according to spice tolerance
Garam masala - 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder (dhania) - 1/2 tsp
Chat masala - 1/4 tsp ( optional)
Lime juice - a little for that tang
Grated paneer - for the filling can be omitted if required
Salt to taste

Blanch the spinach - drain
Grind along with ginger, garlic to a fine paste
Mash the potato
Add to the spinach mixture along with the spice powders and salt.
Add the wheat flour to and make a nice dough for rolling out parathas.

Make balls of dough.
Roll into small circles
Place grated paneer in the centre. If you wish you can add salt to the panner.
Bring sides together and roll into paratha.

Put on heated pan and toast both sides, with or without oil - till brown spots appear on surface.
Enjoy with chutney, sauce or curry

Lets Cook Greens

Wheat Flour Rava Dosa

Necessity is indeed the mother of invention. When you realise on a weekend that you have no breakfast plans , it can be quite annoying.  At least, today I was a little alert despite being groggy on a lazy Saturday morning to think of a rava dosa variation. I added wheat flour instead of the refined maida, cut down amounts of the semolina and rice flour.  Added a bit of buttermilk and what I got was a nice tasty, a golden brown, healthier version of the original.

Ingredients
Whole wheat flour ( atta) - 1/2 cup
Rice flour - 3/4 cup
Semolina ( Upma Rava) - 1/2 cup
Finely chopped onion - 1 small
Finely chopped green chilie - 1-2 nos
Coriander leaves - few
Buttermilk - 1/2 cup (optional)
Salt to taste

Take the ingredients in a bowl.  Make a thin batter ( like that of pancake) with water and buttermilk or just water.  I did not even keep it for half hour as I normally would and it made no difference

Seasoning -
Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Cumin (jeera) - 1/2 tsp
Black gram dal (urad) - 1/2 tsp

Heat oil, add the jeera, mustard - allow to splutter and add the urad dal.  Allow it to brown slightly and add to the batter.  Mix well.

Heat a dosa pan.
Smear oil.
When hot - keep on a medium flame - test with water or a drop of batter - it should set immediately
Take a ladle of batter and drop in a circle from a height.  You will get a nice lace pattern as the batter comes in contact with the hot surface
Put some oil along the edges of the dosa.
As it browns it will come off the sides.  Turn over and keep for a short while.
Turn it over the first side till it becomes crisp.  Remove and serve with chutney or pickle.

( The dosa here has been made with as little oil on a non-stick pan)

Only South Indian @Foodelicious 

Thepla

I have prepared methi roti before but it never tasted like the readymade Theplas that I would buy at the supermarket.  And the pictures at Rak's Kitchen  looked so tempting that I decided I would give it a try.  Mitho Limdo also had a recipe and I sort of combined the two and made the roti and I think I shall never buy them again at the store. I can very well make them at home if they taste as good. Right?

Ingredients: ( Makes 8 medium size rotis)


Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
Chick pea flour (Besan) - 1-2 tbsp
Methi- 1 bunch ( I usually use the large leaf variety)
Jeera - 1 tsp
Coriander (dhania) powder - 1 tsp
Red Chilie powder - 1 tsp ( varies according to taste) - you can substitute with finely chopped green chilies
Garam masala powder - 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida - a very large pinch
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
And more when making the rotis

Wash methi leaves well and chop fine
Take a little oil in a wok, heat, and sauté till the leaves wilt and the room is filled with a delicious aroma
Keep aside

In a mixing bowl add the wheat flour, besan, jeera, all the powders, asafoetida, sugar, salt, oil and the methi leaves.

Add water and mix to form a soft dough.

Keep for a while

Then make balls of the dough and dust in a little wheat flour and roll into thin rotis

Toast on a flat 'tawa'.  Smear both sides with oil till brown dots appear on the surface.

Serve theplas with raitha, chutney, pickle or even jam.  They taste good with anything. 

Peas Paratha

We wanted a no-frills meal.  Easy to eat.  And since this is the time we are flooded with fresh peas, had V to shell them for me and made the peas paratha that I saw in this step-by-step recipe at Rak's Kitchen.  I could not take pictures of the best parathas - they got consumed .. and had to make do with the last one.  Also, the paratha here is relatively free of oil.

The one on the right is the peas paratha and the one on the left is a dal makhni paratha.   Had some left over dhal makhi.  Brought it to a dry mixture by keeping the leftover dal in the microwave for a few minutes and used it as a stuffing ... pretty good too.  And now - the peas paratha..  Roti recipe not given.

Ingredients for the stuffing
Fresh / frozen Peas - 1 cup
Green chilies - 1 -2 ( depending on your spice tolerance)
Ginger - 1/2"
Garam masala - 1/4 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Chopped coriander leaves - 1/4 cup
Salt to taste


Before you start on the stuffing , make the dough for the roti and let it rest for 1/2 hour

Put the peas either in the microwave or cooker.  In the microwave, you will need a little water.
Cook till tender.  And if you have used water, make sure you strain the peas.
When cool, put in blender with green chili, ginger, salt and grind to fine paste.
Add the powders, chopped corriander.
You can squeeze a little lime juice in if desire, but do not make the mixture soggy.
Mix and make into balls that make the stuffing.

Roll out a small roti.
Put the stuffing. ( Ideally the stuffing size and flour should be equal quantities)
Fold and make the roti.
Roast on tawa.
Use liberal ghee or oil if you want the taste and are not calorie conscious.

Served here with onion raitha and pickle.  

Kulcha

 We had an amazing Kulcha and Channa dish in a food court at a mall.  It has been some time since I experimented something new in my kitchen.  I googled for a recipe.  Strangely each one had a different approach.  I was not totally convinced about the use of yeast, soda and baking powder together in a recipe.  Anyway here is what I ultimately did

Ingredients:
Refined wheat flour ( Maida) - 3 cups
Dry yeast - I had a 5g packet
Sugar - 2 tsp
Salt to taste
Curd - 3 tbsp
Cooking soda - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 2 tsps

Preparing the yeast mixture
In a cup of warm water, add a tsp of sugar and the yeast and keep aside, it will bubble a bit which is an indication that the yeast is working.  Keep for about 15- 20 minutes

In the meantime, sift the flour.
Add salt, 1 tsp sugar, oil, curd, soda
Make a well in the centre and slowly add the prepared yeast mixture and fold in
Bring the flour together to a slightly moist but firm dough
Keep aside covered, or enclose in a damp cloth for about 3-5 hours
The dough will rise to more than double.
I did press the dough in between and kept it aside again to let it rise again.

Take portions of dough ( lime sized) and dust the surface with flour and roll out a thick round bread.
Press in whatever you wish as garnish - for a few I put in sesame seeds and kasuri methi and some I left plain

Roast in a pan with a little butter, ghee or oil ( whatever you can eat without guilt)

I also made some channa with the kulcha.  I got a pat on my back for both!  La, I wished you had stayed back another day!

Nagodi Aloo

Saw this recipe in a magazine. I think hunger is the best motivation to get into the kitchen. A different way to prepare the Aloo sabzi - Poori .

Ingredients:
For the curry
Potato - Cut into 1 inch slices - 300 gms
Tomatoes - 2 large
Onions - 1
Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp
Cloves - 2
Chili powder - to taste
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Oil/Ghee - 2 tsp
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves - garnishing

For the Nagodi
Wheat flour - 200 gms
Semolina ( Rava) - 100 gms
Salt to taste
Ghee ( optional)

( Knead the nagodi into a slightly stiff dough)

Curry:
Heat oil in wok
Add the cloves, cumin,onions, brown a little
Add the tomatoes - keep till they soften
Add the potatoes
Sauté. 
Add water, and the other powders.
Cook till soft and done.
Add salt to taste.


Take the nagodi dough.
Make even portions and roll to puri - but this should be slightly thick
Deep fry in oil or ghee.


For serving:
Take a nagodi. Place on serving plate
Make a  hole in the centre
Spoon the curry into it and eat it hot.

Palak-Methi Puri

Puffed Spinach-Fenugreek Bread

Ingredients:
Whole Wheat flour - 1 cup
Chick pea flour - 50 gms
Maize flour ( Makki ka atta) - 50 gms (optional)
Fenugreek leaves - I used leaves of one bunch of the big variety
Spinach - 1 bunch
Cumin seeds ( Jeera) - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Chilie powder to taste.

Maize flour is optional, I bought it to make Makkai ki roti - and failed miserably, so I was left with the flour that I am using here.  I am sure it had something to do with the crispness of the final product)

Take all ingredients.  And with sufficient water make a dough with is reasonably soft ( not too soft).  A little oil can also be added in the process.  Keep aside for a while.

Roll into puris and deep fry.

The puris have the lovely flavour of fenugreek leaves.

Subz Meloni and Naan

Spinach – 1 bunch

Carrots – 2 - chopped
Beans – 50 gms - chopped
Peas – 50 gms
Garlic – 2 pods
Tomato – 1 large
Onion – 1
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Cumin powder – ½ tsp
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Chilie powder – to taste ( or you can grind green chillies with the spinach)
Butter – 10 g
Salt – to taste



Wash spinach. Boil and cool. Blend to fine paste
Boil chopped carrots, beans, peas.
Finely chop garlic, onions, tomatoes
Heat oil. Add cumin seeds.
Add the chopped onions and garlic.
Sauté. Add the tomatoes. Stir till it thickens.
Add the spinach paste. Sauté
Add the boiled vegetables.
Cook for a few minutes.
Add salt, cumin, coriander and chilie powder.
Add butter. Stir
Remove.
Serve hot with rotis.

Naan

No measures given here.

Refined Flour ( Maida)
Dry yeast
Curd – 4-5 tbsp
Milk – ¼ cup
Garlic – finely chopped – 4 nos ( optional)
Mint – few leaves – finely chopped ( optional)
Coriander leaves – finely chopped (optional)
Salt to taste.

Sprinkle yeast in warm water. Add a little sugar ( ½ tsp). Keep for about 10-15 mins. You should see some bubbly activity here.
Take flour, add curd, milk, salt and make a soft dough with the yeast mixture.
Cover and keep ( if required in a damp cloth) in a warm place for an hour.
The dough will double.
Punch down the dough.
Make small balls. Dip in flour and roll into naan like shapes
Heat a tava ( griddle) and roast the naan.
Add a little fat if you wish.

I even rolled out a small ball rolled it out and filled it with some potato curry and folded it and rolled it out again.  So there is a stuffed naan - the one on the right in the picture above.

Missi Roti - Roti with Spinach

This is a wholesome roti and can be considered a meal in itself - has the cereal ( wheat flour), pulse ( chickpea flour - besan), leafy vegetable ( spinach). Can be eaten with various accompaniments.

Ingredients:
Wheat Flour (Atta) - 1 cup
Chickpea Flour (Besan) - 1/4 cup
Spinach purée - 1 cup - (I had earlier blanched spinach, ground to purée without addition of water, and stored it in the refrigerator)
Salt - to taste
Chilie powder - to taste ( 1 1/2 tsp approx or less)
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Ginger- Garlic paste - 1/2 tsp

In a bowl add all the ingredients - makes a colourful picture

You may not need to add any water since the spinach has some moisture. If required some water may be sprinkled while making the dough.

The mixture is then rolled into rotis

And roasted on a pan - tawa

Eat with just about anything - raita, chutney, pickle, dal, jam, cheese spread.  Whatever!

Puffed Bread with Peas ( Mattar ki Puri)

( Mattar Puri with Dahiwalle Aloo ki Sabzi - recipe for the potato curry follows)
Ingredients:
Whole wheat flour – 1 cup ( atta)
Semolina – 2 tbsp ( bombay rava)
Ghee/oil – 1 tsp
Salt – ½ tsp
For the filling:
Green Peas – ½ cup boiled
Green chillies – 2 finely chopped
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Lemon juice – ½ tsp
Saunf ( fennel) powder – ½ tsp
Chaat masala – 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying.

Mix the flour, ghee/oil, semolina and salt to a soft dough.
Cover and keep.
For the stuffing-
Grind the green peas and chili to fine paste without using water













Heat a little oil in a pan, add the cumin seeds to it.
Then the green peas and chili paste, lime juice,saunf and chat masala. Add salt to taste.
Blend and ensure the mixture is dry.

Take a small quantity of the prepared dough and make a ball.
Roll it into a small puri and place a small quantity of the peas mixture in the center.
Fold the edges over the stuffing and roll into puris.














Take a wok with oil.
When the oil is sufficiently hot, slide the puris into the oil.
Allow them to puff and brown.
















The puris were delicious. They had the nice tangy lime/chat masala taste. Here, they are served with the Dahiwale Aloo ki Sabzi. They could even be eaten plain or with pickle and a bowl of curd.

Vegetables with Wheat Dalia/Couscous

After checking out the couscous recipe that was featured in the blog The Mad Chemist , I was inspired to make the Vegetable Dalia - quite like the Upma with Bombay Rawa, but definitely more healthy when you consider that it is broken whole wheat and therefore has more fibre and is not all starch like the refined rawa.

Ingredients -

Wheat Dalia - 1 cup

Onion - 1 medium - slice

Peas - 30 gms

Carrot - 1 slice

Beans - few - slice lengthwise

Red chillies - 2

Green chillies- 2 slit lengthwise

Peanuts - 25 gms

Oil - 3 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Bengal gram dal - 1 tbsp

Urad dal - 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves - few

Coriander for garnishing

Roast the dalia with a little oil for sometime

Keep aside.

Also roast peanuts and keep aside

Take a wok.

Heat oil.

Add the seasoning to the oil- mustard, dals.

When the mustard splutters, add red chili, curry leaves and saute

Add onions, green chillies

Add rest of the vegetables. Saute.

Then add 2 1/2 cups - 3 cups of water and allow it to boil and veggies to cook.

Add salt to taste.

Slowly add the dalia and stir gently till the water is absorbed.

Add the roasted peanuts

Garnish and serve hot with chutney, pickle.

( You can experiment with the vegetables- add your favourite veggies, replace the peanut with cashewnuts, omit the dals in the seasoning and add whole garam masala to convert it from upma to a pulao- the options are endless)

PS: Try this variation - wash the dalia and put it in the cooker and steam it.  Use the steamed dalia for making the upma - this seems to be a tastier and healthier way to make the dish.

Bread Upma

Got this recipe from The Hindu yesterday. It seemed different from the way we make it. So combined both methods and it did make a tasty dish.

Ingredients: -
maybe for two servings. Just take one more slice than the number you generally have for breakfast per person.

Bread slices -6 ( we happened to unintentionally pick up the garlic flavoured bread. This is the regular bread that is mildly flavoured with garlic - not the sort you get a pizza outlets)
Tomato - 1 small or 3 tbsp of tomato puree ( optional)
Onion - 1 large
Peas - 4 tbsp
Carrot - 1
Curry leaves
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Dhania powder - 1/4 tsp
Green chilli - 6-8 ( since the carrot can make the dish sweet!)
Fresh coconut - 3-4 tbsp - grated
Oil
Salt to taste ( be careful - the bread already is salted)

Remove the crust from the bread. (optional) - recipe picture above has the crust intact.
Cut to small neat cubes
Chop the onion and tomato
Grate the carrot
Slice the green chili lengthwise
Take a wok, add oil, jeera , curry leaves ,the onions and fry till they become transparent
Add the tomato, grated carrot, peas, puree, turmeric and dhania.
Saute a while till the vegetables get cooked and it comes together like a thick paste.
Add the bread and mix well.
Add the grated coconut.
Serve hot.

Aloo Bhari Poori

I have christened this recipe thus. I am sure it is not original. But I have experimented without consulting any book or blog or whatever. If you have a better name for it, do let me know.




For the atta:
Wheatflour
Salt
A little oil


For the filling:
Potato flakes ( I am sure they can be substituted with boiled aloo, but this is far easier and absorbs less oil. and tastes quite like the real thing)
Salt - to taste
Chillie powder
Turmeric powder -
Dhania powder
Garam masala powder
Ginger -garlic paste ( optional )
Finely chopped onions
Corriander leaves finely cut.


Make a dough for the puri and keep awhile.
Mix the ingredients for the filling. Sprinkle a little water so that they all bind together.
Roll out a small puri.
Put a portion of the filling in the centre.
Fold the puri over it.
And roll to form small puris.
Fry in oil.
Drain well.
Serve with whatever you fancy.
Green chutney, sauce, raitha or have it plain


Since the filling is rather dry it will not absorb too much oil. Once the puri is done keep on paper tissues and so that it absorbs any extra oil. The final product infact will have very little fat as compared to an authentic punjabi aloo paratha.
The man at home liked it too.

Aloo Paratha - the easy way

Boiled potato would definitely give you better, tastier parathas. But potato flakes is a good substitute considering the fact that they can be made without too much preparation.

Ingredients:

Wheat flour

Oil/ghee - up to you!

Potato flakes - 1 cup - use your discretion

Onion - 1 large

Green chillies finely chopped or chillie powder

Ginger garlic paste - 1/4 tsp

Turmeric - large pinch

Corriander leaves

Dhania powder - 1 tsp

Make a soft dough with wheat flour, oil, water and salt.

Keep aside a while

Mix the potato flakes , onion, g-g paste,turmeric, dhania, salt,corriander leaves.

Moisten with a little water. Do this with care. Too much water will make rolling out the paratha difficult, and if it is too dry the paratha may not be soft. (This dilemma is not there when you use boiled aloo. The moisture in the boiled aloo is sufficient and just right)

Take a ball of dough, flatten and roll out a small roti

Place a lump of the potato mixture

Fold roti and roll into parathas

Roast on tawa.

For tastier authentic parathas a lot of ghee has to be used. But that can never happen when I cook.

Serve with pickle, curd, mint chutney.