Friday, September 30, 2011

Bhel Puri

I was looking for this recipe and there were too many versions of Bhel puri, each one made in their own style. But I wanted to get the exact taste of the roadside shops made Bhel puri in my hometown. And thanks to my husband for this Wonderful recipe. He finally brought the taste I was longing for,in his own stlye.Believe it or not I was on the top of the wolrd when I tasted it.I wanted to post this recipe for my friends who are waiting for it.....We could make it easily as we had chalna ready in hand. Please look for Chalna recipe in my blog.



Chalna for Bhel Puri
Ingredients:

2 Cups Puffed rice or Pori
10 - 15 Small pooris (look for recipe in my blog)
1 Cup Sev or Oma podi
1/4 Cup Roasted Peanuts
1 tsp Chat masala powder
1 tsp Amchur or Dry Mango powder
1 Onion Chopped
3 Green chilles finely chopped
Tamarind chutney to taste
Vegetable Chalna to taste ( a type of curry made in Tamilnadu, look for recipe in my blog)
Salt to taste
Cilantro to Garnish

Method:

1. In a bowl mix Puffed rice, crushed pooris, peanuts,finely chopped onions, green chilles, vegetable chalna, tamarind chutney, chat masala, amchur powder and salt. Give them a really good mix.
2. Garnish them with Sev and Cilantro.
Enjoy your Bhal puri friends......
P.S. I have made a small variation in the Chalna made for this Bhel Puri recipe. I added only Green peas and not the other vegetables. To get the colour I grinded few cooked peas and added it to the Chalna

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Jeera Rice

I should say, this is one of my favourite recipes. Mainly because its very easy to make and tasty too. The flavor of the jeera and the spices when cooked with rice really gives a fantastic aroma and a yummy taste. Can be served with potato chips and Raita.
Ingredients:

2 Cups Basmathi Rice
3 tbsp Jeera or Cumin seeds
2 Cardamom
2 Cloves
1 Bay leaf
1 Cinnamon stick
10 Cashews
1 Onion Sliced
1 tbsp Ginger Garlic paste
3 Green chillies
1/4 Cup Peas
4 cups of water (approx)
Oil/Ghee as needed
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Soak Basmathi Rice in water for 15-20 mins.
2. Meanwhile heat oil/ghee in a pan, add Cashews,Cardamom,Cloves,Bay leaf, Cinnamon and Jeera and fry them until the cashews turn golden color.
3. Now add the chopped Onions and Green chilles.Cook the Onions until they become soft.
4. Finally add in the Ginger garlic paste and saute until the raw smell goes off.
5. Drain the soaked rice and mix it with the masala in the pan and saute for a min until the masala coats fully with the rice.
6. Now transfer them into a rice cooker and add the peas and salt. Give it a nice mix.Add water and cook it.
Your yummy Jeera rice will be ready in 20 min. Enjoy it with Raita.

Parotta

Parotta is my all time favourite dish. I tried making it a lot of times to get the perfect taste of it. It requires a lot of oil, but worth doing once in a while.



Ingredients:

4 Cups Maida or All Purpose Flour
1 cup of water (approx)
Oil as needed
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Mix Maida, salt and water in a bowl and knead it as you do for chapathis.
2. Then add oil to the dough and continue kneading until it becomes really soft.
3. Cover it with a damp cloth and set it aside for 2-3 hrs.
4. Make the dough into medium sized balls by applying oil to each one .
5. Press the dough with applying a spoon of oil in your counter tops or chapathi rolling board. It will have elasticity and as you start rolling it rolls back. So keep applying oil so that it doesn't stick to the rolling pin or board and does not roll back.
6. Now try to make pleats as you do for saree and make it to a ball shape(it should look like a ball with layers)
7. Apply some more oil to the circled dough and press it from the centre with your hands first and then with the rolling pin. Do not press it so hard as the layers will disappear.
8. Meanwhile heat the tawa with little oil for frying the parottas. Cook them until both the sides turn golden brown and crispy( It should be crispy because it tastes yummy when it is little crisp)
9. Once it is cooked,take it out and try to beat the parottas with your hands on both the ends for the layers to separate.
10. Serve hot with Kurma or Chalna.