Puri Chole

When you think of breakfast, lunch or dinner, one dish definitely comes to mind and that is Poori or Puri. Whether it is eaten with Chole or Aloo (Potato) it always leaves wonderful feeling in our taste buds. For some reason, some people address Chole as Channa and so this dish could also be called as Puri Channa. A variety of Puri’s could be made ranging from Palak puri, masala puri to the simple and most popular version of atta or wheat puri. Today we made the simple version.

For Puri or Bread: (Makes approximately 20 puri’s)

1 - 1 & 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
Milk to bind
Salt to taste
Oil for frying
1 tsp of Ajwain seeds

Mix the flour with milk, salt and seeds such that dough has the consistency of almost a pizza dough. Make small balls from the dough.

Wheat flour made into small balls for rolling and making puri

Roll out the dough into 5″ inch round. In the mean while, heat oil such that if you insert a wooden spoon end, the air bubbles start to form around the spoon. Now drop the rolled out dough slowly into the oil. Within seconds, the dough fluffs and rises.

Puri frying

Now, turn the half cooked dough to cook on the other side or until golden brown. Your hot Puri is ready! See this was simple, isn’t it?

For Chole or Chickpeas:

1 - 1 & 1/2 cup dried Chickpeas or Garbanzo beans soaked overnight, pressure cooked until soft or 2 canned beans - 12 oz each
1 medium size onion chopped finely
1 green chillie chopped finely or adjust the heat as per your taste
2 medium size tomatoes finely chopped or2 - 3 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp Garam Masala powder
1 - 1 & 1/2 tbsp Dhania or Coriander powder
1 tsp Turmeric powder
2 tsp red chili powder or per your taste
1 tbsp Meethi (tamarind- date) chutney
A few cloves, 1 Cinnamon stick, a few whole black peppercorns.
Oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds
Salt to taste

Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds until they splutter. Now add the cloves, Cinnamon stick, peppercorns, onions, green chillies and saute well.

Onions saute-ing

Add the spices mentioned and saute. Once aroma of the spices is released, add the tomato paste, little water and saute well.

After adding tomato paste

Now add the chickpeas and water such that water almost touches the surface of the chickpeas. Allow it to boil. The water will start to thicken after a few minutes.

After adding chole or chickpeas

Add salt, meethi chutney and taste. Garnish with cilantro if needed. Serve hot with puri’s and awaken your good old memories from Mom’s kitchen.

Puri with Chole - my entry to My Legume Love Affair

NOTE: If you would like to make your own Meethi (Tamarind-Date) chutney, it’s very simple. Mix tamarind paste from a 8oz can with 10 dates pitted and run it in a blender with some water. Add some jaggery to this. If you do not find jaggery, use brown sugar instead as per your taste. Add 1 - 2 tsp red chili powder, 1 - 2 tsp salt, 1 - 2 tsp roasted cumin powder and bring it a boil until you get that syrupy consistency. In the end add some golden raisins or kishmish.

Hara Channa (Green Chickpeas)

Fresh Hara Channa from the pod

Sprouting is a process of soaking, draining and then rinsing seeds at regular intervals until they germinate, or sprout. The seeds should be soaked overnight and then rinsed well before the process of germination. Sprouting could be done in a Sprout Maker or simply by placing the soaked seeds in a container covered with a lid which has holes for the air to pass through. Sprouting could be done on a variety of seeds which includes mung bean, peanuts, channa (green or brown), black eyed beans, chick peas, barley and much more. Moisture, warmth are essential for sprouting and in some cases indirect sunlight is also necessary for sprouting. Some sprouts, such as mung beans, can be grown in the dark. Little time, effort or space is needed to make sprouts.

Sprouts are rich in digestible energy, bioavailable vitamins, minerals, amino acids, proteins, beneficial enzymes and phytochemicals. These nutrients are essential for human health. Very complex qualitative changes are reported to occur during soaking and sprouting of seeds. Many studies have shown an increase in the content of the amino acid with sprouting.
So, eat your Sprouts!

Soak a cup of dried green channa overnight or any seed of your choice. Drain water well and use either a sprout maker of your choice or simply place it in a container, cover it with a lid which has some holes for air to pass through. Place it in a warm place for germination to occur fast. Leave it undisturbed. By evening or the next day you should start seeing the germination.
Some seeds take longer time to germinate. In that case, sprinkle some water every day and cover it until you see the germination. If you use the sprout maker, be sure to change the water in the sprout maker once a day. Use it in your salads, are slightly saute in some oil and cumin seeds, salt and red chillie powder or steam it with some salt and eat. Eat the way you like but the best is to eat them raw after germination in a salad to take advantage of its full nutritional value.

Quesadilla

Quasedilla is a Mexican dish which involves cooking with ingredients such as most popularly cheese and/or vegetables and/or meat, inside a flour or corn or wheat tortilla or Masa. Exactly what constitutes a quesadilla varies from region to region. There is also variation between the U.S. and Mexico, and is not universally agreed upon but there are similarities between the different versions namely that the quesadilla is cooked after being filled or stuffed, while a taco or burrito is filled with pre-cooked ingredients.

Salsa could be added to quasedilla to give you a zing. Everyone loves vegetable quasedilla’s in my family and it is very easy to make with just a few ingredients. You can add vegetables of your choice; sky is the limit for your imagination.

Corn or Flour or wheat tortillas
1 Red Bell Pepper cut length-wise
1 Green Bell Pepper cut length-wise
Some frozen corn
Canned Black beans or Kidney beans
Pickled and sliced Jalapeno peppers
grated cheese of your choice. I prefer Fontina cheese.
Salt to taste
1 - 2 tsp oil

In a pan over medium flame, saute each vegetable separately until al dente. mash the beans half way through. Then place only one tortilla on the pan. On one side of the torilla, add the vegetables. Top it with cheese and jalapeno.

Fold the other half to completely cover the vegetables and cheese. Press it with a spatula so that the melting cheese will seal the ends of the tortilla and the vegetables won’t fall out. Brush it with a little bit of oil. Once the cheese has melted and the vegatables are warmed, flip the tortilla and let it warm up on the other side too. When the crust is formed a little bit and the cheese has melted well, its time to take it out of the pan. Cut it in triangles and your hot Quasedilla’s are ready to be served. Jazz it up with some fresh home made salsa.

Besan Shimla Mirch

Shimla Mirch as it is called in Hindi or Bell Peppers in the West or Capsicum in India, Australia, Malaysia etc all mean the same vegetable which cooks in minutes and is used in a variety of dishes in everyday life from salads and soups to Paneer. It comes various colors from green, yellow, orange, red and more rarely, white, purple, blue, and brown, depending on when they are harvested. Because they are unripe, green peppers are less sweet and slightly more bitter than yellow, orange, or red peppers. They are sometimes grouped with less pungent pepper varieties and classified as “sweet peppers”.

(Source: Wikipedia)

3 green bell peppers chopped
2 tbsp besan
1 tsp ground dried red chillie powder
1 tbsp dhania or coriander powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp Oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 small onion diced optional
1/2 lime or lemon juice
Salt to taste

Heat oil in a kadai and add the mustard seeds until they splutter. Now add onions and saute until translucent. Add the besan and stir well until they turn golden brown. Now add the spices and mix well. Lastly, add the chopped bell pepper, mix, sprinkle some water, lime juice and cover it with a lid for about 5 minutes or until the peppers are cooked. Serve hot with
Chappatis or Rotis or Naan bread or Tortillas.

Idli Upma

Idli Upma is one of most commonly made recipes with leftover idlis. This is such a simple food yet so satisfying that even a finicky eater will not complain. Growing up, my Mom used to make this delicious dish for breakfast or evening tiffin and all of us would relish it. So,here is the simplest recipe for left over idlis.

Left over idlis broken into pieces
1 onion cut length-wise
1 green chillie
Kari leaves optional
1 tsp of black mustard seeds
1 tsp of urad dal
1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
1 -2 tsp of oil
Salt to taste

Heat oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds to splutter. Then add the urad dal and saute until golden brown. Now add the green chillies, kari leaves, onions and saute until they are translucent.

In the mean while, add the turmeric powder to the idlis and mix well.

Once the onions are cooked, add the idlis and salt and mix well for a few seconds. Hot, Yummy Idli Upma is ready!

Kuzhi Paniyaram

I will start by saying this “Aah heaven on a piece of rice bun”. Ok, rice bun is probably not a literal translation of the ingredients of this recipe but one of the ingredients. This simple yet mouth watering recipe rang a bell as I was contemplating what to cook for breakfast this past weekend. I wanted something different; something that I don’t make often. I was trying to recollect my childhood memories of food and I remembered this. This is such a versatile recipe that one can add as many or as little ingredients. Of course the main base for this recipe is the left over idli or dosa batter which cannot be compromised. You will also need the kuzhi paniyaram skillet which I did not find anywhere but to my rescue came the pancake puff skillet that I found at Bed Bath & Beyond ; it is no different from the traditional one.

Ingredients:

Left over idli or dosa batter
Some grated carrots
1 medium size chopped onions
1 green chillies chopped
couple of tablespoons of Chana Dal or split Chick Peas soaked overnight or at least 2 - 3 hours.
Chopped cilantro
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 - 2 tsp oil
1 tsp grated ginger
Kari leaves
Salt to taste

Heat oil in small pan and add the mustard seeds and let it splutter. Now add the kari leaves, green chillies, onions and ginger; saute. In just a few seconds, add the grated carrots, mix well and turn off the heat. Now add this mixture to the batter along with the soaked chana dal. Head the kuzhi paniyaram skillet. Add some oil so that the batter does not stick. personally, in my experience, even though I used a non-stick skillet, the paniyaram balls did not comes out well, so I used the non-stick spray. Pour a spoonful of batter in each impression. Cover it with a lid and let it cook on a medium heat. This is very key here. Keeping the heat at high or low temperatures will not make this recipe come out well.

After a couple of minutes, you will see the batter fluffed. Using a spoon, turn the paniyaram’s to cook on the other side.

Cover with the lid and let it cook for another 2 -3 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and crunchy.

You can use a tooth pick to check if the paniyaram’s are cooked through the inside by piercing in the middle and removing. If no batter stuck to the stick then your hot paniyaram’s are ready to be eaten with coconut chutney!.