Toor daal / Kandhi Pappu Paratha

This is a dish I found to be very tasty when there is left out dals. I had some left over mudha pappu. Thought to make parathas. Instead of stuffing the daal mixture, I just added this to the wheat flour, mixed every thing and kneaded into soft dough same as the roti dough. Fry them with ghee and serve them with spicy red chilli pickle.

Ingredients:

Wheat flour – 2 cups

Cooked Tour daal – 1 cup

Ajwain / Carom seeds / Vaamu – ½ tsp

Cumin seeds – ½ tsp
Salt
Oil / ghee to fry the parathas

Cooked Toor daal / Mudha pappu and Wheat flour

Method:

Mix the wheat flour, cumin seeds, ajwain seeds and salt in a bowl, add gradually the cooked toor dal / Kandi pappu and knead everything into smooth dough (add water if necessary)..Keep aside for 30 minutes...

Make 10- 12 medium sized balls from the dough, dust the balls with enough flour and roll them into round parathas using rolling pin.

Heat few drops of oil in a tawa, gently place the flattened paratha, cook the paratha on both sides, drizzle oil if needed. 

Serve with any sort of spicy side dish..

Methi Paratha

This is a delicious spiced chapathi from Gujarat where they serve it with meals, and also as a snack. You can substitute the fresh ones with the dried leaves as they are more easily available and make a lovely aromatic alternative.

Ingredients:

Wholemeal flour – 500 gms

Fresh Fenugreek leaves – 1 bunch finely chopped

Chili Powder – 1 tsp

Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp

Sesame seeds – 1 tbsp

Oil – 5-6 tbsp

Garlic – 3-4 pods grated

Salt

Method:

Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl and add all the ingredients except oil.

Mix the ingredients thoroughly with your fingertips

Now rub in 2 tbsp of oil and make crumbles.

Gradually add enough water while continuing to mix.

Knead the dough until it is soft and pliable.

Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Divide the dough into 2 equal parts and cut 4 equal portions from each.

Form them into smooth balls and flatten each one. Now dust each piece lightly in flour and roll it out to 6-7 inch circle.

Pre-heat a non-stick pan over a medium heat and place a parata on it.

Cook for 30-35 seconds and turn it over.  Spread some oil over the surface of the cooked side and turn it over again.

Let it cook until the brown patches have appeared. Spread some oil on the second side , turn it over and cook until brown patches appear.

Repeat the same for all the paratas. You can keep them warm by wrapping it in foil lined with absorbant paper.

Serve the parata on its own or with any vegetable curry or just with plain yogurt.

Methi Parata

Sajja Rotte / Millet roti

Sajja / Bajra / Millet is the staple food in most of the South Indian villages. So simple to know,but one should be efficient to make Sajja rotte perfectly. Of course, any one can become a perfectionist with whole hearted efforts.

Ingredients:
Millet flour – 2 cups
Water - Approximately 1 1/2 cup
Salt

Method:

Take a wide plate to mix the dough. Add salt to the flour.
Now bring the water to rolling boil. 
Add this water to the millet flour by mixing it well using a spoon. 

Cover with lid and allow it to cool down. 
Knead the dough till soft and divide into roughly 12 - 14 balls.
Roll out each dough ball into a circle, using wheat flour for dusting. 

Best part is rolling the roti into thin disc. To make it easier, I have covered the dough with a plastic sheet and rolled it. So simple....

Place the roti on a hot tava 

Cook until it is done and turn on to the other side.

Traditionally these rotis will be placed besides the flame to make them bit crispier, such that we can have them for longer periods. Up to 1 week or so.

Kheema Roti

This is a special roti, stuffed with spicy minced meat. A best treat during picnics. To make this, the curry should be absolutely dry.

Ingredients:

Kheema curry (Dry) – 1 cup
Whole wheat flour – 2 cups
Salt

Method:

Mix the flour and salt. Add approximately 1cup of water and knead it into soft dough.
Now divide the dough into 8 to 10 balls
Roll each ball into approx a 5 inch medium disc.
Place a heaped tablespoon of minced meat at the centre of the disc 

Fold it as shown below.

Roll it back into a 7 inch square.
Make sure that the curry should not be leaked.

Another simple way is roll two small squares. 

Spread the mince on top of one square.

Cover it with another square.

Seal the edges thoroughly.

Roll it into a medium thick roti.

Fry the roti on both the sides by drizzling little bit of oil.

Tip: Chill the curry before making the rotis as the mince will get stiff when it is cold.

Sajja Rotte - Crispy variety

I learnt this in India from my sister's-in-law friend. She is an expert in making tasty wonders. Adding peanuts to the roti  will give the extra deliciousness. Apparently these rotis can stay fresh up to one month.

Crispy Sajja Rotte

Millet flour – 2 cups
Roasted peanuts – Skinned and coarsely grounded – 3/4th cup
Till / Sesame seeds – ¼ cup
Salt
Chilli powder – ½ tsp (Optional)

Method:
Mix everything and knead into a stiff dough by adding enough water.

Divide them into 12 parts and form them as discs.

Take 2 baking sheets or a plastic sheets or any non sticky thing.
Cover each disc with flour, place it in the centre of the sheet, cover it with another sheet
Roll into thin disc.

In the mean time heat the tawa
When it is hot enough, slowly place the roti.

Fry on both the sides until crispy.

You can eat them as it is or with raita

Aaloo Paratha

Though the procedure looks bit hard and scary, it is not that hard. You don’t need any expertise and I made it well in my first attempt itself. No hard and fast rules to prepare this. You can make the stuffing with spices or without. There are no strict ratios of plain flour and whole wheat flour. You can add them as per your convenience.

Aaoloo paratha with hot Red chilli chutney & cool Yoghurt

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour – 1 ½ cup

Plain flour – ½ cup

Potato – ½ kg

Cumin powder - ½ tsp

Coriander powder – ½ tsp

Chilli powder

Chat masala – ¼ tsp

Carom seeds / Ajwain – ¼ tsp

Chopped coriander – 1 tbsp

Butter to fry the parathas

Method:

Mix the wheat flour and the plain flour together. Add some salt and around 1 cup + 1 or 2 tbsp of water and make absolutely soft dough. At the end add 1 tbsp of oil and knead the dough again.

Cover the dough and keep it aside.

In the meantime, boil the potatoes. Remove the skin and grate them.

I prefer to grate them instead of mashing them as you will end up with lumps which might tear the parathas.

Mix all the spices into the grated potato and make them into 10 balls.

Making parathas:

You can either, roll the dough and place the potato ball in the centre and cover it from all the sides, or roll two small discs, place the potato mixture on top of one roti and spread it flat as shown below.

  

Now cover this with another roti and gently press the corners, so that no leakage happens.

Now roll it into flat disc

If you are following the first method, then divide the dough into 10 balls and if you are following the second method, then divide the dough into 20 balls.

Heat the pan. When it is hot enough, place the paratha on it. After few seconds, turn it to other side and apply little bit of butter.

Turn it back to the first side again and apply some more butter.

Allow it to get cooked for few more seconds and serve it.

Aaoloo paratha served with spicy red chilli chutney and plain yoghurt

Note:

Remember to cook these parathas on medium flame as they have to get cooked inside as well.

Best way to control the amount of butter we apply is, cut the butter into a cube. Stick to the fork and quickly rub it on the paratha.  

Plain Paratta / Kerala Paratta

This is a traditional kerala recipe made up of with unbleached wheat flour A soft roti with multiple layers. You need to have good expertise in kneading the dough, as the softness of the parattas rely on making the dough. How ever, we can all make them easily by practising for 2-3 times.

Ingredients:

Unbleached plain flour / Maida – 2 cups

Luke warm Water – as needed to prepare the dough roughly 3/4th cup 
Veg Oil or melted Ghee – 3-4 tbsp
Salt – to taste

Method:

Sieve maida and salt into a mixing bowl.

Add oil and mix it with the flour thoroughly. Now add sufficient water and knead it well to make a soft dough. Cover it with cling film or with a wet cloth and keep it aside for 1 hour.

Divide the dough into 10 portions and shape them into balls. Smear each ball with oil and roll out into a flat disc.

Place on a well greased surface and stretch evenly on all sides until the disc is very thin. If you are not good at stretching, you can roll it into thin disc.

Dough is rolled into thin disc

Brush the entire surface of each disc with melted butter and dust with flour, then pleat together ensuring there are many folds.

Roll up in a spiral movement. Compress with palm and set aside. Prepare the rest of the rolls in the same way.

Press each roll lightly into discs of six-inch diameter using your palm. Alternatively, you can press them using rolling pin.

Heat a tawa. Place the paratta on the hot tawa and cook on medium heat on both sides. Pour a little butter all around and shallow fry till both sides are golden brown.

When 5 parattas are done,place them in a flat surface and holding them between hands ,beat the hands together.(Just like clapping) by doing this, the layers of the paratta gets separated.

Serve immediately with any curry.

Poori

Pooris are traditional Indian fried breads made with whole wheat flour or unbleached plain flour. Pooris are eaten warm or cold. These are great for picnics or even when travelling. As these are fried in the oil, they will remain fresh up to 3 days. A best option to carry when we have to stay away from home. Pooris can be served with any curry or daal varieties. Even, with spicy powders like Coconut powder, peanut powder.

Poori with potato curry

Ingredients:

2 cups - chapathi flour / Atta

Salt - 1/2 tsp 

Oil for deep frying

Water - 2/3 cup

Method:

Combine the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Add up to 2/3 cup water, slowly pouring in just enough to form a medium soft, kneadable dough. 

Turn the dough onto a clean surface. Smear your hand with 1 tsp of oil and knead the dough for 5-8 minutes or until smooth. Adding oil at this stage will remove all the sticky dough from your hand. Cover the dough for 10 minutes.

Pre-heat oil in a deep pan over low heat. Meanwhile, divide the dough into 15 to 16 balls and roll each ball into thin disk about 4 1/2 inches wide.Increase the oil temperature.

Lift up a rolled poori and slip in into the hot oil, making sure that it doesn't fold over. It will sink to the bottom, then immediately rise to the surface. Hold it under the surface with a slotted spoon until it puffs up into a balloon.

Let it brown slightly to a golden colour, then turn it over and cook the other side too.

Lift out the poori with the slotted spoon and carefully drain it. Serve with any curry of your choice.

Tips:
 Do not make the dough too soft. This will make the pooris to absorb more oil.
 Do not over cook the pooris as they will turn hard.

Chapathi / Roti in milk

During the christmas holidays, I was feeling very lazy to prepare the meal in the morning. I was pondering about the ideas to escape from cooking. It just clicked me that I had some chapathis left over from last night meal.

Simplly tear 1 or 2 chapathi / roti into bite size pieces and soak them in warm milk for about 5 to 10 minutes. Just before eating, add some honey and nuts of your choice. Adding honey, dry grapes and nuts will enhance the nutrients. Not only that, they will draw the attention of those fussy eaters as well.

This is a nice substitute for cereals. A healthy breakfast too. Though the ready made cereals are branded as healthy, there are loads of hidden sugars and enormous calories which we ignore them unknowingly.

Methi thepla with Bajra flour

This is a Gujarathi recipe made using bajra flour or with combination of wheat flour and chickpea flour. Fresh methi and sesame seeds are the main ingredients of this recipe.

Methi thepla

Ingredients:
Fresh Fenugreek chopped (Methi) – ½ cup
Bajra flour – 2 cups
Sesame seeds – 1 tbsp
Chili powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric – ¼ tsp
Cumin powder – ½ tsp
Sugar – pinch (Optional)
Yogurt – 2 tbsp
Salt

Method:
Mix all the above ingredients into a soft dough which is similar to chapathi dough, by adding enough water.

Ready to make the dough

Divide the dough into 8 equal balls

Roll them into thin discs either by sprinkling the flour or roll them using little bit of oil. What I did is, just place the dough in between two plastic sheets and roll.

Thepla dough pressed between two plastic sheets

Gently lift the thepla into one hand and place it on the hot tawa. Drizzle some oil and cook the thepla until it is done. You will feel the nice aroma of roasted sesame seeds and the methi flavour.

Serve them warm with any raita or even plain yogurt. You know what.. they will taste even better on the next day because of the chewy nature.

Warm methi thepla

Note: Sugar not only suppresses the bitter taste of methi leaves, but also will enhance the taste. As we are using other spices, sesame seeds and most mportantly methi leaves, they will over ride the sugar taste.

Plain Chapathi

 Chapathi with Mushroom and Soya curry

Though this is a simple recipe for most of the Asians, I felt to publish this recipe as I have encountered with many ameture cooks / newly married people who asks about techniques to make soft chapathi / roti. I have used whole wheat flour in preparing this. Though few people do like the colour of  bleached / refined wheat floor, I vote for whole flour only, as the chapathis / pulkas won’t be soggy even when they are cold unlike refined floor . Not only that, lots of fiber in the whole grains which plays a vital role.

Few tips to get soft chapathis

- Do not mix the dough too hard.

- Always add sufficient amount of water in the begining itself as it is difficult to mix the dough with water in the later stage.

- Knead the dough thoroughly finishing wtih few good punches.

- Always leave the dough covered completely for atleast 15-30 minutes.

- To get rid of the sticky dough from your hands, just after kneading the dough add 1tbsp of oil to your palm and knead the dough again, so that your hand becomes dough free.

- Always heat the griddle properly before placing the chapathi.

- Do not over cook the chapathi as it becomes hard if you do so.

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour – 1 cup

Water – 1/2 cup (Again this depends on the type of flour you use)

Salt for taste

2 tbsp flour mixed with 1 tbsp oil

 

Method:

Mix the flour and salt with water and knead it thoroughly and at the end pour 1 tbsp of oil into your palm and knead again for a minute and rest it for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Though few people add oil in the first place itself, I prefer to add it at the end so that the dough comes off from your hands with out any hassle and also less oil is required

Now divide the dough into 4 equal parts. The easy way to do is roll the whole dough into one long roll and cut into 4 parts using knife. Quicky one…

Roll the ball into round disc and sprinkle the flour mix and fold all corners and make it a triangle as shown.

Roll it again into medium thick triangle so that we don’t press the layers too much.

Heat a griddle and place the chapatti and cook for a minute.

Bubbles are appearing

When the bubbles appear, turn the chapathi to other side and apply oil. Turn it back and apply oil again, slowly press the chapathi until it pluffs from all sides and cook until you see brown spots.

 Chapathi fluffing like poori

Serve hot with any curry.

Chapathi with spicy mushroom and soya chunks , onion and lemon