Puram Puri / Puran Poli

Well!!! What can I say about Puram Puri. I just love them. I always make extra stuffing so that its left over and I can eat later on. :))))

Preparation Time: 40-50 min
Cooking Time: 30 min
Serves: 4-5 (makes about 6 savory puris and about 10 sweet puris)

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Ingredients: 1.5 cup Chana Dal - 1 cup for sweet and 1/2 cup for savory puris 3 cups water 1 tblsp Ghee 1 cup sugar 1 tsp elaichii powder 2 cups Atta / Whole Wheat flour OR 1 cup wheat flour and 1 cup maida

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Method:

Chana Dal stuffing

1. Pressure cook Chana dal with water for about 20-25 minutes.
2. Strain the dal.
3. Heat ghee in a pan and add cooked dal.
4. Mash well. Fry till desired consistency is achieved. It should be dry enough so that it doesn't come out when rolling.
5. Remove about 1/2 cup worth chana dal - for savory puris
6. To make sweet puris, add sugar and fry till all the extra water due to sugar has evaporated. Add elaichii. Mix well and keep aside.
7. To make savory puris, to the separated dried dal, add 1/4 tsp, hing, 1/2 tsp sof powder, 1/2 tsp amchur powder, 1/2 tsp garam masala, salt and mix well.

Make puris or rotis

1. Knead atta with ghee and water to make a soft dough.
2. You can either make puris or rotis(poli). When making puris, roll 2 puris, place 1 puri flat and place a little stuffing in the center, cover with the second puri and seal the ends. Deep fry this in hot oil.
3. When making roti (poli), take a little dough, flatten it a little with hand, place a little stuffing in the center and seal all the ends together bringing them on top of the stuffing like a parantha. Fry it in a pan using a little oil/ghee.

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Gobhi Manchurian

Its surprising that I never made this till now. I always made vegetable manchurian, never gobhi. But it turned out out pretty tasty.

Preparation Time: 10 min
Cooking Time: 20-30-min
Serves: 3-4

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Ingredients: 1 small gobhi / cauliflower florets oil for deep frying Batter for dipping 3/4 cup all purpose flour 1 tblsp cornflour 1 medium onion finely chopped 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste salt to taste Final tempering 1 medium onion finely chopped 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste 2 tblsp soy sauce 1 tblsp green chilli sauce 3 tblsp tomato ketchup 2 tblsp oil finely chopped dhaniya/cilantro leaves salt to taste

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Method:

1. Mix all ingredients under batter along with water to make a thick batter.
2. Dip gobhi/cauliflower florets in this batter and deep fry till golden brown. Keep aside.
3. Heat 2 tblsp oil in a stir-fry pan and saute onions. Add ginger-garlic paste.
4. Fry for 1-2 min and add soysauce, chilli sauce, tomato ketchup and salt. Fry for another 2 min.
5. Add fried gobhi florets. Mix well. Garnish with dhaniya leaves. Serve hot with veg soft noodles or chinese fried rice.

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Tips To make manchurian in a gravy, add 1 tblsp cornflour mixed with 1 1/2 cup water during tempering. Boil well till the gravy becomes transparent. Add the fried florets now.

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Stuffed Tomatoes

Making Stuffed tomatoes is the same as Stuffed Peppers. You decide the filling, stuff it in a tomato and cook it till tender. Thats it!!! I normally make stuffed pepper and tomotoes as one dish - creates color in a platter when serving.

Ingredients:

2-3 hard tomotoes(not old ones that get softer)
1 tsp Jeera
1 Onion, chopped fine
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Amchur / Dry Mango powder
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
4 tblsp Tomato Sauce
Salt to taste

For Stuffing
1 tsp Jeera
1 tsp Dhaniya Powder
2 tsp Sof / Fennel Powder
1 tsp Amchur / Dry Mango powder
1 tsp Garam Masala
2 tsp Roasted Besan / Gram Flour
2-3 medium Potatoes, boiled and mashed coarsly
1 cup Paneer, grated Salt to taste

Method:

Make Stuffing

1. Heat oil in a pan, add jeera and let it splutter. Saute onions till transluscent.

2. Add dhaniya powder, sof, amchur, garam masala and besan. Fry till besan turns golden.

3. Add salt, potatoes and grated paneer. Mix well. This is the stuffing.

For Tomatoes

1. Cut the tops of the tomatoes in circle to remove it as a cap. Carefully remove all the pulp. I use a combination of knife and a sharp spoon to scoop everything out. The pulp that you remove can be used instead of Tomato sauce later on.

2. Stuff them with the stuffing made earlier. You can cover them with their caps and make them whole. I normally stuff tightly and then cut them in half so serving is easy.

3. Heat oil in a pan, add jeera and let it splutter. Saute onions till transluscent.

4. Add turmeric, amchur and garam masala. Fry for 30-40 sec.

5. Add Tomato Sauce (pulp from tomatoes) and 2 tblsp water.

6. Put the stuffed tomatoes carefully in the pan and roll them a little to coat with the masala prepared.

7. Transfer the stuffed tomatoes to an oven-safe baking dish and bake at 375 F for about 10-15 min till the tomato softens. When baking cover the dish with an aluminium foil so that the heat remains instead and they cook faster.

Stuffed Bell Pepper / Capsicum / Bharwan Shimla Mirch

Capsicum / Bell Peppers / Shimla Mirch stuffing has a lot of options - potatoes, besan, paneer etc. I love paneer, so I use that almost always. You can try new stuffings based on your liking.

Ingredients:

2-3 Green Pepper / Capsicum
1 tsp Jeera
1 Onion, chopped fine
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Amchur / Dry Mango powder
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
4 tblsp Tomato Sauce
Salt to taste

For Stuffing
1 tsp Jeera
1 tsp Dhaniya Powder
2 tsp Sof / Fennel Powder
1 tsp Amchur / Dry Mango powder
1 tsp Garam Masala
2 tsp Roasted Besan / Gram Flour
2-3 medium Potatoes, boiled and mashed coarsly
1 cup Paneer, grated Salt to taste

Method:

Make Stuffing

1. Heat oil in a pan, add jeera and let it splutter. Saute onions till transluscent.

2. Add dhaniya powder, sof, amchur, garam masala and besan. Fry till besan turns golden.

3. Add salt, potatoes and grated paneer. Mix well. This is the stuffing.

For Peppers 1. Cut the tops of the peppers in circle to remove it as a cap. Remove any seeds from inside. 2. Stuff them with the stuffing made earlier. You can cover them with their caps and make them whole. I normally stuff tightly and then cut them in half so serving is easy. 3. Heat oil in a pan, add jeera and let it splutter. Saute onions till transluscent.

4. Add turmeric, amchur and garam masala. Fry for 30-40 sec.

5. Add Tomato Sauce and 2 tblsp water.

6. Put the stuffed peppers carefully in the pan and roll them a little to coat with the masala prepared.

7. Transfer the stuffed peppers to a bowl that will fit inside a pressure cooker. Put this inside the cooker and cover with a lid. Pressure cook for 5-7 min on slow.

or

7. You can transfer the stuffed peppers to an oven-safe baking dish and bake at 375 F for about 40-50 min till the pepper softens. When baking cover the dish with an aluminium foil so that the heat remains instead and they cook faster.

Tips

• If you don't want to pressure cook, you can cook in the pan itself on heat. But you need to keep turning the peppers so that they cook evenly.

• Whenever I make Stuffed peppers, I add a couple of Stuffed tomatoes along with them as it adds color. The stuffing is the same. Bake them to ensure that the tomatoes don't get mushy.