Dahi Gujiya

Today's recipe 'Dahi Gujiya' comes from the state of Uttar Pradesh. These dahi gujiyas are a treat where literally melt in mouth vadas stuffed with raisins and cashews are served in a spicy yogurt base. The recipe is a variant of another popular north Indian snack dahi bhalle and shaped in the form of a gujiya, a dessert popular in the region. Both use deep fried vadas made with a ground batter of urad dal / skinned black gram that are then soaked in a yogurt base and flavored with spice powders and chutneys. The vadas in case of dahi bhalle are shaped round and fried directly whereas in case of dahi gujiyas, the vadas are stuffed and shaped as half moons. The outer shell in these gujiyas is not the dough made using all purpose flour as in sweet versions which is easy to roll but the urad dal batter which is a little tricky to shape. I kept postponing trying this recipe until last week thinking that it would be a hard one to nail. It was quite easy shaping them in my hands instead of using cloth / sheet  and the gujiyas were done in no time. I made a dozen dahi gujiyas and used the rest of the batter to prepare Andhra style perugu vadalu as my husband is a fan of those.

A filling of raisins, cashews, ginger, pepper / chillies and chironjis are used. Shredded fresh coconut would also be a flavorful addition. Use a tiny quantity of filling to each gujiya and don't go overboard with the filling. A moist cloth stretched and tied over a wide cup or a plastic sheet can be used to shape the gujiyas. Remember to keep your hands and the work surface moist all the while shaping gujiyas. Don't go on greasing the work surfaces with oil as it doesn't work. If one has hard time transferring the shaped gujiyas from the sheet / cloth.  shape them on your moist hands instead as I have shown below. They will come off easily without sticking to hands given that hands are moist. Remember to wet your hands with water each time you work with a gujiya.

Ingredients for the outer layer:

1 cup urad dal

Salt to taste

Ingredients for stuffing:

Raisins

Chopped cashews

Grated ginger

Freshly cracked black pepper

Fresh, shredded coconut (optional)

Chironji (optional)

Ingredients for soaking water:

6 cups water

1/4 tsp. ground asafoetida

1/2 tsp. salt

Ingredients for dahi gujiya:

Yogurt 

Salt / Black salt to taste

Green chutney

Sweet chutney

Cumin powder

Chili powder

Chaat masala 

Prep work:

* Rinse and soak urad dal for about 3 hours. Drain the water completely and grind the soaked dal finely, without adding any water. The heavy duty Indian style grinder works best for this. At the most add a tbsp. of water if needed. It is essential that the batter is quite thick since the outer covering for the gujiya is made using this batter.

 * Add salt and beat the batter for about 5 minutes or so using a spoon or hand, to make it fluffy.

 * Keep the stuffing that is going to be used for the gujiyas ready.

* Keep ready a bowl of water with a pinch of asafoetida and 1/2  tsp. salt added.
* Whip yogurt and keep refrigerated. Add salt and also a pinch of sugar if needed. (Yogurt made with full fat milk is traditionally used but I used homemade fat-free variety.)

Directions:
* Heat oil in a medium sized wok / frying pan on medium heat. Drop a pinch of batter into the hot oil. If it immediately swims to the surface then the oil is hot enough to fry. If it sinks to the bottom then oil needs some more heating. Don't bring the oil to a smoking point.
* Wet a plastic sheet and your hands. Place a lemon sized ball at the center.

*  Pat it with fingers into a thin circle of about 3 inches diameter. 

* Place 1/2 to 1 tsp. filling on one half of the circle, taking care to leave the edges free for sealing. (Don't go stuffing too much as we do in case of sweet gujiya versions.) 

* Gently lift the plastic sheet to cover the other half over the filled side. Pull away the plastic sheet and seal the edges carefully tapping with the moist fingers. Gently transfer into hand and drop it into hot oil. Instead of a moist plastic sheet, a moist cloth can be used to shape the gujiyas.
Or 
Alternatively, the gujiyas can be shaped on a hand which I found to be a foolproof method. Follow this method if you have difficulty transferring the shaped gujiya to hand from the sheet / cloth. Pinch a big lemon sized portion from the ground mixture and place it on your left hand. Pat it into a round disc using right hand fingers. Don't make it too thick or thin. Add the stuffing onto one half of the circle, keeping the edges free. Fold the other half over it, matching the edges. Carefully seal the edges, patting with moist fingers.

* Carefully drop the shaped gujiya into the hot oil. In the same manner, go on shaping and dropping the gujiyas in hot oil one by one. Add as many gujiyas as the pan can accommodate. Fry them on low medium heat, flipping them intermittently until golden brown. The batter needs to thoroughly cook and so don't go on frying on high heat setting.

* Remove the fried gujiyas with a slotted spoon, draining as much oil as possible and drop them into the salted water bowl.  Use the remaining batter and prepare gujiyas this way.

* Add all the fried gujiyas to the water and let them soak for about 15 minutes.

* Gently squeeze the water from the gujiyas by pressing each one between your palms. Drop them into the prepared yogurt. The gujiyas must be well immersed in the yogurt. This can be left in the refrigerator until the time of serving. They stay good for few days.

* When ready to serve, transfer a couple of gujiyas along with the yogurt to each serving bowl. 

* Add green and sweet chutneys over the gujiyas and yogurt in each bowl.

* Sprinkle the spice powders of your choice and enjoy immediately.

So far my recipes in the series of 'Indian Snacks and Sweets' are below.

First week - Indian Traditional Sweets
Malaadu / Hurigadale Unde
Dry Gulab Jamun
Coconut Burfi / Kobbari Mithai
Almond Halwa / Badam Halwa
Elaneer Payasam
Godhuma Sojjappalu

Second week - Snacks from Gujarat, India
Damni Dhokla
Doodhi Muthia / Lauki Muthia
Dal Pandoli

Sev Khamani

Methi Khakhra
Pressure Cooker Khandvi

Third Week - Snacks
Bafauri
Soy Beans Guggillu / Sundal

Jhal Muri

Roasted Phool Makhana
Kalmi Vada Chaat
Spicy Corn Chaat

Fourth Week - Regional Snacks 
Aakukoora Pappu Chekkalu
Millet Handvo (Baked Version)
Ratlami Sev

Jowar Kothimbir Vadi
Kalmi Vada

Ooty Varkey

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Ooty Varkey

Today we are travelling to Ooty, a hill station in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu for a baked delicacy called varkey. It is a rustic shaped, flaky, baked biscuit which is quite popular in the region. I have been to the place but don't recall even seeing them. My brother in law used to work as the director of 'Pasteur Institute of India' in Coonoor. The institute and their bungalow with an enviable garden used to be right in front of Sim's park. They have lived in the area for about a decade and half and I need to check with them later about these and to see if my sister in law knows the recipe by any chance. 

There were not much authentic recipes online for us marathoners to try. Thanks to Gayathri, who came up with this perfect recipe after a couple of trials, I got to try and enjoy this utterly delicious biscuit from the comforts of my home. The Urdu word 'varq' means layer and the word 'varkey' probably is an allusion to the cookie's texture. This crispy, rich tasting biscuit is said to be originated in Nilgiris during the British era and the local makers of varkey are trying for a geographic location tag. According to the GI application submitted by the 'Ooty Varkey Producer's Association', these biscuits were invented in Ootacamund aka Ooty when it used to be the Summer capital of Madras presidency. Confectioners in the area employed several local and migrant laborers from Kerala to churn out large number of baked snacks to suit the tastes of British officials stationed there.

According to a 'Times Of India article', The Ooty varkey is said to be a local adaptation of the French puff pastry, which incorporates fat into the dough in stages. Varkey makers use homemade leavening agent called maavai which is basically the starter from the previous day's batch. This maavai is made from all purpose flour, semolina, sugar and banana. It is added to a bigger batch of flour, sugar and salt which forms the final dough for the fresh batch. They also set it for overnight fermenting according to Gayathri. Others in the plains use yeast in varkey production. No animal fat is used in the production of varkey. 

The local varkey producers believe that the varkey turn out better only when the dough is kneaded by hand and baked in brick ovens with wood fire. Cooking these can take about 12 hours since the local weather is cold. They think that 25 deg C is the right temperature to make varkey and so the local summer weather suits best for the purpose. It seems to be also the reason why varkey's sales are more in summer than the cooler months in this hill station area.

The shapes of varky can vary. One can pinch portions out of strips into balls and bake. Or shape them into neat squares or rectangles  which look like puff pastry when baked. The original version however is the one which looks like the bakers were in a hurry to even shape them. It is a rustic version where the strips are roughly shaped into a round lump and randomly pressed on top once with finger tips. They can also be fried instead of baking if one opts to do so but they are traditionally baked since the dish originated in the bakeries. They can be enjoyed along with tea or coffee. Or they are soaked in hot milk for about 10 minutes and eaten as a cereal.

Our local temperature was around 16 degree C when I prepared the dough last week and it went up to around 21 degree C by mid afternoon. I left out the dough at room temperature for about 8 hours but there was no way for my dough to rise as there was no leavening agent. Also the rectangle I made out of dough was no where perfect and the varkey shape may not have turned out as the authentic ones. However the cookies still turned out super good texture and tastewise. They were utterly crispy, somewhat crumbly and I could feel the buttery richness though butter is not part of the recipe. They have a very faint sweetness which made even my husband to enjoy them. I made a small batch thinking that there would be only me eating these but I regretted it after putting one in my mouth. I did not brown them much since they were done even before I removed them from the oven.

(I halved the original recipe and had to use less than 3 tbsp. oil.)
Ingredients for the cookie dough: (Yield 12)
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp. all purpose flour
2 tbsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 tbsp. oil
Water as needed (I needed about 2 or 2.5 tbsp. water)
Ingredients for the paste:
All purpose flour as needed
Oil as needed (I used about 2 tbsp in total.)

Directions:
* Add all the ingredients to a mixing bowl.

* Combine them to a crumbly mix.

* Add water only as much needed to form a soft, pliable dough. Let it sit for a couple of hours. Or the dough can be let to sit at room temperature overnight. (I left it at room temperature for about eight hours.)

* Generously oil the work surface that is going to be used. This is important when you need to lift the dough to fold. If not greased well, the dough is going to stick to the work surface. I used a 1 by 1 foot granite slab to work. 

* Place the dough ball at the center and roll it into a thin rectangle, which should be transparent enough to see through.

* Pour 1 to 1.5 tbsp of flour and 1.5 tbsp. oil over the rolled out rectangle and make a spreadable paste. 

* Add extra flour and oil if the paste is not sufficient enough to spread. Spread the paste evenly all over the rectangle. 

* Starting from one of the longest side, lift 1/3 of the rolled portion and fold. 

* Similarly fold one more time from the opposite direction.

* Again pour oil and flour over it and make a spreadable paste.

 * Again spread and cover the entire surface with the paste. 

* Lift from one of the short sides and fold up to the center point. Then do the same from the opposite side. Cover and let it sit for 10 minutes.
* Preheat the oven to 355 degree F / 180 degree C.
* Roll the rectangle thinly and cut into 5 vertical strips.

* Pinch 2 portions from each strip (or more if the rectangle is big), roughly make into a round shape pinching at the top.

* Shape the rounds from all the strips.

* Arrange the rounds on a baking tray. Bake them until they turn brown, about 40 - 45 minutes. (Mine took less time.)

So far my recipes in the series of 'Indian Snacks and Sweets' are below.

First week - Indian Traditional Sweets
Malaadu / Hurigadale Unde
Dry Gulab Jamun
Coconut Burfi / Kobbari Mithai
Almond Halwa / Badam Halwa
Elaneer Payasam
Godhuma Sojjappalu

Second week - Snacks from Gujarat, India
Damni Dhokla
Doodhi Muthia / Lauki Muthia
Dal Pandoli

Sev Khamani

Methi Khakhra
Pressure Cooker Khandvi

Third Week - Snacks
Bafauri
Soy Beans Guggillu / Sundal

Jhal Muri

Roasted Phool Makhana
Kalmi Vada Chaat
Spicy Corn Chaat

Fourth Week - Regional Snacks 
Aakukoora Pappu Chekkalu
Millet Handvo (Baked Version)
Ratlami Sev

Jowar Kothimbir Vadi
Kalmi Vada

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#104.

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Click here to enter

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Palak Chaat

Most of the popular and mouthwatering chaats from the Indian subcontinent involve a fried base - like puffy pooris, crispy papdis, stuffed kachori or samosas, yummy potato patties and so on. Pure indulgence, some may argue but still these remain popular in spite of novel twists the health conscious people keep coming up with. Today's recipe is a similar kind which involves fried fritters made with tender, spinach leaves. The leaves are lightly coated with a spicy chickpea flour batter and then deep fried. These yummy fritters are the center attraction of today's lip smacking chaat. This chaat was inspired from a recipe I saw in a cookbook sometime back.
The chaat can be served individually as one bite snacks or regularly as shown in the image below. I got the one bite snack idea after seeing how my husband assembled the chaat for himself. It would have been a cute presentation if I did in a similar fashion. But by that time, I already plated, pictured and even consumed my chaat portion. I was in no mood to grab his plate and start clicking again. :)
 
Ingredients for making spinach fritters / palak pakode:
3/4 cup gram flour / garbanzo flour / besan
2 tbsp. rice flour
1/2 tsp carom seeds / cumin seeds
Red chili powder to taste
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp. baking soda
15 tender spinach leaves
Oil for frying

Method:
* Wash the spinach leaves and gently pat them dry.
* Combine all the above ingredients except spinach leaves and oil in a mixing bowl. Add water and make a batter of dropping 
consistency.
 
* Heat oil for deep frying in a small kadai / frying pan.
* Dip a spinach leaf in the besan batter so that the leaf is lightly coated with batter on both sides.
* Gently drop the batter dipped spinach leaf in to the hot oil. Add as many spinach leaves as the pan can fit without overcrowding.
* Fry them on low medium flame setting until they turn light golden brown on both sides, flipping them intermittently. When done, remove them with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
* Repeat the steps with the remaining leaves and the batter.


Ingredients for the palak chaat:
15 Palak pakode from above recipe
1 cup peeled and cubed potatoes, cooked until tender
Green chutney as needed
Sweet chutney as needed
1 cup lightly whisked fresh yogurt
Salt to taste
Red chili powder to taste
Roasted cumin powder to taste
Thin sev to garnish
Minced cilantro leaves to garnish

Method:
* Combine potatoes and salt in a mixing bowl.
* If planning to serve each piece individually, place fritters on a serving platter. Place about 2 tsp. boiled potatoes on each spinach fritter. Pour about 1 tsp. green chutney, 1 tsp. sweet chutney and 2 tbsp. yogurt over each fritter and gently mix. Next sprinkle a pinch of chili powder and cumin powder on each fritter. Finally garnish with sev and cilantro. Add some more quantity of chutneys if desired.
* Or place 2 - 3 fritters on a serving plate. If the pakode are bigger in size then break each one into two pieces. And add the other ingredients and assemble the chaat as required.

This goes to BM #48, under "Chaats" theme. Check here to see what my fellow marathoners are cooking during Blogging Marath on #48.

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P for Panama ~ Patacones / Patacón / Tostones

Event: BM #44, Around the World (A - Z Series)  

Choice of Country: The Republic of Panama  

Capital City: Panama City 

Official Language: Spanish

Panama history:

Panama is the southernmost country of Central America and the whole of North America. It was inhabited by several indigenous tribes before becoming a Spanish settlement during 16th century. It broke with Spain in 1821 and became a part of the Republic of Gran Colombia, along with Nueva Granada, Ecuador, and Venezuela. When Gran Colombia dissolved in 1831, Panama and Nueva Granada remained joined. Nueva Granada later became the Republic of Colombia. With the backing of the United States, Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903, allowing the Panama Canal to be built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1904 and 1914. The total transfer of the Canal from the United States to Panama culminated on 31 December 1999.   

Panama cuisine:
Panamanian cuisine is a unique mix of African, Spanish, and Native American techniques, dishes, and ingredients, reflecting its diverse population. Since Panama is a land bridge between two continents, it has a large variety of tropical fruits, vegetables and herbs that are used in native cooking. Panamanian foods are mildly flavored and the commonly used ingredients are maize, rice, wheat flour, plantains, yuca, beef, chicken, pork and seafood.

I went with one of the popular side dishes of the region, patacones. Patacones / Tostones are twice fried, crisp green plantain slices. In fact, these starters/side dish are popular in many of the Latin countries and the Caribbean and go by different names. In Nicaragua, Honduras, Cuba, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and in most of Venezuela, they are known by the name tostones. The word tostones comes from the Spanish verb 'tostar' meaning "to toast". They are known as patacón / patacones in Colombia, Costarica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and in some parts of Venezuela, where they are served with a garlic sauce. These are also known as fritos verdes (in Dominican Republic), banan peze (in Haiti) and plantain crisps (in West Africa). (Source:Wiki)

Tostones is pronounced as thos-tho-nes ('Tho' like in a Indian girl's name Toral and 'nes' as in nest).  Patacones is pronounced as pa-tha-co-nes (Say 'pa' as in the word pat and 'tha' like in Indian name 'Tanu' ).

Actually I guess this post should be divided into what you should and should not do while trying patacones. I was well prepared or so I thought when I tried these patacones for the first time. You see, I have eaten and prepared my share of plantain chips in life. This recipe is so simple and besides I had gone through some online videos on how to prepare these addictive chips. I thought it was impossible to go wrong but my first trial burst my bubble and it was a super flop experiment. Two things failed me - peeling the plantains and using the wrong gadgets to press the fried plantains.
The recipe is simple and you need unripe, green plantains, oil to fry and salt.
The first time I peeled the plantains using a peeler removing only the thick superficial layer - the way I do when doing Indian style plantain dishes. You still can see the light green skin.

And ended up with these after the first time frying. When I tried to flatten them, the outer darker layer was breaking apart from the yellow portion. (Not at all good for this recipe and ended up making Indian style curry.)

During this marathon besides learning how to make these crispy, yummy patacones, I also got to learn an easy, Latino way to peel the plantains which by the way is important for this dish.
* Take an unripe plantain and cut off the edges. Make a slit running the knife along the seams and peel away the skin with your hand. It peels off easily. Or if using a peeler, do it twice to reach the cream colored skin of the plantain.
 
* Cut the plantain into about 1 inch pieces. How big the patacones are depends upon the size of the cut plantains. Or they can be cut lengthwise into two slices.

* Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan. Drop the plantain pieces and fry them on low medium heat for about 3 - 4 minutes. They would be cooked to some extent and would have turned yellow in color.

* Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain them on paper towels.

* Usually a gadget named tostonera is used to flatten the fried plantain slices. In my first attempt, I tried the bottom of a heavy pan, a food can and even a small sized pounder and all failed. Then I realized that the athirasam press I had is similar to what the Latinos are using to flatten the fried plantain pieces. One can use even a roti press or any kitchen utensil with a flat surface.
* Place a fried piece of plantain on the bottom disc of the gadget and place the upper piece over it.

* Apply pressure using the handle of the upper wooden piece and flatten the plantain piece.

* Drop the flattened pieces of plantain into the hot oil and fry again on medium flame until they turn golden brown.

 

* Drain them on paper towels, sprinkle with salt and serve immediately. 
 

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