Dal Pakwan ~ A Classic Sindhi Breakfast

The Sindhi breakfast happened because the Sindhi thaali couldn't happen.😀 Dal pakwan is basically where cooked chana dal topped with spices, chutney and minced onion is served with deep fried bread called pakwan. I was glad that I picked this particular mini combo platter of dal pakwan though I was initially skeptical about the dal's role here. I should not have harbored any doubts considering that this is a very popular and traditional breakfast among Sindhis. I just hopped through a few authentic Sindhi food blogs for dal pakwan recipe and created this. Everyone at home enjoyed this meal and mentioned that it's delicious enough to be on a rotation. The daughter who is not great on experimenting with Indian food loved it and while eating the dinner, (Yes I made it for dinner and we ate it like a chaat) requested for a repeat the next day. That is like a super duper hit from my family's standards. 😋

Dal pakwaan is a classic breakfast combo from the Sindhi cuisine. It is so popular and delicious that it is made during festivals and on special occasions including in wedding breakfasts. I can completely understand why after tasting the dish though it is a calorie laden  dish. However the combo is tasty enough to indulge occasionally for a weekend brunch / lunch to break the montony of the daily grind. 
 
Did you just glance at the long list of ingredients and my lengthy post? Just don't go running as this recipe is not a complex one. If you are used to the Indian cooking then you realize that the side dishes are quick ones to make, a simple dal that can be pressure cooked and a green chutney which needs just grabbing the ingredients and grinding them in a blender. The toppings are the most commonly found ingredients in any Indian kitchen. The pakwan aka crisp flour pooris can be made in advance and that's what I did. 

It is not served in the way I have shown above but bits of pakwan are broken and dipped into spicy, yummy dal and enjoyed. Crisp pakwan, laden with dal and the spicy toppings that can be adjusted to one's preference, the sharpness lend by the onions, flavorful cilantro = yum.

Dal pakwaan preparation involves three steps. Preparation of pakwan which can be done in advance if busy, preparation of dal, and preparing the green chutney. Let us first deal with the preparation of pakwan. Pakwan are crisp, fried breads with all purpose flour or maida based dough. The dough can be used after a short resting period or can be covered and refrigerated for about two days. They are rolled into thin roundels and deep fried. The pakwan can be prepared in advance as they can be stored for a few days.

Ingredients for pakwaan: (Yield 12)
2 cups maida / all purpose flour + extra for dusting
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
1/2 tsp. carom seeds / ajwain 
Salt to taste
2 tbsp. ghee or hot oil
Oil to fry

Step 1 - Preparing pakwan
* Combine flour, cumin seeds, carom seeds, salt and ghee in a mixing bowl. 

* Add water little by little and form a soft, pliable dough. The dough should not be sticky as it would be hard to roll. (I used a little over 3/4 cup water to prepare the dough.)

* Allow the dough to rest for at least 30 minutes. (I could not prepare it immediately and refrigerated the dough for 2 days. I thawed it before using by nuking it in the microwave, covered for 20 seconds.)
* Divide the dough into 10 to 12 portions and roll them into balls. Work with one ball at a time while keeping the rest covered.

* Roll into a thin roundel of about 6 inches in diameter, dusting with flour if needed. Prick it all over with a fork, to prevent them from puffing up while frying. I made them smaller in size. (One can simultaneously roll and fry them or if one is new to this, a few can be rolled out first and then can be fried.)

* Heat oil for frying a in a thick bottomed pan or a kadai. The oil should be hot enough to fry but not reach a smoking point. When one drops a pinch of dough into the hot oil, it should immediately swim to the surface of the oil which means the oil is ready for frying. If not then heat the oil for some more time. Drop a the roundel into the hot oil, taking care to drop it from the sides gently. Cook on low medium flame.

* Fry it for few seconds, pressing downwards and flip it. Again let the other side turn golden brown as well and remove.

* Use a slotted spoon and transfer the fried pakwan onto a plate lined with paper towel. The fried pakwan should be light golden in color and crisp. 
 
* Repeat the rolling and frying steps. Use them immediately or store them in an air tight container once they reach the room temperature. They stay fresh for a few days.

Step 2 - Green chutney preparation
The green chutney is runny and on a spicy and tangier side. I am just mentioning the process since the ingredients can be added according to one's own tastes. Grind mint and coriander leaves along with green chillies, salt and tamarind pulp / lemon juice adding water as needed.
I didn't have mint leaves on hand the day I made dal pakwan. I used 2 cups of tightly packed cilantro / coriander leaves, 3 green chilles (or to taste), salt and tamarind paste and ground them adding some water.

Step 3 - Dal Preparation
Pakwan are served with a dal made with chana dal aka split chickpeas. Some versions are plain simple with a light seasoning and some use onions and tomatoes as well. I went with the simpler version. The dal needs to be cooked until soft but they should still hold their shape. The below mentioned toppings are sprinkled while serving the dal. Fried green chilies can be added as well if  chilies were not added to the dal in the tadka.

Ingredients for dal:
1 and 1/2 cups of split chickpeas / chana dal
1/8 tsp. turmeric powder
2 tsp. ghee / oil
1 tsp. cumin seeds
2 green chilies, chopped
1 sprig of curry leaves
Salt to taste
Toppings for dal:
Dry mango powder / amchur powder
Chili powder
Garam masala (optional)
Cilantro / coriander leaves
Green chutney and / or tamarind chutney
Minced onions

Directions:
* Soak chana dal in water for about 2 hours or more. They can be soaked overnight if not using pressure cooker so that they can be cooked faster. Drain the water after soaking and rinse the dal again.
* Pressure cook the dal adding about 3.5 cups of water and turmeric. The dal should be cooked soft but it should still hold the shape.
* Heat a pan and add ghee / oil and add cumin seeds. When they start to brown, add green chillies and sprig of curry leaves. Saute them for few seconds and pour into the cooked dal.
* If the dal appears dry, add extra water. Add salt as well to the dal, mix and let the mixture simmer for about 7 to 8 minutes, with intermittent stirring. 
* Sprinkle dry mango powder, chili powder and garam masala if using over the dal. Drizzle the chutney and sprinkle with onions. Serve hot with pakwan.

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Banarasi Kachori aur Subzi ~ Banarasi Dalwaali Kachori

I have been posting this month under 'Indian Thaalis / Platters' theme and last week it had been simple Indian every day thaalis, under which I posted the following. 
Tamil Nadu thaali (From South)
Goan vegetarian meal (From West)
North Indian mini thaali (From North)
Bengali niramish thaali (From East)

It is going to be breakfast platters this week from across India. Initially I thought of cooking a breakfast platter from each Indian zone when this thaali festival was scheduled for April of this year. I kept postponing this theme until the end and my son in between got sick for about a month. I could not then stick to the plan and started cooking simple combo dishes for this theme. I thought of redoing the theme again when this event was moved to this month but I had lost the steam in the way. This kachori subzi, a signature breakfast dish from Benaras, Uttar Pradesh was however non negotiable since I wanted to post this from a long time. 

I wanted to build a platter around this kachori but in the end stuck with the basics which in itself is a delicious combo but a plate of jalebis would sweeten the deal. Trust me this combo of potato and pumpkin curries - the raswaale aloo and kaddu ki subzi gel well with these puffed breads. By the way, kaddu is called sitaphal locally and so it would be sitaphal ki subzi. The way to enjoy these kachoris is to combine both the curries in a bowl, scoop up with a piece of kachori and eat. I would have never imagined to pair a pumpkin curry with bread before I tasted this combo. I am posting the recipe for this classic Banarasi dalwaali kachori today. I am going to post the potato curry aka raswaale aloo ki subzi later. Kaddu ki subzi recipe has already been posted here. (My pumpkin curry looks different colored since I didn't use the yellow colored one.)

What I have on this platter are 
Banarasi kachori - Kachoris made with wheat flour, spices and lentil paste
Raswaale aloo - A potato gravy
Kaddu ki subzi - Pumpkin curry
Chai - Tea

Kachori is said to have originated in the state of Uttar Pradesh and are quite popular in India, particularly in the north though there are variations in Gujarat and Bengal as well. Generally a kachori is a stuffed poori made with a spicy black gram or mung dal filling. However these kachoris which are popularly sold in the streets of Benaras in the mornings are not kachoris but are flavored spicy pooris. Even when these are dalwaali kachoris, no dal /lentil mixture is stuffed but instead the lentil paste and the spices are mixed along with the flour and made into pooris and are called kachoris. There seem to be versions of Benarasi kachori and subzi and these spicy kachoris are usually served with a light curry. I wanted to go with an authentic source and so hopped onto Sangeeta's blog who posts some amazing local fare.

Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour / Indian atta
1 cup semolina / sooji
Salt to taste
3 tbsp. ghee
1 cup black gram / urad dal, soaked overnight and ground to a paste
1 tsp. red chili powder (or to taste)
Oil / ghee for deep frying

Directions:
* Mix flour, semolina and salt in a wide plate with edges or a mixing bowl. Next rub in the ghee into the flour mixture.
* Next add the black gram paste and the chili powder into the mix and knead to a soft dough, adding extra water if necessary. (I forgot to take the picture of the ground paste of black gram.)

* Divide the mixture into marble sized balls and roll out puris, roundels of about 3 inches in diameter. Work with one ball at atime and keep the rest covered. One can roll and fry the puris simultaneously. If not comfortable with multitasking, first roll some puris and then fry. 

* Heat oil / ghee in a wide pan or a kadai but don't bring it to smoke. Drop a pinch of dough into the hot oil and see whether it floats immediately to the surface. If it does, the oil is ready for frying. If the dough sinks to the bottom, heat the oil for some more time but again do not let it reach smoking point. Drop the roundel into the hot oil, gently sliding from the sides of the pan.

* Gently tap / press the surface of the roundel with the back of a slotted spoon. When they puff up, gently flip and fry the other side as well for few seconds. Remove it with a slotted spoon and drain on a palte lined with paper towels.

* Repeat the frying process with the remaining pooris.
* Serve them hot with curry of your choice. They go well with potatoes or pumpkin curry.

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