Veggie Platter: Poori

Showing posts with label Poori. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

A - Z India Street Foods ~ U for Urad Dal Ke Poori / Bedmi Poori

The alphabet 'U' took me to North India to savor one of it's popular breakfast dishes, urad dal ke poori which also happens to be a street food there. Indians everywhere love their deep fried puffed bread, poori without any reservations despite it being a guilty pleasure. Whereas the standard pooris are made with a dough of wheat flour alone, these pooris also known as bedmi poori use urad dal as well some semolina / coarsely ground wheat flour for the crispiness.

These pooris are prepared two ways. In the first method, soaked and coarsely ground urad dal batter is directly added to wheat flour along with spices and a dough is prepared. In the second method, coarsely ground urad dal batter along with spices is sautéed and used as a stuffing for the pooris.

Today’s version uses the former method which is simpler and quicker compared to the stuffed version. The pooris only have a hint of urad dal smell and it is hard to notice it when savoring them with the spicy accompaniment. One can adjust the spice levels mentioned in the recipe. However remember to add more spices than you think are necessary while preparing the poori dough since some of the potency is lost while frying. Otherwise, the pooris would taste bland. These pooris hold their shape and are crispier. They are also more filling and heavier compared to the usual pooris. These pooris are usually served with a spicy potato curry prepared in a ghee base called as dubkiwaale aloo from the holy city of Mathura. The curry falls under 'saatvik foods' as it uses no onion or garlic.

Ingredients: (Yield 20 pooris)
1/2 cup (soaked for 2 hours and drained) urad dal / skinned, split black gram
1 tsp. grated ginger
1&1/4 cup whole wheat flour / atta
3 tbsp. semolina
Salt to taste
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cumin powder
1 heaped tsp. coriander powder
1/2 tsp. garam masala
1/2 tsp. amchur powder / dried mango powder
1 tsp. fennel powder
1/4 tsp. asafoetida
1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
Oil for deep frying

Method:
* Grind urad dal and ginger together without adding any water to slightly coarser texture.
* Combine the rest of the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add the above ground paste and mix well. Gradually add water in slow increments and prepare a firm dough. (I added about 3/4 cup water.) Add a tsp. oil to the dough and knead a minute. Cover it with a lid and leave for about 10 minutes.

* Heat the oil in a pan for deep frying on medium flame.
* Divide the mixture into 20 portions and roll each of them into 3 inch diameter circles.

* Fry a poori at a time until golden brown, flipping once or twice. (There is no need to worry if some of the pooris don't puff up.)

* Remove it with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel.
* Serve the pooris hot with a spicy curry.

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Thursday, April 5, 2018

A - Z Indian Street Food ~ D for Dahi Batata Puri / Dahi Batata Sev Puri

The man of the house wanted some dabeli for letter “D’ while I wanted to explore daulat ki chaat. Unexpectedly, my little one out of no where decided that she deserves to be mentioned in this post. Her reason being that I haven’t written about her recently on my blog and instead of her father, I should have mentioned about her in the introductory post of this street food series. It was kinda surprising to hear that since she neither cares about what I cook nor volunteers to eat even the basic meals of the day. She barely can handle spicy foods and chaats, therefore doesn't top her favorite foods' list. She suggested to showcase her one and only favorite chaat which happens to be dahi batata puri or dahi batata sev puri that she enjoys without the spicy green chutney. I obliged and so, here is the delicious dahi puri for the alphabet 'D' which is enjoyed by many across India.

Dahi is yogurt in Hindi, batata is potato, sev is the fried chickpea flour strings and puri / golgappe is the puffed bread. (I fried the ready-made discs sold for puris.) Vegetables paired with spicy, tangy and sweet flavors of the chutneys and balanced with the right amount of sweet yogurt and spice powders - all stuffed in a bite sized puffed bread and are garnished with crunchy sev and flavorful cilantro. That is Mumbai's dahi batata puri, bursting with flavors in a nut shell. One whole puri with all the stuffings and garnishes is popped into mouth and savored.

Ingredients:

2 medium sized potatoes - peeled, cubed and boiled

1 onion, finely chopped

1 tomato, finely chopped

About 25 golgappa puris

Coriander – mint chutney

Sweet date tamarind chutney

1 cup full fat yogurt

Chaat masala to taste

Black salt to taste

Cumin powder to taste

Chili powder to taste

Finely minced cilantro

Fine sev to garnish

Method:

* Whisk the yogurt lightly and keep it aside.

* Gently tap the top the puri shells and break the tops to form receptacles for the stuffing.

* Fill a puri with little amount of potatoes, tomatoes and onion.

* Sprinkle a few pinches of spice powders if preferred. Pour chutneys as much as preferred.

* Next spoon in yogurt over the top of chutneys and sprinkle the spice powders.

* Top the puri with lots of sev and cilantro.

* Repeat the steps with the remaining puris.

* You can arrange 7 or a preferred number of puris on each serving plate. Assemble and serve them immediately or they will turn soggy.

So far, on this series,
A for Aloo Kabli

B for Bajra Vada
C for Chooda Matar

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 87

An InLinkz Link-up

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