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Showing posts with label Thaalis and Platters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thaalis and Platters. Show all posts

Friday, October 2, 2020

Thaalis and Platters Roundup

For those uninitiated, a thaali is an elaborate Indian meal that is served on a circular metal platter, which is also coincidentally called a thaali. I was in two minds before deciding to join this 'Thaalis and Platters' themed marathon as I wasn't sure whether I would be able to pull off this stunt, cooking at least ten thaali meals, irrespective of it's size. Doing the prep work, cooking the entire thaali, setting up the platter, clicking and doing the clean up after on my own seemed daunting. I have a back with a slipped disc that starts breaking even when I cook a couple of dishes for the blog and photograph them. This time however the theme got announced way in advance, giving plenty of time to mull over and jump in. Besides, I did not want to miss this themed marathon as I was sure that I would never ever attempt to cook a thaali on my own without the marathon group. 

I decided to try simple stuff first and see how it goes. Add an extra dish to the everyday meal and click, that kind of thing and in between a couple of festivals came and went and so, I had a few thaalis ready. I gained courage then to sign up for this marathon. I stuck to my plan of cooking around only 10 to 12 dishes for regional thaalis which I know pales in compression to the number of dishes served in a restaurant style thaali. I did not rush around this time to cook a complete thaali at one go as I knew that would be bad for my back. If possible, I froze some of the dishes as soon as I cooked, particularly some of my breakfast dishes. I refrigerated some of the dishes by cooking a day ahead when it came to some of the regional thaalis. This worked for me because I never have any power cuts where I live and we are used to freezing food. 

I decided to stick to only Indian themed platters for this marathon and not to deviate from it so that I could cover as many regional cuisines as possible. I covered most of the regions even if I was not able to cook meal platters from each state. Telangana and some of the north eastern regions being the exception. Even those omissions occurred because I had to redo some of my breakfast platters and flatbreads to suit the platter theme. Below is a quick look at my thaalis and platters that were cooked for this blogging marathon. Click on the links below (recipe names) for recipes.

First week - Everyday Meals
I reserved the first week for everyday meals. I cooked 4 Vegetarian Indian Thaalis, picking one each from eastern, northern, southern and western parts of India. These thaalis contain comfy, home style meals.  






Second Week - Breakfast Platters
It was breakfast platters for the second week. I had originally planned to cook breakfast platters from central, eastern, north, north- eastern, southern and western regions. I ended up doing combo dishes instead but at the last moment was able to add three regional platters. Banarasi kachori, dal pakwan. angakar roti, kailoreo were some of the dishes we tried for the first time and enjoyed while the chilka roti has become now a regular breakfast at home.

This theme was what I fretted over much, since these meals needed to be region specific and needed to be a thaali, in true sense though less in quantity compared to restaurant styled thaalis. I have two from my native state of Andhra Pradesh including a festive meal and a meal served on a taddinam / death anniversary, one each from eastern, northern, north eastern, and western parts of India.






Week 4 - Indian Flatbreads
I posted various Indian flatbreads during the fourth week. Healthy flatbreads, some new and some regular at my home. Most of the flatbread doughs can be prepared and refrigerated for a day or two. Just zap it in the microwave covered, for about 30 to 40 seconds before using it. 







Week 5 - Platters
I tried to include platters with regional relevance, two each from southern and northern parts of India.




Hope you guys enjoyed the round up as much as I had fun cooking them. The recipes can be accessed by clicking on the links.


 
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#116.

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Posted by Suma Gandlur at 1:54 PM

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Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Dal Baati Churma Platter

 

After more than a year of mulling over and planning the recipes, and cooking, this month seemed to have come and gone in a flash. My final platter of this mega marathon comes from the desert state of India, Rajasthan known for it's culinary vibrancy in spite of it 's dismal geographical conditions. The arid conditions limit the availability of fresh produce all year round which most of us Indians take for granted. The locals had to improvise and come up with recipes using either no vegetables or dried vegetables and the available pantry staples. One would be wrong to assume that their recipe repertoire is as bleak as the surroundings or their meager supplies. 


The Rajasthani thaalis I have eaten in India have been enjoyable experiences. I can still reminisce over the abundant variety of  delicacies served and the hospitality that makes you feel at home instead of eating at a restaurant. I could not cook a Rajasthani meal as planned but instead I made this mini platter around dal baati churma which has also been on my to-do list. 
Dal baati churma needs no introduction if one is even slightly familiar with Rajasthani cuisine. It is the most iconic dish of the region and is an integral part of any celebratory meal. The dish was created again keeping in mind of the harsh geographical conditions but the combo is a delectable one where sweet and savory dishes are enjoyed together. The cuisine has dishes that can be stored for longer and batis and churma fall under that category. The dal served along with batis is panchratan dal or panchmel dal which uses a combination of five pulses. One can still try the spicy dal and enjoy even if not using all the five varieties of pulses. 

Baatis are wheat flour based hard, unleavened rolls which were originally war time food. I read that the Mewar soldiers would bury  chunks of dough under thin layers of sand to bake under the sun. They would return from the battlefield and dig out the perfectly baked baatis and eat it slathering with ghee and yogurt made from goat or camel milk. Baatis are traditionally baked over coal or in clay ovens but they can be baked in the oven which is lot easier. The baked baatis are immersed in ghee and served. Baatis can be made plain or stuffed with variations and is made with different flours as well. Baatis are made in other regions of India too with slight variations.

Churma is believed to be an accidental invention when a Mewar cook accidentally poured sugarcane juice over baatis making them sweeter and softer, which further evolved into the present day version churma. The Churma is the sweet counter part for the savory dal baati and was traditionally made by grinding the baatis / left over rotis with ghee and sugar / jaggery and optionally adding dry fruits and nuts. They can be rolled into laddus, binding them with ghee. 

This combo, a traditional delicacy filled with high calories is valued for it's high nutritional value and the longer shelf life. The combo is loaded with ghee but I did not find the flavor overwhelming and indeed enjoyed the combo. My platter contains the following dishes.

Panchmel Dal - A gravy amde with five varieties of pulses / legumes. (Recipe here.)
Baati - Oven baked wheat and semolina rolls 
Churma - A sweet dish made with wheat, semolins, sugar, ghee and nuts 
Salad - I had onions, cucumbers, tomatoes. Also lemon slices 
Papad
Ghee - To serve over baati and dal
Lehsun ki Chutney - Spicy Garlic chutney
Mirchi ke Tipore - Rajasthani Green chili pickle
Papad ki Kadhi - A chickpea flour based gravy with papad
Boondi Raita - A yogurt sauce with boondi. (Recipe here)

I have posted the following recipes so far in the series.


Week 3 - Regional Thaalis

Week 4 - Indian Flatbreads

Week 5 - Platters

Posted by Suma Gandlur at 5:24 PM

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Monday, August 31, 2020

September is for 'Thaalis and Platters'

The months of April and September are meant for mega marathon,  for our blogging group during which we post a specific theme based recipes. It is going be 'Thaalis and Platters' this time, which was originally set for the month of April but was postponed because of the covid situation. The below links are some of the mega marathons I participated in previously as a part of the blogging marathon group. Click on the below links to find 26 recipes under each category.

 Indian Sweets and Snacks (Sep 2019)
Indian Biryani / Khichdi/Pulao (Apr 2019)
A - Z Indian Street Foods (Apr 2018)
A - Z Indian Rice Dishes (Sep 2016)
A - Z Andhra Recipes (Apr 2016)
Buffet on the Table (Sep 2015)
Fire up your Oven (Apr 2015)
Around the World in 30 days (Sep 2014)
Indian Food Odyssey (Apr 2014) 
ABC Cooking (Sep 2013)

Now coming to the thaali theme. For those uninitiated, the word 'thaali' in Hindi refers to any metal plate that is made with either stainless steel, brass, bronze, copper, silver or even gold ones. Besides the culinary purposes, thaalis feature in religious ceremonies as well but the plates that have been used to eat in are never used for the latter. The two kinds are never intermingled. 

 The word 'thaali' is also used to describe a complete and balanced meal served in a big sized plate, which is what we are concerned about in this marathon. A thaali can contain from anywhere between ten to twenty dishes and usually contain breads / rice, lentil dishes, curries and other accompaniments, snacks, sweets and so on.  Small cups are arranged along the rim of the plate to hold the wet dishes while bread / rice and the dry dishes are directly placed on the plate. There is always a balance of flavors in a typical thaali and it usually features local dishes. 

 Thaalis are typical to a restaurant setting than a home because of the wide variety of dishes presented in it and the difficulty that goes along with it in terms of preparation. I rarely order thaalis at restaurants as I can never do justice to the sheer number of items presented in it but my vote goes to the unlimited Rajasthani thaalis that I have eaten at Choki dhani near Indore and Rajdhaani in Bangalore. 

 A mini thaali would be an easier concept if trying to cook at home and if eating at home, it does not even matter if someone owns big sized plates and cups enough for the family. A traditional south Indian meal would look authentic on a banana leaf rather than a thaali / plate. And bronze plates and cups when it comes to some of the east and north Indian state meals. And those steel plates with lot of compartments would serve the purpose well and also there are less dishes to clean up later. 😉

My posts are going to be in the following order, each week with a specific theme.
Week 1 - Everyday mini thaalis
Week 2 - Breakfast platters
Week 3 - Regional thaalis
Week 4 - Indian bread platter
Week 5 - Platters

Hope you will join me in this month long virtual journey and enjoy it as much as we did savoring them at home.

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Posted by Suma Gandlur at 4:14 PM

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