POORI | PURI for PANI PURI | PURI FOR GOLGAPPA or PUCHKA | पाणी पुरी | पानी पूरी

Yes, I am completely aware that this Chat item does not need nay introduction.These little cuties are like heart beat of Indian Snacks.But, these Puris which are hundereds and thousands in numbers always made me wonder as to how are they made,how do they remain crispy and round shape all the time,how do they puff and not sit back again.Not only me,many of us have these questions.

I never thought that I would ever make them all by myself one day.When I tried my hands on them, they came out excellent.Each Puri was puffed and stayed that way physically until they were all gulped by me and my husband.

Follow this Rule of Thumb and each Puri is just another name of perfection : Keep the Dough Moist.Do not let it dry.

INGREDIENTS :

1. Fine Sooji/Rawa/Samolina - 1 Cup (Make sure that Sooji is really fine and not coarse)
2. Water - 1/4 Cup and as needed
3. Salt to Taste
4. Oil for Frying - Depends on how many Puris do you want fry at a time.

STEPS

KNEADING THE DOUGH:

• In a bowl, take Rawa or Samolina.Add salt.Star adding water little at a time.Do not add all the water at once.
• We are making dough which has to be stiff.At the same time we also want it moist,well bound and not dry at all.
  
• After dough,is knead, take it out on surface.Knead and spread.then fold,press and knead again.Repeat this for 3 to 5 times.You can see the process in photo below.
  
• Make 3 to 4 parts,make dough balls such that ready to roll.
  
• Keep it moist in damp paper for around 30 to 45 minutes.See the picture below.
  

ROLLING THE DOUGH

• Now, roll each dough into thick Roti/Flat bread as you see in photo.The dough does not spread easily.So be prepared.
• Then using a pizza cutter or Sharp knife,make squares of about an inch each as you can see in the photo.
• Keep these square chips covered in damp paper as you see in the photo.
• Roll each Square into thin Puri. The thinner the better
  
• Make sure that the surface of Counter top and rolling pin is plain and spotless.
• Roll them thin but gently.Make sure edges remain even and there is no tear in puri.
• IMPORTANT : Keep the square chips covered in damp paper as you see in the photo.
  
• NOTE : This is my first batch where I did not cover the cut squares,and the Puris (Some of them) resulted in flat Puris.No!!!! they are not going to be wasted.I am going to use them while making PAPDI Chat or Will beark into pieces and add in BHEL.
  

FRYING

• Keep Oil heated,ready to fry before you start to make Puris.
  
• Make puris and drop in oil very gently,making sure that the rolled Puri does not get folded and remains flat.
• Puri will come all puffed out of oil,floating elegantly :-)
  
• Fry both sides until golden brown.

COOLING DOWN :

• After frying, place on paper towel then later transfer it to another surface to cool down completely and separately.
• Do not keep puri over lapped.
  
• Later store in air tight container.

SERVING : 

• Make Pani Puris with Green Chutney, Meethi Chutney,Masala Pani, Frasan and serve your loved ones.
  

TIPS:

• Use cutting board when making squares,so that counter top is not damaged.
• Again, Keep the dough moist through out

AAMRAKHAND | AMRAKHAND | आम्रखंड | HUNG YOGURT WITH MANGO PULP

It is an authentic Maharashtrian Sweet dish which is very easy,healthy and heanvenly delicious.It is a must food item on special ocassions like Dasa,Diwali,Paadava (Hidu New Year) etc.

I grew up watching my parents making Aamrakhand and Shrikhand."Aamra" means "Mango" in Sansrit language.As I grew up, I was responsoble to make Aamrakhand many times at my parents place.When making this particula dish, I do not believe in short cuts.It is time consuming but worth while.It is time consuming because you will need to hang yogurt/Curd for more than 12 hours atleast (I keep for 24 hours atleast) to get the perfect Hung yogurt.Later, blending it such that it is soft, and bringing the texture of cream is also very important.

When done perfectly, it almost has texture of Ice Cream.That way, it is always a better option to serve as Ice Cream to kids instead of real Ice cream.

It is mainly served with Puri.but also tastes good with Chapati/Roti etc.You can also choose to serve it just as dessert.I personally do not like adding dry fruits to it but you can always add dry fruits in it.

NOTE :  The Mango Pulp should be added such that one should feel it while eating but should not feel all Mango -ish.It should be such that you are trying to catch the taste,you are catching but still its not there....The flavor should bring the delight and not the sourness to your mouth.So I suggest that religously follow the amount of Mango Pulp used here in the recipe.Or else it will be more like Mango Lassi.

INGREDIENTS :

1. Chakka/ Hung Yogurt - 1 Cup .Home Made Chakka Recipe here.
2. Sugar - 6 Tsp 
3. Mango Pulp - 3 Tbsp
4. Green Cardmom - 1 (If you are using Powder,just a pinch.)

STEPS

• Place a large strainer (large enough to fit all the ingredietns) over a vessel.
• Transfer, Chakka.Make a well in chakka and add Sugar and mix it lightly.
• Now add Mango pulp and start to blend/whisk  all the mixure with clean hands such that it starts to go trough the strainer and settle in the vessel (Using glove recommended if doing with hands).You can also use a suitable laddle for this,By doing this, we are removing any lumos preset and also givesa nice glaze to yogurt.
  
• Now take out all the yogurt from bottom of the strainer and transfer to vessel.
  
• Add Cardmom.Just brake it before adding,so that flavor is absorbed.We do not want it to take over all other flavors.Yes, this is how it works wonder or else it can be spoiler as it has strong essence.
  
• In the vessel, again whisk Aamrakhand until all the pupl is distributed and absorbed evenly.Do it gentlly.Then give folds as we do for baking batter.It helps Aamrakhand become smooth, whipped and gives fine texture and wonderful consistency.See the photo below how wonderfully consistent it is.You can see the Pointy ends and glaze on it.That itself means that Aamrakhand is perfect.
  

• Let it set for few hours in the fridge before serving and serve in yeat another impressive way by using Ice Cream Scoop.Yes,that is how the consistency should be.

TIPS : 

• If you do not want to keep it thick, add milk and mix it well.
• You can add Dry fuits of your choice.Saffron tastes good too.

ORANGE PANEER WITH CHILLIES | PANEER IN MANDARIN SAUCE | COTTAGE CHEESE IN MANDARIN SAUCE | PANEER IN ORANGE SAUCE

I have tried Vegetarian version of Orange Chicken.It is very easy to make.Kids will love it too.

IT makes a delicious food on Vrat/Upaas/Fasting.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Paneer or Cottage Cheese  -  300 Grams,Cut into Dices.
   
2. Orange Sauce - 1 Cup. Recipe for home made Orange Sauce here.
3. Green chillies - 2 (Chopped)
4. Beaten yogurt - 3 Tbsp
5. All Purpose Flour - 1/3 Cup and as needed ( Sifted to avoid the lumps)
6. Salt for Taste
7. Baking Soda - 1/8 Tsp
8. Oil for frying

STEPS

TO MAKE PANEER NUGGETS

• Keep Oil for heating on medium flame.
• While it is heating up, marinate Paneer chunks with beaten yogurt.
  
• Add Salt and Baking Soda to Flour
• Then dip the marinated paneer in dry flour as you see in the photo.
  
• Check if the oil is hot ebough to fry by frying a small piece of Paneer.
• Deep fry the Paneer.When theya are fried, they become nice,crunchy nuggets.
  

TO MAKE ORANGE PANEER :

• Keep a shallow pan for heating on medium flame.
• Add Orange Sauce and Chopped Chillies to the pan.
• Once the sauce starts to heat up, add the nuggets and mix well.
• Keep on stirring until all the sauce is absorbed by Nuggets.
• See the photo below to have an idea, how it works.
  
• Orange Paneer is ready to be served.
• Makes a perfect appetizer.Also,goes well with noodles or Rice.
  

TIPS: 

• You can add dry chilli flakes instead of Green Chillies.
• You can choose not add Chillies if it is for kids

HOME MADE ORANGE SAUCE | HOME MADE MANDARIN SAUCE

I like Oranage Chicken a lot and always wondered about delicoius Orange Sauce.So I decided to give it a try and it was a succesful experiment.Very easy and less time consuming.
If you see the ingredients, it makes a wonderful recip for Vrat/Upaas/Fasting too.

Recipe for ORANGE PANEER

SERVINGS :  yields 1 Cup of  Sauce.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Mandarins - 5 (Ripe and peeled)
2. Jaggery or Brown Sugar - 3/4 Cups (I used Punjabi Shakkar,which almost tastes like Jaggery/Gud/Gur.)
3. Water  - 1 Cup
   
   
   

STEPS:

• Transfer peeled Maderins to blender and make puree.
• Strain it to get the fresh Juice.It makes 1 CUP of fresh ORANGE Juice.
• In a pan, mix Orange Juice,Jaggery and water.Stir well until jagerry is dessolved.
• Keep it to boil on medium flame on smaller burner or Coil.Keep stirring ocaassionally.
• Boil until the mixture is reduced to around half the intial quantity.Also, you will see that the sauce has started to stick to the pan.
• That menas, it is time to put the flame off and let it cool down.
• Add salt at end and mix again.
• The Sauce is ready.Can be used with Paneer,Tofu,Chocken Nuggets etc.
  

TIPS:

• You can use white sugar if you like.That gives better tranperancy to the sauce.
• This sauce is neither too thick nor too runny.
• You can make ahead of time and refridgerate it.

PAAN BITES | SWEET BETEL LEAF BITES | पान का बटवा | INDIAN MOUTH FRESHNER | MEETHA PAAN | मीठा पान

Paan,Chuna,Kattha,Supari and Sweeteners like Dates,Gulkand,Dry Coconut.The rest of the ingredients are rolled up in the Paan and is consumed after meals as mouth freshener\s.It also helps in digestion.No festival meal is complete without this "Meetha Paan".There will be no person in India who doesnot like this Paan.Banarasi Paan is very famous in India.It is a indivisible part of Indian meals.This blings liveliness to the festivites.

I miss that here very much and when I found the Betel Leaves in store, there was no limit to my happinees.I have tried to simplify and make it little crative and presentable.Your loved ones and guests will be surely impressed by this.

SERVINGS : Makes around 4 to 6 bites depending upon size.

INGREDIENTS :

1. Betel Leaves or Paan - 5
2. Fennel Seeds - 1 Tbsp
3. Dates - 2 (Seedless and fresh.Not the dry ones)
4. Mukhwas - 1 Tbsp
   
5. Tuti Fruty - 1 Tbsp
6. Dry Coconut - 1 Tsp (grated)
7. Gulkand - 2 Tbsp
8. Cardmom - 1 (Crushed)
9. Mint Leaves - 4
10. Tuti Fruty and EDIBLE Silver Color Star Accents - for Decoration

STEPS:

• Except Gulknad, add all the ingredients in the blender and blend.let the mixture be coarse and not as paste.
• Transfer it to the bowl.Add Gulaknd .Mix everything very well.
• Add some Edible Star AccentsNow the Paan mixture is ready.
• I suggest that make the bites ahead of time like a day before you are going to serve.It helps all the ingredients get mixed,and the mixture will be very flavorful and tasty.
• You can serve as it is with the help of spoon.
  
• OR you can make bites as shown below.
• Spread the Plastic wrapp on sheet on the Silicone Mold.Transfre the Paan mixture as shown.I have put in alternate molds so that I can have extra plastic for wrapping.
  
• Decorate with some more Tuti Fruty and Edible Silver Star accents.Press it so that it sets nicely in the mold.
  
• Cut the Plastic wrap and twist to pack the bites.You can use decorative treads to tie it.
  
• KEEP REFRIDGERATED

TIPS:

• You can use Edible Pearl Dust or any other decoratives for the bites.
• If you have Middle Schoolers or Teenagers at hoem, it makes a good and creative project for them.
• 
  

MANGO SHEERA BURFI | SOOJI HALWA BURFI | आंब्याचा शिरा

Sheera is a sweet dish made from Rava/Sooji/Semolina.It is very famous all over INdia with just differnt names like Sheera,Sooji Hawa,Rava Kesari etc. On any good occassions, Sheera is offered to God and then distributed as prasad among Family and friend.When something good happens like Exam results,Job or any wish you had comes true, it calls for celebration.First thing that comes to mind is preparing Sheera/Halwa.It has a very important place in every Indian's heart.

Today,I have made it with Mango Pulp.Also,I tried to give it little different shape.So I made it in the form of Burfi or Fudge.So, the recipe is same but the presentation is different.I have  added no color while making.The color is because of Mango Pulp.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Sooji/Rava/Semolina -  1 Cup (You can roast while making or you can use roasted sooji that is available in the market)
2. Sugar - 3/4 Cups
3. Mango Pulp - 3/4 Cup (fresh or Store brought)
4. Green Cardmom - 1 (DO NOT CRUSH).We will use it whole
5. Ghee - 4 Tbsp (1 Tbsp for roasting the Rava
6. Cashews for Garnishing

STEPS:

• In a pan, add 1 Tbsp of Ghee,Rava and start roasting.Do it on the medium flame.It takes around 5 to 8 minues to roast.If you are using roasted Rava,you can skip this step.
• When it is roasted, transfer it to a plate (Keep the plate ready before hand).
• Now in the same pan, Add 3 Cups of water,Sugar,3 Tbsp of Ghee and Cardmom whole.Let it boil until sugar is dessolved completely.
• Now add Mango Pulp.Mix well.
• Start adding roasted rava a little at a time.Add a little,then give a stir.Repeat this until all the Rava is added.This way, there is no room to form the lumps.
• Now, be little cautious because when it starts boiling, the bubbles burst and little drops of sheera migh spill on you.So let it boil alon until you see the water.
• Once you see that it is thickening, keep on stirring continuously until it becomes thick and soft.
• Now spread in a plate as shown in the photo.Spread evenly and let it cool down to be warm.
  
• Now with greased knife,cut into burfi and decorate with Cashew or any dry fruits you like.
  
• It is ready to be served.
  

TIPS:

• Do not add dry fruits while cooking.Or else,you can see in the photo, how it can cause difficulty for cutting.
• You can add finey chopped dry fruits though

उपासाचि कैरी चि चटणी | RAW MANGO CHUTNEY FOR VRAT/FAST/UPAAS/UPWAS

If you are craving for some hot,spicey,savory,tangy or in short "Chatpata" food while obesrving the fasts, this recipe is the perfect answer then.It is Hot,Spicey,tangy,sweet and brings great delight to your soul.

I was so craving for some spicey food for my taste buds and came uop with this ultimate "Teekhi Chatpati Chutney".Very simple to make.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Raw Mango or Kairi - 1 (Peeled and chopped)
2. Green Chillies - 5 (Chopped)
3. Salt to Taste
4. Jaggery - 1/4 Cup
5. Red Chilly Powder - 1/2 Tsp(Optional)
6. Roasted Peannut powder - 1/2 Cup (Coarse texture preffered)

STEPS:

• Add Raw Mango,Green Chillies,Jaggery,Red Chilly Powder and Salt to blender.
• Blend it until it becomes puree.
• Take it out in a bowl.Add the Coarse Roasted Peanut Powder and mix well.I prefer to keep it coarse because itbrings nice crunchy texture while eating.
• Chutney is ready to serve.It can be served with Sabudana Khichadi,Vrat Cutlets,Vari chi Khichadi,Shabudana Vade,Shabudana Thalipeeth etc.

VARI CHI KHICHADI | वरीची खिचडी | SAMO KHICHADI

It is very simple to prepare.It is mainly consumed during fast or Upaas or Vrat.Keeps your stomach full for longer time. It is actually Vari cha Tandul (Meaning Vari Rice), in short called "VARI"

INGREDIENTS:

1. Samo Rice or Vari - 1 Cup)
2. Ghee or Clarified Butter - 1 Tbsp
3. Cumin Seeds - 1 Tbsp
4. Green Chillies or Dry REd Chillies - 2 (Chopped)
5. Roasted Peanut Powder - 1/4 Cup
6. Grated Cocnut - Dry or Fresh (Frozen) - 1/4.I have used fresh/frozen coconut
7. Salt to taste
8. Grated cocnut and Cilantro for garnishing - 1/4 Cup together.
9. Water - 4 Cups

STEPS:

• Heat the Pan on medium flame.Add Ghee.
• When Ghee is hot, add Cumin Seeds,Chillies and Sautee well.
• Now add Samo Rice and start roasting.Keep sauteeing until you smell the aroma of rice.Also, the color of rice changes to slight brown.That means, rice is roasted properly.
  
• To the roasted Rice, add 4 Cups of water,Roasted Peanut powder and Grated Coconut.Mix well.
  
• Close the lid and let it cook for 5 to 7 minutes on medium heat.
• Now check the consistency.You will see that khichadi is still watery and soggy.
• Now, keep on stirring khichadi until all the water is evaporated and you can grains are cooked but separate.Also, it will not stick to the pan.See the picture below.
  
• Vari chi Khichadi is ready to serve.Serve with spoon ful of Ghee, grated Coconut,Cilantro.Tastes best with Danyachi Aamti, Vrat ki Chutney, Raita etc.
  

TIPS:

• If you want to keep khichadi soft and soggy, you can skip roasting part.