Bedmi poori - A delight from the holy city of Varanasi

Varanasi or Kashi, as it is known in South India, is famous for being one of the holiest cities known to Indians. People often spend their last days in this city in the belief that breathing their last there will give them moksham (liberation from the cycle of life and death).
The food of the city is just as good as something that you would expect from "the" holy city. However, it is not as well known outside, as the food of Mumbai or Delhi. Bedmi pooris are usually associated with Agra and New Delhi. However, this is a popular breakfast dish in Varanasi as well. Coarsely ground urad dal with spices is mixed with wheat flour and then deep fried to make these delicious spicy puris. It is usually served with potato curry to make a complete meal.

What you need:

Urad dal - 1/2 cup
Green chilli - 2
Ginger - small 1 inch piece
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Wheat flour - 1 cup
Sooji/rava/semolina - 3 tbsp.
Salt
Oil - for deep frying + 1 tbsp.

Wash urad dal well and soak in cold water for 1 hour. Drain and grind along with green chilli and ginger to a coarse paste. Add coriander powder, red chilli powder, cumin powder and garam masala to this along with a little salt. Mix in wheat flour and rava and more salt if needed. Add water, a little at a time and knead to a stiff dough. Knead in 1 tbsp. of oil, cover and keep aside for an hour.

To make puris:
Pinch out small lemon sized balls of the dough. Roll each dough ball into a 4-5 inch circle.
Deep fry in hot oil, cooking until both sides puff up and are slightly reddish brown.
Serve hot with aloo curry.

This is my entry to Week 4 of Blogging marathon #85 under the theme breakfast dishes from different places.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM

Super soft idlis - the quintessential South Indian breakfast

How we perceive food is influenced by our regular eating habits and the culture that we are from. While idli is considered healthy,light and easy on the stomach as it is oil-free and steamed by most South Indians, I recently came across a person who believes that idli is a very heavy food as it contains dal.
Idli is something that is made in my household quite often. In spite of that, I have never thought of posting it on the blog so far, as it is something that I consider to be simple, everyday food. However, many friends have spoken to me about how difficult they find it to make soft, fluffy idlis. Hence, this post.

What you need:
Idli rice* - 4 cups
Urad dal - 1 cup
Methi/fenugreek seeds - 1 tbsp

Wash the rice and dal and soak separately in plenty of water for at least 8 hours. Add the methi seeds to the urad dal after washing the dal.*
After an hour or two of soaking, pop the urad dal with the water in which it is soaking into the refrigerator. *
Grind the urad dal, along with the cold water until it becomes light and soft. This takes close to half an hour in a grinder.
Add the soaked rice, in batches, with water if necessary, and grind until smooth. This will take another 20-25 minutes. In the last few minutes of grinding, add in some salt.
Set aside the ground batter over night to ferment.
In the morning, grease the idli plates, pour the batter into it and steam for 10-12 minutes.
Let it cool for 5 minutes and then serve hot with molaga podi, chutney or sambar.

 

Notes :

* Idli rice is not the same as the regular rice used for cooking. It is labelled and sold as idli rice in most major grocery stores.

* Methi seeds can be soaked with either rice or dal. However, since the urad dal is ground for a longer time in the grinder, I have found that the seeds are well ground if they are soaked with the urad dal, whereas, if you were to soak it with the rice, you might find little brown flakes of methi in your idlis.

* Putting the urad dal in the refrigerator is optional. However, I have found that the yield of batter is significantly more if this is done.

This is my post for Blogging Marathon #36, under the theme Oil-free breakfast.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 36
This is also my 14th post for Blogathon 2014, a daily blogging event for the month of January. 

Amritsari sookhi dal

To me, a dal that you eat with roti has always been a wet curry. Though I have heard of sookha dal, the concept was unimaginable to me. Until today, that is. When I chanced upon Sanjeev Kapoor's "Dal Roti", the picture of this dal tempted me enough to make me try it out at home. Now that I have made it, I can say that not only does it look good, it tastes quite hearty and good too.

What you need:
Split urad dal - 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Ginger - a 3 inch piece, julienned
Oil - 3 tbsp
Asafoetida - a little
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Onion - 1, chopped fine
Green chilli - 2 or 3, minced
Tomato - 2, chopped
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 3/4 tsp
Corrinder leaves - to garnish,chopped
Amchur powder - 1 tsp (the original recipe calls for lemon juice)

Wash the dal well. Take it in a deep dish. Add 3 cups of water, salt, turmeric powder and half of the ginger. Let it come to a boil. Then reduce flame and simmer until just done.
While the dal is getting cooked, heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds, asafoetida and onions. Saute until onions turn pink. Add the remaining ginger, green chillies and tomato. Saute for a minute or two. Add red chilli powder and heat till oil separates.
Now drain all the excess water from the cooked dal and add it into the pan. Mix well. Add garam masala, salt if required, amchoor powder and corriander leaves. Mix well and heat for 2-3 minutes.
Enjoy!!!
Check out the blogging marathon page to see what my fellow marathoners are cooking.
This goes to Priya's bookmarked recipes event.

Kanjeevaram idli

This recipe is adapted from Mallika Badrinath's Tiffin Varieties.

What you need:

Idli rice/parboiled rice - 1 cup
Urad dal - 1 cup
Salt
Black peppercorns - 1 tsp, heaped and crushed lightly
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp, heaped and crushed lightly
Sour, thick curd - 1 - 1.5 cups
Ghee - 2 tsp
Sesame oil - 3 tsp

Soak the rice and dal together in plenty of water for 3 hours. Drain all the water and grind to a thick, rawa consistency. Let it ferment overnight. Refrigerate until you are ready to use.
Just before steaming, add in all the other ingredients and mix well. Steam in an idli mould.
Serve with sambar/chutney/ molaga podi.

What I think of this recipe:
It is very soft - softer than regular idlis, most probably because of the curd and oil added to it. The texture is somewhere between that of rawa idli and regular idli. Taste wise, the only difference between this and a regular idli is the spiciness that comes from the pepper and the mild flavour and smell from the cumin.
What my little girl thinks of this recipe:
"Amma, don't make idli with this mavu (batter). Make it with white mavu."
That said, she ate it without further comment. For now, Iam content with that.

Tried and Tasted - Urad dal pooris and potato curry

Jugalbandi - a blog that I go to not just for recipes, but also for their anecdotes and fantastic pictures. When I came to know that T&T features them this month, I bookmarked a couple of recipes. I've religiously done this for the last 3 T&Ts but didn't get around to the cooking part of it. This time around, I did try out and taste the jugalbandits' urad dal pooris and potato masala. Here's the result.I made no changes at all to the puris. J&B are absolutely right when they say that these taste much better than regular puris. Next time around, I might add in some garam masala and amchur to the dough, though. To the potato masala, I added more green chillies and skipped the red chilli powder. Oh...and did I tell you these puris are so much prettier than the regular ones?
Thank you, Jai & B.

Needless to say, this goes to Zlamushka for her Tried and Tasted event.