Experimenting with avacado

Avacados being put to many uses...

I followed her recipe for avacado parathas. They were super soft, buttery rotis. Yum!

Guacamole, ofcourse!

A lime-avacado drink - refreshing and tangy.

Avacado milkshake - when I've run out of ideas and forgotten to take pictures.

Dalwali Roti/Dal Parathas

Attending weddings and all the ceremonies that accompany them are a whole lot of fun - the family gatherings, dance and music, dressing up in finery, the gossip and merry-making and most importantly, the lavish variety of cuisines that Indian weddings offer. Gorging on the rich, feasty spread day after day for almost two weeks, my tastebuds died and my senses could no longer take in the sight or smell of typical wedding food! All my hungry stomach craved for was some warm dal and rice. Back home in Dubai, I promptly made, what else, dal-chawal for the dil!!

I often end up with left-over dal which are converted into dal parathas or dalwali rotis, which are easy to make and perfect for a filling breakfast. I used leftover toovar dal which tastes the best in the roti/paratha but moong/masoor dals will also work fine. If the dal is too watery, heat it to evaporate the liquid as much as you can, allow it to cool and keep it in the fridge to thicken, before using it for the rotis.

Depending on the consistency of the dal, add atta/whole wheat flour to it, sufficient to make it into a dough. To give the rotis a crunch, add 1 minced onion, 2 minced green chillies and a handful of finely chopped coriander leaves even if the dal already has these ingredients. Add salt if necessary and knead into a dough in the same way as for rotis. Divide the dough into small balls. Roll out a ball into a circle and apply some ghee. Bring the edges together and twist into a ball again. Roll out the stuffed ball into a roti and roast evenly on both sides on a skillet till orange spots appear. Apply ghee on the roti and roast again till it is slightly crisp on the outside but soft inside. Serve hot with a dollop of butter, yoghurt and pickle.

What you do with left over dal? Let me know through your comments.

Puri Bhaji for a tea party

( With blogger behaving badly, I was refused access to my own blog! These posts-in-waiting have been delayed. )

When Anita invited us to make puri-bhaji for her tea party, puri-bhaji it was for the weekend breakfast! Being puri lovers, it takes all morning of rolling out puris before I can sit to enjoy some. Puris are always served hot, straight off the smoking oil. Yet I was beaming from ear-to-ear thinking of the beautiful puffed up puris and my favourite potato bhaji to accompany it. And the husband dropped the bomb. "No, not puris today. I want something light." "Are you alright?" I asked, all my ballooned dreams crashing. What was wrong with this puri lover I wondered? "I'm not exercising enough", he said. The puri-less weekend passed by and the husband left on a week long trip. On such occasions, I'd generally stick to a one-pot meal, but puris have the ability to melt my will power.

For the puris, I took 2 cups of flour and kneaded it into a stiff dough adding a little water at a time. Rest it for 5 minutes and roll out puris and fry in hot oil.

For potato podimas/ potato bhaji, boil 5 big potatoes, peel and mash them. Heat oil in a pan, add a tsp of mustard/jeera and let it splutter. Add a chopped onion, 2 chopped green chillies and fry till translucent. Add a chopped tomato and fry for a minute. Add water, salt, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and a spoon of pav bhaji masala and let the tomatoes turn soft. Add the mashed potato and allow it to cook for a few minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Makki di roti and sarson da saag

Lush yellow mustard fields, girls dressed in brightly coloured salwar kameezes singing "Ghar aaja pardesi tera des bulaye….." a scene straight from Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. The very mention of Punjab can conjure up the rich flavours of its renowned cuisine and the first thing that springs to your mind is makki di roti and sarson da saag. Typically prepared in winter when mustard leaves are abundantly available sarson da saag is a gravy prepared out of mustard leaves. Makki di roti is an Indian bread made from maize flour. I was quite newly married when I was introduced to this seasonal speciality. My inlaws and husband's grandma, who is affectionately called Pabiji were visiting us here. Apart from the gifts, pickles and sweets, they brought with them huge white radishes, spinach, mustard leaves, maize flour etc. "We thought you don't get any Indian things here," they said when we jokingly remarked that they had carried a grocer's shop with them! I was totally bowled over by Pabiji's zeal and affection, (she's way past 80) as she sat cross legged on the floor grating the radishes and kneading the dough as my mother in law prepared the saag. Needless to say the lunch was divine!

For Sarson ka saag you need:
3 bunches sarson/mustard leaves
1 bunch palak/spinach
1 bunch bathua/ Chenopodium album, (a small leafed winter green supposed to have medicinal properties, usually used in making parathas in North India)
4 onions chopped
2 tomatoes chopped
3 green chillies minced
1 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp wheat flour
2 tbsp pure ghee
Salt and red chilli powder to taste

Remove stems and wash the mustard leaves, spinach and bathua well. Chop finely and pressure cook them on slow flame for half an hour. Cool and grind coarsely.

Heat oil in a pan and sauté the onion till golden brown. Add garlic, green chillies and stir fry. Add the tomato and cook till tender. Add the coarse sarson mixture, salt and cook for about 20 minutes. Add wheat flour diluted in 2 tbsp water and for for a minute or two. Temper with red chilli powder and ghee and serve hot.

Here I do not get mustard leaves or bathua, so I use spinach and follow the same method to cook the saag. Tastes great!

For makki di roti you need :
2 ½ cups maize flour
1 cup grated radish
1 cup methi/fenugreek leaves
3 tbsp coriander leaves
2 green chillies
salt to taste

Chop the fenugreek leaves, coriander leaves and green chillies finely. In a bowl add all the ingredients and mix well. Knead into a dough adding just sufficient water. Now take a small lump of the dough, roll into a ball and flatten between the palms to make thick small rotis. Roast on both sides on a hot tava, applying ghee on both sides. This takes time to cook, so keep the flame medium/slow. Serve hot, smearing white butter/makhan on the roti with sarson da saag, dahi/curds and pickle.

This is my entry to RCI – Punjabi guest hosted by Richa of As Dear As Salt. RCI is the brainchild of LakshmiK of Veggie Cuisine.

Updates :

1. You may also add suva/dill to the saag - it imparts a great flavour.

2. Ready to eat, canned sarson ka saag ( I forget the brand) is also available in the market. For those who have never tasted sarson ka saag, this is a good option.

3. Other ways to make rotis: press the ball on a flat surface and flatten to make a roti OR roll the ball between two plastic sheets to form a roti.

4. If any of you know what bathua is called in any other language, please let me know too. :)

Palak Puri

I learnt this from a cousin and is really lip-smacking! I like it spicy which is why I use a lot of chillies in this recipe.

Ingredients:
Palak/Spinach – 2 bunches
Wheat flour – 2 glasses
Gram flour/Besan – 1 glass
Garlic – 4-5 flakes
Green chillies – 10 nos.
Jeera – 2 tsp
Coriander seeds – 3 tsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Method:
Wash the spinach thoroughly and blanch with some salt for 3-4 mins. Drain, cool and puree it without adding water. Grind together garlic, jeera, coriander seeds, green chillies coarsely. Sieve the wheat flour and besan together. Add to it the ground mixture, spinach puree, salt and haldi. Knead into a dough without adding too much water. Stand for half an hour. Make small balls out of the dough and roll into small discs. Fry the puris in hot oil. Serve hot.