POORI - DEEP FRIED WHEAT BREAD

Wow, what an awesome start of the day...Off to work and it's raining here.  Is there anyone who doesn't love rains.  As the day progresses, I have many personal errands to run but I stand still now to enjoy the current moment. There is nothing more comforting for me other than sitting on my favorite spot on the couch, looking outside through the balcony, watching rains, with a coffee cup in hand and of course with my favorite melodies playing on background..I was emotionally and physically tired with many things these days and this is kind of soothing relaxation.

The little girl in me find happiness in coming here for blogging.  This is a page where I could pour my random thoughts with no restrictions.  Whenever I sit for blogging, I feel relaxed, calm, creative, my mind is getting sharper...I am sure when I  get old, when I reread my posts, I would recollect and cherish the moments more than my recipes.

Let's move further on to the recipe, Poori, a very popular and lovable dish for Indians.  When I was out for a business trip last time,  I went to an Indian restaurant with one of my good International friend.  He was raising his eyebrows when this dish was served at the table next to us and was inquisitive to know about it.  He asked me if I would be able to make those puffed pooris and curiously asked me about the preparation.  Then I realized I have not posted this dish and when I made the next time, I remembered to capture the pictures for the sake of blogging. 

Poori is made from whole wheat flour, salt, and dough.  Deep fried in oil, needless to say about its calorie count :-).... Some add a tsp of sooji rava to the mixture to make it crispy, but somehow I find my pooris to be crispier and puffy without even adding it, so I never wanted  to add extra item to my preparation.  

INGREDIENTS:

Whole wheat flour - 2 cups

Salt - to taste

Water - 1 cup

Oil for frying 

PREPARATION:

1. In a large bowl, mix whole wheat flour, salt, add water little by little, knead well, and make a smooth dough.  Kneading to smooth dough  is the most important step to have puffed pooris.  Divide the dough into equal lemon-sized balls. 

2.   Take each dough ball, dust some flour to the rolling board, roll the dough into small circular disc.  Similarly make pooris for the remaining dough balls.

3. Heat oil for deep frying.  Drop one poori into the oil, let the poori start raising slowly, once it raises, flip it with a ladle to cook it on the other side.  During cooking on both the sides, gently touch at the corners with a ladle to puff it up.  

4. Take the poori out and similarly deep fry remaining pooris.

5.  Poori is a very versatile dish which can be served with jam, pickle, chutney, sugar or any curry.   I served with the best combination, Potato masala :-).  

TINDORA MASALA BHAAT - KOVAIKKAI(IVY GOURD) RICE

Back home a week ago and still in the settling mode.  Right from back home, everyday is a busy day in one or the another kind.   Jr.H turned 10 years last week, I feel great about it.  Motherhood has made me to be stronger, increased my willpower, strengthened my endurance and perseverance, boosted my creativity and had helped me to shape myself as a better version.  

Last weekend went quickly on weekend mode purchases and cleaning stuffs.   Start of the week was a festive day which made me super busy at home.  We celebrated Krishna Jeyanthi on Monday and I prepared homemade traditional snacks and sweets for it.   Here's visual treat for you :-)..

With life driving me through multiple priorities both at work and personal level at the same time, I am trying my best to deal with it patiently.  I find no time to sit for blogging and many of my colleagues have already started asking for my next post. Juggling between work and personal roles and duties isn't easy.  When I return back home after long work hours and challenging work pressures, I need to charge myself fully and act immediately upon family requests.   For next few weeks, it's going to be maddening busy schedule and am preparing myself for it. 

The work is with very demanding schedules and dealing with a bigger responsibility.  In between, health is not cooperating much and kind of feeling ill and exhausted, so I took complete rest today without moving out from home. 

For lunch, I prepared one of family's favorite, Tindora Masala Bhaat - Kovaikkai Rice.  Everyone in the family like this vegetable (Ivygourd) very much.   I used homemade vangibath masala powder which enhanced the flavor to the dish.  The crunchy textured tindora blended well with masala powder and the spicy aromatic rice went well with pappads and plain curd.

Ingredients: 

Cooked Basmatic rice - 2 cups

Kovaikkai/Ivy Gourd - 300 g

Onion - 2 (sliced thin)

Chilly powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Vangibhat powder - 3 tsp

Salt - to taste

Oil - 5 tsp

For the Vangibhat Powder (dry roast and grind):

Asafoetida – a small piece

Red chilies – 8-10 (adjust according to your spiciness level)

Bengal gram – 4 tsp

Urad dal – 4 tsp 

Coriander seeds/dhaniya – 4 tsp

Peppercorns - few

To Temper:

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Bengal gram - 1 tsp

Urad dhal - 1 tsp

Cinnamom - 1" inch piece

Cloves - 5-6

Curry leaves - few

Preparation:

1. Wash and cut the ivy gourds length wise and slice the onions thin.  

2. Soak basmati rice for 15 minutes in warm water and pressure cook for 2 whistles.  Allow it to cool once the pressure releases.  This can be varied with normal rice too.

3.  Dry roast the items given in the section "Dry roast and grind" and make the masala powder ready.  I usually have this ready made in my kitchen shelf.  I make in smaller quantities and use it for a week which would  help me a jiffy weekday.

4.  In a heavy bottom, throw in the tempering items one by one and lastly add the onions and little salt for the onions.  Once the onions turns slightly brown, add the cut ivy gourds (tindora vegetable) and add remaining salt, turmeric powder.  Cook in medium flame for 10 minutes turning in between, this would make the vegetable softer and crispy.

5.  Once the vegetable has cooked softly, add chilly powder and masala powder and mix well.  Keep in high flame for 3-5 minutes until the powders blend with the vegetable.

6.  Add the cooled cooked rice and mix gently.  Care must be taken not to make the rice mushy, so you have to mix gently.  Check for salt and can be added if needed.  You can reduce the masala powder to suite your family spice levels.  

7.  Masala bhaat is ready to be served.  I served with plain curd and pappads which accompanied the dish very well.  I also prepared tomato rasam and bhindi fry for lunch and it turned out to be a complete meal today.