Paronthe te acchar :)

And that, my dear, sums up a hearty Punjabi style breakfast.....Paranthas, or paronthe, as they are called in Punjabi, make one of the most widely enjoyed and versatile Indian breads. Plain or stuffed, they are packed with loads of flavor. As i mentioned earlier, paronthe are traditionally served only during breakfast.....they being a "heavy meal" :). Accompanied by dahi, achaar or chutney, they (besides my ever favorite upma) make weekend breakfast a real treat. We've all had paranthas of different shapes, sizes and with different fillings.....so whats new here.

Well, the style of making paranthas. I am taking about the TWO LAYERED PARANTHAS. I noticed that outside Punjab, very few people make paranthas in this certain way. So, lets get rolling (Coffee, i am at it) ;). And if its parantha, can the achaar be far behind-so two of my favorite pickles accompany these three delish paranthas.

Paratha/Parontha party: Lets put together two classic and one creative parathas today. My pick: the crisp mooli (radish) paranthas, the yummy aloo (potato) paranthas and the green and hearty spring onion (bhookaan-Punjabi) and peas (matar) paranthas.

The Dough:

Whole wheat is must :).

• For mooli paranthas, i prepare the dough with the water squeezed from grated moolis along with lil' salt and extra water if needed.
• For aloo paranthas, the dough has salt to taste and lil' ajwain (optional).
• For spring-onion matar paranthas, ajwain is must in the dough, besides salt.

So, knead.....and keep kneading till the dough is soft and smooth. Let sit for 10-15 minutes, while we make the stuffings/fillings :).

Stuffings and preparation:

Mooli paronthe:

Grate the radish after scraping the peel. Squeeze out the water as much as possible and us this for making the dough. To the grated radishes, add: salt to taste, red chilli powder (optional) and garam masala. Taste for salt.


So, for making the paranthas, either we can roll out one single poori, put some stuffing, fold it up and roll it out, OR, make two small pooris, put stuffing on one, cover with another poori, press to seal the edges and roll :). and the latter, my dear, is the two-layered Punjabi parontha :). Roll out in a style of your choice (i recommend that you try the latter), fry the parontha on a hot griddle and serve hot with dahi or achaar.



Yummy variations: Try red radish for a change. Also if you have left over mooli sabzi (grated mooli, squeezed dry and stir fried with turmeric, salt and chilli powder), that makes a great stuffing too :).


Aloo paronthe:

The method of rolling remains the same, with two pooris. For filling(s), do the following:

Wash a big potato. DO NOT reach out for your pressure cooker. TURN towards your MICROWAVE and just microwave for 5 mins./potato. Cool, peel and mash the potatoes. Add 1/4 tsp. each of jeera, dhaniya and kali mirchi powder (last one is optional), add 1/2 tsp. pomegranate seeds, salt to taste, a pinch of garam masala, chopped cilantro, chopped green/red chillies (to taste/optional) and 1/2 tsp. lime/lemon juice. You can make it as spicy or as sublime as you wish. Dhaniya and anardana are must, as is cilantro :). THIS is the filling i used.



Sometimes, people also make a simpler filling with mashed potatoes, salt, pepper and chopped onions.....an entirely different and equally delicious flavor.

Roll out the paronthe, fry and serve with your pick of raita or achaar.



Spring Onion-Matar Paronthe:

3-4 spring onions-chopped and 1/2 cup fresh/frozen peas. Heat oil (1/4 tsp.) and splutter jeera, add spring onions and peas, turmeric, salt and a pinch of garam masala. Stir fry till the matar is bright green and the raw smell is gone. Cool and use this filling to make delicious paranthas.



The advantage of this style is that it allows for a lot more amount of filling. Also, its more filling, so you eat only one parantha, consume just as much wheat as for two of the regular small paranthas and half the amount of ghee/oil/margarine :). However, please be careful to seal the edges well, and also ensure that the edges are rolled out well (so they get fried well). Press with the spoon on the edges to ensure even cooking.

For lower calory variations, roll them much thinner, cook the paranthas on low heat as a chapati (for this, ensure that the dough is soft) and once done, enjoy with raita.

ACHAAR:

Achaars.....the pride of Indian kitchens. Every region of India boats of a huge variety of delicious pickles. Punjabi thali has a special place for achaar. I bring to you the flavors of two of my favorite achaars.

Shalgham-gajar da achaar: This one is a real simple and quick pickle to prepare, and equally delicious :). We need:

• Cubed/semi-lunar sliced turnips
• Baby carrots (halved)
• Mustard seeds (2-3 tsp.)
• Turmeric
• Salt to taste
• Masala: 1/2 tsp. each of fenugreek seeds (methra), fennel seeds (saunf) and black pepper (kali mirchi), dry roasted and ground.
• Red or white vinegar (2 tbsp.)
• Mustard oil
• Sugar (1 tsp.)

To the vinegar, add turmeric, salt and sugar. Splutter mustard seeds in 2 tbsp. mustard oil, and add to the vinegar mix after cooling it a bit. Add this mix to the vegetables and mix throughly. Top it with the powdered masal which has been stirred with 1 tbsp. hot mustard oil. Mix throughly and store in a dry jar. Let it rest for 2-3 days with its share of sun-bathing :). Its good to go after that :)). Real quick and real delicious.I had made this pickle last week, a Planter peanut bottle full-its almost over now :)). You can judge that by the amount of achaar you've seen on these platters ;).

Nimbu-mirch te adrak da achaar: Another favorite, equally simple-just that it needs lot more patience :). To make this pickle, wash 12-15 key limes and soak them in hot water for 20-30 minutes. Remove the limes, wipe dry and cut into halves. Add to this julienned ginger and chopped serrano peppers or hari mirchi (halved). Top this with 3-4 tbsp. lime/lemon juice, salt to taste, red chilli powder, 1/2 tsp. sugar (aids pickling) and turmeric. Mix and let sit.

Meanwhile, in hot mustard oil, splutter mustard seeds and add the masala powder as mentioned above. Cool a bit and mix with the pickle throughly. Pack in a dry container and let it sun-bathe for a month or more.....delicious pickle takes time sometimes ;). A month or two later, be ready to enjoy this goodness :).

What's next:

• Khatte Jimikand te Vesan wali poori.
• Guchhi-Paneer di sabzi.
• Ek khicri, ek raita.
  

Having fun with turnips :)

Thats right-i have always had fun with turnips :). Though my concept what makes "fun" in this case has changed over the years. As a child, i would have it raw, but never cooked! but mostly the fun part came from playing catch n' throw with turnips :)), and later, by helping out with drying the turnip slices for making dried vegetable garlands (meant for storage: read Anita's post for more fun info). And the most fun part was saying the Punjabi name for this vegetable "Gonglu" :). Its also known as Shalgham (Punjabi and Hindi), but Gonglu sounds fun, doesn't it! Say it again, yeah-GONGLU :).



Over the years, i learnt to appreciate different vegetables (and life's come a full circle-its my friends children now, who make face while eating different vegetables).

Turnips haven't been given their due in popular cuisine (i mean restaurant cuisine)-just imagine how popular turnips would have been if there were some dishes like makhni shalgham or shalgham butter masala :)). But home style Indian cuisine(s) do value turnips-sample Kashmiri cuisine (pings Anita) and Punjabi food e.g. Today, i'll share two traditional Punjabi recipes using turnips. They are both very simple to make, sans any frills.

Bur before we start, we must ensure that we use only fresh turnips. As they age, turnips accumulate very hard fiber. If you are having difficulty chopping them, then you would rather use them for making baked crunchies (Jugalbandi). I often face disappointments while searching for the freshest turnips!

Recipe 1: Gonglu-Aloo di sabzi (Turnips and potatoes)
We need:

• Two-three fresh turnips
• One-two potatoes
• 1/4 red onion-chopped
• 1 tomato-chopped (optional)
  
• Jeera
• Salt, turmeric and red chillies
• Oil (1 tbsp.)
• A pinch of sugar
• Lime/lemon juice
• A tsp. ghee
  

Heat oil in a pot-splutter jeera, saute' onions and add tomatoes and cook. Now add turmeric and red chillies. Add chopped shalgham and potatoes. Mix and add suffiecient water to cover. Bring to boil on high heat. Now cover the pot and cook on low heat till the turnips are tender. Add a pinch of sugar, lime/lemon juice and we are good to go! NO GARAM MASALA!


Serve with hot chapatis and pickle, after topping the sabzi with just a lil' bit of ghee (the 1 tsp. is for the whole pateela/pot) :). It also goes rather well with rice or pulaav/ I had this with pulaav (jeera, spring onions, peas and carrots) and home-made green chillies pickle. Tomatoes are optional, infact traditionally not included, but like the color, so i add them.



Recipe 2: Ghotvein ('n' nasal) gonglu: Mashed and gravied turnips

Almost the same ingredients, but no tomatoes and potatoes at all. Omit onions too, if you want-it would still taste divine. Just slow cook them and keep mashing as you stir inbetween cooking. Instead of one pinch of sugar, add more sugar, chopped red/green chillies (i had the ones that turned red), lemon juice and serve after drizzling with ghee.


THIS IS THE GONGLU RECIPE :).

The first recipe is to entice and convert turnip non-eaters (potatoes invite even the fussiest of kids-am talking based on how i became a shalgham fan) and the second one is YUM anyway!

PS: Almost all my cooking uses one tbsp (sometimes even 1tsp.) oil without compromising the taste-so a ghee drizzle (1/4 tsp. or less; only for aroma) isn't too bad.

I'll be back with: Ghiya kaddu vali chholyaan di daal (Ghia-chane ki daal).