The mad, mad tea party with poori-bhaji ;)

Hello everyone :). Am back again! Its been a couple of weeks since i posted anything :)). Ah! there are those days when you just feel tired.....That's when friends come into picture :). With their liveliness, they nudge you out of this tiredness, this slumber-sometimes with an invitation to A MAD TEA PARTY :)). Really, it was an invitation that i could not say no to! There she was, with enticing pictures, wielding the baton, err.....the belan, nudging everyone to get up and enjoy some poori-bhaji :). Ooh, in the last week, i have fried my pooris in two different styles and enjoyed them with three(no less!) delicious bhajis :). A clear case of going overboard? Nah! I made two different doughs-which gave me 8 or so pooris, two of which were snack time savory treats ;). Oh, and before i forget, poori bhaji (or poodi sabzi in my Majha Punjabi accent) to me is a symbol of travel time food-how can i forget the countless pooris i gobbled on Railway Stations and Bus stops on numerous occassions, or the home made poori-aloo and karelas packed for the trip :). So, here is my journey with the pooris and bhaji. Here's to the spirit of the really mad tea party, with countless varieties of poori and sabzis/sagus i have been enjoying this past week!


1. Poori with besan and ajwain with station style aloo bhaji


These pooris have whole wheat flour (3/4 cup), 2 tbsp. besan, 1/2 tsp. ajwain, a lil' bit of salt (to taste) and 1/4 tsp. sugar kneaded into a stiff dough, rolled into small discs and deep fried! Bliss :). The bhaji recipe is even simpler, almost like Anita's classic Railway Station bhaji. For this, we just microwave two potatoes for about 7 minutes, this is equivalent to boiling. Next, we splutter jeera/cumin (1 tsp.) in 1 tsp. oil, add a cpl. of pinches of strong hing/asfoetida and turmeric-then add the peeled, mashed potatoes, followed by 1 glass of water. Add salt to taste, dhania/coriander powder, bring to boil, add chopped green chillies (as much as you want) and a lil' chopped cilantro. I love the aroma of hing here, so i don't use too much cilantro. Hing is really the key spice here-for the authentic Railway Station style bhaji.

2. Same pooris (with red chilli powder added to the dough this time) with some khatte kaddu

Disclaimer: no poori pictures here, i was too hungry to take pictures ;). Really, i LOVE khatte kaddu: so here's the recipe.



We need: Halwa kaddu/pumpkin cut into big chunks (2 cups-i used banana squash for this recipe)-the chunks are put in a microwave bowl and microwaved for 10 minutes after adding 1/4 cup of water. Meanwhile, we heat oil (1 tsp.) in a wok, splutter jeera and kalonji/nigella (1/2 tsp. each), add a pinch of hing, stir in 1 tbsp. chopped ginger and saute', then add turmeric and stir. Add 1 cup of water and bring to boil-now we add the microwaved pumpkin and mix-this should be mushy now :). Add salt, red chilli powder (optional) and bring to boil. Stir in the juice of one lemon and add some chopped green chillies.

Enjoy the khatte kaddu with poori, chapati or paranthas :). Oh, and this is almost traditional style khatte kaddu, UP style :). Almost, because nigella is not common in this dish, and the real deal is chunkier. I like mine mushy :)).

3. Achaari Pooris with baingan-mushroom sabzi


The pooris here had masala from a mango pickle-you can pick any pickle and it would be equally yummy. So we roll a poori, spread the masala, bundle it up and roll again. The baingan mushroom sabzi was not made to go with pooris, but when i got back home tired, two pooris and this sabzi were there in the fridge, ready to be devoured ;). And surprisingly, they went very well together. The recipe for the sabzi will show up soon ;). and yes, achaari poori goes well with achaar too :)).

4. Cumin-rosemary tikhi pooris for tea-time


The dough here had the same proportions of whole wheat flour and besan, 1 tbsp. dried rosemary leaves, 1/2 tbsp. jeera and red chilli powder to taste-kneaded into a stiff dough, rolled into small discs and deep fried. While the poori recipes above can have an addition of milk instead of water for kneading the dough, this one needs to be crisp, so this dough uses water. Cumin and rosemary go really well together and this makes a really yummy tea time snack. These pooris are my entry for dear Sunita's spicy event Think Spice: Think Cumin.

Here's another favorite of mine: Vesan wali poori (plain poori, dipped on one side in a besan batter). There are tons of other favorite varieties of aloo-bhaji that i regularly make: my all time favorites Bangalore style potato sagu and hostel mess style sagu (with garlic and tamarind) are a cpl. of them. Boiled potatoes are ready and i will surely post the two recipes sometime soon :).


And now, time to thank the generous buddies who consider this blog worthy of the awards (blush).....our generous hostess Anita recently presented me with the "Thoughtful blogger" and "The power of schmooze" awards-this was soon followed by the "Rocking girl blogger" awards from dear buddies Sharmi and Sia :). All i can say is a huge THANK YOU, dear friends-for supporting this blog in your own special ways.....And since i love a huge number of blogs, who have inspired me with their creations and their thoughts-i pass on the best award to them all that i can: HUGS and LOVE :).

And this event, this rocking mad tea party, the poori-bhaji fiesta is being organized to celebrate the 6oth Anniversary of India's independence. I'll leave you with a couple of thoughts.....To all fellow Indian citizens: we are really lucky to be born in a free country, enjoying the independence, one of the best present our elders gave us. But lets not forget that there's a lot more to do.....also, lets for a moment, think of the first few days of our country's independence, the birth of twins.....which was marked by not hugs and handshakes, but blatant disregard for life and peace.....To everyone: The food bloggers have a unique power, to cut across cultural and regional boundaries and extend a friendly hand.....the desi food blogging community, for example, promotes regional harmony, this is what i call positive regionalism-the food blogs are vital in educating one and all about the multiple facets of Indian cuisine, with all its regional charm! You, my friend, have the power, to promote peace and love-a present this world needs desperately-and you do it so well-and that, dear friend, is the reason YOU ALL ROCK!!

Hugs, love and peace,
musical.

Khatte jimikand te vesan wali poori :)

Yes, its K for Khatte Jimikand :). Jimikand is the single Punjabi word for a certain type of tubers. Possibly originating from a merger of Zameen (Earth) and Kand (tuber), jimikand/jamikand refers usually to Amorphophallus (Suran), the more common yam available in Punjab, and occassionaly to the Pink Yam (Ratalu-Gujarati) or Dioscorea. The former variety is also jokingly referred to as "Haathi Futta", meaning Elephants Foot, because of the huge frame :). Both varieties are equally delightful to eat, the pink/purple being sweeter.

Nupur's post on Ratala-kees and the comments therein bring out some interesting points about the nomenclature of this group of vegetables. Apparently Ratala is the Marathi name for sweet potato and whats Ratalu (Pink yam) in Gujarati, is Suran in Marathi. Please share any trivia on this nomenclature.



For this post, i started out looking for the regular yam (which sometimes makes appearances in the Indian stores). However, not having found the elephant foot, i decided to settle for the pink yam. And boy, did it work! with a brilliant color to boot :). So, lets make the K for Khatte Jimikand today: its equally delicious with whatever kind of jimikand we can use, and even other tubers e.g shakarkand (sweet potato), potato and any other tuber :).

We need:

• Two medium sized pink yams or one big haathi futta
• 1/4 onion (chopped): optional
• 1 big, ripe tomato (cubed)
• 1/4 tsp. each Shah jeera (Black Cumin) and Kalonji (Nigella seeds)
• 1-2 Green chillies (optional)
• Turmeric
• Red chilli powder (to taste)
• Salt (to taste)
  
• Lime/lemon juice
• 1/2-1 tsp. oil for saute'ing
• Fat-free cooking spray for baking

First of all, lets wash, peel and cut the jimikand into big cubes. If its difficult to cut, microwave 1/2 minute and then cube the yam. Traditional Punjabi yam recipe call for the cubes to be deep fried-we would reach for our oven instead and bake these cubes (high heat/15 minutes, with frequent turning). While the yam cubes are baking, lets make the gravy base. In hot oil, splutter the shah jeera, followed by kalonji. Fry chopped onions (if you are using onions-tastes equally good with or without onions). Now add the cubed tomatoes and cook to make a thick sauce. Add turmeric and chilli powder (to taste). Add the baked jimikand cubes and salt to taste-mix and add water. Cook on low heat after covering the pot till the gravy thickenes and smoothens out. We are almost there. Before serving, squeeze some lime/lemon juice to get the desired level of tang. Add chopped green chillies, cover and let sit for 5 minutes or so. Serve hot with phulkas (chapatis), paranthas, plain rice or khichri of your choice. Extremely simple, gorgeous to look at, especially if one uses the pink yam and absolutely no frills.

The green chillies add a distinct aroma and color (green on orange, isn't that delightful). Chop them coarse or slit into halves, if you don't like the heat :). That way you get the "khushbu" and can escape biting on chillies.


The regular yam is also prepared in this way, sometimes with potato and sometimes with matar. But the pink yam tastes best all by itself, hogging the limelight, in all its colorful glory.

I served this delicious sabzi with Vesan waaliyaan pooriyaan (besan pooris). I rarely make pooris, infact it was more than two years since i had made pooris!! So, why these pooris, you may ask. Hey, i like pooris.....but they are heavy, so i usually avoid them for dinner, and i am hardly home for lunch on weekends :)). But this time i got nostalgic.....for these were the special pooris Mom used to make sometimes.....even Bibiji (my Grandma) made them occasionally. Thinking of all that, i felt i craved those pooris.....so, lets roll :)

Vesan waaliyaan pooriyaan:



We need:

For the dough:

• Preferably a half and half all purpose and whole wheat mix (i used 1/4 all purpose, 3/4 whole wheat)
• Ajwain (1 tsp)/cup of flour
• Salt to taste
  
• 1/4 tsp. sugar (keeps the pooris crisp)
• 1/2 tsp oil (Oil/ghee added to the dough is called mon, moyan or mohan)/optional (i didn't use it-you may use it if you like your pooris eternally puffed up ;))
• Jeera and Dhania (Cumin and Coriander) seeds 1/4 tsp. each-dry roasted and ground
• 1/2 tsp. Kasuri methi (dried methi leaves)
  
• Enough water to make a stiff dough

Make a stiff/poori type dough with all these ingredient and let rest for 30 minutes or so.

For the batter:

• Besan (gram flour), salt (just enough for a lil' savory touch), a pinch of red chilli powder and enough water to make a thick batter (like we make for pakoras).

To make the pooris, roll out small pooris-dip one side in the besan mix and fry, starting with the batter dipped side facing oil. Fry both sides, drain the oil and serve hot with your choice of sabzi/bhaji. One of the four pooris in the first picture (the top one) is a regular poori :).


These pooris are heavy because of the besan and also they don't puff as much as regular pooris, but are really fluffy to eat. Enjoy :).

And if you are not into fried foods, no worries, the Khatte Jimikand is delish with plain whole wheat phulkas, as i said.

I also make jimikand koftas and kababs (both baked)-more on that later :).

My lil' contribution for Nupur's great event celebrating the A-Z of Indian Vegetables, featuring the "K" vegetables this week. Nupur, i hope i made it in time.....and thanks a ton for this delightful event :).