Hadga/Agasti Flower Bhajias

A very Happy New Year to all of you.

I am back after a looooooong silence on MyFoodcourt. As you can guess the resolution for 2015 is to blog as much I can!

I have been thinking of posting recipes for a long time. The ‘comeback recipe’ for the blog has spanned from Christmas cake to Yule log to Pavlova to a humble porridge-but only in my mind!

A trip to the older part of the city a couple of days back lead me to a treasured discovery- the edible Hadga flowers. I had a faint memory of my childhood ,of my Mom using these flowers for cooking. The lady selling these flowers was kind enough to inform me that I need to remove the bitter tasting stamens from the flowers before cooking them.

A chat with Mom about these flowers and she was nostalgic about how these flowers reminded her of her childhood. (Now you know where my love for these offbeat, treasured foods comes from). Mom said she makes a ‘Pith Perun’ bhaji (stir fry with Besan/chana dal flour).Our house help informed me that you can make sinful Bhajias with these flowers. The dipping mercury made the Bhajias more tempting than the stir fry …and so Bhajias were made. The stir fry has to wait its turn, but I had to blog about these treasured flowers rightaway!

FB comments on the photo of the flowers and Google research have enlightened me that they are also known as Agasti,Bokful in other Indian languages and also that they are eaten as a vegetable in Southeast Asian countries.

I have used carbonated water just to make the Bhajias crispier- just plain water will be fine too.We enjoyed the crispy Hadga Bhajias sans accompaniment.

Here’s my recipe for

Hadga Flowers Bhajia

Ingredients

8-10 Hadga flowers (the younger flowers are better for Bhajias, but I had to make do with whatever I had)

½ cup Besan/Chana dal Flour

½ cup Rice flour

½ tsp Asafoetida(hing)

½ tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp Red chilli powder

½ tsp Ajawain/carom seeds (optional)

Carbonated (or plain) water to make a the batter

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

 Method

Heat the oil in a wok.

Remove the stamens from the flowers and keep aside.

Mix the flours, spices, Ajwain and salt in a bowl.

Add 2 tsp of the hot oil to this dry mix.

Add the carbonated water to the dry mix to make the batter (not too thick, not too thin) ~  1/4  cup

Coat each Hadga flower with the batter and deep fry on medium heat till crisp and lightly browned.

Serve immediately.

5 years of Blogging and My Mom’s Puran Poli with Katachi Amti

Puran Poli is a quintessential Maharashtrian delicacy and you may wonder how it has not featured on My foodcourt in the past 5 years. Yes, My Foodcourt turned 5 this August! I have been neck deep in work, kids and the daily grind. August and now September just zoomed past me and I just realized that it’s been fabulous 5 years of blogging; sharing and interacting with my virtual friends! Its late but we are celebrating nevertheless 🙂

Many festivals in Maharashtra like Holi, Gudi Padwa, Gauri-Ganapati Puja,Dassera  feature the Puran Poli as its star attraction, as far as the festival food is concerned. The skills of a good Marathi cook are gauged by the way he/she can make the Puran Poli. My dad is a very good cook and to explain effectively his cooking skills I just say that he can make good Puran Poli’s and Bhakris! I don’t have to say anything else, it’s understood that he is indeed a very good cook 🙂

Regular readers of this blog know that I don’t have a weakness for sweets, in fact far from that and maybe that’s the reason why Puran Poli has not been featured on My Foodcourt.  My mom makes one of the best Puran Polis and even I cannot resist eating her Puran Poli. She uses some fresh coconut and Khoya/Khawa/Mawa in addition to the usual Chana dal for the filling to enhance the richness and flavor. The proportion of jaggery and sugar is just apt for my taste buds.

I got a chance to capture the Puran Poli making process this time when I stayed over at my parents place during the Gauri- Ganapati festival. The consistency of the Puran/stuffing, the dough and the skill of rolling them out determine the resultant nature of the Puran Poli. With a little bit of practice you can make decent Puran Polis. The amount of effort put into making Puran Poli is worth every bit.

My Mom made it for many people (~40 Puran Polis) and hence the proportions appear in kg. You can scale it to your requirement. She made the Puran a day in advance, so she didn’t have too much work the next day. Also the left over Puran can be stored in the freezer in a sealed bag/container and used as and when required.

The Puran Poli is usually served with Katachi Amti , made from the leftover stock from cooking the Chana Dal. The stock is spiced up with different masalas to balance the sweetness of the Puran Poli.

Note: This is an indulgent sweet and needs all the oil, ghee, sweetness and richness that is mentioned below. So make this when you are not too conscious of the calories being consumed 🙂

Here’s celebrating 5 years of My Foodcourt with my Mom’s Puran Poli recipe:

My Mom’s Puran Poli recipe

For the Puran (Stuffing)

1 kg Chana Dal

½ tsp Turmeric

¾ kg Jaggery

3/4^th  Katori Sugar (my mom uses a katori/Vati to measure for her measurements)

200 gms Khoya/ Khawa/Mawa ( you can use Pedhas)

½  medium sized freshly grated coconut

Nutmeg powder ½ tsp (optional)

For the covering Dough:

½ kg Wheat Flour

1 tbsp All purpose flour

Pinch of salt

Oil as required

Rice Flour for dusting the Puran Poli

Method:

For the Puran (Stuffing)

Cook Chana Dal with twice amount of water, with turmeric in a pressure cooker till very soft but not mashed. (about 2 whistles and ~15 mins on low flame thereafter.)

Meanwhile roast the Khoya in a pan on low heat till slightly pink/very light brown.

Grind the Coconut in the mixer to a fine paste without adding water.

Drain and remove water from the cooked Dal and reserve the water.

Heat a kadhai and add the dal and on a low flame dry out all the moisture from the Dal.

Add the jaggery, sugar, coconut paste, roasted Khoya to the dal.

Cook and stir till the mixture is completely dry. (take care not to burn the mixture)

Add the nutmeg powder mix well.

Remove the mixture from the heat and pass it through a Puran press/ Food Mill.

Keep aside till you are ready with the covering dough. This filling can be made 1-2 days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

For the Covering Dough:

Sift the wheat flour and the all purpose flour and pinch of salt through a fine mesh sieve.

Add oil (2-3 tbsp) and water and knead into a soft elastic dough. (You may need to add more water/ oil to get very soft dough)

Keep the dough covered for about an hour.

After an hour add about 3/4^th Katori  oil, salt and little water to make it more soft.

Take a lemon sized ball of the dough. Flatten it using the finger tips with the help of the Rice flour

Take a bigger ball of the Puran/stuffing mixture.

Place it on the flattened dough,seal and cover it with the dough such that the Puran gets stuffed inside the dough.

Roll out the stuffed dough using the Rice flour for dusting into a round chapatti (as thin as possible), taking care that the Puran/stuffing does not come out and the chapatti does not stick to the surface.

Heat a non-stick tava/griddle.

Once rolled out, use the rolling pin to transfer the Puran poli to the  tava.

Cook on both sides till golden brown.

Remove from the tava.

Serve hot Puran Poli’s with a generous drizzle of hot melted ghee and Katachi Amti (recipe below).

 

Katachi Amti Recipe:

Stock/water left over from cooking the Chana dal for Puran (above) add water if required to make it thinner.

3-4 cloves

4-5 Black pepper corns

1-2 tsp Mustard seeds

1-2 tsp cumene seeds

7-8 curry leaves torn into pieces with hand

1 tsp grated jaggery

1 tsp tamarind pulp

1 tsp Maharshtrian Kala Masala or Garam Masala

~4-5 tbsp chopped fresh Coriander leaves

Salt to taste

2 tbsp oil

Method:

Heat the oil in a deep pan.

Add the mustard seeds.

Once they splutter, add the cloves and peppercorns fry 1-2 second and then add the cumene seeds.

Add the curry leaves and the coriander leaves.

Add the Kat/stock .

Add the jaggery, tamarind pulp, Masala and season with salt. (you can adjust the proportion of jaggery and tamarind to your taste.)

Bring it to a boil and serve hot with Puran Poli.

Stay Tuned for a fabulous Giveaway coming soon on MyFoodcourt!

 

 

 

 

Ukadiche Modak (Sweet stuffed Rice Flour Dumplings)

 

Ganapati festival feast is synonymous with Modak. Lord Ganesha’s favourite food…Taste it and you know why!!!

Majority of the households in Maharashtra make these beautifully shaped (the shape can only be called as-Modak shape, no other shape describes it better!!) mouthwatering Modak during Ganesh festival

I have very fond memories associated with Modak. When I was at my mom’s place ,on Ganesh Chaturthi (first day of Ganesh festival) my Mom would make the dough for the Modaks and since it has to be shaped and filled when hot, we all -my father, brother and myself- would help her make the Modaks.It was a fun family activity! I have this beautifal picture embedded in my memory forever!

To make about 10-12 Modaks:(Recipe source…obviously my Mom)

Ingredients:

For the cover:

1 cup fine , fresh Rice flour

1 cup water

¼ tsp salt

2 tsp oil

For the filling:

1 cup freshly scrapped Coconut-only the white portion

1 cup crushed jaggery

2 tsp Khuskhus (poppy seeds) roasted

Method:

 First make the Stuffing. Put the Coconut and jaggery in a heavy bottom pan and cook on medium flame, stiriing in between. Cook till the jaggery melts and the mixture becomes homogenous. Add the roasted poppy seeds and cook for few more minutes.Remove from heat and allow it to cool.

(You can also add raisins, saffron and cardamom to the mixture if you like.)

Now make the rice flour cover.The cover has to be made a bit carefully. So keep aside all your other jobs and take 1 cup water in a pan and boil it. Once it boils add salt and oil to it . Add the rice flour immediately with one hand and stirring the mixture continuously with the other.Take care that no lumps are formed in the mixture.Cover for 1-2 minutes. Remove the dough on a flat surface and knead well with your hands while still hot…You can apply a little oil  to your hands to avoid the dough from sticking.

This is a very important step. You have to knead the dough properly to avoid the cover from cracking. Now take a small lemon sized ball from the dough and keep the remaining dough covered with a cotton cloth in the pan.(The remaining dough should not be allowed to cool)…This is where extra help is welcome…

Flatten the small ball shaped dough with both your hands like a puri.Don’t make it too thin. Now hold the flat dough in your left hand and add the coconut stuffing.Apply little oil to your right hand and pinch the edges of the flattened dough at 4-5 places,like this:

 

Bring them together to join them at the centre of the Modak. Shape resembles that of garlic bulb from top(I am not supposed to say garlic,especially since the Modaks are made for God…but I couldn’t find any other analogy!!)

 

Repeat this prpcess for the remaining dough and make more Modaks before the dough cools down. If you are alone you can guess how fast you have to make it!!!

After all the Modaks have been made steam them.Take a steel sieve.Grease it with oil. Keep the Modaks one by one in it taking care that they do not stick to each other.

Keep this sieve on a steamer(You can use a deep vessel with 1/3rd water.) Cover the Modaks and cook for about 12-13 minutes.

Congrats..You have just made one of the most delicious ,traditional Maharashtrian Sweet!

Top each hot steaming Modak with Ghee generously ( You will need the ghee after all the hard work.) Offer them to God….and don’t waste any time putting the entire Modak in your mouth…Blissful isn’t it…Worth the effort??? Of course it is!!!

 

Tenga Vade (Rice Flour -Coconut Fritters)

Janmashtami- celebrating the birth of lord Krishna, is one of the most popular festivals of India. This festival like most of the Indian festivals is celebrated with much fervor and zest. And the festivities are not complete without festive food.   

Tenga Vade (Rice Flour-Coconut Fritters) is my mother-in-laws recipe (most of the South Indian recipes I make ,I have learnt from her.), which we made for Janmashtami along with some sweets.

Ingredients:

3 cups Rice flour

½ cup all purpose flour (Maida )

¾ ^th  cup fresh coconut scrapped

6-7 green chillies coarsely ground(you can also use dry red chilly powder)

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

 Method:

Mix Rice flour, Maida, coarsely ground chillies, scrapped Coconut and salt.

Heat oil in a  Kadai( Wok).

Add about 1 tbsp hot oil to the flour mixture and mix well.The mixture should resemble bread crumbs.

Add little water and mix well so that everything comes together into a tight dough.

Take a small lemon sized ball from this batter and flatten it on your hand (or a cotton cloth or a plastic sheet whichever is convenient) to make very thin vadas..Make a hole in the middle with your finger.

Drop gently one by one in hot oil and fry till golden brown to make crisp and crunchy vadas.

Cool and store in an airtight container.

These vadas stay for 5-6 days,that is if they are not over by then.