Amritsari Kulcha - Punjabi Special

Any food lover will completely agree that India has a mindblowing variety of breads ( rotis). Parathas, Kulchas, Naan, Roomali roti, Kerela Parotta , Rajasthani Bati and the list goes on and on . Indian breads are very nutririous and can be easily converted to full meal . Today's post Amritsari Kulcha stuffed with aloo is one such dish. These stuffed kulchas are very filling and can just be had with dahi ( curds ) and achar ( pickle) or you can serve them with any side dish of your choice.

This month  Srivalli had suggested Amritsari Kulchas for our indian-cooking-challenge ( ICC ) and I was more than happy to make these lovely kulchas. I had already missed last few challenges and desparately wanted to make these kulchas.

Serve these hot kulchas with a dollop of butter and have a very satisfying meal.

Ingredients :



For the dough :

4 cups .............................wheat flour
1/2 cup............................curds
2 tsp..............................sugar
1 tsp................................baking powder
1 pinch ..........................baking soda
1/2 cup...........................milk
1 tbsp..............................ghee
salt

For the filling :

5 to 6 .............................boiled potatoes ( peeled and mashed)
2 tbsp.............................ginger chilly paste
1 tbsp.............................amchoor ( dry mango powder )
1 tbsp............................dhana jeera powder
1 tbsp...........................black sesame
1/ cup..........................chopped fresh coriander
salt
oil


Method :


Knead a smooth but firm dough with all ingredients given in dough with just enough milk.

Keep it aside covered with wet muslin cloth for atleast 1 hour.

In the mean while mash the boiled potatoes and add chopped coriander and ginger chilly paste .

Also add amchoor and dhana jeera powder and salt to taste.

Mix very well till everything is well combined.

Now make big lemon sized balls of the dough and make equal balls of the filling.

Roll the dough to the size of puri and keep the filling inside.






Cover with dough from all sides and roll it.

Sprinkle some black sesame on it and continue to roll a kulcha of 6 to 8 '' diameter.

Cook on a how tawa by smearing ghee  on both sides.







Serve with any side dish  of your choice or with some pickle and curd.

Barley Vegetable Soup

Mumbai experienced its first rains today for this season. Wanted to celebrate it with something steaming hot. This delicious barley veg soup was perfect for the occasion.

Wherenever I buy vegetables I have a habit of  keeping some portion of each veggie aside. This helps me to make different variety of mix vegetables. Sometimes I make chinese stir fry or a  veg curry. So today decided to make this  vegetable soup with some barley to welcome the rains.

 This made our today's dinner light and still healthy n filling.  Loved this delicious soup. It served my purpose of eathing nutritious and yet a delicious light meal. Hope you all too like it.

Ingredients :

4 tbsp.....................barley
2 .........................tomatoes ( pureed )
2 tbsp....................carrot ( finely cubed )
2 tbsp...................onions ( chopped )
2 tbsp...................capsicum ( finely cubed )
fistful ..................coriander leaves ( finely chopped )
1 tsp .......pepper powder
1 tbsp...................lemon juice
1 tbsp..................oil
salt


Method :

Wash and boil barley in 4 to 5 cups of water.

After 10 to 15 minutes barley will swell and become soft and the water will become thick.

Switch off the gas and keep barley with water aside.

In a soup pan add oil and saute onions till transluscent.

Now add carrots and saute for just 2 minutes.

Add tomato puree and stir fry for 5 minutes now add barley with water and give the soup a boil.

Finally add capsicums, chopped coriander, salt, pepper powder and lemon juice .

Just give a boil and serve hot immediately.

Take care not to over cook the vegetables.

The crispy vegetables give a the soup a rusty crunchiness .

Khasta Dhania Mathri - For SNC

Hi everyone ,

 Feeling very happy to be back to blogging ( where I feel I belong ) after a very long time.

 Today I am posting a very delicious snack item from Bihar-Uttar Pradesh for The  south-vs-north-challenge an event started by Divya Pramil . This month the North team was challenged by none other than  Priya Suresh with Cashew pakodas and we the South team were challenged by   Nupur of ukrasoi.com. with these crispy addictive and  flaky mathris .

 I was unable to blog for many weeks due to vacations, some family functions and above all wanted to devote some time to my craft venture. I am very glad that I am getting a very good response to my handcrafted items . Would really feel very happy if you visit my new FB page  https://www.facebook.com/NayanasKreativeKrafts  and give your valuable opinions.

Ingredients :

1 cup....................wheat flour
1 cup....................maida
4 tbsp..................oil
2 tbsp................ghee
1/2 cup.............chopped fresh coriander
4 tbsp................dried kasuri methi
1/2 tsp each ......pepper powder, jeera powder, chilli powder
1/2 tsp..............ajwain
3/4 tsp..............salt
water for kneading
oil for deep frying

Method :

Mix all the above ingredients first with fingers to form a coarse mixture.
Now slowly add water and knead to a hard dough.
Cover the dough with a damp cloth for half an hour.
Heat the oil for frying.
When the oil is hot lower the heat to medium.
Make small balls of the dough and flatten them with your palm.
Drop them 5 to 6 at a time in the frying pan and fry till crisp on slow medium flame.
As the mathris are thick they need to be fried for a longer period .
If you high the flame then the mathris with become brown  outside but remain soft inside.
Serve these crispy yummy mathris with a steaming hot cup of tea or coffee.

Rawa Upma ( रवा उपमा )

Ingredients :

 2 cups .................semolina (rawa)
1 tsp......................mustard seeds
1 tsp ......................urad daal
1 tsp.......................chana daal
2 ........................green chillies cut into 4 slits
2tbsp...................curry leaves (roughly chopped
1/2 tsp....................asefoetida (hing pd)
2 tsp.....................sugar
2 tbsn......................coriander leaves (chopped)
1/2 cup.....................freshly grated coconut (optional)
1/2 .............................lemon
2 tbsp.....................oil

  Method :

Heat a pan and add oil .

When the oil is hot add ural dal, chana daal, mustard seeds, chillies , curry leaves and asefoetida .

Add 2 cups rawa and nicely fry it for 5 to 10 minutes till it gives out  a nice aroma.

In the mean while heat 4 cups water in a separate pan.

When the rawa is ready add salt sugar and hot water and cover with the lid.

Let the upma cook on slow gas for 5 minutes.

Then stir it and add juice of 1/2 the lemon.

Serve hot garnished with scraped coconut and coriander leaves.