Poori and Jhunka

Imagine :You have been planning to go to the super market to pick up veggies but have found no time.
Couple of onions are staring at you and that is all you have in the kitchen.
And you still want to dish up something for the couple of friends who decided to stop over !
Don’t fret ! This is an ideal situation for preparing Jhunka – a simpleton's side dish with no frills that goes best with pooris and also gives Bhakri (jowar roti ) and chapathi good company.
Jhunka always reminds me of Simhaghad (a fort on a hilltop near Pune ). We trekked uphill exhausted and met this lady who makes Bhakar-Jhunka and we gobbled it up at lightning speed and ended the meal with a Chaaz (masala majjige/buttermilk) , hmm.. fond memories …

Jhunka

Ingredients

• 2 level tbsp besan
• 2 sliced onions
• 1 tomato(Firm and chopped)
• 4-5 green chillies
• 1 tsp sesame seeds(white)
• 1 tbsp coriander leaves
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• ½ lemon size tamarind
• salt to taste
  
• Oil for seasoning

Method

1. Heat the oil and season with mustard, cuury leaves, sesame seeds and slit green chillies.
2. Add thinly sliced (length-wise) onions and sauté it till golden.
3. Add chopped tomatoes.
4. Meanwhile mix besan with the tamarind juice and salt. Add enough water to make this mixture around ½ cup.
5. Now slowly add this to the seasoning and stir it well.
6. Let it cook for 6-8 minutes and keep stirring it. Add little water if it becomes too thick.
7. Take it off the stove and garnish it with coriander.

Poori
Ingredients

• 2 Cups Wheat Flour
• 1-2 Tbsp Fine rava
• 1 tsp ghee (to make it crisp)
• 1 tsp sugar(for browning)
• 1 tsp salt
• Water
• Oil for deep frying

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients into a tight dough and cover it.
2. If the dough is really tight , its easy to roll out the pooris.
3. While rolling out pooris I use a dot of oil instead of flour as it spoils the oil fast.

Dal Chutney Powder

Another chutney powder that is a “must” on any south Indian dining table !
Be it with rice or idli or dosa this makes a perfect spicy accompaniment.
Shelf life is 4 weeks without refrigeration.

Ingredients

• ½ Pav Urad Dal
• ½ Pav Channa dal
• 2 Tbsp Ground nuts
• 10-15 Red Chillies (Guntur-hot variety)
• 10-15 Red Chillies (Byadagi – the one that imparts a dark red color)
• 1 bunch curry leaves (washed and wiped)
• 1 big lemon size tamarind
• Little jaggery
• Salt to taste
• 1.5-2 cups grated dry coconut(Copra)
• Hing to taste
  

Method

• Roast Urad , channa dal and ground nuts till light brown separately
• Use few drops of oil if necessary
• Roast the chillies with a few drops of oil
• Roast the curry leaves till fully dry
• Roast tamarind with little oil(few drops)
• Roast the grated copra till light brown
• Add salt and grind all the ingredients except copra coarsely
• Once it is done , add the copra and grind it again.

Variation :

1. You can use more curry leaves – very healthy – full of iron
2. You can use a big bunch of mint/Pudina instead of curry leaves. You have to wash and pat it dry before roasting. The shelf life w/o refrigeration reduces with mint. Finish it up in 2 weeks :)-

Creamy Kheer

Since the festival season began last week, I wanted to start it off with a kheer at least.
I made Daliya / broken wheat kheer with milk and sugar. However, I always like Kheer to be creamy - but alas i cannot perish the guilt of using sinful cream, condensed milk and the like...
I decided to try something very simple. Some of you might have tried this already ...
I just mixed 1 tablespoon of vanilla custard powder in cold milk and added that to the kheer and brought it to a boil. Believe me - it was delicious - creamy yet not sinful!
Try it with any milk based kheer. Be careful about any other flavor that may want to add - like cardamom. I would suggest mild flavouring as the vanilla will also blend with this.
Anyway let me know if you tried it!
Sorry, did not take a pic of the kheer -:(