Sunday, August 12, 2007

Celebrating Poori Aloo

Providence and Poori Aloo
Providence, Fate or whatever we may call it, played a role in this celebration of Poori Aloo. We had Aunty & Uncle (Mrs. & Mr. V) visiting us from Louisiana, very dear to DH because he has known them from the time he came here for Graduate School and managed to keep in touch even after he moved away from LA. Whenever they come to the DC area they spend some time with us and it is always fun eventhough DH is their son and I am supposedly their DIL. Aunty and Uncle are from Delhi which means they are very fond of Idlis, Dosas and Sambhar and also since Uncle had spent some of his early years in Bangalore, and the first couple of days we had our fill of those dishes. Aunty wanted to cook Poori Aloo for us, I was reluctant to let guests who are visiting us for a short time cook but I could not just argue that away aunty wanted to aboultely cook something for us, so we settled ourselves on sunday brunch as the time to cook since saturday we had attend a function. Heat or no heat, sun or no sun, since deep frying happens on our patio and if it was going to be brunch it is going to be hot and toasty but a teeny weeny heat (oh only about 90F) is not going to stop any of us from some yummy Poori Aloo.

So you only imagine my delight (can you Anita?) when I saw her Party Time call to cook Poori Bhaji I was ready to jump up and down well I won't go into the details of if did or not. I am also happy that she has it for a week as opposed to just Aug 15. Poori Bhaji is truly a weekend or holiday dish because of not only the time taken to cook but also the time needed time to enjoy and perhaps time for a short nap from all the satiation. Here I present Aunty's version of Aloo which is different than the Potato Masaal that I generally cook, I add onions but no tomatoes and aunty's version has no onions but lot of tomatoes and to differentiate from mine I am calling it Delhi Aloo.

Here goes my submission to Anita's Party for Celebrating Poori Aloo or Independence Day Party Celebration with Poori Aloo.


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Serves: 6-8 Adults
Delhi Aloo
1.8 Potatoes Scurbbed and cooked in a Pressure Cooker
2.4 Tomatoes chopped fine
3.5 Green Chillies
4.Curry leaves
5. 2 tsp toasted and coarsely powdered methi seeds
6. 1 tsp cumin seeds
7. 1 tsp turmeric powder
8. 1 tsp amchur powder
9. 1 tsp mustard seeds
10. 2 tbsp Yogurt
11. 1/2 tbsp oil

Method
1. Rough chop the potatoes and set aside
2. Take a deep wide mouthed pan and heat the oil
3. Add the methi powder, cumin seeds and mustard seeds and curry leaves and when the mustard seeds starts to pop
4. Add the tomatoes and saute, close the lid and let it cook for 4-5 minutes till the tomatoes is completely roasted.
5. Add the curd and mix.
6. Now add the chillies saute, followed by the potatoes and about 2 cups of water.
7. Add the amchur powder, mix well and cover the lid and cook till there is just enough water because we need it to be slighly on the watery side to scoop up with the pooris.


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Poori
1. 2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
2. Enough Salt
3. Milk to prepare the dough
4. 1 tbsp oil


Mix the flour with salt and oil, add the milk a little at a time and mix it in the dough but be careful we want a stiff dough(watery the dough the more oil it is going to soak) Let it rest

Method
1.Take some dough into balls about 1 1/2 inch in diameter use a little bit of oil on the palm to keep it smooth
2. Roll out the poori to about 5 inches in diameter
3. Heat Oil in a Kadai, the oil has to be hot or the pooris don't puff up (DH was in too much of a hurry and dropped them in so we had some flat poories) and put the rolled poori in the oil, press them gently with the slotted spoon, so they puff up, flip and cook for a few more seconds. Drain on paper towels.

Other than the oil glistening on top there should not any oil in the poori itself.

The Delhi Aloo and the Poori were just fantastic and a great celebration it was. Perfect to make any guest happy and here since it was the guest who cooked they were only happy that the hosts enjoyed it. So happiness all around, Anita are you?. Kids ate under a beach umbrella in the patio but I was too busy running inside and out trying to get the rolled pooris, aunty was rolling them indoors and mom was cooking them outside that I failed to take a snap.

We all learnt a little Poori Aloo every now and then, does much to elevate your sense of happiness. I had as much fun writing this as I had eating it.

27 comments:

  1. Fate indeed! You already made it!:))
    Looks great.Does it have to be Aloo with Poori for Anita? Got to check.I will have to squeeze in with some other post,don't have enough time!:D
    Just 90F,that's nothing! We have 99F and I fried Maddur vadas outside on the deck.My face looks like Butternut squash now,lying under the fan in the living room now!
    Okay,enjoy the company.Let me breathe straight for a while!;D

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  2. hey lucky you Indo... :) you got your guests to cook for you... can I have the aunty's number? :)... it looks so yummy!! who cares about the heat, when the food is so delicious!

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  3. Yay, we have the first entry!

    And a great one it is. A very different recipe for aloo bhaji, and poories with milk in the dough, wow!

    Everyone seems to have had a great time - poories are just the perfect weekend food to enjoy with family and friends!

    (I am very happy!)

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  4. Hey, must be nice to have a joint effort to make this meal- fun for them too. I love watching pooris fry! If only I could fry them and resist eating them right after...

    I used to host handmade pizza parties on a similar line: I made the crust, and everyone made small, individual-size pizzas using an array of toppings set out- fun for all and less work for me; plus, it was a good experience for those few non-cooking guests, as, if their pizza wasn't exactly what they wanted, they could only blame themselves!

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  5. hmm...everybody is enjoying pooris...great...yours look very nice ..

    Srivalli
    www.cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com

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  6. thats really sweet of ur aunt to cook for u:) yest i make sagu and potato bhaji to go with poori. last moment i had to change my mind looking at my ever expanding waistline and made chapaties intead. now that i still have some bhaji and sagu in fridge i am tempted to make poori today:)

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  7. Asha! Yes fate indeed. Squeeze it in somehow. I can imagine, we have trees so there was some shade atleast.

    Sig, looks like it. sure she will be more than happy to feed you. You hit the nail on the head, back home if we were worried about the heat we'd never have many of the goodies we love so much.

    Anita, do I get a prize for that?

    Pel! nice to have you here. Yup the joint effort made it all the more fun and the dish tastier. Whoever said "too many cooks spoil the broth" has to rethink his lines.

    that is a wonderful idea, turning non cooks into cooks or turning them off cooking forever :)

    Srivalli there is time join the Party!

    Sia, the aunty is really sweet. I am going to enjoy a few more delicacies which I will share soon.
    Go ahead forget the waistline and cook it Sia, you can always walk it away.

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  8. poori alu, the ever fav looks so delicious :) I really like ur idea of frying outdoors.

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  9. It must have been like a picnic, cooking outside.
    What fun !!!

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  10. wow puri and aloo one of my favorite:) last week i tried myself not to fry anything he he but this is gonna tempt me :)

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  11. can u send ur aunty over to NJ to fry some puris in the 95 degrees here? i like puri aloo but can't stand the heat now. the party is a nice idea! i was telling my hub abt it and he is only interested in the eating part, not that anita is calling poori alu the national favorite!!

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  12. indo, can u send over ur aunt to NJ to fry puris for me? its 93 plus and horrible! i like puris but can't imagine frying it now.i may end up eating with cold milk and banana though!!

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  13. Richa it really works if you are frying in the morning when it is not that hot but for brunch the sun is already high and hot.

    Sandeepa, it defintely was but we adults ate indoors, the kids did not care about the heat, they were just excited about the beach umbrella :)

    Roopa its ok to make the exception it really is not fatty you know :)

    Shaheen if only aunty was a young thing, she is active for her age but she is amazing with all her energy. She taught me a bunch of subzis and to make proper rotis. Sure with milk and banana sounds yummy, we did not have enough left over for paal pooris.

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  14. yeah, a little poori aloo does elevate the happiness level. Two and half years into the marriage and i made poori aloo just once, about a month back. had no clue it does so much for happiness levels! :) LOL After it was all eaten up, I made mental notes to make it often from now on. Poor hubby of mine.

    btw, Indo, do I have to put only milk (no water?) while mixing the dough for the poori? I had only 4/13 poories puff up.. I am taking notes here - stifffff dough and milk, piping hot oil. anything else?

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  15. Indosungod,
    The poori and Aloo makes my mouth water! The dried methi leaves adds a unique flavor to any dish - doesn't it? I'll try this recipe out this weekend.

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  16. Kay, we only enjoy fried goodies during summer kind of counter intutive but the greasy smell never leaves the house. But you are right about the happiness part, they do tend to shoot up high and if you have any chores for hubby dear that is the time to ask, it gets done without a murmur.

    Using only milk to knead makes the pooris softer and there was no oily feel on the hand too, I don't know if that has anything to do with the milk itself, you can use water and milk but do make the dough with the least amount of moisture. Piping hot oil and after you drop it in the oil give slight pressure with the flipper on the poori, thats when it puffs up. Good Luck and Happy Eating.

    mnamma, glad to have you over here, oh they definitely are yummy, I do add dried methi leaves powder for a lot of dishes but for this one it was dried mango powder (amchur)

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  17. That was lucky indeed! :D Loved your aunts version of it Indo! :)

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  18. Ah! Milk for the softness... how did I forget that? I use only milk to make pancakes (no water) and it's all soft and fluffy. And the classic dip with the flip! I now, remember Amma telling that... Being a no-fry-freak and one who hated the smell of hot oil, I never picked up any tips on fried stuff from Amma. Thanks for all the tips..

    And Indo, thanks for the extra tip on chore chart ;)

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  19. its looking great. i too make poori today with aloo, just the difference is i made dry curry of aloo- suki bhaji .
    yummmmmyyyyyyyyyy!

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  20. My mistake! I mistook the dry roasted, powdered methi seeds to be leaves.

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  21. ISG, delicious spread! Like all the others, I want your aunt to visit me, too! Frying outside is a great idea! A friend of mine has an Indonesian neighbor who cooks almost all meals on her patio. She has a full setup there. It was torture when we visited, I tell you! All that smell of fried fish...

    Glad you enjoyed the puri-bhaji! Nothing like some potatoes and some fried flour to make everyone happy!

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  22. Happy I-day indo:)
    i have got something special stored at my place. come n collect when u get time:)

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  23. Hotty hot with the hot poori aloo!!!!what a combination ISG?/:-D

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  24. Poori is looking perfect....YUM!.. Nice picture....Love this combo...

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  25. The poori and aloo bhaji look so appetizing! Thanks to aunty! and u of course :-)

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  26. Oh Indo, you've elevated my happiness in reading your post!
    Thank you. Isn't the generousity that you and your aunty show to each other something wonderful?
    I love to hear about it.
    Thanks for the lovely recipe and post!

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  27. Looks good enough to have 20 pooris at a go:)

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