Paratha / Paratta (Indian layered flat bread)

Paratha or parotta is also known as Indian layered flat bread. Very famous in South India mostly in Kerala and Tamilnadu. In recent days one can find this paratha in all street food shops. Some also included this paratha in functions like wedding, receptions etc. Parathas are always served with kuruma or salna.

Paratha can be made with or without egg. It is time consuming and need some practice to get perfect layers in paratha. Paratha can be of many varieties - kothu paratha, egg kothu paratha, dry kothu paratha, chilli paratha, Ceylon paratha, veechu paratha.

I am posting paratha recipe with egg today. It just take one or two attempts to make perfect parathas. Paratha tastes best hot off the stove with hot salna. I wonder how paratha masters do 100's of it in a day with ease. Practice makes a man perfect. Lets start to make paratha.

Ingredients:

This yields 16 paratha.

Maida (all purpose flour) - 4 cup
Egg - 1 (whole)
Salt - as required
Sugar - 1 tsp
Baking soda - pinch
Curd - 1 tsp
Water - 1 cup
Oil




Method:

1) Sieve maida twice and take in a bowl with salt, sugar, baking soda.

2) Add 1 tsp of curd and egg to it and mix well. Add water little by little and knead the dough smoothly.

3) Take a tsp of oil and blend it well with dough. Knead it min 5 mins.

4) Cover the dough with a wet cloth and keep it for 20 - 30 mins minimum and maximum you can leave it for 4 or 5 hrs.

5) After resting time again knead dough and start making small balls ( lime sized).

6) Cover the balls with wet cloth to retain the moisture.

7) Roll each ball as thin as you can. the elasticity will allow you to roll super thin, even if it is torn don't worry. Use oil to smear this thin. shape and tears are not important.

8) After rolling thin lift from one end and make fleets and make rosette and tuck the other end in center.

9) Prepare all the balls and smear some oil to each of it and rest it covered with wet cloth for 15 min.

10) Grease the surface you are going to work. Take one rosette and press with your palm with a little pressure or use rolling pin to spread to a thickness of your interest.

11) Heat tawa and place the rolled paratha. Cook on both sides till golden brown.

12) Do this with all your paratha. Take 5 cooked paratha at a time in your working place and crush them together using your hands.

13) Crush (like clapping) 3 - 4 times and you can see layers. Do this to all parathas.

14) Yummy layered paratha is ready... Serve hot with kuruma or salna.

Notes:

1) 1 cup water for 4 cup maida may vary with each variety of maida. You may need a little more or less. So add little by little at a time.

2) Dough should not be too sticky or hard. The surface of the dough should be smooth and soft.

3) Dough at all stage like - lime sized balls, super thin sheet, rosette, thick rolled paratha should be well smeared or greased with oil.

4) Covering dough at all stages with wet cloth is very important to retain the moisture.

5) Tawa should not be super hot, if so paratha may change color immedietely and the inner layers will be raw. Tawa should be in medium heat and make sure you maintain the same till you finish up with all paratha.

6) Do not skip the crushing step. It helps loosen or open up the layers.



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Kuli Paniyaram (Kara paniyaram)

Kuli (Kuzhi) paniyaram is South Indian dish or snack item. Chettinad kuli paniyaram is very famous with coconut or kara chutney. Paniyaram can be made using dosa batter also. But the real way of doing paniyaram is grinding batter specially for it.

Steaming batter in designed mould is called Kuli paniyaram. This can be made as sweet and also spicy. The recipe today is the second variety - Spicy. It needs small onions, reen chili and the batter.

Usually paniyaram pan has 7 holes. Nowadays paniyaram pan comes in nonstick, where we can reduce the oil content. Kara paniyaram goes well with coconut chutney or kara chutney. I like to have it as snack in evening. Some even like to have as night dinner.

Here i have shown the real way to make paniyaram batter. Let us learn.

Ingredients:

To soak:
Idly rice - 1 cup
Raw rice - 1 cup
Urud dhal - 1 tsp
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp


Onion - 1 chopped
Green chilies - 2 chopped
Hing - pinch
Cooking soda - pinch
curry leaves
Salt as required

Method:

1) Soak idly rice, raw rice, urud dhal and fennel seed minimun 3 hrs. I usually soak 5 hrs.

2) Grind this in grinder or mixie into a batter. Grind it coarsely.

3) Let it ferment for 5 hrs.

4) After 5 hrs add chopped onions, chilies, hing, cooking soda and curry leaves to it and mix well.

5) Heat the paniyaram pan in medium heat. As i have nonstick pan i use only a drop of oil in each kuli in pan.

6) Once pan is hot, pour mixed batter into kuli (3/4th). Cover it with lid.

7) After 2 mins open the lid and turn the paniyarams to other side and cook covered for a min.

8) Insert a tooth pick and should come out with no raw batter.

9) Paniyaram is ready and serve hot with favourite chutney.

Notes:

1) As am in america its hard to buy raw rice so i add rice flour which i buy from grocery store.

2) I like to add onions as such but you can also saute it in pan and add to batter.

3) If using normal paniyaram pan you may need extra oil so that paniyaram does not stick to it. Each time you have to add oil.

4) Do not burn the paniyaram in high heat. Always do in medium heat. Its golden brown color is the main winning secret.




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Golgappa / Pani Puri's puri

Pani puri is one of the famous mouth watering street side food in North India. Origin from Bihar and got its fame from Calcutta. The puri recipes are called Chaat items in common. This is no 1 street food in Calcutta and all over India. I love to have it in any season and any day for "n" no of times.

The puri used in pani puri is also known as Gol Gappa. Gol means round and gappa means one at a time. Pani puri means spicy mint water served in puri. The pani is of spicy and tangy taste and its main ingredient is mint, which is good for health. Very soon will post the recipe on how to make this spicy and tangy pani for pani puri.

Kathi roll with aloo (potato) and mushroom

Kathi roll is one of my favourite dinner specials. It is one of the famous street food in North India. First tasted in Bombay. Roll was so soft and the stuffing made me a fan of it. Recently i tasted this roll in a potluck. My friend Sumi Perumal did this. Its similar to that of Mexican Burritos. When i like something, i try it. It turned out so good. First i tried with aloo and then i added mushroom to it and now its my favourite.

Making this with freshly prepared roll or chapathi give you a unique taste. You can even store the masala (aloo and mushroom masala) for 2 days. Do chapathi everyday freshly, just add masala roll it and eat. This should be a easy process for working women and bachelors.

As a side i do spicy curd cilantro chutney, thinking of it makes me hungry. Will shortly post the recipe for spicy curd cilantro chutney.

Ingredients:

Aloo & Mushroom masala

Aloo ( cooked and smashed) - 1/2 cup
Mushroom ( clean and chopped) - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1 chopped
Tomato - 1 chopped
Chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Curry masala powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - pinch
Cumin seed - 1 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Hing - pinch
Cilantro leaves - chopped
oil - 1 tbsp
Salt as required.

For roll or chapathi

Wheat flour - 2 cup
Salt as required
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Water to make dough

Method:

To make chapathi

1) Mix wheat flour, required salt and cumin powder. Add water little by little and make a dough.

2) Make lemon sized balls. With the help of rolling pin make a round chapathi.

3) Toast well on one side and the other side just toast it for few secs. Keep it aside.

To make Masala:

1) In a pan add oil, once hot add cumin seeds and let it splatter. Now add chopped onions and saute it.

2) Now add chopped tomato and cook for 2 mins.

3) Add ginger garlic paste and saute until raw flavor is off. To this add turmeric powder, chilli powder, curry masala powder.

4) Now that the masala is mixed well add chopped mushroom, let it cook covered for 5 mins.

5) Finally add potato and mix well.

6) As a final touch sprinkle chopped coriander leaves and turn the heat off.

To make Kathi roll:

1) Take a half toasted chapathi (the half toasted side facing outside.) and place a 1 tbsp of the prepared masala in the center and roll tightly from one end.

2) Before rolling completely, fold the side edges inward and complete the roll.

3) Heat a pan and toast the half cooked side.

4) Rub butter over the roll once toasted for extra flavor. (optional)

5) Tasty Kathi roll i ready. Serve hot.

Notes:

1) All purpose flour can also be used instead of wheat flour.

2) Adding a tsp of oil while kneading chapathi makes it soft.

3) Butter is optional. I did not use butter in the pic that i have shown.

4) For presentation purpose cut kathi roll into half and roll with silver foil on the closed side.





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Karasev / Spicysev - Indian Snack

Karasev is an Indian tea time snack. Mom do it on special occasions. I carve for salty, spicy dishes. Karasev is a spicy, crispy snack made of chickpea flour. In Tamil kara means spicy or hot. Sev is a kind of fried noodle shaped variety. It is one of the easiest snack i have ever made.

I usually sit in kitchen and note my mom when she do special dishes. I like this karasev to taste and also there's a fun part in doing this. I like to rub the dough on the top of laddle to make this sev. With the bits i make alphabets and different shapes when i was little, sounds crazy but i eat what i do.

My mom do this with a help of special laddle, which has wholes in it. When you rub the dough, snake like structure settles to the bottom. But here i use vegetable grater as i dont have laddle. No more wating lets do Karasev.

Ingredients:

Kadalai mavu / Chickpea flour - 500 gm
Arisi / rice flour - 150 gm
Red chili powder - 2 tsp (Adjust to your spice level)
Crushed pepper - 1 tsp
Hing - pinch
Soda salt ( cooking soda) - pinch
Water - to make dough.

Method:

1) Seive the gram flour and rice flour atleast 2 times

2) Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Add water little by little.

3) Make a dough which not too sticky and not too hard. Make it soft so that you not see cracks in it.

4) Heat oil in a pan.

5) Place a plastic paper or tissue papper on the kitchen top and grease it with oil.

6) Take a small ball of the dough on vegetable grater and rub giving some pressure. If you have laddle, makes the work very easy. Wash and dry the laddle, rub the dough.

7) Sev gets collected in the paper you placed underneath, If you are good with oil then rub it directly in the hot oil (if beginners do not try directly in oil)

8) Fry untill golden brown. Once all the bubbles subsides (sizzling sound stops) take the sev from oil and place on tissue paper to absorb excess oil.

9) Let it cool. Kara sev is ready. Store in air tight container.

Note:

1) Add butter if you like. It adds crispness to the sev.

2) Adjust chili powder amount according to your spice level. You can also avoid crushed pepper if you do not like.

3) Beginners do not rub the dough directly on to the oil.

4) Maintain the oil heat constantly to get even color.

5) Do not eat it hot. Allow it to cool and than serve. Bring to room temp makes it crispy.





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