DAL BHARKE POORI ALOO PAANI Ke Saath(Lentil Stuffed Indian Bread With Thin Gravied Aloo & A Small ThanksGiving!!!)

Bihari Cuisine involves a lot of stuffed edibles, be it a simple Kachori to some Litti Choka..... From Paratas to Samosas..... or even gravies for that matter.....like stuffed karela, stuffed pattal, kofte, etc., to mention a few, unlike my Mangalorean cuisine. The delectable 's in the name of stuffed preps, at Mangalore, are very few like Arisina Ele Hittu & the Karajjikai.... I am totally enthralled by my "Delicacies in - Law"....I tell my hubby often " Tum log kuch bhi, kahin par bhi, kisi cheez mein bhi, bharke bana lethe ho " (" तुम लोग कुछ भी, कहीं पर भी, किसी चीज़ में भी, भरके बना लेथे हो ") Meaning - "Here peeps stuff anything & everything, wherever & in whatever they choose to & prepare stuffs "as far as food is concerned ...... ;-) LOL...

And that is very true too..... I'm always surprised by the Bihari preps I learn about. Sheerly Talented, I must admit.......... HATS OFF to all Biharis!!!!!

I personally enjoy & love them too, but very rich compared to our simple & plain Mangalorean delectable 's. So I would love to share one such stuffed, festive prep from my
"Delicacies in - Law" !!!!!!!!! That is the Dal bharke Poori..............

For The Dough

Ingredients:

Wheat Flour (Atta) - 1/2 kg
Salt to Taste
Oil - 6 tsp
Ajwain + Mangrela (Carom Seeds or Oma + Black Sesame Seeds) - 1 tsp ( I keep a mix of both)
Water as required

Method:

Mix all the above ingredients except water, well... for minimum 5 minutes, so that the mix blends well & smooth enough that u can dust it from your hand....Now add enough water to knead the flour mix into a smooth but firm dough... Keep aside covered for half an hour.

The Stuffing

Ingredients:

Bengal Gram Dal (Chana Dal or the kernels of split Black Chick Peas) - 1 cup
Water - 4 cups
Salt to Taste
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 3 tbsp
Cumin Seeds (jeera) - 1 tsp
Green Chilli - 3, finely chopped
Onion - 1 medium, finely chopped
Turmeric Powder - a pinch (since already added )
Red Chilli Powder - 1/4 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1/4 tsp
Kitchen King Masala - 1/4 tsp
Coriander Leaves - 2 tsp, finely chopped

Method:

Pressure cook the dal with water, salt & turmeric powder for 5 whistle, as it takes longer for the chana dal to get cooked.... The dal should be cooked enough to get a thick mash.... not very mushy with water in it.... Once cooked, kindly drain the extra water..... Now mash the dal & keep aside...

Heat oil in a wok or deep bottomed vessel & add jeera & allow it to splutter. Now add green chilli & stir fry & then add chopped onions & fry till translucent. Now add all the masala powders & stir fry further for 2 minutes.. Then add the mashed dal & mix well. Stir fry this mixture until all the water gets evaporated... Now add the chopped coriander leaves & mix. Transfer this mixture into a bowl.

The Dal Stuffed Poori (दाल भरके पूरी)

Make small lemon sized balls of the dough & shape these balls into nice small katoris... or bowls.

Now fill small amounts of the dal mixture into these bowl shaped dough ....

And cover to seal it firmly, with much care.... to avoid the mixture from making its way through the dough as that would not only spoil the shape but would also leave the oil for frying, adulterated & tainted.

Now roll these stuffed & flattened balls with the help of a rolling pin..... Then leave the rolled poori (bread) into the oil & deep fry till golden..... let it puff on both the sides..... The puff would not be as much as a plain poori because of the stuffing..... Once the pooris are done, golden in color...transfer them onto an absorbent paper...

Similarly continue the process with the rest of the dough....

Can be served with plain tomato sauce or ketchup or any veg or non veg gravy to accompany with...... As I had not planned anything till then, I thought of a simple Potato gravy.... called ALOO PAANI...

Aloo Paani (आलू पानी)

Ingredients:

Potato - 4 medium, peeled & washed
Onion - 1 medium, finely sliced
Tomato - 2, finely chopped
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli Powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Cumin Powder - 2 tsp
Coriander Powder - 2 tsp
Garam Masala Powder - 2 tsp
Kitchen King Masala - 2 tsp
Salt to Taste
Water - 2 cups or more for the watery consistency
Oil - 4 tbsp
Coriander Leaves - 2 tsp, finely chopped

Method:

Boil the Potatoes, cut into cubes & keep aside. Heat oil in a wok or a deep bottomed vessel. Now add chopped onions & fry till translucent. Now add tomatoes & stir fry for 5 minutes, on low flame. Now add ginger garlic paste & saute` for a minute. Now add all the masala powders & stir fry for 3 - 4 minutes or till the oil separates. In case if the mixture turns dry, add little amount of water & mix well. The masala should blend well in water. Now add the cooked & cubed potatoes. Stir fry for 2 - 3 minutes, carefully so as to avoid the potatoes from falling apart. Now add good amount of water to get a thin gravy, & bring it to boil. Cook it covered for 20 minutes on low flame...

When done, garnish with chopped coriander leaves...which I forgot to.... Hmmmm.....

Now serve the above made Dal stuffed pooris with the hot Aloo Paani & a bowl of freshly prepared Rice Kheer (खीर) to complete the festive spread. Festive because, this is specially prepared as a prasad (divine food), for the poojas conducted at home, especially Theej....while we break our severe fasting of a day...... It is divine, then, as we really see light after having this, in the darkness caused due to the fast........

These pooris simply taste yum with the kheer to accompany with..... Festive Divinity!!!

Wanna Bite??????
Open Your Mouth & this piece goes in..............................hmmmm!!!! Yum! Yum! Is it not??????

I knew!!!!!!!!!!

This Divine Dal Poori is on its way to EC's, WYF:Specialty food event announcement at Simple Indian Food

along with the below mentioned

Halasina Hannina Hittu.. (Jack Fruit Dumpling)

As suggested by Suma Gandlur, I am also sending my Dal Poori to : Srivalli's My Legume Love Affair..... which is hosted by A Well Seasoned Cook - Susan.

Thank You Suma for letting me know about this event.......

Dasvidaniya!!!!!!!

Now.... Time for Thanks Giving........belated Of course!!!!)

Thank You Esai Selvi from My Kitchen for this lovely butterfly award, for I certainly deserve it, not sure my blog, but me, Yes! .... Since childhood, one of my mamas called me "Chitte" meaning Butterfly, in Kannada. As it is a very cute piece, I simply loved it.

And Thank You Rohini from Curries & Spices, Indu from Kitchen Queen & Esai Selvi again from My Kitchen for passing on this Bold 'n' Gold Award......

Jaago Bhaarath Jaago:

As I punched in these words for my post, I heard lovely music being played, from my living room, for quite a long time.... Went, to check it out.... My hubby was watching his favorite News Channel... The NDTV.... which aired, an One Hour Event, Live, called "A Nation In Solidarity Against Terror" organized in our national capital's India Gate.

The event, intended to express the nation's solidarity against terror.....Oh! Yes!

The date is symbolic to the Mumbai Terror Attacks..... I sincerely "feel" for those who lost their beloveds, their only bread earner & their only reason to live, in this gruesome terror attack.. A year passed..... again in terror.....wondering if our folks were safe out of home, but still keeping our calm, our fingers crossed, thought that "all was well".

This event kindled a thought in me as to - if it was not for 'Mumbai & its Landmarks', had it occurred elsewhere in some remote area, would they have conducted such events???? If Yes, why have I not heard of any such events held in areas which faced similar atrocities???? (forget being aired on TV, with celebs, politicians & sports person making their presence felt....)

Why is this attack blown out of proportion to such an extent???? Would such events give solace to the families of the Martyrs who shed their blood, fighting this attack, to the families of those innocent victims of this horrendous attack or to the families of those brave souls, who stood by, to lend their support in some way or the other & lost something in return???? Would they find solace in such events held?????

Speaking of solidarity against terror, according to me none, who is "HUMAN" would ever talk for it... If the solidarity of the nation was the concern, people in authority would have made arrangements to make the apt & adequate compensations, availing, to the BRAVE families, who deserved it....They would have empathized their feelings... & not made them wait for a year, for the compensations to realize. Instead, arrangements are made to conduct events, with celebs & politicians, ready with their "FOREVER" heard speeches, in the name of NATION AGAINST Terror..... Looks like no events can be held in this country, without the monotonous presence of the so called "CELEBS", "SUPER STARS", "HEROES"...... May be it is a habit now.....

May be compensations would be realized only in their fantasies as may be even this time, just words of promise & hope, remembering the attacks & forgotten till next year, same date..... as ever..........

Irony of Solidarity......

Mean while I even remembered a mail that was doing the rounds then....

The subject being How Fair Is This???? & dated Thu, 4 Dec 2008 6:19 pm....

I hereby paste the content of the mail below.......without changing even a character in it..... It just gets me pondering over the plight of our People in Power & the direction they are heading towards.......

An Olympic shooter wins Gold (Only a game) & Government gives him more than 3 Crores

Rs. 1 crore cash award by State Government of Punjab.
Rs. 2 lakh cash award by Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee
Rs. 25 lakh cash award by the Board of Control for Cricket in IndiaRs. 15 lakh money award by Steel Ministry of India
A free lifetime railway pass by the Railway Ministry of India
Rs. 10 lakh cash award by Chief Minister of Maharashtra state
Rs. 5 lakh cash award by State Government of Orissa
Rs. 1.5 Crore by L N Mittal, Arcelor Mittal
Rs. 10 lakh cash award by the State Government of Karnataka
Rs. 11 lakh cash award by the State Government of Bihar. The Patna Indoor Stadium will be renamed after Abhinav Bindra.
Rs. 1 lakh cash award by the State Government of Chhattisgarh
Rs. 25 lakh cash award by the State Government of Haryana.
Rs. 5 lakh cash award by M. Karunanidhi, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu
A Gold medal by the State Govt. of Kerala.

.
.
.
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Another Shooter dies, fighting with terrorists (Saving our country and our live) & government pays his family 5 lakhs.



Really great!!!!!!!!!!! Hats off to India!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please forward to all

Today watching that event, pissed me off to an extent that, it got me writing & venting........... It gets tears rolling down my cheeks..... Is that a brave soul worth of????????????

All said & done, the performance & music of Violin maestro - L Subramaniam & his group was totally mesmerizing..... That certainly would have given solace to the hurt souls..... That was something out of the world.....


Last BUT CERTAINLY not the Least..... Piece of Info.....

I would like to thank Tina from In The Garden, for that lovely 'note'd comment, she left on my previous post...(My Proud Collection). Reading it made me feel good & brought a smile on my face & my hubby's. The aftertaste of the 'love' shared still lingers in my smile.....


So, kindly accept it Tina, It's just to pass on my smile to you.....

Happy Celebrations to one & all!!!!!!!!!! Happy Blogging!!!!!!!!

KEEP THE FAITH!!!!!!!

MUGS & CUP "T" s!!!!!!! ( My Proud Collections) & First TWO MILESTONES OF MY LIFE IN BLOGGYWOOD!!!!!

During my childhood days, we used the steel tumblers or stainless steel glasses for all drinking purposes..... Be it water, juice "because we as kids would drop & break 'the' drinking glasses", coffee, tea, etc., etc., Both at Mangalore as well as Bangalore.... As we grew up...we got to drink our juices & shakes in 'Glass' glasses. Still we generally had our daily beverages, hot or cold, in steel glasses only.....

We got to drink hot beverages in these designed ceramic cups only after college.... & that too with guests visiting us..... not otherwise... But now after wedding the practice has changed....We use the respective cups, glass or mugs for respective beverages.... Funny!!!! I feel now.... thinking, I drank all the drinking stuff in a steel glass..... Ewww!!!!!

Now Oh! I am in love with all of these..... I fantasize them so much that I love owning them... all those nice pieces that I come across.... I want them to adorn my shelves.....

As it had been quite some time since I posted & there was no recipe that was extra ordinarily exclusive.... for, right now I've all simple recipes in my drafts.... I thought what else could I post about.....

While I drank my evening Tea, my brain struck one!!!!!!! & this thought ran down....Hickory, dickory, dock.... My eyes ran up the clock..... And I thought I had to hurry with the relevant pics for my post....

These are my favorite evening Tea Mugs..... Sip on it relaxing on Rugs..... just the two of us with lots of Hugs.....

Hence posting this write up.....so as to remember my mugs & cups, even when I'm old, & even when they are not there..... if broken & thrown into a bin..... Hmmmm...........Because many of them (mugs & cups) are already deceased.... SO I WOULD DEDICATE THIS POST TO ALL MY DECEASED CUPS & MUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Awesome Thought!!!!!!!!!LOL!!!!
I will never be able to forget my beloved cups & mugs...... those that I broke or my hubby or even my maids for that matter....HA!

But not all, I have here, as there is no enough space to display them.... Few are still up the attic cabinet, unpacked........ May be some day when I make space for them, I will flaunt them here.....& 'Mortalize' them too.....My Beloved cups & mugs would still be remembered even after I'm gone..... LONG LIVE my MUGS & CUPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well as a child the only mug I knew was the one used for all bathroom purposes..... But now it has emerged to be an exclusive possession....for "drinking" purposes too.........

My hubby just prepared a cup of tea for me as I am writing this........ Yum it was.... LOVE HIM!!!!


Ok..... Now these are my favorite "cup teas" as they are popularly called in Bihar..... I loved them the very first time I tasted tea in them.....during my first visit to Bodh Gaya by train... the raw scent of mud (सौंदी सौंदी खुशबू) plus the aroma of tea leaves..... Hmmmmmmmm.........

Very raw, earthen cups also called as Kulhads (disposable cups made of clay).... One drawback I noticed was, since the cups are raw, it tends to absorb the tea...which in turn reduces the quantity in the cup..... I went hunting to buy these cups & found the below in one of the shops & without second thought, bought some 3 different sets..... I gifted one set to mom & kept the rest for myself.....

These are well polished & custom made to suit our city lives.... to suit the microwave heating.....The look gives that extra zing, when u serve tea to your guests..... & I love that....!!!!! So these are the two kinds...that I own...

My ceramic tea spoon.... just one left of a lovely pair.... My hubby masters the art of breaking most of my kitchen appliances. He just attempts something else & in the process my stuffs around are termed "DEAD". Oh!!!! My!!!! I taunt him about it always..... that "please do not indulge much in my kitchen, I want my belongings intact" ROFL!!!!!

It is really cute & small.... I like the shape & feel of it....

Though he has broken many, and as he still understands my love for it..... he bought me these lovely Coffee Day Mugs on this Birthday.... It was a cute gesture of love.... accompanied by flowers & my favorite chocolate fantasy..... It was a memorable birthday, indeed.... So extra love & admiration for these mugs.....

These are my first Coffee Day Mugs.... I love them... When we have our coffees there at Coffee Day, they serve us with hot Cappuccino, in the white version of these cups... Hence I told Kuku, that I wanted the Black versions as they are not that 'common'..... & Yes! BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL............ But I have never used them at home.... The quantity that we prepare at home or rather the amount of tea or coffee that we both drink is so little, that as soon as I pour the beverage into these cups, it would turn cold... & I love cold coffee only when it is from Coffee Day & not otherwise....

Haan! These cups are one of my favorites too....for two reasons.... one because my mom got these for me from Italy, during her Europe tour.... She also got me my first Love In Paris by Nina Ricci ..... That gesture meant a lot to me.... Though I was not with her to accompany her... she still remembered my love for mugs & she got me that souvenier...... She also got me some lovely key chains & a small chweet clutch kinda purse to treasure my coins..... hmmm!!! & a face mirror too..... I still have them...never used any one of them for I did not want them to be history soon.... treasured for my daughter, I guess.... lemme see......;-)

Oh! I simply love these mugs.... aren't they lovely?????? I would not be able to use them too for sure.... may be till I finish my beverage, the thought would be that it would fall off, because of its shape......

Leaning Tower of Pisa, u c!!!!!!!!

ALL LEANING IN ITALICS...... MY TEA OR COFFEE TOO!!!!!!!!! ;-)

The Made for Eachother mug, was my first mug experience..... The first mug I bought for my Kuku.... & that was on our first anniversary of our dating..... Feb 14, 1994.... he had proposed to me.... & I gifted him this mug on Feb 14, 1995...... So this is also emotionally attached to me... Part of my love life.... part of my entire life....

And I think I gifted Kuku the 'Worlds Best Sweetheart' mug on his birthday... may be 2004.... I was on my first job then..... I always bought him something or the other.... I loved to surprise him & forever would..... Hmmmmm...... I love surprises too....... ;-p

And those two black mugs are also from coffee day..... Kuku gave them to me as a surprise.... some day.... Casually........

Forget the glasses behind.... Nope!!!! how can we forget them.... I drink my juices, shakes & soft drinks in them now, after the so called 'Steel Glass Saga'........

And this Beer mug.... I think I bought this, from Forum, Kormangla,Bangalore..... I liked its uniqueness.... It is a bamboo product.....good to look at.... And a Big Mug too..... holding it in my hand made me feel, "high" like a Historic American Cowboy, feels over his mug with whatever!!!! in it.....

It is a part of my "Beers To You" award too......
Beers to One & All!!!!!!!!!

Last but certainly not the least......... My favorites...... My Mortar & Pestle...... I'm crazy of these too... May be I'm crazy of anything & everything unique, on this earth...... I use the marble one, sometimes to crush the cardamoms, but the wooden one, never used till date.... It is just there to add to my pride, to adorn my shelf.... The name it self is so very ....... Mortar & Pestle.... God knows who termed them so.... The Etymology says it's derived from some classical terms....Good!!!! And I own just two....

I still own these pieces... which are so nice & dear to me... I feel proud of them.....

And YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! TWO MILESTONES!!!!!!!!!!!!

One, this is my 75th post of my blog...... My "ASRA"...ASHAON KA ....................... ;-)

And the other is, My 50th Follower in my "ASRA PANTHIS" .... And who is Anu from Anu's Yummy Recipes..... Thank You Anu..... It meant a lot..... As that makes my belief in me stronger.....

Hence I would love to Certify Anu, with this piece of gratitude...... Kindly Accept it Anu..... :-)

I would also take this opportunity to thank my Blog Fraternity, who have passed on their lovely awards.......

I thank Shailaja & Sangeeta for passing on the animated Yummylicious award & The 2009 Blogger Appreciation Award.....Too cool!!!!

Thank You Shailaja for passing on this Interesting award too......

Thank You Shailja, Esai Selvi, Pavithra..... for passing on this colorful best food blog award.....

Thank You Christina & Pavitra for passing on this Mug of Beer to this deer...... ;-p

Thank You Pavitra for letting me own it too......I love those yum looking pan cakes...ready with a spoon to transfer it to my plate.....

Thank You Priyadarshini for passing on this Yummy Lolly & slurpy Thank You..........

Thank you Babli for considering my blog, worth of these 4 below flaunted awards.... It meant a lot, to see my name in the list..... The thought that I was on your mind, when u punched in those names..... Ignites my enthusiasm to the core....

Thanks to Aysha for passing it on......

And Last But of course not the least I would like to thank Shailaja for passing on this creative & beautiful award for fresh ideas......

THANK YOU ONE & ALL........... AGAIN............. HAPPY BLOGGING!!!!!!!!!!!!!