Traditional Indian Cooking:
Indian Breads The various types of popular breads are:
Kulchas – Plain and stuffed with different fillings e.g. paneer, potato etc.
Paranthas – Plain and stuffed with different stuffing.
Poori- Plain or stuffed dal Pithi or Potatoes
Nan – Plain or stuffed
Parantha: As soon as you are asked for parantha you think twice, but there are some paranthas which are good for health and form full meal with yogurt.
You can try to make paranthas with less oil or even without oil. Those who want to avoid fat completely, Make the dough with whole wheat flour and water only, but you have to knead it thorough to form smooth, soft dough.
If you like you can just brush one side of the cooked parantha with oil or ghee.
In cooking the paranthas you can cook them on low heat until crisp and brown.
This you can be taken with yogurt.
It can also be taken with Achar of your choice.
Paranthas – Plain and stuffed with different stuffing.
Poori- Plain or stuffed dal Pithi or Potatoes
Nan – Plain or stuffed
Parantha: As soon as you are asked for parantha you think twice, but there are some paranthas which are good for health and form full meal with yogurt.
You can try to make paranthas with less oil or even without oil. Those who want to avoid fat completely, Make the dough with whole wheat flour and water only, but you have to knead it thorough to form smooth, soft dough.
If you like you can just brush one side of the cooked parantha with oil or ghee.
In cooking the paranthas you can cook them on low heat until crisp and brown.
This you can be taken with yogurt.
It can also be taken with Achar of your choice.
Punjabi Kachori:
Ingredients:
250gm all-purpose flour
60g oil
½tsp salt
¾ to 1C lukewarm water
3tsp curds
Oil for deep frying Filling:
2tsp sugi
¼tsp salt
120gm split urad dal, soaked and grinded to paste
¼tsp baking soda
¼tsp red chili powder
1 ½tsp black cumin seeds
Method:
1. Mix the urad paste, sugi and all the filling ingredients. Heat 1tbsp oil and stir-fry the dal mixture until half cooked. Keep aside.
2. Make hard dough with the dough ingredients. Knead the dough with curds in the end to form smooth dough.
3. Make walnut sized balls, fill with the filling and remake ball. Roll to a thick round for the kachori. Make the rest of the balls in the same way to form kachoris.
4. Heat oil in a skillet (Khadi). When oil is very hot take the khadi from the heat and drop the kachoris one by one in it. Now put the khadi on medium low heat and fry the kachoris to light brown, occasionally stirring and changing sides.
Serve hot with Aloo
Kulcha Puri
Plain Roti or chapatti
Plain Roti or Chapatti:
Ingredients:
2C whole wheat flour
Sufficient water to make soft dough
Method:
1. Divide the dough into 10 equal size balls.
2. Take one ball, dust with flour and roll it into 6” round.
3. Heat tawa hot and put the roti on the tawa. Cook one side of the roti a little on medium heat. Turn the other side and cook until brown specks appear on this side.
4. Turn the side and put gentle pressure on the roti and puff it to a ball.
Take the roti from e heat and brush some butter on one side if desired.
Serve hot with sabzi.
Ingredients:
2C whole wheat flour
Sufficient water to make soft dough
Method:
1. Divide the dough into 10 equal size balls.
2. Take one ball, dust with flour and roll it into 6” round.
3. Heat tawa hot and put the roti on the tawa. Cook one side of the roti a little on medium heat. Turn the other side and cook until brown specks appear on this side.
4. Turn the side and put gentle pressure on the roti and puff it to a ball.
Take the roti from e heat and brush some butter on one side if desired.
Serve hot with sabzi.
Makai Ke Roti (Corn flour Indian Bread)
Punjabi Sarsoo Ka Saag-(Punjabi Mustard Greens):
Cooking time approximately 2 hours:
Ingredients:
1kg/2lb Sarsoo Saag- mustardgreens (The leaves and shoots should be tender), strip off the hard coveringfrom the stems take only soft stalks.
250gm Spinach greens
200-250gm Barthu leaves discarding the stems, or green Broccoli florets
4-5 green chilies, chopped
1 ½” ginger piece
3-4 garlic cloves
200gm Makai ka Atta (yellowCorn Flour), if the corn flour is not available substitute Gram flour (Basen)
For the Tarka:
½ onion, finely chopped
¼C beaten Curds
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1” piece garlic
½tsp Cumin seeds
2 green chilies, finely chopped (optional)
2tbsp refined butter (Ghee)
Method:
1. Wash and thoroughly clean the greens and finely chop each separately, and then mix.
2. In a large heavy bottom Pan or Cooker add the cut greens, chopped green chilies, chopped ginger and garlic in it. Put ½C water in the vessel/cooker, cover and cook on medium high heat for 30 minutes or check the cooker on 2 whistles. The saag should be cooked thoroughly to a soft texture and the color too should change a little.
3. Take out the cooked greens from the cooker, squeeze out the liquid from them. Keep the liquid aside till required. Blend the squeezed greens in a blender to form a smooth paste.
4. Season it with salt and red chili flakes, mix. Add the corn flour, 1tbsp at a time, blending with the greens with each addition until the whole flour is consumed. Now add there served liquid to the Saag Paste and mix well. The saag should be a little liquidly, if you think it is not so add ¼C hot water and mix.
5. Put the saag paste in the heavy bottom pan and cook on medium low heat for about 45-50 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add ½C hot water to the saag after 20 minutes if required. Continue to stir at intervals, so that the saag is not dry and does not stick to the bottom of the cooking pan, without liquid it will burn at the bottom and give out burning smell. Cook until the rawness of the saag has gone and the taste of the flour is not left on the tongue. It will take another 15-20minutes to get the saag cooked completely. The final texture of the saag should be smoot
h and moist, most of the liquid should be used in cooking.
In the meantime prepare the tarka.
6. In a small pan heat ghee and when hot add cumin seeds. As soon as they flutter add the chopped onion, garlic, ginger and the green chilies.
7. Cook until the onion is soft and turn light brown. Add chopped tomatoes, cook for 5 minutes, until the tomatoes are blended with the masala. Stir in tomato sauce, stir cook for 1 minute.
8. Add beaten curds 1tbsp ata time while cooking, until curds are completely blended with the tarka.
9. Pour the tarka on the cooked saag. Mix and cook for 10 minutes on low heat. If desired add 2tbsp butter and cook for 1 minute.
10. Serve hot. Decorating with a lob of butter (optional) with Makai ke Rot.i
2. Makai Ke Roti (Corn flourIndian Bread) Serves 2 of 2 roti each.
Ingredients:
2C Makai Ka Atta (YellowCorn flour)
1tbsp butter milk
1tsp butter
Hot water to knead flour
Method:
1. Put the flour in a large plate or in a kneading bowl. Mix butter milk in the flour. With hot water knead the flour to soft dough.
Knead it well for at least 5 minutes. Cover the dough with a muslin cloth and keep aside with 10 minutes.
2. Make 2 small walnut size balls. Put a little butter between the ball press them with wet palms, to form a sandwich.
With warm wet hands, roll the roti of the desire size (6 ½“- diameter round). If, it is difficult to roll with palms try to make it by putting the flour sandwich, on a wet cloth on a rolling board and with the right hand press the flat ball into a round of the desired size.
Make the rest of the rotis in the same way.
3. Heat the griddle (Tawa) and put the roti on it. When one side is cooked with brown specks on it, turn it and cook the other side till the brown specks appear.
4. Put a little ghee on the both sides of the roti and lightly fry it.
5. Serve it hot with Sarsoo ka Saag. Put a small piece of butter on the roti if desired.
Onion Nan:
Stuffed Nan:
Ingredients:
3C flour
2 level teaspoon baking powder
1tsp salt
2tsp sugar
½C milk
4tsp melted ghee
Stuffing: 3 boiled potatoes, peeled and mashed
1small onion finely chopped
1tsp coriander leaves chopped
1-2 green chilies chopped
½ tsp Red chili powder
½tsp Garam masala
½tsp salt
½tsp Anardana
Kalongi
Poppy seeds (khus-khus)
Method:
1. Mix flour, sugar and salt. Put baking powder in the center of the flour mixture. Cover it with curd.
Leave for 3-4 minutes till it starts to bubble.
2. Add ghee. Knead to stiff dough of rolling consistency, with milk.
Keep the dough in a warm place for 3-4 hours to swell. Make balls, put onion and poppy seeds. Roll it in an oblong shape.
3. Brush top with warm milk and melted butter. Bake the nans on a greased tray, in the hot oven (375*), for 10-15 minutes, till spots appear on the surface
The ready nans should be soft and light brown in color.
P.S. Clean the cooker grease if and then wipe it well. Stick nans with water carefully.
Ingredients:
3C flour
2 level teaspoon baking powder
1tsp salt
2tsp sugar
½C milk
4tsp melted ghee
Stuffing: 3 boiled potatoes, peeled and mashed
1small onion finely chopped
1tsp coriander leaves chopped
1-2 green chilies chopped
½ tsp Red chili powder
½tsp Garam masala
½tsp salt
½tsp Anardana
Kalongi
Poppy seeds (khus-khus)
Method:
1. Mix flour, sugar and salt. Put baking powder in the center of the flour mixture. Cover it with curd.
Leave for 3-4 minutes till it starts to bubble.
2. Add ghee. Knead to stiff dough of rolling consistency, with milk.
Keep the dough in a warm place for 3-4 hours to swell. Make balls, put onion and poppy seeds. Roll it in an oblong shape.
3. Brush top with warm milk and melted butter. Bake the nans on a greased tray, in the hot oven (375*), for 10-15 minutes, till spots appear on the surface
The ready nans should be soft and light brown in color.
P.S. Clean the cooker grease if and then wipe it well. Stick nans with water carefully.
Paranthas with different fillings
Cooked Dal Parantha
Dal to make Parantha Cooked Dal Parantha:
This is soft delicious parantha made from left over dal. You can take it with butter, yogurt or any achar of your choice.
Ingredients:
1 ½C whole wheat flour, or sufficient flour to make soft dough with dal and a little water if required.
1C cooked dal (left over). Any yellow dal can be used e.g Moong dal, Urad or Channa dal
1 green chili, chopped finely
1tbsp chopped coriander leaves
1tsp chopped onion
1tsp ginger finely chopped
½tsp red chili powder
½tsp salt
½tsp garam masala
1tsp Anardana powder
Method:
1. Mix all the ingredients and knead to form soft dough, use water if required.
2. Divide the dough into equal sized 8 balls.
3. Roll each ball into 8” circles. Cook and stir fry on hot tawa like any parantha.
Serve hot with curd
Plain Parantha
Plain Parantha
Ingredients:
250gm Whole wheat flour
¼tsp salt
¼tsp cumin-coriander powder
1tsp oil/ghee
Method:
1. Mix flour, salt and cumin-coriander powder. Knead with a little water to form smooth dough. Keep aside for some time to rest.
2. Now make 8 balls of the dough. Roll it into 8” round, grease it and fold into a rectangle.
3. Grease the fold lightly on the long side. Roll the long side to form a ball for layered parantha. Dust the ball with the flour and roll on a lightly floured surface into a round or square parantha.
4. Cook it on hot tawa on both sides frying with butter, ghee or oil, until light brown.
Serve hot with Indian dishes.