Paani Puri

The advantage of making puris at home is they are made in fresh oil and taste way better than the packet ones. Many a times people complaint about the pani

 puris becoming soft, mainly after cooling down. when I make them, the problem is because the dough was not kneaded well or the puris being too thick. Knead the dough well, the dough needs to have elasticity in it. 

Ingredients 

1 Cup Sooji/ Rava/ Semolina

1 Tbsp All purpose flour/ Maida

1 tsp Oil

Pinch of baking soda(optional) 

1/4 cup water

Oil for frying 

Procedure

In a bowl take the rava, add 1tsp oil and baking soda, mix well with fingers, now add all purpose flour, mix nicely, now add little quantities of water and keep mixing, until the dough turns elastic and there are no cracks. Keep sprinkling water and use your knuckles to knead properly till it turns Smooth, the dough should neither be too tight nor too soft. Cover it with a damp cloth and let it rest for about 20 minutes. Now uncover it and knead it once more, divide the dough into two or three parts. Take one part on your work surface and begin to roll. Avoid adding any dry flour while kneading. Keep the remaining parts of the dough covered with the damp cloth. keep on rolling the part to a thin and even round. The puris have to be thinly rolled. If not thin, the base becomes thick and remains soft even after frying. If the dough is not rolled evenly, then the Puris won’t puff up and turn into papdi, now using a cookie cutter or a small bowl, cut small to medium sized discs from the rolled out dough, this will help in getting even shape and size of the puris. Now heat oil for deep frying in a pan. The oil should be medium hot. Add a tiny piece of the dough ball in the hot oil. If the ball steadily comes up to the surface, the oil is hot and the puris can be fried now.

The puris will puff up as soon as you put them to the hot oil. Only add 4-6 puris at a time. Gently push the Puris with the frying ladle so that they puff up nicely, now flip them, once they puff up. Flip a couple of times, even after the oil stops sizzling, continue to fry the puris till light golden, keep them in the hot oil getting fried from both sides for a few seconds, so that they become crisp. Frying in this manner will make the puris more crisp from outside as well as inside. Else after getting cooled the might turn soft. Let them cool at room temperature, transfer them immediately to an airtight jar and close the lid tightly. 

Chocolate Ice cream

The simplest, easiest and quick to make is this recipe using condensed milk/ milkmaid

Ingredients

150g Fresh Cream
1/2 tin (200g) Condensed milk or Milkmaid
90 ml Chocolate sauce/ Hershey syrup
1tsp Vanilla extract/ essence

Procedure 

Whip cream till fluffy, using a hand blender, Add milkmaid, chocolate sauce, vanilla essence & mix well. Pour in airtight container & freeze till set. Will take about 4-5 hours to set.

Procedure

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Two toned Veg Momos

A variation to regular momos, just to change the look and add a bit of color to it, that makes it look more presentable.

Ingredients 

( For Dough)

2 Cup All purpose Flour

1/4 Cup, blanched and puréed Spinach

Salt to taste

Water to kneed 

Oil for greasing

( For stuffing)

2 Tbsp Oil

1 medium sized Onion, Finely chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

1/4 cup Mushroom finely chopped( optional)

1/2 Green Capsicum, finely chopped

1/2 Red capsicum, finely chopped

1/4 Cup cottage cheese/ paneer, finely chopped Or grated

1-2 green chilli, finely chopped

1/4 tsp black pepper powder

Fresh coriander, finely chopped ( optional) 

Salt to taste

( Momo Chutney)

1 Tbsp oil

10-12 garlic cloves

6-7 dried red chillies

2-3 medium sized tomatoes

Salt to taste

PROCEDURE

(For filling)

Heat oil in a pan, add the onion, fry till transparent, now one by one add the veggies, the water from the mushrooms would be enough for the vegetables to cook properly, keep the flame on high throughout and keep frying. Add salt and black pepper, sprinkle chopped coriander (optional).Keep aside to let it cool.

(For the dough) 

Take one cup flour and add some salt and puréed spinach, add in small portions and kneed till it turns into a soft dough. Similarly make a plain dough with the left over flour. Now divide the dough into 4-5 equal portions. 

Roll out the spinach dough into a round chapati, cut it into a square shape, keep aside, too each of this spinach roll, fill the plain roll and roll it into a cylindrical shape. Now cut this into about 1/2 inch pieces, roll these pieces and put about 1 Tbsp of filling, not give it a shape of potli and put in a steamer to steam for about 2-3 minutes. Serve with momo chutney.

( for momo Chutney)

Heat oil in a pan, add the garlic cloves, add red chilli and once they start turning crisp, add tomatoes, pls keep the flame at medium so the garlic and chillies doesn’t burn. Add salt, let it cool and run in a mixer to make a fine sauce. This can be saved in an air tight container for 4-5 days!!