Monday, October 27, 2014

Badam Barfi / Almond Fudge




Blanched Almond Flour - 21/2 cups (I used Honeyville Blanched Almond Flour)
Sugar - 1 cup
Water 3/4 cup
Saffron - a pinch of strands
Ghee - 1 tbsp

Roast the almond flour over low heat for around 5 to 10 minutes till it emits a nutty smell. Keep aside.

Mix sugar and water and a few strands of saffron and heat it in a heavy bottomed pan. Once the sugar melts and the syrup slightly thickens(before it comes to a boil), add the almond flour and mix. (If the sugar syrup is too thick, the barfi becomes brittle and hard)

Continue to mix over low heat for around 10 minutes till the mixture becomes a soft dough. In between add a couple of tsp of ghee. Do not cook for long as again this will turn the barfis hard.

Transfer it to a ghee greased plate and knead for a couple of minutes using the backside of a small bowl. Apply a little ghee to the back of the bowl also before you start kneading.

Transfer the dough between two parchment paper and roll into desired thickness. Cool for a few minutes and cut to diamond shape.

Cool completely and remove and transfer to an airtight container.







Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Masala Puri with Potato Curry / Deep fried bread with potato curry



For the masala puri:

Whole Wheat Flour - 1 cup
All Purpose Flour - 1 cup
Salt
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Coarsely Ground Black Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Red Chili Powder - 1/4 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Ajwain - 1/4 tsp
Water
Oil for Deep Frying

For the potato curry:

Yukon Gold Potatoes - 2 big, cut into cubes
Chana Dal / Split Chick Peas - 1/3 cup, soaked in water for at least an hour
Frozen Green peas - a handful
Mustard Oil - 1 tbsp.
Dried Whole Red Chili - 2
Paanch Phoron / Mix of whole five spices(cumin, mustard, fenugreek, fennel, nigella( - 1 tsp
Hing / Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
Tomato - 1, chopped
Salt
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Red Chili Powder - 1 tsp
Cumin Powder - 2 tsp
Fennel Powder - 1 tsp
Raw Sugar / Jaggery - 1 tsp

Heat oil in a pressure cooker pan. Add the dried red chili and the whole spices. Then add the hing and sauté for a few seconds till strong aroma of spices come out.

Add the cubed potato and turmeric. Mix well. Then add the soaked chana dal, green peas, salt, red chili powder, cumin & fennel powder, sugar and about 4 cups of water.

Close the lid, bring to full pressure, then reduce and cook for 5 minutes or upto 3 whistles.

Mix the flour together and add the remaining spices and a tsp of oil. Add water little by little to make a soft dough. Cover with a damp cloth and keep aside for a few minutes. Knead again and make small balls. Flatten & roll them into puris and deep fry both sides in hot oil.

Serve the hot puris with the potato curry.

Adapted from http://riappyayan.blogspot.com/2014/10/masala-puri-runny-potato-curry-kolkata.html