Masal Puri - Coimbatore Style

 

Hello everyone,

Masala puri is a popular street food in India. The taste and way of making masala puri differs from place to place. I am from Coimbatore, I have tasted masala puri in quiet a lot of places(Coimbatore ,Bangalore, Hyd, Chennai, Jaipur, Goa and even US) but for me nothing tasted better than Coimbatore version of it especially Sasi kadai in S.B Colony.

Two of my close relatives used to live in S.B Colony so whenever we go there we stop by ARC Sasi Pani Puri( Sasi Kadai) to have masala puri and bhel puri. They serve amazing chaats. I missed this after moving to Bangalore. I missed it so much that I learned to make this dish 8 yrs ago from a blog. I have been making the same way. It tastes great, I would to share the receipe with you and hope you like it as well. 

Usually masala puri is made by breaking the puris and pour the masala on top of it. In Coimbatore, they place the puri on the plate by making small hole and add masala on it. The recipe to make for 3-4 servings. 

Ingredients:

Puri - 20-25

Onion - 1 finely chopped

Tomato - 1 big finely chopped

Cilantro - 1/2 cup finely chopped

Grated carrot - 3/4 cup

Sev - 1 cup

Chaat masala - 2 tbsp

For Masala Gravy

Dried Green Peas - 1 cup

Onion - 1 Cup chopped

Ginger - 1/2 inch

Garlic - 2 pods small

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Chili powder - 1/2 tsp

Garam masala - 1 tsp

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Green chili - 1or 2 (according to spice level)

Cilantro - 1/4 cup

Salt as required

Method:

1. Soak peas overnight or for nearly 8 hrs and pressure cook them for 4 whistles by adding water and some salt. Keep it aside.

2. Grind all the ingredients under 'For Masala Gravy' section with half a cup of boiled peas to a fine paste. Reserve rest of the boiled peas.

3. In a heavy bottomed vessel, add grinded paste and bring it to boil. Cook until the raw smell goes. Add little water to maintain the consistency. The gravy shouldn't be too thick. Masala is ready.

4. Now place 5-6 puris on a plate and make a hole on top of the puris. 

5. Add 1 tsp of reserved peas into each puris and pour the masala paste on top of the puris. Finally garnish with  chopped onion, tomatoes, carrot, cilantro and sev. Sprinkle some chaat masala on top of it. 

Enjoy Coimbatore's masala puri.

Butter Muruku

Hello everyone,

Butter Murukku is called as Benne muruku(Kanada) or Vennai muruku(Tamil). This crispy muruku is made with rice flour, gram flour and of course butter :). It is usually made during the festivals like diwali and janmashtami. 

I tried to make butter muruku soon after we shifted to US. To my surprise it turned out very crispy and tasty. My husband wanted me to make again to share with his office friends. Since then I follow the same recipe to make it.  

Ingredients:

Rice flour - 3 cups

Besan/Gram flour - 1/2 cup

Roasted gram flour - 1 tbsp

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Hing  - 1/4 tsp

Salt as needed

Butter(room temperature) - 2 tbsp

Water as needed

Oil for frying

Method:

1. To make roasted gram flour Take 2-3 tbsp roasted gram in a mixie and grind it to fine powder. Roasted gram flour is ready. 

2. In a mixing bowl, take all rice flour, gram flour, roasted gram flour, cumin seeds, hing, butter and salt. Butter should evenly mix with the flour.

3. Add water little by little and knead the flour to a smooth and tight dough. 

4. Use the star shaped plate to make butter muruku. Grease the muruku maker with oil. 

5. Fill it with prepared dough and tighten the lid.

5. Heat oil on a medium flame to maximum temperature. Squeeze it directly in the hot oil. Flip the muruku to cook on both the sides. Cook until golden brown and drain it in tissue paper. 

6. Allow it to cool down and store it in an air tight container. 

Notes:

1. Do not squeeze more and over mess. Muruku will not be cooked properly. 

2. Make sure the dough is not too soft otherwise muruku will absorb more oil.

Ivy gourd cashew stir fry

 

Hello everyone,

Ivy gourd cashew stir fry is prepared with tender Ivy gourd and tender cashews. Ivy gourd is referred as Kovakkai in tamil and Thondekai in Kannada. This is a very special dish in dakshina kannada region. 

I was introduced to this by my friend from Dakshina Kannada(Puttur). I tasted this at her sister's wedding. It was so rich and tasty. Never tasted Ivy gourd stir fry with cashews till then. Then one day she gave me the recipe and the story behind it. Dakshina Kannada region is rich in cashew cultivation. Cashew nut trading season is from March to May. The fully grown cashews are sold to the market. The leftover cashews that are not of high quality are used by the people in that region to make this Ivy gourd palya at home. Ideally we should use tender cashews to prepare this, as we don't get tender cashews here I soaked the raw cashews in water and cooked along with ivy gourd. This is a mandatory dish in marriages or any functions if it is during April-June. Here is the recipe. 

Ingredients:

Tindora - 3 cups cut lengthwise

Cashew - 1/4 cup

water - 1/2 cup 

Salt as per taste

To Grind:

Grated coconut - 1/4 cup

Green chili - 1 or 2

To Temper:

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Urad dal - 1/4 tsp

Chana dal - 1/4 tsp

Byadige chili - 1 

Curry leaves

Hing a pinch

Method:

1. Soak cashew in warm water for half an hour. Drain the water and keep it aside.

2. Grind coconut and green chili coarsely without water. Keep it ready.

3. Heat oil in a kadai or large pan, add ingredients under 'To temper' section. Fry until dal turns golden brown. 

4. Add tindora, soaked cashews and saute until it is combined well.

5. Now add water, salt as required. Cover and cook for about 12-15mins. Tindora will be cooked and water gets dried up. 

6. Finally, add coconut green chili and mix well. Turn off the heat.

Note: 

1. Avoid green chili if you want it to be less spicy.

Thavala Adai

Hello everyone,

Thavala adai is a traditional recipe from Tanjore. It is prepared with arisi kurunai(broken rice) and lentils. 

I never tasted this until I got married. My MIL makes it and I learnt this recipe from her. Thavala means big pot in Tamil. Adai is roasted in thavala instead of dosa tawa. My MIL used to make this in vengala thavalai later she started doing using dosa tawa as she used to get burns in hand while flipping the adai.  

Thavala adai can be made as a tiffin instead of regular dosa, idli,upma etc. This is rich is in protein. It is crispy outside and soft inside. This is little time consuming but it tastes great. 

This can be given to kids for lunch box and they would love it. Give it a try and here is the recipe. 

Ingredients:

Raw rice - 1 cup

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Hing - a generous pinch

Grated coconut - 1/4 cup

Coconut oil - 1 tbsp for preparing mix + 2 tbsp for roasting

Salt as needed

To Soak and Grind:

Toor dal - 1/4 cup

Chana dal - 1/4 cup

Mung dal - 1/4 cup

Urad dal - 1.5 tbsp

Red chili - 1

Green chili - 1

Ginger - 1/2 inch

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Pepper corns - 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves - 7-8 nos

Method:

1. Grind rice coarsely like sooji and keep it aside.
2. In a bowl soak toor dal, chana dal, moong dal & urad dal in enough water for 2 hrs. 
3. Transfer the soaked dals into a blender and add red chili, green chili, ginger, cumin seeds, pepper,curry leaves to it. Grind it coarsely without adding water. Keep this aside.
4. Heat 1tbsp coconut oil in a large pan, add mustard seeds. Once it sizzles, add 2 cups of water, salt, coconut and hing. Allow the water to boil.
5. When the water starts to boil, add coarsely ground rice. Mix well with a laddle without any lumps. Once it is cooked, add the dal mix. Combine well to make it like upma. Allow it to cool down.  
6. Apply oil in dosa tawa and heat it. Take lemon size ball and make it like thin cutlet and roast in dosa tawa. Apply oil and gently flip to cook the other side. Add 3-4 adai in one batch. 
7. Adai will be crispy when both the sides turn golden brown. Remove them from the tawa and repeat the same with rest of the rice dal mix. 
8. Thavala adai is ready to serve with any kind of chutney.