Mooli ke Parathe / Radish stuffed flatbreads

 

 After ranting for the nth time in my last post, I was feeling pretty ashamed.

So have decided there won't be any more ranting ... 

at least not for a while.

I'll try to stay focused. 

Try ... I said.

 :-)

Winter is still around ... even if the day and night temperatures are swinging like a clock's pendulum.

And so are the beautifully fresh winter vegetables.

One of the best seasons to have different kinds of parathas and fried food,

winter becomes even more enjoyable when you have fresh vegetables to cook with.

I make all kinds of parathas during winter.

Usually for dinner.

And stuffed parathas rule.

A good stuffing encased in wholesome wheat, they turn out to be very filling.

All you need is some achar/pickle or a raita or plain ketchup.

And you are full in no time.

No spending too much time in the kitchen ... that too in this cold.

And I sometimes do not turn on the kitchen exhaust.

Love the warmth and fragrance, of parathas frying, spreading through the house,

enveloping one with a sense of coziness.

Making a house feel like a home.

In no time, I am curled up on the sofa with a plateful of hot, fried and tasty paratha.

The mooli or radish is one thing that is best enjoyed in winter.

I am not too fond of this vegetable for the usual reason ... the smell.

But lately have learnt that the smell is a lot less in baby radishes.

Earlier I used to grate and squeeze out the moisture.

But now that I get good baby radishes, there is a whole lot of moisture.

So I needed to cook it with the spices to dry it out.

And then used it as filling.

 Need :

Fresh mooli / radishes

Ajwain / carrom seeds

Haldi / turmeric

 Red chilli powder

Fresh coriander leaves, chopped

Salt

Oil to fry

Dough of atta / wheat flour
Some use cumin powder and garam masala ... I do not.

How to :

Wash and peel the mooli.

Grate.

Use a not too fine a grater. I mean it should not turn the mooli into a paste.

Make sure you use fresh radishes. If using from the fridge and they have started to dry out, cut them into pieces and soak them in water for a good while.

Now heat oil in a flat pan ... 

( do not use a kadahi if possible ... an open pan helps in drying out the moisture quicker)

Add the ajwain and the grated mooli.

Stir for a while.

Add the rest of the ingredients and keep frying till all moisture dries out.

If it has too much moisture and turns into a lump ( happened to me once) ... 

just add a spoonful of besan and keep frying.

Will dry out in no time.

Take small balls of the atta dough and stuff them with the filling and roll out round parathas.

Well .. I should just  say parathas.

For one who cannot roll out perfect round ones, I must not have too much of expectations.

You can check out the stuffing, rolling and frying of the parathas from here.

Heat a tawa or a griddle.

Fry the parathas with a little oil till both sides are browned.

And ... enjoy!

Serve hot though ... with some cold raita on the side.

Or salad. Or pickle.

I have recently been introduced to the taste of Thokku ... 

so enjoyed mine with some spicy Mango thokku on the side.

:-)

Long live winter. Just don't last too long.

Cheerio all!

Other Parathas on Kichu Khonn - 

to try out this winter

Aloo Paratha

Egg bhurji Paratha

Parathas with leftover Dal

Methi Parathas

Moong dal Parathas

Puli Pithey / Coconut stuffed Rice dumplings in milk

 Much as I want to post regularly, things seem to keep getting out of hand.

I am appalled at the way my time management has gone out of the window ; or the door or my balcony.

All I know is it is not where I left it last.

Nothing seems to be in my control any more. Am so tempted to write 'no more' here!
See ... that's how much I have changed. :-|

It has taken me a lot of time to get back my kitchen.

Now that it is behaving and happily churning out simple, daily dishes, I thought I'd get started with the blog.

For that one needs to click photos.

How else am I to serve what I've cooked ... albeit virtually?!

It is another thing that I still use my photos as proof ... to prove my cooking and photographing ability ...

... to myself.

And now, after all that storing of photographs, storing of recipes in my mind ...

... when I finally start posting again ... I find myself at a dead end.

Complete lack of zeal.

To write. To upload. To arrange.

To make a post on this hugely simply laid out blog seems an effort.

Why am I writing this here ... of all things??

Well ... see ... because I just don't know what to write.

I just wish I can ... again.

Till then ... dear readers ... I guess you'll have to put up with this nonsense.

I know all of you love me; love Kichu Khonn.

But I also know that I'm asking for too much. :-)

 So, while still a lot of photographs languish in my folders, I'll just get over with this post of Puli Pithe.

I recently made these and want to share with you all ... before winter passes by.

Actually, I'd amde a post on this long, long back.

When I was a new blogger and a new cook.

When I was new to photography ... especially food photography.

So new that I could not give the pulis their authentic shape. So had made them in rounds.

But I call myself an expert now ... at least in the kitchen.

It is another thing that all I can cook up is homely food ... nothing exotic, nothing glamorous.
I mean ... not even the most glamorous of evening wear is going to successfully clothe my dishes
and make a plate look like a ... say ... beauty queen.
You can still see that lone black pepper or the jeera
or the colour of just how much frying have my onions gone through.
Nah ... no red carpet for my plain Jane dishes.

And it is another thing that I have not gone beyond a few pithes when it comes to traditional cooking.

But let us not dwell on that.

Especially when I have dished out these lovelies for you. :-)

And this time ... in all their traditional shape and glory.

For the recipe, I'd still send you to my old post.

Where I was enthusiastic enough to click a few steps of the process too.

And if you still can't make these beautiful moon shaped pithes, worry not.

You can make them round .. and they'd still be a winner.

And so will you be.

Serve warm or cold.
Enjoy!
And stay warm ... winter will soon begone. :-)

Ranga Alur Pithe or Pantua / Coconut stuffed Sweet Potato

Winter.

Holidays!

Pithe!

All three are synonymous to each other.

Pithe.

Traditional sweet or savoury things that are usually made with rice, coconut and jaggery.

Sometimes dals or lentils are used too.

With these few ingredients, some wonderful pithes  are lovingly made 

by the ladies of a house every winter.

The Ranga Alur Pithe or Pantua is one of them.

 During the holidays, Thamma would be extra busy.

Of course she was busy throughout the year ... what with a huge joint family to run.

But during holidays, the house brimmed with people.

Relatives of all relations ... kakimas' brothers with their families or 

Jethima's sister with her two sons. 

Or my mashis with their brood.

The house would be overflowing with people. Almost like a wedding is on.

Everyday was a celebration.

All through the day one would get hear all kinds of voices.

A mother's high pitched voice calling out to her children, ladies chattering with a lot of laughter, childern screaming out in warning when running pell-mell all across the long verandah.

The house is big. Huge.

Once you cross these sound barriers , you reach another long verandah that houses the bharaar ghor/ the store room.

And the two kitchens.

Two? Yes. One for vegetarian food too.

And from these two rooms came the most wonderful smells in the world.

All kinds of food being cooked.

And among them ... on one side there would be a small unoon/chulha .... that was used to make Pithe.

Amidst everything, Thamma made sure at least one kind of Pithe was on our plates everyday of our holidays.

My mind is a-wandering. 

More later.

I'll put in the recipe now.

To make this pithey, you can start preparing a day or two earlier.

That way you won't feel overwhelmed when you actually start making it.

I usually prepare the coconut stuffing a day or two earlier.

Boil the potatoes too and keep away.

And also the sugar syrup.

So your work gets cut down by half.All you need to do is stuff the pithes, fry and soak in the syrup.

Gets done in a jiffy.

Need: 

Sweet potatoes - I used 2 big sized ones

Maida/apf - 3 tbsp

Grated coconut 

Jaggery

Crushed cardamom / elaichi

Oil to deep fry

How to:

Sugar syrup - Boil one and a half cups of sugar in 2 cups of water till dissolved well

(No need for any thread consistency ... just thin syrup will do)

Coconut stuffing - Melt jaggery with a little water in a pan.

Add the coconut and the cardamom powder and cook well till dryish.

Remove and cool.

Pithe / Pantua -

Peel and mash the sweet potato with the maida.

Make medium sized balls, flatten on palm and stuff with a little coconut stuffing.

Cover and roll on palm to make a smooth elongated shape.

Wet your fingers with water if needed.

Heat enough oil in a deep kadahi.

Slowly let in the pithes and fry on low flame till brown.

Remove and soak in the sugar syrup.

PS: If you have made the syrup a day earlier, reheat it before soaking the pithes.

Leave them for a while to soak up the syrup well.

Serve warm or cold.

Enjoy!

Click here for the list of  Pithe / Pitha on my blog