Misal Pav

I had a very boring Thursday afternoon and was wondering what to make for dinner.And after going through some blogs, I decided to try making Pav from my friend Anu's blog and found a Misal recipe from here

PAV (Indian Bread roll)

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tbsp Yeast
2 tbsp Sugar
1 1/2 cups warm Water
1 tsp Salt
2 tbsp Olive Oil

Method :

Mix together the yeast, sugar and water. Set aside for 10 minutes until the yeast is activated and frothy.

Add the oil, salt and 2 cups of flour to the yeast mixture and combine. Add the flour a little at a time until the dough begins to come together and leaves the edges of the bowl.

Empty the dough out onto a kneading surface and knead for 7-8 minutes until it begins to feel smooth and oh-so-silky. Transfer the dough into a lightly greased bowl and cover with a thin cloth or plastic wrap. Let the dough rise to double its size for an hour.

Gently deflate the dough and turn out onto the kneading surface. Divide the dough into 10 equal parts and roll each into a ball. Place them on a baking tray a couple of inches apart. Cover with a damp cloth for about 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 deg F.

After 45 mins, the dough will cover the space between them and look like this.




Bake for 12 minutes until golden brown.For a soft crust, brush the hot rolls with some melted butter as soon as they come out of the oven.



The pav came out so soft and fluffy.Definitely a recipe to make again and again.


Misal



One of Bombay's street food, Misal Pav is probably one of the most eaten dishes and it is so yummy.The spice and the flavor that you find at the roadside stalls is beyond yummy.I have memories of my family and me dipping the pav in hot spicy misal and tearing up at the spice level. So spicy but oh so yummy. Always want more.

This recipe that I have made , I did not make it as spicy as you would get outside only because it was my first time making it and also because the misal was going to be my 4 yr old's daal for the night.So if you need it to be spicy, you need to add double the chilli powder that I have added.

Ingredients:
3 cups sprouted moong (Soak whole green gram dal overnight and sprout )
3 medium size Boiled Potatoes (peeled & cut into cubes)
1 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp sugar
Salt
1 tsp tamarind pulp
3-4 tbsp oil

Tempering:
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp asafoetida/ hing
1 tsp turmeric powder

Grind to powder
1 tsp Cumin seeds
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 cloves
2-3 black peppercorn
1/2 inch cinnamon

Grind to paste
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 garlic cloves
1/2 inch ginger piece
10-15 mint leaves (i omitted this)
3/4 cup grated coconut

Toppings for misal:
1 cup chopped tomato
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh green coriander
sev/ pharsan



Method:
Pressure Cook the sprouted pulses & potato for 2 whistles.
Heat oil in a pan .
Add mustard.
When it starts to crackle, add asafoetida and turmeric.
Add ground paste and saute till the oil seperates.
Add red chilli powder, tamarind paste, sugar, salt & ground masala powder.
Saute for 2-3 minutes.
Add cooked sprouts, potato and add 2-3 cups water.
Bring it to a boil and cook on a low flame for 10 minutes.

To Serve the Misal
Place a couple of spoonfuls of Misal in a bowl.
Top it with a spoonful of sev or pharsan.
Garnish with 1-2 tsp chopped onion, tomato, coriander.
Add pav on a side dish.
Your Misal Pav is ready to serve.

Toasted Stuffed Potato Sandwich

I had leftover Alu Sabji from lastnight's Bread Pakoda and so decided to make a hot sandwich for brunch today.

Ingredients:

Alu Sabji (recipe is in the above link.)
4 slices bread buttered on one side


Method:
Spread Alu sabji on the one side of the bread.
Cover with the other slice.
Toast with the buttered side up until golden brown.
Serve hot with ketchup.
Enjoy

Bread Pakoda

This Friday is my husband's turn to take breakfast for his breakfast club at work.And we were wondering what to make that would stand out. So Last night, I tried out making Bread Pakoda which all us Mumbaikars have gorged on for so many years. I have memories of eating hot Bread Pakodas bought on the train ride to Pune.

Ingredients:
4 slices bread

Alu sabji (Potato Filling):
5 Potatoes boiled, peeled and mashed
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp Red Chilli powder
1 tsp Cumin powder
Salt to taste
1 tsp Turmeric
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
5-6 curry leaves
Oil to fry

Besan Batter (Chickpea batter):
2 cups Chickpea Flour
2 cups water
salt
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
turmeric 1 tsp

Garlic Green Chutney(Spicy chutney):
Grind together in a blender:
1 tbsp garlic sliced
5 green chillies chopped
1 1/2 cups coriander leaves chopped
1 tbsp spinach chopped
1/4 cup coconut grated
salt to taste
lemon

Meetha Chutney (sweet chutney):
100 g Dates, boiled
1 marble-sized ball of Tamarind
1 tsp Chilli Powder
1 pinch Black Pepper
1 pinch Salt

Grind all ingredients together in a food process and keep aside.I use the same chutney for my Pani Puris .

Alu sabji:
Heat 3 tbsp oil in a pan.
Add mustard seeds and turmeric.
Add curry leaves and salt.Add all the other spices.
Blend well for 2 minutes.
Take off the stove and keep aside.



Method:
Heat oil for frying.
Cut off the edges off the bread .
Spread one slice with alu sabji.
Press the other slice on top.
Cut it diagonally.



Dip the bread into the Chickpea batter.




Coat it thick all over and fry until golden brown.




Drain it on paper towels.
Serve warm with meetha and teekha chutneys.


The batch of bread pakodas that went to my husbands breakfast club on Friday.

Kanda Poha (Flattened Rice flakes snack)

I love Maharashtrian food mainly because I have been born and brought up there and it is comfort food for me right after my mom's South Indian fare. Needless to say at my mom's, our daily food was a fusion of both South Indian and Maharashtrian food.Poha and Varan are made just as often as Uppma and Rasam. So this Sunday morning, I decided to make and blog Kanda Poha.

Ingredients:

4 cups Thick poha
1 small onion chopped
2 green chilies chopped
4-5 curry leaves
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
2 pinches Hing
Salt to taste
optional : sugar
3 tsps Oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
2 tsp chopped coriander
2 tsp chopped coconut
lemon

Method:

Wash the Poha in water and drain. Add salt and sugar and mix well. Keep aside for 5 minutes.
In the meantime, heat oil and season with mustard, cumin and hing.
Add the green chillies, turmeric powder and curry leaves.
Add the onion and saute till nice and golden.
Add the Poha and cover. Cook for a few minutes in medium.
Garnish with coriander and coconut.
Squeeze lemon and enjoy hot.

Pakodas

I found this snap as I was going through my old photos and decided to upload it to my blog and include the recipe. Pakodas are so famous in the Indian household that you just need an excuse to make them. We make it during the monsoon a lot and also nice to eat them on a cold day with a cup of chai.



Ingredients

2 cups Besan (Chickpea) flour
salt to taste
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 green chilly chopped
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1 onion chopped
I have used onions here but you can use almost any vegetable.
oil to fry

Method:

Mix besan, the spice powders and salt with enough water to make a thick batter.
Add the chopped onion into the batter.
Heat oil to fry.
Scoop up a spoon of the onion batter and pour into the oil.
Fry till crisp and red.
Enjoy with ketchup.

Puris

Ahh Puris ! My mom used to make them on a weekend and we would devour them by the dozens. It is best eaten hot with a nice spicy gravy dish. I made it a fortnight ago with a dish called Alu Tamatar Rasedar (Potatoes in tomato gravy) which unfortunately I forgot to take a good snap of. So the recipe will have to wait until I make it next time. The below snap has a small bowl of it.




Ingredients:

2 cups wheat flour
water to knead
1 tsp ghee (clarified butter)
Oil for frying

Method:

Knead the wheat flour with the water to make a nice soft dough.
Add the ghee to the dough and knead it together.
Roll the dough into small balls.



Roll it with a rolling pin into a flat circle.



Heat oil in a thick pan.
Fry the puris and serve hot with a spicy gravy dish.

Jeera Pulav (Cumin Pilaf)

I make this pulav when I am lost as to what to cook for dinner. This is so easy to make and also so tasty that one cannot go wrong. You can eat it with daal or even with a pickle and raita.



Ingredients:

1 cup basmati rice washed and soaked for 30 mins.
salt to taste
2 bay leaves
4 cloves
1 inch cinnamon stick
4 green cardamoms
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 green chilly
2 cups water
2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)

Method:

Heat ghee in a pan.
Add the cumin seeds, green chillies, cloves, cardamoms, bay leaves and cinnamon.
Saute for a few minutes.
Optional : Add 1 onlion sliced and saute till pink.
Add the drained rice and salt.
Saute for a couple of minutes.
Add the 2 cups of water.
Cover and cook on medium flame.

Serve hot and enjoy.