Matar with Amritsari Aloo Kulcha Chaat, Soft Poha Idlis with restaurant style Sambhar

Happy Mother's day to all moms, enjoy your day on Sunday!

Just a quick note to all of you if you are wondering why you didn't see me in your blogs or see any new post in my blog for the last few months.
I had trouble opening my "edit posts" since 5th of March, had lost most of my 4 years worth of comments (which are back now) and had trouble commenting in other blogs as well right after I got own domain! (http://www.foodieshope.org) It was a blogger problem which affected many of us, so I took a break while they fixed it at their own pace.
Anyway, unusually HOT Summary dry weather here in NC with highest pollen count ever this year in the air has made my Spring allergy worse and my allergy woes continue until June like every year, so I may not be blog surfing much, may be limit 1-1/2 hour a day. Not much fun staring at the PC, blogging with itchy, watery eyes, sniffling and sneezing all the time, is it?
I did listen to CD books novels a lot during the break and enjoyed the school Spring break with kids, so no regrets. Now I am back with an old post which was ready to go last march but could edit only last week. Some of the events I was going to send these dishes are most probably over now but I loved both of these dishes.

Matar with Amritsari Aloo Kulcha Chaat:
You all know how much I love Chaats but I have never heard this Chaat combo of Matar-Kulcha before, shame on me! As soon as I saw this Chaat at Raaga of "The singing Chef"'s post on "Matar Kulcha", I ran to the kitchen to soak the dried white/Yellow Greenpeas and next day it was on the table along with some hot Potato stuffed Amritsari Kulchas. Raaga says this chaat combo is "the famous street food of Delhi: Matar Kulcha." Thanks Raaga, it was the most aromatic, flavorful and easiest Matar chaat I have ever tasted!

Matar/Greenpeas:

I used dried White Greenpeas to make this Matar Chaat. It has amazing taste and so simple to make. We loved it. You can serve this with toasted slices of Bread or stuffed inside the Burger buns as well, makes perfect weekend Brunch too.

To make Matar:

1. Soak 1 cup dried white/yellow Greenpeas overnight, drain all the water and pressure cook them with 1 tsp salt, and with 1 cup water for very short time ie turn off the heat after 1 whistle. You must not over cook Greenpeas, just until they are cooked, still hold the shape and not get mushy.
2. As soon as you get the lid open, mix all the ingredients shown below to the hot cooked Greenpeas, mix well to serve!

Get these ready to mix with Peas:
Chop 1 small onion finely, 2 green chillies minced, enough salt to taste, 1 tsp Punjabi Garam Masala, 1 tsp Chaat masala, 1/2" grated Ginger, 1/8 tsp Black salt, 1 small chopped Tomato and 2 tbsp chopped Cilantro.
I didn't have the fresh Tomato to add, so I heated up 1/4 cup Tomato sauce with 1 tsp sugar in the microwave for 2 mins or until the raw smell goes, cooled it and added to the cooked Peas. Hence the reddish color of the dish, not needed if you have fresh Tomato.
To Serve:
Sprinkle with chopped sweet Videlia onion, chopped Cilantro on top, a slice of lemon and Kulcha on the side.

Grilled Amritsari Aloo Kulcha:
Authentic Amritsari aloo Kulche are supposed to have two layers of dough stuffed with Potato mixture and then cooked or baked. I didn't make 2 kinds of dough as shown here in this wonderful Kulcha video which I am sure makes them thick and flaky. I just took the easy way making them with just one kind of dough. They taste great served hot off the tava.
I used foil to place the rolled out Kulchas and grilled two Kulchas at a time to save time. You can also heat your oven to maximum temp and bake these as well or you can cook them on the stove top with some oil and then brush spicy herbed butter on top. They taste best right out of the oven. Once you mix and knead the dough, do not let it rest more than 1 to 2 hours. They get flaky if you grill them after an hour of resting but Kulchas get flat and bit harder if you let the dough rests longer than 2 hours.

For Amritsari Aloo Kulcha, you need:
Sift or mix 2 cups plain flour, Maida or Bread flour, 1 tsp Baking powder, 1/2 tsp Baking Soda, 1 tsp Salt, 1 tsp Sugar first and then add 2-3 tbsp Oil, 3 tbsp Yogurt, enough warm Milk or water to make a soft but not sticky dough. Divide to 6-8 portions, cover and let it rest for an hour before rolling and grilling/baking the Kulchas.

To brush on top of Kulcha:
4 tbsp melted Butter or oil or mixed, 3 tbsp chopped Cilantro, 1 tsp Garlic chopped or Garlic powder, 1/4 tsp Salt and 1/4 tsp chilli powder or Chilli flakes. Keep aside in a bowl.

Make stuffed Aloo Kulchas:
Take each dough, roll 4" circle, place a ball of aloo masala (recipe below), cover with dough and roll out again gently to about 5-6" circle, keep it thicker than Parathas. Place each Kulcha (I grilled 2 at a time) on a foil and brush with spicy herbed butter or oil mixture on top.

To grill or Bake Kulchas:
Start the grill 5-7 mins before grilling so the oven heats up to the maximum. Keep a cookie sheet or Pizza stone under the grill to heat it up.
Tip: Keep the grille rack about 10" below the grill heating elements, not too close to the top. Kulchas are thick, they need some time to cook and puff up. Keeping the Kulchas right under the heating elements burn the top before they cook properly inside.

Now; slide the foil with Kulchas on the hot cookie/baking sheet under the grill for 5 to 6 mins and watch carefully so they don't get burnt. Flip the Kulchas if needed to grill the other side too, but not necessary if the cookie sheet or Pizza stone is hot before you put the Kulchas or cook on the Tava on the stove top, much easier.

To Bake: These were baked at highest oven temperature which is 550F in my oven for 6-7 mins on a baking sheet, can use Pizza stone too.
Serve Kulchas hot with Matar and Lemon slices.

Aloo masala exposed inside the crispy, flaky, hot Kulcha!!

Aloo/Potato Masala:
2-3 large red Potatoes, boiled. peeled and mashed to smooth mass without lumps.

To make Aloo masala:
Heat 1 tbsp oil, add 1 tsp cumin seeds, a small Onion, chopped, 1-2 minced Green chilly, cook until soft. Add 1/4 tsp Red chilli powder, 1/4 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp each Cumin and Coriander seeds pd, 1 tsp Amchoor/Mango powder or tangy Chaat masala, 2 tbsp minced Fresh coriander leaves, salt, mashed Potatoes, mix well and cool the masala. Divide the masala to 6-8 portions and stuff inside each Kulcha.

One more crispy Aloo Kulcha look:

Over and out!! :))

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Everybody's favorite soft Poha Idlis-"Hotel' Sambhar combo!
I always on the look out for new recipes of tasty Sambhars or Rasams and how to make softest Idlis. Well...most Indians know how to make Idlis but for me it was always a tricky thing to steam perfectly soft Idlis, depends on the proportions of the ingredients and perfect fermenting. Since I had lot of time last few week, thanks to blogspot people and my blogging troubles, I was going thru' my old cookbooks. I found this recipe for softest Idlis in an old yellowing Prestige Pressure cooker cookbook which came with my first pressure cooker I had bought in 1986 few days after my wedding! Since then this book has traveled to 2 countries, has been an NRI over 22yrs along with me! Hahaha! Lot of memories attached to this old book as it has my mother's handwriting in it to guide me thru' cooking when I was a novice cook just starting my "real" life as a young bride! :))

Softest Poha Idlis with restaurant style "Hotel" Sambhar:
I immediately wanted to try the Poha Idli recipe but soaked only one cup of rice just to try out the recipe first. They came out wonderfully soft and very tasty, these proportions worked for me at last. Since we add Poha/Avalakki/Flattened rice, (I used thick kind of Poha) they are little sticky when taking out of the Idli mould but if you use non-stick Idli stand or spray some no-stick oil before you add the batter, they will be fine.

Soft Poha Idlis:

1. Soak 1 cup any long grain rice or Ponni rice or Idli rice, 1/4 cup thick textured Poha/Avalakki overnight with just enough to cover the rice and thick Poha. Wash twice and soak 1/4 cup Urad dal, 1 tsp Methi seeds/Fenugreek seeds separately overnight as well.
If you use thin Poha/flaatened rice, you can just soak it in the morning for 5 mins in hot water and drain all the water to grind with rice.
2. Next day, drain the most of water from Urad dal/Methi seeds, grind to a smooth thick paste adding just enough water. Take it out in a big bowl.
3. Add drained rice and poha to the same mixie bowl, add just enough water to grind these coarsely like Rava/Semolina and take it out into the Urad dal paste and mix both well. Batter should be thick, pourable consistency, not thin. Sprinkle 2 tsp sea salt on top.
4. Cover and let it ferment in a warm place for atleast 12-18hrs or until it looks fluffy. Don't let ferment too much.
5. Spray some no-stick oil on the Idli mould and pour batter 3/4 full and steam for 13-15mins. Let them cool a bit and take them out of the moulds.

"Hotel" Sambhar with Pearl Onions:
This recipe for "hotel" Sambhar comes from the same author of "Daskshin Bhog" which I had mentioned in my last post. Restaurants are called "hotels" and hotels are called "lodgings" in India, so this Sambhar which tastes just like the one served in restaurants is called "Hotel" Sambhar in this cookbook. It does taste like that, loved it, hope you try it too.

1. Cook 1/2 cup Tuar dal in a pressure cooker with 1 1/2 cups of water, 2 slit green chillies, 1/4 tsp Turmeric. Keep aside.
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil, saute 2 cups Pearl Onions until reddish and then add 2 chopped Tomatoes or 1/4 cup canned Tomato sauce. saute for a while until soft. Add 1 cup of Tamarind juice or 1/2 tsp Tamarind paste mixed with 1 cup of water, salt and boil until Pearl onions are cooked.
3. Add ground masala powder, simmer. Add cooked Tuar dal, cilantro, 2 tsp ghee to it, adjust the salt and chilli pd and the thickness of the Sambhar as well. Simmer again, take the pot off the heat. Season the Sambhar.
Season: Heat 2 tsp oil, add 1tsp Mustard seeds, 1-2 red chillies and few curry leaves, 1/4 tsp Hing and add to the Sambhar.
Roast these and powder:
2 tbsp Coriander seeds, 1 tsp Cumin seeds, 2 tsp Poppy seeds, 1 tsp Peppercorns, 2 tsp Channa dal, 2-3 dry red chillies.

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Movies I watched in March and April:

"The Hurt Locker" which I have reviewed in my old post has won the Oscar for the best movie of the year, with a first woman director Kathryn Bigelow in Oscar history as well! She took that Oscar from James Cameron's (her ex-husband) "Avatar" which everybody thought will win the Oscar, great achievement for her indeed!
Both of these movies were Oscar nominated for this year. Mo'nique who plays Precious's mom in the movie won the "best actress" Oscar award.

"Precious" and "Up in the air", loved both of them.
Both movies are based on the books "Push" by Sapphire and "Up in the air" by Walter Kirn. Books are more interesting to read than watching the movies, but both are great movies. Please click on the links for the reviews of the movies and books.

Also watched "the Blind Side", "Julie and Julia" on DVD, loved both.

Also watched DVDs of Michael Moore's "Sicko" and "Capitalism: A love story". Amazing and shocking political documentaries, specially "sicko" about health care in this country compared to other countries. A must watch if you are interested to know what went on in the past and what's happening behind the doors these days which affects our lives directly today!!

That's all for this week, enjoy the weather while I stay indoors safely! :D
Hopefully I can post without any glitch from now on, fingers crossed.