TilGul Poli / Gul Poli / Sweet Jaggery Flat Bread

 

Mission Gul Poli Accomplished!!! 

Traditional recipes can be intimidating. I had never tried making Gul Poli. The trips to India in December would always treat us with mom-made delicious Gul Poli as well as some packed for the journey back ...and so we never made it after coming back here in January. But this year is different. No travel to India and no mom-made Gul poli :(

So to statisfy the cravings and to take us back home to enjoy the super delicious Gul poli, decided to give it a try! Phone calls with mom and few friends provided some great tips and tricks to accomplish this mission succesfully 😊 To make things tad bit simpler, I used the Udipi Jaggery Powder instead of grating the Gul (Jaggery) to make the Poli. The Poli's came out great in terms of taste, texture and color. I could have rolled them out a bit thinner, but that was just me being novice. 

Recipe (This makes about 12 Gul Polis)

Dough:

3 Cups Whole wheat flour

1/4 cup Besan roasted till brown in 1 tsp ghee

3 tsp hot oil

Warm water

Sweet Filling:

2 Cups Udipi Jaggery Powder

1/2 cup Sesame seeds (white Til ) roasted till golden brown

1/2 cup Besan roasted till brown in 2 tsp ghee

2 tsp Cardamom powder

1/2 tsp Nutmeg powder

Method

Dough:

1) Roast the besan in ghee till golden brown. Let it cool. Mix the whole wheat flour, roasted besan and massage with hands till all besans crumbs are broken. Add hot oil. Mix. Add little warm water at a time and knead into a dough. Dough should be stiffer than chapati dough. Keep the dough covered with wet cloth for 1hr. After 1 hr, knead the dough again with oiled hands and make large marble sized 24 balls. Keep the dough balls covered with wet cloth till ready to use.

Sweet Filling:

1) Roast the besan in ghee till golden brown. Let it cool.

2) Powder the roasted sesame seeds. Add the roasted besan and Jaggery powder to the mixer and blend till well combined and the mixture starts to come together. Add the cardamom and nutmeg powder and mix.

3) With oiled hands divide and press the mixture into 12 equal sized balls. The oil in the sesame seeds and roasted besan should help with the binding.

4) Roll out 2 of the dough balls into small pooris. Sprinkle some flour on the roling board to avoid sticking. Place the sweet filling mixture ball in the center and gently press to break it and spread it to cover almost the entire poori, leaving little space on the sides.

5) Place the second poori on top to make a sandwich and gently press the poori with palm of your hands to make the jaggery mixture and dough stick together. Do not seal the sides.

6) Gently roll out the two pooris stuffed with the sweet filling into a poli with a rolling pin. Sprinkle some flour as necessary to avoid sticking. Remove the excess dough on the sides with a dough cutter. (Like the one used for Shankarpalis)

7) Warm a non-stick pan on low flame ( On  Scale of 1-10, 10 being the hottest, I kept the flame on 3 to roast the Gul Polis. Roast with little oil/ghee on both sides till golden brown. The Polis will be soft when you roast them due to the jaggery melting, but will become the correct texture on cooling.

8) Serve the Gul Polis warm/ room temperature with Ghee and Saffron milk.

TilGul Ghya Goad Bola!

"Treats for Diwali":Spicy 'Spinach-Garlic' Sev

For couple years now, I have been making Spicy-Crispy sev...and it is one of our favorite Diwali snacks. To do something different this year, I decided to modify my mom's recipe to make this 'Spicy Bright Green " Spinach and Garlic sev! The bright green color is so dramatic and contrasts so well with the other colorful Diwali snacks and sweets! Kids love to snack on this green little finger food...

Ingredients:
2 and 1/2 cup Besan/ Gram flour
3tsp Rice flour
2-3 handfuls spinach ( boiled and pureed to 1 cup) I used baby spinach
3 cloves garlic
3-4 green chilies
4tsp hot oil
1tsp Ajwain/owa
2 tsp ground Cumin powder 
1/2tsp red chili powder
1/2tsp Garam masala powder
Salt
Oil to fry


Sev maker

Method:
1) In microwave safe bowl, place spinach and sprinkle some water.Steam with light lid for 2 mins.Let it cool.Drain water(you can use it to add to soup/rice etc). Puree the Spinach along with garlic, chilies.The puree should come to 1cup.
2) Heat 4 tsp oil.Mix together besan, rice flour, owa, spinach garlic  puree,spices, salt, red chili powder and the hot oil. Knead into a firm dough.This dough is firmer than chapati dough.Firmer dough is necessary for crispy sev. Add little water if necessary to make dough. Divide the dough into 3 equal parts.
3) Oil the Sev maker from inside. Put the 'Sev jaali' on. Thinnest will give crispier sev, but it will be hard to squeeze out the dough. I used 2 jaali sizes.Place the dough in the Sev maker.
4) Heat oil in a big frying pan. Keep the heat to low-medium. Squeeze out the sev in circles in the oil and on both sides.Do not let it brown.It should remain bright green, but still cooked and crispy.

For a prettier presentation, I kept the Sev circles intact, but you can break them up into small pieces!

"Treats for Diwali"- Besan Burfi

With Diwali 2012 soon approaching ....I am going to be posting Diwali Faral recipes on the blog.
Wishing you all a Happy and a Delicious Diwali from TheSizzlingPan!! 

**For more Diwali treat recipes from previous years, check
1) http://my-kitchens-aroma.blogspot.com/2011/10/treats-for-diwali.html
And
 http://my-kitchens-aroma.blogspot.com/search/label/Diwali%20Treats

Besan Burfi /Besan Vadi

 I love Besan laddoo!! It was my favorite Diwali treat since I was a small kid!! I have made besan laddoos, before..and this Diwali I wanted to try out different recipes.So, I thought why not start the "Diwali Faral" by making this "Besan Burfi"/ "Mysore pak"

I found this very nice recipe with step by step pictures on "Sharmis Passions":
 http://www.sharmispassions.com/2011/10/mysore-pak-recipe-deepavali-sweets.html

1)Mine did not come out as 'yellow' as hers, but that may be the difference in the 'Besan' that she and me used.
2) The only difference I did was, to add crushed Pistachio on top of the Burfi to give a festive look!

3)And yes....I probably saved a 1/4 cup of ghee :0( They needed so much of ghee...my hand could just pour out that much lol!!!)  ...that is why there were some tiny cracks on top of the vadis.

4) But all in all..the recipe is  keeper...and a good start to Diwali Faral!!

"Sweet Treats"- Besan and Wheat flour Burfi

Sweet Indulgence...
Do you reward yourself at times???
So....past couple weeks I have been working out at 'Tipton Lakes Athletic club.'M' enrolled me in this program, where they give you 3 workout sessions a week with a personal trainer....all for free for this month!!!!
I am planning to take the 'Zumba' dancing class after this session! I have NO idea what that is...but sounds cool..isn't it!!!
I so much needed this....to get back into the habit of exercising, loose that baby weight, get fit and feel good about myself.....The last one is the most important!
 I hope it does:)

Ingredients:
1 and1/2 cups 'Ladoo' Besan (This gram flour has a 'coarse' texture to it and gives nice texture to the burfi or ladoo)
1/2 cup Wheat flour
3/4th cup Ghee/ Clarified butter
1 and 1/2 cup sugar
1tsp Cardamom powder
2tbsp Almond, pistachio slices for garnishing
Cooking spray/ little ghee to coat the tray

 Method:
1) Roast the besan and wheat flour with the ghee in a non stick pan.
2) Roast on low to medium flame till the color changes a little and you smell the roasted aroma of besan
3) Add the sugar and cardamom powder.Mix well. Take off the flame.
4) Coat the tray/ cookie sheet with  cooking spray or apply ghee with hands.
5) Pour the besan mixture in the tray and form into square/ rectangle which is about 2 cm thick

6) Garnish with sliced almonds and pistachios.
7) Let it set for 15-20 mins.
8) Cut into diamond shape with a knife

9) Place in the refrigerator for about 1 hour for hardening.

10) Carefully cut the burfi and store in airtight container.
You can make ladoos with the same mixture

Indulge into the crumbly,buttery, sweet Besan-wheat Burfi!!!

"Appetizers"- Suralichi Vaadi/ Khandvi

I know what you are thinking...how did she find the time and patience to make THAT??? Yes, with little 'E' and even 'littiler' ( is that a word even?) 'A', days are rough, busy, and crazy. But you know, your mouth still waters..isn't it?
 You still crave stuff...resulting into me making yum yum food like this...
This is my moms recipe( and YES!!! she is here for 3 months now!).

Ingredients:
1 cup Besan/ Gram flour
3/4th cup Buttermilk
2tsp all purpose flour
2 cups water
Salt ,turmeric, chili powder to taste
For Tadka- 1 tbsp oil, mustard seeds, sesame seeds
For Garnishing- Fresh coconut, cilantro

Method:
1) Mix besan, all purpose flour,buttermilk,water, salt,chili powder,turmeric etc into thin paste.No lumps in the batter.
2) Cook the paste in a non stick pan on medium heat and stir continuously

3) When the paste looks shiny/glossy and cooked (10mins) or so, taste and confirm that it is cooked.Taste to check if the batter is cooked or spread some on a flat cookie sheet, let it cool and see if it forms a layer that can be peeled easily.If not cooked the rolls won't come out good.
4) Spread the paste on flat cookie sheet.DO NOT oil the cookie sheet. You will need 3-4 baking trays/ thalis etc so keep those handy.The batter has to be spread fast into thin layer.Will a spatula or a steel 'vati'/bowl.

5) When cooled, with a knife draw vertical lines on the cooled batter.Roll into Vadis/ Khandvis

6) Heat oil, add mustard seeds, sesame seeds and pour on the vadis.

 7) Garnish with grated coconut, cilantro etc

                                     Enjoy the soft texture with slight sour-spicy taste of the vadis!

'For Little Tummies'-Zucchini Fritters

Zucchini Fritters

What to make for snack? Everyday the same question....and have to meet the following criterion-must be healthy and nutritious, easy to digest, must appeal to 'E's eyes, tasty,easy to pick up with his little fingers etc etc.Last evening remembered the 'ghosavalyachi bhaji/fritters' my mom made @ home in Pune. Vegetable resembling ghosavala....ummmm..ummm...tadah!....Zucchini! And luckily had a zucchini in the fridge,so tried this out.Came out really well....and appealed to my little 'E' who by the way gets his 'picky eater' genes from 'M'.I served it with Ketchup...coz....anything dippable in Ketchup...is 'yummy' (As E thinks)!

Ingredients:

1 medium Zucchini cut into thin rounds

1/2 cup besan/gram flour

1tbsp rice flour

1/8 tsp owa seeds/ajwain seeds

Oil to fry

salt,chili powder,turmeric,asafoetida powder to taste.

Method:

1) Mix besan,rice flour,turmeric,salt,owa seeds,chili powder etc together.Add water and make into smooth paste.Not to watery nor too thick.Must coat the zucchini well.

2)Dip each zucchini round into the batter and fry in heated oil till golden brown and crisp.

3) Serve with ketchup/mint chutney.

4) Enjoy hot!