“Lauki Makkai Ki Poori” … poories/ puri all puffed up like small ballons is always a delight to relish be it for lunch/ breakfast … almost everybody loves it and poori bhaji is one of the most sought after snack now worldwide … tried my own mix and match of ingredients like lauki (bottle gourd/ gardudde), spices, makkai ka atta, wheat atta etc. for preparing this scrumptious poori … served it with Karathe’ (Karela/ Bitter Gourd) Dry Masala Curry and Fresh (Raw) Yellow Dates (Khajoor) Pickle (Nonche) for lunch and it was an awesome combo … Yummilicious ….
** Poori is always a delight to relish hot and puffed up especially during winter/ monsoon. During cold season, everybody loves deep fried dishes as somehow it spreads warmth to the body. These days deep fried snacks have taken a back seat in my home too as is the case with many, I guess all of us are being influenced by the constant healthy habits lecture we often get to hear from almost all sources.
** However, there are times when the tongue rules the mind and heart wins over and one gives in to enjoy these yummy dishes after all once a foodie always a foodie. Again, it’s my belief that we should not shun or cut down on any food completely. One cannot deprive self from eating food that one grew up relishing; an unsatisfied/ grumbling soul is not a great one to live with too, Isn’t it ? I am sure you will agree.
** I have learnt to cut down on quantity and also frequency of these dishes and it works fine for me, so should it for you, after all we all want to have a happy, beaming and healthy family around us. Parathas are often prepared in my home with addition of lauki/ gardudde/ bottle gourd, this time I tried out a different combo and prepared poori, which I am going to mention in recipe below, do try out and enjoy with family.
** Here is my simple recipe for “Lauki Makkai Ki Poori” … my style … you can serve it with any side dish of your choice …
** Wash, wipe dry a tender bottle gourd (lauki/ gardudde) and slice off the skin portion as thinly as possible and then cut the inner tender fleshy portion into small pieces. I have used approximately about 3 cups of cut pieces here.
** Add lauki pieces in mixer grinder with one cup of coriander leaves (kottambari pallo/ dhania), 4-5 green chillies (tarni mirsanga/ hari mirchi), ½ inch piece of ginger (alle’/ adrak), few curry leaves (kadipatta/ kadipatta), 2-3 sambarpalli (ajwain/ vonvo) leaves and grind to a smooth paste without adding water.
** Note : Do not add water as the bottle gourd has more than enough water content in it for grinding of the ingredients. Addition of water will make the paste thinner and will end up having to add excess flour later on. Also the lesser the water you will get better ground mixture which need not be too fine in texture.
** Add paste into a bowl with ¼ tsp of hing (asafoetida) powder, pinch of haldi (turmeric) powder, salt (namak/ meeta) to taste along with 1 tblsp of oil (tel/ tela) and mix well. Add 1 cup of makkai ka atta (maize flour) and approximately about 2-3 cups of wheat flour (atta/ gonva peeta) and mix well to form a stiff dough. Cover with a wet cloth and then with a lid and keep it aside to rest for about 20 minutes.
** Note : You can add ¼ tsp of ajwain (bishops weed/ vonvo) after crushing it a bit between palms in case the sambarpalli/ vonvo leaves which were added while grinding is not available to you, as these leaves are usually grown at home.
** Note : While kneading the dough add wheat flour last as and how much is necessary only for binding dough. This is so as it depends on the texture of the ground paste, if thinner in texture you may need more and less if thicker, so to avoid exceeding flour content, keep adding and needing to get the dough perfect.
** Roll the dough into a long roll and then with the help of a knife cut them into equal size. Apply some oil on hand and spread a light hand on the cut pieces of dough. This ensures they do not dry up and also helps in rolling without dusting.
** For rolling of poori you can follow the dusting or non dusting method. Today, I have applied oil to the poori balls and not dusted while rolling. For this method, just apply a little bit of oil to the rolling pin and roll the poori as to a circle of about 3.5 to 4 inches.
** Note : Do not roll all the poori in one go, as they will dry up soon and will not puff up well. If you have more quantity of poori's to be rolled then after a few, say about 6-8 poori's are rolled, fry them and then continue rolling by once again slightly apply oil to the rolling pin so that the dough does not stick to pin, off course if you have someone to help it is lovely as one can do the rolling and the other frying.
** If using dusting method, roll out each ball evenly into a 3.5 to 4 inch dia circle after dusting them evenly on all sides with flour. The poori should always be rolled evenly. They should not be too thick nor too thin, as both will not give desired results.
** Heat oil in a kadai/ pan to smoking point, then lower the heat to medium, wait for a few minutes before you add poori, coz. if the oil is too hot then poori will burn and turn crisp instead of evenly getting fried, also keep the heat constant throughout frying process.
** Note : To check if the oil is hot enough, just add in a pinch of dough into the oil, if it hits the bottom and comes back sizzling the heat is right for deep frying. If the dough does not bounce back and takes more time, it means the oil is not hot enough.
** If the poori bounces back immediately turning dark or burnt that means the oil is too hot. Always remember to maintain the correct heat level throughout deep frying of poori is very important to get well puffed and well cooked poori which you will with practice.
** To Deep Fry Poori : Slide in one rolled poori gently into hot oil, when it comes back sizzling, keep pressing it gently on sides with little pressure with a spatula that has holes in it, this enable poori to puff up from within nicely.
** Once it puffs up, wait for a few seconds and then gently flip it to cook on other side. Wait for a few seconds for other side to be cooked too, then flip it back and after 1-2 seconds remove it allowing excess oil to drain back into the kadai.
** Place poori on absorbent paper for excess oil to drain off and repeat process with remaining rolled dough frying them exactly as before till done. Roll out remaining dough or as many as you desire to fry at the given time and deep fry all in similar manner keeping the heat constant until you have fried required number of poori.
** “Lauki Makkai Ki Poori” is and ready to be served. You can serve it with any side dish like chutney, potato bhaji, veggie bhaji, shrikhand, curry etc. of your family choice. Always serve poori fresh and piping hot direct from kadai when they are all puffed and nicely blown up which will be loved by your family and friends. Children love piercing the poori and relishing them with glee seeing the hot steam escape.
** I served it with Karathe’ (Karela/ Bitter Gourd) Dry Masala Curry and Fresh (Raw) Yellow Dates (Khajoor) Pickle (Nonche) for lunch and it was an awesome combo. I have shared the links to both recipes below, you may check it out too if interested. I am also sharing a common recipes link to “Poori” along with an article link which you may browse through in leisure and try out various types of poori shared.
** For “Karathe’ (Karela/ Bitter Gourd) Dry Masala Curry” Recipe, please follow the link given below …
** For “Fresh (Raw) Yellow Dates (Khajoor) Pickle (Nonche)” Recipe, please follow the link given below …
** Sharing a common link to all "Poori” recipes in blog below. There are some lovely recipes with different combinations and some of them include step by step methods which will help you understand the procedure better if novice, do check it out in leisure ….
** Plz. Do Check out on an Article written by me on Poori, on the given link below …
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