“Bajra- Rava- Cucumber Bhakri” served with homemade Loni (Butter), Khajoor (Dates) syrup, Ginger Tea (Adraki Chai) and a few papaya pieces … a good breakfast keeps you going through the day ... I have added bajra (pearl millet) and grated fresh turmeric that's in season now to make these bhakri's healthier … these delicious bhakri’s tastes awesome served hot with butter, curds, chutney, pickle or khajoor syrup … Yummilicious …
** I am never tired of trying out new variations of bhakri. I have prepared and shared plenty of them before and I am sure I will be doing so in the future too. In my home both hubby and me love the crispy crunch on bhakri’s outside, yet that are soft within. Today, I made them with the added goodness grated cucumber, along with rava, ground spices and bajra (pearl millet) as millets are healthy options these days.
** I will not run into more details as I have mentioned plenty on other posts, so will be sharing the recipe directly. For all those who wish to read more you can browse through my blog. I am sharing a common link to all bhakri posts at the bottom of this recipe for easier access, do try them out and enjoy with your family. These are not only healthy but very easy to prepare, so just go ahead and try them, you will love it.
** Sharing my very own recipe for “Bajra- Rava- Cucumber Bhakri” … my style, do try it out, its not only tasty but healthy too …
** Ingredients :
Rava/ Bombai Rulavu/ Bombay Rava : 1 cup
Bajra Atta/ Pearl Millet Flour : 2 cups
Taushe’/ Cucumber : 1 large or 2 medium sized.
Hing/ Asafoetida Powder : 1 tsp
Ginger/ Adrak/ Alle’ : 1 inch grated
Haldi mande/ Fresh Turmeric Root : ½ inch
Green Chillies/ Tarni Mirsanga/ Hari Mirchi : 6-8 cut into pieces
Fresh Curry Leaves/ Kadipatta/ Karbevu : 8-10
Salt/ Namak/ Meeta : to taste
** Ghee (Toop)+ Oil (Tela/ Tel) in 1:1 proportion for frying the bhakri.
** In a large wide bowl add the cucumber after peeling and grating it using a large holed grater. Add in grated ginger, grated fresh turmeric (optional), finely chopped green chillies and curry leaves. Add hing and salt to taste and mix well.
** Note : You can add some finely chopped fresh coriander leaves or ajwain leaves too, I do at times, however this time I did not have any. You can also add handful of freshly grated coconut, I have not added this time, but it does taste good.
** Now add rava, bajra flour and mix all together to a crumble texture. Add water say about 1 cup and mix well, then keep adding water little by little as is necessary till you get loosely combined mixture that can be rolled into a ball consistency on hand.
** Cover and keep it aside to rest for 25- 30 minutes to rest. Resting time is necessary for the rava and bajra both to soak in moisture and turn out softer. This step is important and a must or else while frying the bhakri will not turn soft within and crispy outside.
** Note : Do not add much water in one go. Addition of water depends upon the rava and bajra mixture as and when it absorbs the same. You can always add water if necessary after the resting time to bring in the right consistency to the mixture.
** After resting, check in the consistency of the mixture. In case you find it too dry add in some water and mix the mixture again. The mixture must be smooth and there should be no lumps in them. The texture should be that of other bhakri/ thick batter, a ball consistency. You should be able to take a large amount of lump of mixture on your hands and pat it on the hot tawa directly into a nice round shaped bhakri.
** For Making of Bhakri : Heat a Iron tava to smoking point and then reduce the heat to minimum. Take required amount of the mixed batter and pat it on a hot tava directly to form small/ medium/ large sized bhakri depending on the size you want to make them into. Be careful while doing this to prevent your hand from getting hurt and do not touch the tava. Keep dipping you hand in water or sprinkling some ove the bakri batter before you pat the bhakri, this is necessary to avoid the bhakri paste from sticking your palms and also give it a nice round evenly patted shape.
OR
** The same can be done on a thick silicon plastic sheet/ banana leaf/ cotton cloth if one is not confident on making bhakri directly on tava. Use a clean plastic sheet to make the bhakri, rub is over with little bit of water and repeat the method in the same way as you would have done it on the tava, once you get nice small round bhakri gently/ slowly remove it seeing to it that the bhakri does not crack up or break and put on a hot tava.
** Pour a few drops of ghee+ oil mixture on all sides/ rim of the bhakri on tava, also sprinkle a few drop on top of the bhakri as it absorbs it while being cooked on heat. Let cook on medium heat until cooked on the bottom side and the paste on the upper portion does not stick to your hand when you touch gently. Now sprinkle some more ghee+ oil on top side and slowly flip over the bhakri and cook on the other side too. Do not overcook as the bhakri should remain soft but firm and not too crisp nor should it get burnt on any side, when done remove and place it on a plate.
** Rub the tava clean with a plain tissue paper/ dry cloth and then repeat the process with some more batter and thus continue until all the batter is consumed in preparing required amount of bhakri. Tastes best served hot, though it can be taken in lunch box too, however in case you want to serve it later or you are always in hurry early morning and find it difficult to get time to prepare the batter, do not worry, you can prepare the batter ahead and store it in an airtight container in the fridge. It remains good for 48 hours, just remove it 20 minutes before preparing bhakri.
** Note : The size of bhakri depends on individual liking/ ability to prepare. While the smaller ones are easy to pat on tava and prepare, the medium sized ones are best while serving. The larger ones serve the purpose of cutting down on time if you have a large family. So you do have the choice to prepare the way you desire, to make smaller one take about cricket sized ball batter and for medium say double its quantity and so on with remaining size. If making small sized ones you can put 5-6 bhakri on tava at a time too.
** Note : You can check out on my various posts on preparation of bhakri dishes shared, there are enough information and tips etc. which you may find useful if you are new to this method of preparing bhakri. There are step pictures and tava pictures too, sharing common link below please browse through in leisure for more guidance.
** “Bajra- Rava- Cucumber Bhakri” is done and ready to be served. Rava Bhakri is a quick and easy to prepare tasty- healthy dish that we GSB Konkani Saraswat usually serve them hot for breakfast with fresh homemade loni (butter) or coconut chutney. However, on days of upvas/ fasting period when the diet consists of 'NO Onion- Garlic- Rice' or if you want to go light on meals/ lunch/ dinner, this dish can easily be prepared and served as it is allowed to be consumed in our community.
** Whenever I prepare these for breakfast, I usually serve it with loni (butter)/ chutney podi/ pickle, dates syrup or at times with coconut chutney and when its served for lunch I make it a point to add on some plain curds or raita or chutney as it taste excellent dunked in them, also it very filling when done so. This is one dish that can be relished any time of the day or while travelling too. There are many more combinations that you can try out if you like us enjoy bhakri dishes, do try this one out and enjoy with your family and friends.
** Sharing a common link below to all “Bhakri” dishes shared in the blog before, do browse through them in leisure and try out that which appeals to you ….
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