Aloo Paratha - The two authentic methods!

OK! Have it your way. If you have already checked the Easy Aloo Paratha recipe and you still want to do it the “authentic” way. Here you go.

Prepare the potatoes first. If you like to keep it simple, good with me. Just add salt, red chilli powder, cumin powder and some chat powder. If not, let’s spice it up some more.

The first method of making the aloo paratha is where you divide one portion of the dough into two. Roll each of them separately into 4-5” diameter. Spread generous amount of aloo mixture on one side and cover it with the other. Pinch down the sides firmly till completely sealed. Now start rolling, by initially gently patting down with the hand. Then go ahead and use a rolling pin to roll out the parathas larger. 

The second method of rolling the paratha is taking a single portion from the dough and flattening it with your hand. Roll it out to about 5” diameter. Place the aloo mixture the size of the dough into the flattened dough. Pick up the edge and start pleating the dough brining all the edges to the centre. Tug the edges gently and keep flattening the edges if required. Once the dough is completely sealed sprinkle some dry flour and start rolling the paratha by gently pressing with your fingers. Once it flattens to a 5 inch diameter again then use the rolling pin to flatten it out completely. 

This recipe makes 6 parathas and one paratha provides approximately 205 Calories.

Here is what you’ll need :

2  medium potatoes

1 onion finely chopped

1 tbsp oil

5-6 curry leaves

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

3 chillies finely chopped            

½  tsp coriander powder

½  tsp cumin powder

1 tsp chaat masala

½ tsp red chilli powder

Salt

 1 tbsp oil

2 cups Whole wheat flour

½ tsp sugar

Butter/oil/ghee to fry

Method:

1. Pressure cook the potatoes till soft and grate them.
2. In a kadai, heat 1 tbsp oil and fry the ginger galic, curry leaves and chopped green chilli.
3. Add the onions and sauté till softened.
4. Sprinkle in coriander, cumin, chaat, red chilli powder and salt.
5. Mix in the grated potatoes and coriander and switch off the flame.
6. Let the potato masala completely cool down and keep it in the fridge for 2 hours.
7. To prepare the dough, mix the whole wheat flour with salt, sugar and oil and knead with lukewarm warm to form soft pliable dough.
8. Rest the dough for 20 minute.
9. Follow the method shown above to roll the paratha.
10. Fry the paratha on heated tawa using butter/ghee/oil.

NOTES:

• For easy rolling of the parathas without the potato mixture spilling out, remember to keep the potato mixture very dry.
• During the pressure cooking of potatoes it’s not essential to immerse the potatoes in water. Just wash the potatoes. Do not peel. Keep the potatoes in a smaller vessel which could go inside the cooker. Fill the cooker with water and not the vessel containing the potatoes. This method of pressure cooking could take a bit of extra time.
• Alternatively, if you did cook the potatoes by boiling directly in water, then once the potatoes mixture is completely ready, refrigerate for 2 hours in an open plate. This dries up the mixture further.
• The second thing to remember is to keep the dough soft. Only if your dough is pliable will you be able to stretch the dough and fill it with potato mix. Or else it will break while rolling and the filling will spill out. 

        Check out the recipe of Easy Aloo Paratha in The Kitchen Counter column.

Recipe by Zohra Sada

The Pep Talk: Obesity

You can’t simply throw the latest weight loss diet magazine at a person and ask them to lose weight. Just like a doctor treats each patient in the appropriate manner deserving, every overweight, obese or morbidly obese patient needs the same attention and care.  First things first; the more obese you are the more help you need, by a professional. Seek that help.

Obesity is not just a cosmetic concern. It’s a medical condition where excess fat has accumulated to such an extent that it’s causing negative effects on the overall health. Being overweight may be a symptom of the underlying health disorders or being overweight may cause deterioration in different aspects of health.

Coronary heart diseases, diabetes, High blood pressure, stroke, cancer, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, reproductive problems, gallstones, abnormal lipid levels are just some of the problems of being overweight. And now-a-days the biggest problem is something that should be on the bottom of the list, “being called fat”. Obesity is a psychological problem as much as a physical problem.

Few things to know first, why are you overweight?

• Overeating?
• Sedentary lifestyle?
• Psychological?
• Heredity?

Remember, every body works differently, most of the time the patient understands the problem better than the dietician. In this world of rat race, binging, indulging, sedentary lifestyle the rate of obesity is shooting high and then we blame it all on the genes.

So what can be done?

An iron solid “willpower”

Study yourself. Study your food habits. Educate yourself about food. Understand your environment.

With exercise, healthy eating habits and sheer determination say goodbye to those extra pounds.

Post by Zohra Sada

Mutton Curry Kerala Style

I love pathiris. The soft rotis made of rice flour is a famous Kerala recipe. But what accompanies the pathiri should be an authentic Kerala style chicken or mutton. The menu of pathiri and kerala style mutton curry is an occasional treat in my house.

For those of you who have never tried this aromatic fragrant curry must try this recipe.

The thing that makes a Malabar or Kerala Curry stand out is the extra hot spiciness and use of whole garam masalas.

For this recipe, I have roasted all the whole spices and the fresh coconut. I have then ground it into a fine powder and added to the bhuna masala.

The people of Kerala love their curry spicy hot!! If you are like me and cant tolerate extreme spiciness then, this recipe is for you. Its much milder.

Here is what you’ll need:

6-7 pieces of mutton in bones

½ cup fresh coconut

1 tsp coriander whole

1 tsp jeera whole

5 whole black pepper seeds

3 red chillies

1 bay leaf

1  inch cinnamon stick

¼ tsp fenugreek

1 medium onion

1 tomato

1inch ginger

5 cloves garlic

2 green chillies

6-7 curry leaves

½ tsp mustard

Salt as per taste

2 tbsp oil

This recipe serves 3 people and each serving provides approximately 350 calories.

Method:

1. In a small pan, heat one tsp oil. Add the whole coriander, whole jeera, fenugreek, whole black pepper, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, red chilli and coconut.
2. Once the coconut starts turning brown, switch off the flame and let the mixture cool.
3. Grind the mixture into a fine paste with little water.
4. In a pressure cooker, heat 1 tbsp oil and splutter the mustard seeds.
5. Once the mustard splutters, add the curry leaves, green chillies and onions.
6. Once the onion brown, add the tomato. Cook till the tomatoes go soft.
7. Add the cleaned mutton to the onion tomato mixture, and cook till mutton sweats.
8. Add a cup of water and pressure cook for 4 whistles on medium low heat.
9. Once the mutton is cooked, add the ground paste of coconut and spices and mix well.
10. Add salt to adjust the taste.
11. Serve hot with pathiris.

Recipe by Zohra Sada

The Pep Talk: Obesity vs Underweight

Every overweight person wants to shed those extra pounds and every skinny lean individual wants a die for figure.   The internet is filled with slimming tricks, weight loss-gain diets, nutrition plans, success stories and fad diets. We all want the magic to work overnight. In many cases, people go on hunger strikes, eat healthy, work out at the gym for a few weeks and lose a few pounds. Then take off to celebrate and relax and the entire nightmare comes back tumbling. In the alternative case people who are fed up of listening to “you look like a lamp post” go binging on junk.

Just like losing weight is difficult, gaining a few pounds is even more difficult. What we need to realize is that all our bodies don’t work the same way. Many of you go to extremes, get anorexic, live off leaves without shedding any of those calories and many vice-versa. No one knows your body better than you.

The biggest mistake here is our goal, “To lose-gain x pounds”. Being fat is not bad. For example a slightly overweight person who eats healthy, does moderate amount of physical work, and can walk a kilometer or two without panting and puffing is healthier than a lean individual who has no stamina to climb a flight of staircase. Remember, do not judge health based on appearance. The goal must be to stay healthy.

Throw your health magazines away. Hit the gym, run an extra mile, jog to your grocery store, climb those stairs. Keep your heart pumping.

Do not read the health corner like a junk. Educate yourself on food. Put the extra effort. Love your body, nourish it. Treat it the way it deserves to be treated.

Living healthy is not for today or for a week or for a month. It’s a lifestyle change. Your mirror should not be the only thing that noticed the change. Eating healthy and living healthy should brighten the soul.

Post by Zohra Sada

Dill Leaves Caramel Pudding/ Shawfapana pudding

Haha! I googled for the above recipe and nothing came up. So let me show you how to make it. Tastes better than plain vanilla caramel pudding! The only place where I use dill leaves is in this pudding.

The recipe for a normal vanilla caramel pudding is exactly the same just minus the dill leaves. Dill leaves works as a substitute for vanilla essence. It gives a different flavour. Nevertheless I add both vanilla essence and dill leaves. You can never be too sure around eggs and its smell. :-)

In the picture I have shown where I have strained the dill leaves using a fine muslin cloth which gives a lighter shade of green. If you wish, you could strain it using a strainer, which will give tiny pieces of leaves in the pudding which is also cool. I do it both the ways. The leaves will not bother you.

I use two 10” pans to steam the pudding. I know some people like their puddings to stand tall. I don’t. Also this works as a portion control method. You could use a deep 10” inch pan to steam the pudding or use ramekins. It’s up to you.

So about preparing the caramel, if you’re using a stainless steel pan that goes right into the steamer, then prepare a thicker caramel using less water. But if you want to use ramekins or transfer the caramel into another pan, then you might need to use more water.

This recipe serves 8-10 people providing approximately 135 calories per serving.

Here is what you’ll need:

For the caramel:

4 tbsp sugar (divided)

2 tbsp water

For the pudding:

1 cup tightly packed dill leaves

6 eggs

2 cups milk

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

1. Separate the leaves from the stem of the dill leaves. Wash thoroughly.
2. In a blender, crack the eggs, pour the milk and sugar along with vanilla essence. Add the dill leaves and blend it all together.
3. Strain the mix in a muslin cloth or fine strainer.
4. Heat up the pan for preparing the caramel.
5. Keep the heat on medium low and sprinkle the sugar on the pan along with water.
6. If making 2 pans of pudding divide the sugar as 2 tbsp for each pan.
7. Let the sugar start boiling and change its colour to deep dark golden.
8. Switch off the heat; pour half the pudding mix into the pan.
9. Place the pan into a boiling steamer and steam the pudding for 20 minute.

Recipe by Zohra Sada

Hummus

For all those days when you don’t want to go heavy on dinner or perhaps no mood to cook. Making hummus at home is never easier.  Minimum ingredients and least work. Good proteins, good carbs,  lowering cholesterol may all be secondary reasons. Primarily it just tastes amazing.

Make sure you have a food processor if you’re dumping all of it in together. If your using a smaller grinder then make it in batches. Try not to use more water.  Watery hummus is a not so appealing.

The authentic recipe for hummus calls for tahini paste which is nothing but sesame seeds pureed in olive oil. I don’t use tahini. Just add the sesame seeds along with chickpeas and it’s perfectly okay.

Oh Oh! And for those who don’t want to use canned chickpeas. Use regular chickpeas. Soak it overnight in water. Wash and cook with salt and a pinch of baking soda till very soft. 

1 tbsp of home-made hummus gives approximately 27 calories.

Here is what you’ll need:

1 can of chickpeas/ garbanzo beans

2 tbsp sesame seeds (Til seeds)

1-2 garlic cloves                                

2 tbsp yoghurt

Juice of ½  a lemon or more

3-4 mint leaves

Olive oil 2 tbsp

Salt as per taste

Red chilli powder for garnish

Parsley for garnish

Method:

1. In a heavy duty grinder or food processor, add the chickpeas, sesame seeds, garlic, yoghurt, lemon juice, salt and mint leaves.
2. Process till smooth. If too thick add 1-2 tbsp water.
3. Scoop it out into a plate and make like well in the center.
4. Pour the olive oil. Garnish with red chilli powder and parsley.
5. Serve as a dip with pita bread or spread it on a toasted bread.

Rexipe by Zohra Sada