Puri Bhaji

Puri - Indian flat bread deeply fried made from all purpose flour /wheat flour, along with Bhaji a side dish to accompany is a traditional and must served dish in all the restaurants in India. The only difference is its called with different names based on the region and the side dish, like Puri bhaji, Kurma puri, puri chole and so on. The one that is served in Maharashtrian hotels is the "Puri Bhaji" which has a side dish prepared from authentic potato sabzi which turns to be an awesome combination. 

Ingredients:

Puri:

Wheat flour	2 cups
All purpose flour	1 cup
Oil	2 tea spoon
Salt	Pinch of
Water	as needed

 

Bhaji:

Potato	5-6 boiled and mashed
Onion	1 big finely chopped
Green chilli	2-3 finely chopped
Salt	To taste
Sugar	½ tea spoon
Turmeric powder	½ tea spoon
Mustard seeds	½ tea spoon
Cumin seeds	½ tea spoon
Oil	1 table spoon
Urad dal/black gram skinned	½ table spoon
Coriander	Handful of
Curry leaves	5-6 chopped
Ginger	½ inch piece finely chopped
Garlic flakes	4-5 finely chopped

Procedure:
Bhaji:
1. Wash the potatoes and keep it in pressure cooker for boiling. After 3 vissels and the all the pressure is released from the cooker you can peel the skin and mash the potatoes.
2. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan, when its heated add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, chopped ginger, garlic, and chopped green chilli, curry leaves sauté for few seconds. 

3. Add urad dal and fry it until golden brown.
4. Add chopped onion and heat until translucent.

5. Add turmeric powder, salt and mix well. Fry this for 2-3 mins.

6. Add chopped / mashed potatoes, sugar, chopped coriander and mix well. Cook this for 3-4 mins. Mix well.

Your potato bhaji is ready now!

Puri:
Making puri’s I learned from few of my north Indian friends. Earlier I used to dust flour and roll the puris but that will not make the puri’s puffy and all the flour gets settled down in the oil while frying. To make puri’s more puffy we should instead apply oil and roll them. And while deep frying we need to press them with the slotted ladle so that it completely gets immersed in oil and move on to the other side and fry in similar way.

1. The dough for making puris should not be very soft. In a mixing bowl mix both the flours, add salt, little oil mix them with the fingers. Add little water at a time and knead well to form a dough. Apply little oil over again and keep for rest for around 15-20 mins.  

2. Make lemon sized balls apply oil and spread them in circular shape which should be evenly thick on all sides.
3. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan, to check if the oil is heated drop a small ball of dough in oil and see if it rises to the top then you can say the oil is sufficiently heated t fry the puris. Otherwise wait until the oil is heated.
4. Add a puri and press it with slotted ladle so that it gets immersed in oil as explained in the above paragraph. Fry the puris on both the sides. Drain excess oil and keep it on tissue paper so that the excess oil gets absorbed by paper.

5. Serve this hot with bhaji.

Notes:

• You can only use wheat flour alone for making puris, maida brightens the color of puris.
• The dough should be little stiff not too smooth as we are not dusting flour while rolling the puris. It will be difficult to roll only with the oil if the dough is too smooth.
• If you roll the puris little thicker evenly on all sides they become puffy.
• you can squeeze a lemon on potato sabzi while serving this adds up the required tangy taste.
• Adding sugar balances the taste and binds the sabzi, you can skip if you do not wish to use it.