One of the most quintessential meals that mom would make is puris or parothas with potato bhaji. Pickle was a must and fried papad to accompany it. It was and is still my brother and dad’s favorite meal! Very simple, easy to make, delicious and full of flavor, it leaves you satisfied and content. We would wash it down with savory chaas or buttermilk, made with yogurt, water, ginger, green chillies, roasted cumin, salt and mint. It was perfect in the Mumbai heat, and so refreshing to have chaas. It is the perfect coolant, and so good for digestion as well, because of the cumin powder in it.
The green puris are made with fenugreek, cilantro, spinach, all blanched and pureed to make a smooth paste. Cumin and carom seeds are great for digestion and mixed in the dough along with green chilli and ginger paste. The dough should be pliable like play dough 🙂 if that makes sense. And If you have a tortilla maker, you can use it to flatten the dough balls, to make round puris. Or if you are comfortable, you can roll it out like pastry dough into round flat puris which are about 4-5 inch in diameter and fry them. They puff up so beautifully, and are so delicious, eaten hot right out of the frying pan!
The combination works really well with a potato vegetable curry, that is probably my dad’s favorite vegetable! 🙂 It is a one pot dish, where you simply put all the ingredients in one pot, cover it and let it simmer for half hour or so and you have a delicious vegetable ready for your meal! The cucumber raita is simply my favorite thing to eat. I love it as a snack at any time of the day, it is  refreshing and filling especially in the summer heat. The freshly roasted cumin ground into a powder is a must and key to great tasting cucumber raita. Also a pinch of sugar brings it all together.
Hope you enjoyed this recipe and blog post, that takes me right back home and reminds me of my mom’s cooking and how I would help her with cooking and prepping all the time. The amount I have learnt from watching and helping her as a child is not quantifiable. It is all etched in my memory and will forever stay there. I hope I can pass this on to my kids, just as she did with me.
XO
Amisha
Ingredients
- Green Puris:
- 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 1/2 cups washed spinach/fenugreek greens
- 1/2 cup washed cilantro
- salt to taste
- 2 teaspoon paste with ginger and green chilly paste(use 1 green chilli)
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 cup warm water to bind + 1/2 cup extra(if required)
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon carom seeds
- Potato Vegetable:
- 6 medium sized potatoes, peeled and diced into small-medium cubes.
- 6-7 curry leaves
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- pinch of asafoetida
- 1 teaspoon ginger paste
- 2 grated garlic cloves
- 1 finely chopped green chilly
- 1 medium sized finely chopped tomato
- 2 tbsp chopped cilantro
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp red chilli powder( use a pinch if you do not like it spicy)
- 1 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- salt to taste
- 4-5 cups water to cover the potatoes in the pot
- Cucumber Raita:
- 1 cup greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 grated persian cucumber
- 1 tbsp chopped cilantro
- 1 1/2 tsp freshly roasted and ground cumin powder
- salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- For the green puri dough:
- In a medium pot, add water half way up, and on medium heat, set it to boil. Add the washed green such as spinach, fenugreek, cilantro for 2-3 minutes until it has all wilted. Remove it from the pot and strain it through a strainer, reserving some liquid(about 2 cups) to bind the dough. Put the green through a food processor or grinder to make a green pulp.
- In a large bowl, add the dough, salt to taste, ginger, green chilli paste, green pulp, oil, cumin, carom seeds and mix. Slowly add 1 cup of reserved liquid/water and bind the dough. The dough should NOT be sticky, but pliable at the same time. If dough is too dry and you are unable to bind all the dry dough, add 1/2 cup more reserved liquid/water and bind. Keep kneading for 3 minutes. Add 1 tbsp more vegetable oil on the surface to make it soft and pliable. Set it aside.
- Make the Potato Vegetable:
- In a medium saucepan, on medium heat, add the vegetable oil. After 1/2 a minute, once the oil is a little warm, add in the curry leaves, cumin and mustard seeds, pinch of asafoetida and saute till you hear the crackle, about a minute. Add in the ginger/garlic/green chilly paste, potatoes, and saute for 2 minutes. Add in the dry spices like turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander, cumin, garam masala and salt and saute for a minute. Add in the water and tomatoes. Cover and let it boil away and cook for about 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, remove the cover and cook, for about 10 minutes till the potatoes are soft and water has reduced by about 70%. Mash about 5 pieces to make a gravy sort of texture. Garnish with cilantro.
- Cucumber Raita:
- In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients together and whisk till smooth. Garnish with chopped cilantro.
- To make the puris:
- You can use a tortilla press to make the puris or you could roll them out with a rolling pin, like you do pastry dough.
- Make small balls of the dough, about 1 inch in size. In a medium to large pot, add oil for frying, on medium to high heat.
- Dip each ball in a tiny bit of oil, and roll it out round into about 4-5 inch diameter circle, to make each puri. The way to check if the oil is hot is drop a tiny piece of dough in it. If it rises to the top you know your oil is ready.
- Keep a plate with the paper towel, to soak up excess oil.
- Once your oil is ready, add each puri into the oil. With a deep fryer spatula, tap the puri to make it rise, it will start puffing up immediately about 20 seconds. Turn the puri to cook the other side for 10 - 15 seconds, and remove it from the oil and put it on the paper towel.
- Roll out the other puris, and fry them 2-3 at a time. Your Puris are ready to eat with the potato vegetable, and the cucumber raita! 🙂
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