Recipe of Puri / Luchi / Fried Indian Bread

Luchi / Loochi, Puri, fried Indian bread is a very popular item for breakfast in Indians.  In Bengal, north India it is been cooked in ghee (clarified butter), but only difference in this two place is; in Bengal they usually use all-purpose flour and in North India they use whole wheat flour.  But for health purpose it is better to use whole wheat flour. For puri / luchi there need to be side dish to eat with.  Alur dum (potato curry), Sweet dish like suji (semolina), kumror dalna (pumpkin curry), cholar dal all these recipes compliment with luchi.  I usually try to modify traditional recipes for healthy and easy method.  Instead of all purpose flour I love to use whole wheat flour for this item. Because of this the texture changes from white to red of fried puffed Indian bread for using whole wheat flour.

Luchi / Fried Indian bread

Ingredients:

• Whole wheat flour – 2 cups
• Water as require for needing
• Salt – ½ teaspoon
• Oil  or Ghee(clarified butter ) – 1 tablespoon for needing and 2 cups for deep frying the luchi.

How to prepare:

• Take flour in a big bowl (for needing it would be helpful), add salt, oil and mix it nicely.
• Then add water little by little to make dough.  This mixing has to be properly done to make the luchi finely.  Keep the dough covered for 30 minutes minimum.  So that it becomes soft.
• Make small ball of the dough to make luchi. 
• While making luchi, take a ball in hand roll on your palm with both the hand and press it gently.
• Then sprinkle little dry flour on the rolling board, keep the pressed ball and roll it over with a rolling pin.
• The size of the rolled flat part of the dough should be 3 or 4 inches.
• Next heat a deep frying pan and pour oil and heat it properly.
• Add one flat rolled luchi on the pan to cook in medium to high flam while it is beginning to puff and move the rolled piece by pressing with a flat spoon, then while it is beginning to change it’s color means it is cooked from that side turn it over to other side to cook.
• Same way cook the other side also and once it is changing color, it is ready to remove from fire.
• Put a tissue paper on the plate where luchi could be kept after taking out from fire.  So the extra oil would be soaked in the tissue.
• It is ready to serve with side dishes.
• Here I have served luchi it with Kumro alur dalna and it was mouth watery.

Luchi with kumror dalna

Recipe of Banana Flower Curry / "Mochar Ghonto"

Banana flowers is eaten as vegetable in South Asian and Southeast Asian countries.  It can be eaten as fries, curry.  Banana, its flower, tender stem from inside the tree, everything can be cooked and it is delicious to eat.  Banana leaf also is used in many cooking ways to cover fish or vegetable and steamed in rice or on fire itself.  Banana tree is useful in all ways.

Here I have added recipe of  banana flower curry or "mochar ghonto".  This is a very popular veg recipe among bengalis and treasured it.  Personally this is one of my favorite items.  

Mochar Ghonto

Ingredients:

• Banana flower - 1
• Potato - 2 medium sized
• Ginger - 1 inch cube piece
• Red chili - 2 / 3
• Oil
• Salt to taste
• Cumin powder -  2 teaspoon 
• Turmeric powder - 2/3 of teaspoon
• Sugar to taste
• Ghee to taste
• Cumin seed - 2 pinches

How to prepare:

• One necessary thing is before you start cleaning the banana flower add little mustard oil in hand so that after cleaning the flower your hand remains free from stickiness and it is little hassle free to clean.
• The flower needs to be cleaned properly to cook.  If it is not cleaned properly, you won't get the proper taste of it.  The hard stem from inside and a transparent peeling cover needs to remove while cleaning.  Please see the picture to understand which part needs to throw.

  

  Hard stem of banana flower

   
• After cleaning the whole thing chop it in small pieces and clean then soak in water at least 30 minutes.

  

  Soaked chopped banana flower 

   
• Then put it in pressure cooker with salt and water and pressure cook it in medium flame for 15 minutes or 4 to 5 whistle whichever is earlier.
• After taking it out from pressure cooker and draining the remaining water once it is cool, squeeze it with your hand to bring towards mashing it. and keep aside.

  

  Boiled & mashed banana flower

  
  
• Heat 3 tablespoon oil  in a pan and add cumin seeds and cook for a minute. Then add a tablespoon of moong dal in it and cook til golden brown.
• Then add potato cut into small pieces and cook it til it is lil golden brown.

  

  Moong dal & potato

• Add banana flower, salt and mix it nicely, then let it cook for sometime.
• Next add turmeric powder, paste of ginger,cumin seeds and red chilis and cook it.

  

  Cooking mochar ghonto

• Once it is cooked add sugar to taste and stir it nicely.
• Add little ghee for flavour and smell just before taking it out from fire.
• "Mocha ghonto" / Banana flower Curry is ready ready to serve.

Recipe of Pumpkin & Potato Curry / "Kumro Aloor Dalna"

Pumpkin is a very colorful vegetable and it is healthy and tasty to eat.  Recipes with pumpkin are very delicious.  I love fries, curry and mash of it.  I am writing down all this recipes in this page to make it available to all.  It is always good to share and it gives an immense pleasure to know when people use your recipe and say it is very nice.  you feel out of the world.

Here I have the recipe of pumpkin and potato curry.  In bengali we say "kumro aloor tarkari" or Kumro aloor dalna.

Kumro Aloor Dalna

Ingredients:

• Pumpkin - 300 grams 
• Potato -  2 medium sized 
• Kalonji / kalo jeera / Black cumin - 2 pinch
• Turmeric powder - 1/3 of tablespoon
• Salt to taste
• Cooking oil - 3 / 4 tablespoon
• Green Chili - 3 / 4

How to prepare:

• Cut pumpkin in big chunks after peeling the skin and potatoes pieces should be smaller than pumpkin pieces.

  

  Pumpkin pieces

• Heat oil in a pan then add black cumin and cook for few seconds
• Add potato and fry until little brown, then put green chili, pumpkin, turmeric powder and salt then cover it and cook in low flame.

  

  Cooking kumro aloor dalna

• Once it is cooked add little water to make gravy and bring it to boil.
• "Kumro Aloor Dalna" is ready to serve with roti / puri/ luchi / rice.
• This curry best goes with puri or luchi.

Luchi with Kumror aloor dalna

Nutrients value:

Pumpkin is rich in vitamin (A, B-Complex, C) and minerals (Potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium.  It is also helps in cholesterol control.  This vegetable is also high in fiber.