There are few moments in life which let you feel accomplished, and a Poori getting puffed gradually at the center of Tawa is one such moment.
Its puffed up outer surface still fascinates me as it would many years ago when I would sneak into my Mom’s kitchen. Saturday night, I would collapse on my bed, exhausted after a hectic day’s play. I would lie down on my bed with the cover pulled up when she would come and sit beside me. She would ruffle up my hairs and that would relax me even more and then she would whisper about the next day’s breakfast that she had planned for me. My eyes would be too fatigued to open, but her breakfast menu would draw a smile on my face but before I could mumble I would have fallen into sleep.
I do not recollect when Mom would get up, but I would be awakened with a pleasant waft of aroma that would sneak from the kitchen into my room. I would drag myself out of the bed, eyes half open, and would find myself getting pulled towards the lingering aroma. Someone would coerce me to finish up my morning chores and I would lock myself in the bathroom to run through the routine. Finally I would appear with a sober look and a growling stomach. I would go and stand behind my mom and would look over her shoulders, as she would be greasing the top surface of pooris. She would wait for few seconds and deftly flip over the poori and start applying oil on other side. I would watch it with a bathed breath fully knowing that the moment would arrive anytime soon. She would flip over one last time, and the poori would in all its glory rise and rise further until it ceased to rise any further. It would lay before my eyes, brown patches appearing on top of it, puffed up completely, moment when its aroma would captivate my olfactory senses and its sight would leave me mesmerized. In the hindsight, if I may say so, I think that moment must have been a Zen moment of my life, when my body and mind would become one and focus on one and only one thing.
Matar ki Poori is a winter delicacy that marks the arrival of winter, stays all season, and sadly when the time comes for us to bid good-bye to winter, we have it one last time. In India, as winter arrives, it announces arrival of green-peas, tender and sweet just perfect for Matar ki Poori.
The stuffing for this poori is a preparation that requires green peas, potatoes, chilies, and dry spices. The amount of chilies can be adjusted to suit one’s taste buds. However, conventionally this is enjoyed with Bakheer, which is a traditional rice porridge sweetened with Jaggery, Poori preparation is made little spicier to complement with Bakheer. The stuffing is traditionally grinded into a fine paste using Batan (stone), however this can be replaced with mixer. The important point to be noted here is that stuffing must be finely grinded and should not have a grainy texture, else it would pop out from the rolled out pooris, thereby ruining them. The dough is prepared using wheat and must be knead to be softer than the roti dough. The pooris need not be deep fried and are instead smeared with oil on both the sides.
As we bid goodbye to winter, here is another recipe that you would like to prepare. Remember to share your feedback with us in the comment section below.
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Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 3-4
- 300 grams fresh green peas
- 150 grams potatoes chopped
- 250 grams wheat flour
- 5-6 green chilies finely chopped
- ½ cup fresh coriander (cilantro) finely chopped
- 7-8 cloves of garlic finely chopped
- 1 lime juice
- 1 and ½ tsp cumin seeds
- ¼th tsp asafoetida powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- Cooking Oil to shallow fry pooris.
- Mustard Oil
- Salt
- Let's start with kneading the dough.Put 1 tsp salt and mix.Make a smooth and soft dough.Poori dough should be softer than Roti dough.
- Heat 2 tbsp mustard oil in a pan.Add cumin seeds, asafoetida powder, chopped garlic and green chilies.Fry till garlic turns brown.
- Now add chopped potatoes and fry until it turn light brown in color.
- On low flame it takes 5 minutes for potatoes to attain light brown color.
- Add green peas and salt to taste.Mix all the ingredients in the pan.Cover and Cook the green peas.
- After 5 minutes of cooking on low flame, green peas and potatoes get cooked.Now add turmeric powder, black pepper powder.cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Now add lime juice, chopped coriander. Mix all the ingredients. Turn off the flame and allow the mixture to cool down.
- Grind the green peas mixture into a fine paste without adding water.Stuffing should not be of grainy texture , else they may come out from the poori.
- Heat an iron griddle.Take a small portion of dough and pressing at the centre and at sides, give it a shape of bowl to it.
- Stuff the centre of the bowl with a small portion of stuffing. Do not overstuff.
- Pressing the sides, bring them closer to centre .Seal the top.Press the top and make it flat.
- Dust chakla(circular board) with some flour.Roll the dough into round and thick pooris.
- Reduce the heat to medium and put poori on griddle.
- When bubbles begin to appear on top side, it means under side has cooked. Now flip over.
- Smear some oil. Flip over again. Smear some more oil on the other side.
- Flip over again.
- Follow these steps to make pooris out of remaining dough and stuffing.
- Matar ki Bharwan Poori can be relished with sweet chutney or any gravy
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