Ajwain Massala Puri

So many festivals are around isn’t it? Last week we had Ganesh festival, before that Krishna Janmasthmi and before that Rakshabandhan. Festive spirits are in full swing in our home too. Those of you follow me on instagram would have seen my janmashthmi pooja pic- my way is to keep things simple.

Honestly, in India bringing Ganpati at home has become a status symbol. People show off their wealth in form of ganpati celebrations- how big the ganpati is; does it have any silver, gold or diamonds embellished on it? How much are they spending on prassad? So I was talking over the phone with my mom and she said that little kids of our neighbourhood have also welcomed Ganpati in our colony, its a small Ganpati statue that they got with their own pocket money and right from decoration to inviting people for sthapna and arti was done by those kids- isn’t it what festivals are about? Simple yet strong emotions and no show off.

So with other festivals approaching like Navratri, Karva Chauth and Diwali I have began cleaning the house little by little each day. Rubbish removal is a big task, what to throw and what to keep is huge dilemma for Mr. Husband. But my funda is clear-anything that I haven’t worn or used in last two years should go to charity.

So talking about festivals, one of the most common and must have food is Puri and Aloo ki Subji. I have made Palak Puri before for diwali to give it a healthy twist. Today’s post is about Ajwain Massala Puri. Poori-signifies celebration and happiness in most of the India and no big event or occasion is complete without puris- be it on birthdays, anniversaries, parties or as a  prassad during festivals.

Dough of flour and salt is rolled out in small circles and then deep fried in oil. While deep frying, it puffs up like a round ball because moisture in the dough changes into steam which expands in all directions. Ajwain and massala puri is great even when served with hot cup of chai. These are great travel snack as well, it says well for 2-4 days and can be relished with just pickle as well.

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 cup wheat flour

3-4 green chillies-finely chopped

1/2 inch ginger piece/adrak-grated

2 teaspoons carom seeds/ajwain

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder/haldi

Salt as per taste

Water as needed

Oil for frying + 2 tablespoons

Method:

Heat a pan and roast carom seeds till it becomes fragrant.

In a mixing bowl add flour, turmeric powder, salt, 2 tablespoons oil, carom seeds, green chillies and ginger. Mix and add water slowly to form the dough. Dough should be firm.

Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. After that, punch the dough for another 1 minute.

Heat oil in a kadai/wok. On a dusted work surface, make medium sized pooris, neither thin nor thick and fry them in hot oil. Drain the pooris on paper napkins to remove excess oil.

Notes:

The puri dough is tight compared to the dough for parathas or rotis.

You can also add sesame seeds (til) in the dough.

Serving suggestions:

Puris goes well with almost all dry curries.

To make the Punjabi thali serve it with paneer butter massala, aloo chole, dal makhani and green chilli pickle.

For rajasthani thali pair it with mangodi mutter, aloo pyaz ki subji, marwadi lehsun ki chutney and marwadi Bharwa Bhindi.

For gujarati thali, serve it with aloo tamatar nu shaak, gobi mutter, khamman dhokla and keri nu ras.