Luchi with Aloo'r Dom (Bengali Maida Puri with Aloo Curry)

For Day 6 of BM#5, I wanted to combine my bread making skills from BM#4 with the regional theme for BM#5 and make these Bengali maida puris. My puri making have improved after my mom sent a puri press to do the hard work. So now all I have to do is make the dough, press the puris in my puri press and fry the, up; really simple. Only thing is I don't like to deal all that oil afterwards and hence my reluctance to make anything fried.

Well today I made these yummy puris for lunch and the three of us ate all the puris. I felt so full and sleepy that I had to take a 2 hour siesta, which happens very rarely.

Recipe adapted from Sandeepa's Bong Cookbook.

Luchi:

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 1½ cups
Whole wheat flour - ¾cup

Shortening or oil - 2tbsp (I used crisco)

Salt - ½tsp

Method:

• Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl until oil is evenly distributed in the flour.
• Add water a little at a time and form a stiff but pliable dough.
• Cover with a damp paper towel and rest for 30 minutes.
• Divide the dough into small Indian lime size pieces (limes & lemons in the U.S. are HUGE) and make them into smooth balls. Roll each ball into a not to thin, not too thick disc of about 3-4" diameter or if you have the puri press, just press the dough into a disc and place on a plate.
• Heat enough oil in a pan for deep frying. Oil should be really hot before making the puris. Slide one disc slowly into the oil and it should sizzle and if the oil temperature is right, it will rise to the top in matter of seconds. Press lightly on the top with a slotted spoon to make the puri puff up. flip and fry on the other side for 30 seconds. Remove on to paper towel lined plate and enjoy hot with Aloo'r dom or any other side dish.

Puri puffing up pictorial:

Aloo'r Dom (Bengali Dum Aloo):

Ingredients:

Small red skin potatoes - 8-10, boiled and peeled

Onion - 1 small, ground to a coarse paste

Tomato puree - ½ cup

Bay leaves - 2

Hing (Asafoetida) - a pinch

Ginger - 1 tsp, finely grated

Yogurt - 2tbsp

Ground Coriander - ½ tsp

Garam masala - ½tsp
Red chili powder - ½tsp (or to taste)
Salt - to taste

Method:

• Heat 2tbsp oil in a pan; add bay leaves and hing and once the oil gets fragrant add onions and sauté till they are lightly browned.
• Add the ginger paste and cook for another minute.
• Next add tomato puree, cover and cook till oil leaves the sides of the pan.
• In the meantime whisk the dry masala powders in yogurt and set aside.
• Once the tomato mixture is ready, take the pan off of the heat and slowly whisk in the yogurt mixture. This will avoid curdling of yogurt.
• Put the pan back on heat and slide in the potatoes (I cut them into half as they were little big, but if you have tiny potatoes use them whole), season with salt; cover and cook on low flame until the water in the gravy evaporates and the masala coats the potatoes.
• Enjoy with Luchi.

My son loved the puris and enjoyed them with some raspberry jam and we enjoyed them with aloo'r dom for a delicious Bengali menu for lunch.

Let's check out what my fellow marathoners have been cooking up today:
Curry in a hurry under 30 min: Priya Suresh, Srivalli, Usha
Seven Days of Colorful Dishes Kid's Special: Vardhini,
Seven Days of Indian Sweets: Harini, Suma, Veena
Seven Days of Regional Specials: Aarthi, Kalyani, Pavani, Shylaja
Summer Coolers: PJ, Vaishali
Under 15 mins Quick Breakfast: Sushma Pinjala