Aamras Puris with Alu Bhaaji (Fried Mango-pulp Indian bread with spiced Potato mash)

Puris are unleavened, deep-fried Indian bread that are most consumed for breakfast. In our home, puris are made with a blend of wheat flour and refined wheat (plain) flour. This time I wanted to try something different so I explored the Rice flour option with wheat flour and I had some mango pulp as well so I added that to the mix. It turned out #fabulous as was expressed by my toddler and hubby :)

In the spirit of trying the new blend of Puri dough, I thought let's take it a step further and make a different kind of Alu Bhaaji to go with it. With some of the extra potatoes, I made some potato wedges for my toddler and reserved some of the Aamras (mango pulp) as well.

Normally Aamras is served on the side but I thought it might be fun to incorporate some of it in the Puri dough.

You need:

For the Aamras:

• 3 fully ripe Mangoes (Alphonso), deseeded and pulped
• Powdered sugar to taste (optional)
• 1 tsp Cardamom powder
• 1 tbsp cream (optional)
• Pinch of saffron strands or crispy onion strands (optional) -for garnish

For the Aamras Puris:

• 3 cups of wheat flour (chapatti flour)
• 1/2 cup of rice flour
• 2 tbsp of ghee (clarifed butter)
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• Water to make the dough
• Cooking oil for deep frying
• 1/2 the quantity of the prepared Aamras

For the Alu Bhaji:

• 4 medium-sized potatoes, boiled and skinned
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 tbsp Garam masala powder
• 1/2 tbsp Raw mango powder
• 1 medium-sized onion
• 1 tbsp Ginger-garlic paste
• 2 tbsp of water
• Drizzle of oil

The Make:
Preparation Time: 20 minutes | Cooking Time: 15 minutes | Serves 4

The Aamras:
1. Blend  the mango pulp, cardamom powder, sugar as per taste and cream (optional). If you use the cream, you will get a lighter  colour of the mango pulp blend.
2. Reserve half of the Aamras for the puris and then chill the remaining in individual serving bowls.
3. Garnish with saffron strands or crispy onion strands if desired

The Aamras Puris:
1. Combine the wheat flour, rice flour and salt. Add in the ghee and mix to crumbs.
2. Add the reserved quantity of aamras and mix in. Next, add in the water bit-by-bit and knead to a stiff dough.
3. Divide the dough into equal portion and roll into balls. Next using the rolling pin, roll the dough balls into flat rounds.
4. Heat enough oil in deep-bottomed wok and lower heat on medium flame, when oil is hot enough.
5. Carefully slip in the rolled-out puri in oil and fry both sides until golden brown. Drain and set aside on a kitchen towel and repeat till all the rolled out puris are fried.

The Alu Bhaaji:

1. Heat the oil in a skillet and toss in the onions. Fry until translucent.
2. Add the ginger-garlic paste and saute for about a minute or until the ginger-garlic paste leaves the sides of the skillet.
3. Next add in the garam masala, salt and raw mango powder and saute for another minute with about a tbsp of water.
4. Mash the potatoes separately and add the potatoes to the spices mix and saute well.
5. Add the additional tbsp of water to prevent sticking to the base of the dish and saute for about a minute.

Serve hot with the puris and chilled aamras.

Hope your guests/family enjoys this dish as much as my family did!

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Aloo Jeera (Potatoes with Cumin seeds)

Aloo Jeera, my very first attempt at this dish was well received by my husband and little one. I really enjoyed this simple dish as well. It is very comforting to have this one with Roti (Flatbread), Puris(Puffed Fried  Flatbread) or even Rice.

Aloo Jeera (Potatoes with Cumin seeds)

This is a kid-friendly recipe as it is not spicy but flavoursome.

You need:

• 2 large potatoes, skinned and diced in cubes
• 2 tsp of cumin seeds (or Jeera)
• 1 tbsp of coriander powder
• 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
• 2 tbsp of cooking oil
• Salt to taste
• 1 sprig coriander leaves, diced finely
• 2-4 tbsp of filtered water (*optional)

The make
Serves 2 adults | Preparation time: 5 minutes | Cooking Time: 20 minutes

1. Heat the oil on medium-high in a non-stick skillet and add the cumin seeds.

2. Once the cumin begins to splutter, lower the heat to medium-low and add the remaining ingredients except the coriander leaves and saute well.

3. If required, add some water if it gets to dry or sticks to the pan. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.

4. Uncover and check if the potatoes are cooked or if it requires any water and cook if required for another 5-10 minutes.

I did not add any water as I used a non-stick pan.

5. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with Roti (Indian flatbread), Puris (Puffed, fried Indian flatbread) or Rice.

Potatoes with Cumin seeds

Turkey Stuffing

To stuff the turkey in Turkey Delight, you can make the stuffing separately and stuff the bird or just make it separately and use the stock of the giblets for the turkey flavour. The former is possible in case of a smaller bird and the latter is preferred for a bigger bird as it would as it is take longer to roast.

To make this deliciously moist and flavourful turkey stuffing, 

You need:

• Stock of the the turkey giblets or Chicken stock - about 3-4 cups
• 1/4 cup of fresh parsley
• 1 tsp of dried thyme
• 1 tsp of dried basil
• 1 large shallot, diced
• 1 celery, diced
• 1 large potato, diced and half cooked
• 1 loaf of bread (it is better if the bread is a day or 2 old), diced into cubes
• 1 cup of chopped walnuts
• 3-5 tbsp of butter
• 1 crispy apple, peeled, cored and diced
• 1/4 cup of raisins (optional)
• 1 cup of pimento green olives, diced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Paprika- 1 tsp (optional)
• Juice of 1/2 lemon

The make:

Preparation Time: 1 hour | Cooking Time: 45 minutes to 1 hour | Serves 6 adults

1. Make the stock out of the turkey giblets - heart, gizzard and neck and bring to a boil, uncovered for about an hour. Strain the stock and set aside to use with the stuffing. You can also use chicken stock, however I preferred the former.

2. Toast the walnuts either on a skillet under browned (ensure you do not burn them) or in a microwave oven for about a minute until you get the toasty aroma. Set aside to cool. Next toast the bread cubes in a pan with half of the butter quantity. Old bread is used as it would be dry and you would end up with a perfect consistency of stuffing. If not old bread, you could end up with mushy stuffing. Tip: if the bread is not old, dry them out in the oven for about 10 minutes before use.

3. Heat a deep-bottomed skillet with the remaining butter. Lower the heat to medium and toss in the shallots and celery until cooked for about 5 minutes. 

4. Add the apples, raisins, parsley, potatoes and olives and mix well. Next add the bread and give it a good stir. 

5. Add 1 cup of the giblet stock enough to cook the contents in the skillet. Add the thyme, basil, paprika, salt and pepper and the lemon juice and mix well.

6. Cover and cook for about 40 minutes or until the apples have softened. Check intermittently and mix to avoid the stuffing sticking to the bottom of the skillet. Add stock as required to keep the stuffing moist.

Now you can either stuff the bird with the stuffing or just set aside to serve with the Turkey Delight and the Turkey Gravy. Enjoy!

Goulash Soup (Gulasova Polievka) - (Czech/Slovak "Beef and Potatoes Soup")

I have been anxious to try out this recipe since our trip to Prague(Praha), Czech Republic. We lunched at a wonderfully appealing restaurant in Praha called "Leone and Anna" in Malostranske Namesti, right opposite the "Pillar of Black Plague" dedicated to the "Holy Trinity". The staff were super friendly and we had a good time at the restaurant. We had ordered the Goulash soup as it sounded enticing and filling as well as we had a long walk from the restaurant back to the Charles Bridge and beyond planned for that day. The soup is a traditional Czech soup which I learnt later was also incorporated in Slovak cooking and Hungarian cuisine(with a mild twist here and there). I am not sure whether in originated in Hungarian cooking or Slovak but its delicious nevertheless.

Goulash Soup - Beef and Potatoes - A Czech delight and mine too ;-) - Soul Food!

The soup at "Leone and Anna"...doesn't it look just rich and soulful? You can see from the rim of the soup bowl, the paprika and herbs..:)

Goulash Soup from our visit to 'Leone and Anna', Praha

I made sure to savor every bite at L& A..as I mentioned in my earlier posts that I prefer to taste, experience and try. Of course I made sure to also tap into the knowledge of the server for the day whilst he explained what all the soup contained. I tried this recipe and then checked online later this afternoon to find out the various ways it was made. This is my preferred version as it takes to the Indian palate as well as was savoured by my toddler this afternoon. 

You need:

Onions - finely cubed

Potatoes, Green Pepper and Tomato Puree

• 800 gms of beef (cut into small bite sized cubes with the fat and tendon tissue taken off as much as possible)
• 1 large purple onion (finely diced into cubes) or white 'Boiling Onions'
• Tomato Puree - 1-2 medium sized tomatoes ( http://gginaflavorspalatte.blogspot.in/2012/05/homemade-tomato-puree.html) - (you can also use 2 cups of store bought tomato puree or use 1 cup of homemade puree and in case your puree is thin then add 1 cup of store bought puree. I pre-made my puree and it was quite thick.
• 1 medium sized green pepper/capsicum- finely diced into cubes - I did not see this in the soup I had at L&A but I definitely tasted the same at another restaurant
• 2-3 tsps. of dried Oregano or Marjoram
• Salt to taste
• Cayenne Pepper - 1 tbsp or as per your taste
• Paprika Powder - 1 tbsp or as per your taste (Some people do add a lot of paprika but I was unsure if my toddler would be able to take it)
• Red pepper (optional as per taste) - again since this was for my toddler's lunch as well, I skipped it
• 1 tsp Black or Shahi Jeera (cumin seeds/Caraway seeds)
• 2 medium size potatoes - cubed small *equation of potatoes to beef is 1:1
• 1 cup of Beef Stock
• 5-6 cloves of garlic (crushed/grated)
• 1 tbsp of extravirgin olive oil or butter

 The preparation:

Cooking Time: 2 hrs and 10 minutes| Preparation Time: 1 hour|Serves 4 adults

This is a slow-cooking recipe wherein traditionally the Goulash is prepared in a clay pot over an open fire. It is a dish that is made at events where the beef is allowed to slowly cook in the clay pot whilst the guests enjoy socialising and drinking beer. I chose to go through an initial 10 minute cooking of the beef in a pressure cooker (of course the beef was not even half done in that time) wherein I acquired the beef stock(traditionally you acquire the beef stock during the browning process of the beef and/or you take the stock of beef bullion). I had pre-marinated my cleaned beef with 2 cloves of garlic and a dash of pepper(optional). Since I was using cooking gas, I did not have the option to allow the beef to stew over the pot on an open fire for 5 hrs (as cooking gas is not easily available where I stay at now). Neither do I have an induction based cooking range. The recipe turned out close to what I had tasted at my stay in Praha.

Beef Stock

1. Pressure cook the marinated beef (crushed garlic -2 cloves and pepper - salt was not added at this stage as it tends to harden the meat, even when slow cooking, the salt is added later). Drain the pressure cooked beef over a clean vessel so as to retain the stock. I gathered 2 cups (just in case, you do not have to add both cups in the making of this soup- store the rest in a glass bottle/jar for later use)

Saute onions till lightly brown

 2. This process that I now mention is used both in slow cooking process or the method I follow. Heat a large clay pot or non-stick pan, add some ExtraVirgin olive oil or butter(I added the EVOO as RR says:) ) and saute your onions till slightly brown as shown. Take out the onions and add the beef to the same pot allowing for browning. Then add the onions, green pepper and crushed garlic. Saute well. Cover and allow it to brown for the next 4-5 mins on medium flame.



3. Add the caraway seeds, oregano or marjoram, salt and stock(in the slow cooking process, beef bullion stock is used wherein the cubes are added to warm water and dissolved but I preferred making mine from scratch as its less saltier and I did not want to keep adjusting salt levels. Some cooks also just add water to the beef and allow it to stew thereby creating its own stock). Cover and allow cooking over the next 1-2 hrs on a low flame.

4. Check after the first hour on the status of the beef, stock level, etc. I added the first cup of my tomato puree at this stage. You can also add additional paprika if you like a more punchy/spicy taste. Some also use red peppers and lots of it. So that is optional too as per your family/guests needs. You can also add more oregano here if you like. I did.

Green Pepper goes in!

5. In the last half hour of the 2 hrs, add the cubed potatoes and give it a stir and then close again to allow the potatoes to blend in. You can also mash a few potatoes once cooked and give it a stir. You can also add cubed carrots but as I was trying to follow my taste to see if it turns out as per what I had in Praha, I did not add it this time! Maybe the next time:) I added  half a cup of additional stock here which I later learnt was not required. So next time just 1 cup of stock!

Toss in the potatoes

Some recipes has called for add in flour mixed with water to allow thickening but I certainly did not taste that in my dish. Some recipes also called for an addition of sour cream before serving. I did not add this however mashing of some of the potatoes I understand from experience allows for thickening. Also ensuring you do not add stock more that what is required otherwise the beef and veggies would be floating in clear soup!

Serve with dumplings, noodles or pasta of your choice! I have a few of my vegetarian friends and non-beef eaters - you can try this recipee with chicken, lamb or mutton(only if you get a good cut) or mushrooms/soya. Do let me know how it turns out! You can also try the Goulash with beef and pork!

Goulash soup ready!

This was what was for lunch this afternoon! I read that the Goulash soup gets better in flavour when tried the next day so I will wait and see what my hubby darlin' has to say about his Goulash soup for lunch tomorrow as I have plenty left for the three of us for tomorrow's lunch. Do try this out and let me know what you think my readers! Enjoy...Bon Appetit...