I not only love to cook and learn new foods, but also love to learn about the ‘Old foods’. I feel in this era of instant and quick foods, we are missing out on some incredible dishes. We dont know how to use certain ingredients and soon those will become extinct. A lot of the dishes our gradmoms made, have never been a part of the food at our table.
I am thankful to books like Ruchira, we have access to at least a few of the Maharashtrian recipes. Its a book that is given as a wedding gift to every new bride in Maharashtra. I have used it extensively as when I got married, I did not know how to cook. I would call my mom but 1 minute call to India costed $1.90 and there was no internet. So getting cookbooks, going to the library and watching cooking shows was how I learnt my cooking.
Going back to the ‘lost recipe’, this recipe is almost on the verge of it. Today is Vasant Panchami, a day that marks the arrival of the ‘Vansant ( spring)’ season and you also worship Goddess Saraswati on this day.
This is a very special recipe because of Baba’s aunt used to make it, and she made it really well. I thought, why not make something I have never made before,after all Saraswati is a goddess of Knowledge, and what better tribute than a new( old) recipe.
I have made a couple of small modifications o the original recipe, I mixed half Rava and half all purpose flour, also rolled the poori like you roll the Chirota or Khaja ( another Maharashtrian delicacy)
It is a very easy recipe and you will find most of the needed ingredients at home.
Pakatali Poori
Ingredients
Poori
- 1/2 cup fine rave
- 1/2 cup All purpose flour
- 3 tbsp Ghee ( clarified butter) melted and slightly warm
- 3 tbsp sour full fat yogurt
- Pinch of salt
Syrup
- 1 cup fine sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/8 tsp cardamom powder
- Saffron strands
- Juice of 1 Meyer Lemon
Method
Poori
- Mix the rave and APF together with salt
- Add warm ghee and rub it well in the dry mixture
- Add dahi to make a stiff dough. If the yogurt/dahi is not sour, you can leave it on the counter so it turns sour. It is crucial since that it what gives these pooris or breads a nice taste
- Let the dough rest for at least an hour. If you have used only Rava, you would need to let it rest for 2 hours
- After 2 hours, pound the dough, this is necessary to make it pliable. If you have a stand up mixer, you can use the dough attachment to do the work
Syrup
- Mix sugar and water and cook till its ‘2 string stage’ *
- Heat a pan on very low flame, add the saffron strands and slightly roast them. You are just warming them and not quite roasting. Warming them makes them crumbly and hence they mix well in the syrup
- Add cardamom powder, saffron and the juice of 1/2 lemon
- Keep the syrup on a low flame, but keep it warm. This ensures that the syrup soaks in the Pooris. If the syrup is not warm enough, it will only create a coat on the outside
Making the Pooris
- Heat oil in a deep pan
- You can roll the Pooris like a regular flat bread, or
- Roll out a big poori. Make a roll and cut into 4-5 pieces
- Flatten those pieces again to make a poori
- Fry the poori till golden brown
- Drain and immediately add them to the warm syrup.
- Ater 10-15 mins, take them out and arrange on a plate
- If you like, you can user slivered almonds or pistachios as well
