Pigging out on Pooris

I had no intention of posting anything else this week.
Ever since Anita of A Mad Tea Party announced a poori-party, I kept toying with the idea of making some. It was after all, very tempting. However, there was only one small problem - never in my life had I made a poori before! But there was so much information on the making of pooris doing the rounds of so many blogs here during the last week that I was slowly warming up to the idea.

Armed with a wealth of knowledge thanks to Indira, Anita, Bee & Nupur, I finally decided to make some pooris.
I mixed together some flour, semolina, salt and oil with warm water and started kneading away. (You know you are definitely out of shape when you work up a sweat just kneading some dough. You also know you don't care enough to do something about it when you proceed to fry the same dough and eat it! Healthy eating be damned!)

Since it's my first time making these things, I had no idea how long to knead... I just kept kneading the dough till it begged for mercy.I allowed it to rest for about 30 minutes & then proceeded to make, roll & fry my pooris in hot oil. I was so thrilled with what I saw. My very first poori had puffed up so beautifully & looked really good. Beginner’s luck, huh? I did not know whether to eat it or take a picture of it.

Pooris and aloo-bhaji go together so well.
Making the bhaji was a breeze as this is something I make regularly for masala dosas.

Here’s how I made aloo-bhaji.
Ingredients:
5 medium potatoes, boiled, peeled & cubed
1 medium onion, peeled & thinly sliced
A small piece of ginger, peeled & grated (about and inch long)
5- 6 green chillies, finely chopped
½ tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp coriander powder
A pinch of turmeric powder

For the seasoning:
1 Tbsp oil
1 tsp urad dal
1 tsp mustard seeds
3-4 curry leaves
A pinch of asafoetida
Salt to taste

Method:
Heat oil in a pan & add all the ingredients for the seasoning.

Add the onions followed by the green chillies, ginger and the powders. Sauté till the onions are transparent.

Add the cubes of the boiled potatoes and about half a cup of water.

Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes.

Serve hot with pooris.
I am off to join Anita’s party now! Yay!