Pani Puri

PANI PURI

Crisp semolina puris filled with sprouts and chilled mint flavoured water make a great snack for a hot summer afternoon. They are known as "golgappas" in northern india and as "poochkas" in west bengal. When my favourite "panipuriwallah" is serving me these delightful little puris one after the other, i just go on eating till i can eat no more! sprouts can be replaced by hot ragda to complement the chilled mint water. Making the puris takes some time to master and although they can be bought from a local store, the extra effort put in to make them at home is well worth the trouble. Do remember to store the puris in an air-tight container. You can always refresh them by baking them in a slow oven for 4 to 5 minutes.

Preparation Time: 25 mins
Cooking Time: 25 mins
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

For The Puris1/2 cup fine semolina (rava)
1/2 tbsp plain flour (maida)
3 tbsp soda water (bottled)
salt to taste

For The Pani1 1/2 cups chopped mint leaves (phudina)
1 tbsp chopped coriander (dhania)
1/3 cup tamarind (imli)
25 ginger (adrak)
4 to 5 green chillies
1 tsp roasted cumin seeds (jeera) powder
1 1/2 tsp black salt (sanchal)
salt to taste

Other Ingredients1 recipe khajur imli ki chutney
1/2 cup mixed sprouts , boiled
1/2 cup boondi , soaked and drained

Method 
For the puris

1. Combine the semolina, plain flour, soda water and salt to make a semi-stiff dough and knead well. Allow it to rest under a wet muslin cloth for 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Divide the dough into 40 equal portions and roll each portion into 37 mm. (1½") circles.
3. Place these circles under a damp cloth for about 5 minutes.
4. Deep fry in a kadhai in hot oil on a medium flame till they puff up and are golden brown (press each puri using a slotted spoon till they puff up in the oil).
5. Remove, drain on absorbent paper and store in an air-tight container.

For the pani

1. Soak the tamarind in ½ cup of water for approximately 1 hour. Strain out all the pulp through a sieve.
2. Combine this pulp with the remaining ingredients except the black salt in a blender and grind to a fine paste using a little water.
3. Transfer the paste into a large bowl and combine with 1 litre of water, the black salt and salt and mix well.
4. Chill for at least 2 to 3 hours after making so that all the flavours have blended properly.

How to proceed

1. Crack a small hole in the centre of each puri.
2. Fill with a little sprouts or boondi, then top a little khajur imli ki chutney, immerse it in the chilled pani and eat immediately.

Homemade Pizza Recipe

• Prep time: 2 hours
• Cook time: 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

Pizza Dough: Makes enough dough for two 10-12 inch pizzas

1 1/2 cups warm water (105°F-115°F)
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) of active dry yeast (check the expiration date on the package)
3 1/2 cups bread flour (can use all-purpose but bread flour will give you a crisper crust)
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar


Pizza Ingredients 

Olive oil
Cornmeal (to slide the pizza onto the pizza stone)
Tomato sauce (purée)
Mozzarella or Parmesan cheese, shredded
Mushrooms, thinly sliced
Bell peppers, stems and seeds removed, thinly sliced
Italian sausage
Chopped fresh basil
Pesto
Onions, thinly sliced


Special equipment needed

A pizza stone , highly recommended if you want your pizza dough to be crusty
A pizza peel or a flat baking sheet
A pizza wheel for cutting the pizza, not required, but easier to deal with than a knife

METHOD

Making the Pizza Dough

1 In the large bowl of a heavy duty electric mixer (such as a Kitchen Aid), add the warm water. Sprinkle on the yeast and let sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is dissolved. Stir to dissolve completely if needed at the end of 5 minutes.

2 Attach a mixing paddle to the mixer. Mix in the olive oil, flour, salt and sugar on low speed for about a minute. Remove the mixing paddle and replace with a dough hook. Knead using the mixer and dough hook, on low to medium speed, until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. If you don't have a mixer, you can mix and knead by hand. If the dough seems a little too wet, sprinkle on a bit more flour.

 
3 Place ball of dough in a bowl that has been coated lightly with olive oil. Turn the dough around in the bowl so that it gets coated with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap. Let sit in a warm place (75-85°F) until it doubles in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours (or several hours longer, a longer rise will improve the flavor). If you don't have a warm spot in the house you can heat the oven to 150 degrees, and then turn off the oven. Let the oven cool till it is just a little warm, then place the bowl of dough in this warmed oven to rise.

At this point, if you want to make ahead, you can freeze the dough in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Preparing the Pizzas

1 Place a pizza stone on a rack in the lower third of your oven. Preheat the oven to 450°F for at least 30 minutes, preferably an hour.

2 Remove the plastic cover from the dough and punch the dough down so it deflates a bit. Divide the dough in half. Form two round balls of dough. Place each in its own bowl, cover with plastic and let sit for 10 minutes.

3 Prepare your desired toppings. Note that you are not going to want to load up each pizza with a lot of toppings as the crust will end up not crisp that way. About a third a cup each of tomato sauce and cheese would be sufficient for one pizza. One to two mushrooms thinly sliced will cover a pizza.

 

4 Working one ball of dough at a time, take one ball of dough and flatten it with your hands on a slightly floured work surface. Starting at the center and working outwards, use your fingertips to press the dough to 1/2-inch thick. Turn and stretch the dough until it will not stretch further. Let the dough relax 5 minutes and then continue to stretch it until it reaches the desired diameter - 10 to 12 inches. Use your palm to flatten the edge of the dough where it is thicker. You can pinch the very edges if you want to form a lip.

5 Brush the top of the dough with olive oil (to prevent it from getting soggy from the toppings). Use your finger tips to press down and make dents along the surface of the dough to prevent bubbling. Let rest another 5 minutes.

Repeat with the second ball of dough.

 

6 Lightly sprinkle your pizza peel (or flat baking sheet) with corn meal. Transfer one prepared flattened dough to the pizza peel. If the dough has lost its shape in the transfer, lightly shape it to the desired dimensions.

 

7 Spoon on the tomato sauce, sprinkle with cheese, and place your desired toppings on the pizza.

8 Sprinkle some cornmeal on the baking stone in the oven (watch your hands, the oven is hot!). Gently shake the peel to see if the dough will easily slide, if not, gently lift up the edges of the pizza and add a bit more cornmeal. Slide the pizza off of the peel and on to the baking stone in the oven. Bake pizza one at a time until the crust is browned and the cheese is golden, about 10-15 minutes. If you want, toward the end of the cooking time you can sprinkle on a little more cheese.

Yield: Makes 2 10-12-inch pizzas.

ALOO PARATHA                                                                                                                                    

Prepare the best tasting aloo paratha        

with this simple and delicious stuffed paratha recipe. The boiled and mashed potatoes are stuffed in wheat parathas and served hot with curd and pickle.  

   

 Preparation Time: 10 mins
 Cooking Time: 10 mins

 Makes 4 parathas

Ingredients

For The Dough

2 cups whole wheat flour (gehun ka atta)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp ghee

For The Stuffing

2 boiled potatoes
1 tsp pomegranate (anar) seeds powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 chopped green chillies
salt to taste

Other Ingredients

4 tbsp butter

Method

For the dough

1. Sieve the flours with the salt.
2. Add the ghee and mix well. Add enough water and make a semi-soft dough. Keep aside.

For the stuffing

1. Mash the potatoes coarsely or cut into very small pieces. Keep aside.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

How to proceed

1. Knead the dough and divide into 4 equal portions.
2. Roll out one portion of the dough into a circle of 125 mm. (5") diameter.
3. Place one portion of the prepared filling in the center of the dough circle.
4. Bring togeather all the sides in the center and seal tightly.
5. Roll out again into a circle of 125 mm. (5") diameter with the help of a little flour.
6. Cook the paratha on a tava (griddle), using a little ghee until both sides are golden brown.
7. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling to make more parathas.
8. Serve hot with curd and pickle.

A Good Coffee Shop Should Offer Something For Everyone

Coffee shops and cafés are places where people like to gather and enjoy their time. Whether it is for breakfast, a mid morning break, after school and activities in the afternoon, or at night after dinner coffee shops are a great place to sit down, gather, spend time and talk. 

For a coffee shop to be successful espressomachines are the most important aspect of the shop. The espresso will keep the adults coming back to the shop because they like to enjoy drinks made from espresso. Adults like to drink coffee but they also like regular lattes, flavoured lattes, single and double espressos, mocha and cappuccinos. Espresso machines have the ability to make a few child friendly options as well like milk steamers and hot chocolate but that selection is a little bit limited.

For a coffee shop to make the most out of it's business it should cater to everyone and have something to offer to every type of need. Coffee appeals to adults but adults like to bring their children with them and children definitely shouldn't be drinking caffeine. Parents like to see that a coffee shop provides fun and healthy options for their children.

In addition to milk steamers and hot cocoa coffee shops should also have cold beverage options available for children. Of course fruit juices and cold milk boxes appeal to children but it is more fun for them if their drink comes out of a machine like their parents drink does. One of the ways for a coffee shop to start offering more kid friendly options is to install slush machines in addition to the espresso machines that are there for adults. Slush machines create icy sweet drinks free of caffeine that almost every child will enjoy. 

Slush machines make children feel like they too are getting a speciality drink created by a machine. Slushies will also ensure that parents keep coming back with their children all summer long because they enjoy how the very cold and icy drinks make them nice and cool during a long hot summer day. 

There are unhealthy slushies out there but a good coffee shop can offer healthy slushies like organic lemonade slushes, and organic strawberry or raspberry lemonade slushies. This classic summer drink can be healthy and fun so the children enjoy them and the parents can appreciate the good ingredients that their children are consuming.