Gobi Paratha

The word Paratha literally means layers of cooked flour. It is a rich and crisp version of Chapathi especially popular in the northern parts of India. Hot Paratha`s served with curd and pickle are a good combination.

Ingredients

1. Florets of one whole cauliflower (Gobi) 
2. 1 tsp Cumin seeds
3. 1 pinch of Asafoetida
4. 3 or 4 cloves of garlic
5. Equivalent piece of ginger
6. 1 tsp cumin powder
7. 1 tsp coriander powder
8. salt to taste
9. chilli powder to taste
10. 2 cups of whole wheat atta
11. 1/2 a bunch of coriander leaves and mind leaves (optional)
12. 1 or 2 green chillies

Directions to make dough

This is fairly a similar to making dough for chapathis/rotis. Mix dough with a pinch of salt. Add 1/4 cup of water and mix it, repeat the process until you get a nice soft dough. Drizzle some oil on its surface so that there is no layer formation. Cover the dough with a vessel and keep it aside. This needs to rest atleast 15-20 minutes before it is used.

  Take the cauliflower florets and grate them in a food processor, do not make a paste out of it, pulse it enough to make a coarse mixture.

Remove this shredded mixture and place it on some tissues and let it rest for a few minutes. The water in the shredded cauliflower will to an extent be absorbed by the tissues.

Add some oil to the pan and heat it over the stove.When the oil is hot add some asafoetida and cumin seeds. When the seeds start to splutter, add the minced ginger and garlic and saute for a few minutes.
 

Now add the shredded cauliflower, coriander powder, cumin powder, chili powder and salt.
Keep stirring this mixture until it is cooked and all the water is evaporated.
Once cooked, take the mixture out of the pan and spread it out in a broad vessel and let it cool down. Do not start stuffing when Gobis are hot, wait until they attain room temperature.
Once they have cooled down, mix the green chillies, cilantro and mint leaves with the mixture. Round them up into equal sized balls.
Now take the dough you have kept aside and split it into equal sized balls (equal in number to the balls of Gobi)

Take one of the dough balls and make it into a flat disc, ensure that the center is a bit thicker than the outter rim so that the filling does not leak out once stuffed.








Join the rims and gather them all together and twist once. Twist the excess dough and gently press it down.

Now place this filled dough with the twisted side facing down and start to flatten it out gently. Ensure that you do not use too much pressure that the filling starts to squirt out.

Hot Hot yummy Parathas!

Once you have a reasonably sized paratha, place it on a heated pan  and rub some oil on both the sides of the paratha's surface as you roast them.

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Tip

• The trick to flattening a stuffed paratha is to make sure that after filling the dough, there is no gap found once you`ve closed it and to go gentle while rolling it.
• The filling should not have any liquid in it, this would then mess things up when you are flattening the stuffed parathas. 

Apple Pie Dessert

  Sweet apples and a flaky crust are a yummy combination. Home made apple pies are delicious desserts to dish out to your guests. I tried my hand out at one over the weekend. Check it out.

Ingredients:

Pie Crust

1. 2Cups (250 g) of all purpose flour
2. 1tsp salt
3. 3/4 cup (170 g) butter
4. 6-8 tbsp of ice water

Pie Filling

1. 6 Granny Smith Apples
2. 1/2 cup (60g)all purpose flour
3. 1 cup (200g) white sugar
4. 1 cup (220 g) brown sugar
5. 1 tsp cinnamon powder
6. 1 tsp nutmeg (optional)
7. 1 tbsp lemon juice
8. 2 tbsp butter

Pulsed Pie Crust

Directions to make the Pie Crust

An hour before you start cooking, refrigerate a glass of water and cut small cubes of butter and keep them in the freezer. Mix the flour and the cold butter in the food processor by pulsing it, don't go high speed on this or you might just make things squishy. Add a tablespoon of cold water into the food processor as you make the dough and continue to pulse until the flour begins to thicken. Add about 6 - 8 tbsp of water pulsing after each spoon of water. Continue until the flour becomes a nice dough. The flour will be granulated as found in the picture on your right.

Take the contents of the food processor and roll the moist dough into a ball.  Place it on a cutting board coated with flour to prevent it from sticking. Divide the dough ball into two halves. Take one half and roll it out into a 9 inch circle, this will be the bottom crust of the apple pie. Transfer this onto the pie pan and allow the dough to take the shape of the pan. Cut off the excess dough around the edges.
Roll the second half of the dough ball into another 9 inch circle that will be used as the top of the crust.

Directions to make the Pie Filling

Take the 6 granny smith apples and slice them into several thin slices. To these apples, add the pie filling ingredients and mix them gently and thoroughly until all the slices are coated with the mixture. Now transfer the apple contents onto the pie pan. Make sure you arrange the apple slices in the same direction while filling the pie, an even arrangement ensures an evenly cooked filling. Toss some cubes of butter over the slices after arranging them. Once this is done, cover the top of the pie with the second half of the dough that you had rolled out earlier. Now, gently press the edges of the bottom and top crust (use water while pressing them, it helps the edges to stick to each other). Brush some butter over the top crust.

 

Take a fork and punch a few holes at the top of the crust, this will help the hot air from escaping out while the pie is getting cooked, else the filling might leak (notice the holes on the pic on the left).

Preheat the oven to 375 F (170 C) and place the pie in the bottom rack. Heat the oven for atleast 50 to 60 mins or until the crust gets brown. Once it is cooked, remove the pie and let it rest for at least 30 minutes before you fork it!




A slice of the warm apple pie tastes best with a scoop of cold vanilla ice cream. The tartness of the granny smith apples mixed with the sweetness of the sugar melts in your mouth and tingles your sweet tooth! Hope you found this delicious. If you tried this out, let me know how things turned out!