Bedmi Puri & Aloo Sabzi - Delhi

Moving on in our culinary tour, we have arrived at Delhi, the capital of the country. Today I am presenting to a dish that has been in my bookmarks for a long,long time. Bedmi Poori with Aloo sabzi- A perfect pair and a match made in heaven.....

But before we embark on the culinary journey, I have some fond memories of Delhi to share. Please feel free to skip my ramblings and proceed to the recipes below...

Still interested to read!! Here we go...

One of the first long trips that I made alone , without my parents that is, is the college [tour to Delhi, Agra, and A few places in Rajastan. A whole 10 day trip away from parents and most importantly from studies! My parents though a little hesitant to let me go were more keen on making me happy as this trip would be the last one [and the first one] with my friends. We were in the final year and this tour was something we friends had been dreaming of the moment the year began.

The first place that we visited was Delhi. Though a bit tired after the long journey, we wasted no time in getting ready to go and explore the new place. Th first place that we stopped was Chandhni chowk. I still don't know what we ate there but we did eat a lot. And by lot, I mean really, really lots of street food.

The next day we set off to see the famous places in and around Delhi. The Qutub Minar was the first stop. This as you might know is the 73 meter high tower of victory that was built by Qutab-ud-din Aibak in 1193 after defeating the last Hindu King of Delhi.So here are the pics that I took years ago.A little hazy because of the foggy weather....

The 7 meter high Iron Pillar is a real archaeological wonder! There is no sign of rusting even after being exposed to the elements of nature for such a long time!

We then went to one temple there, the name I hardly remember.But we took a lot of snaps around this temple and it had a very beautiful garden!I am guessing this is the Jaganath temple....

Then we visited several other places like the Red fort,Birla Temple,Lotus Temple,India Gate and samadi's of leaders etc and on the way back we came through the Rajpath. Rajpath means the 'King's way'. Since the trip was during the last week of December, security was tight fro the Republic ay celebrations in this area and hence we were not allowed to disembark from the bus. So we just clicked pics from where we sat.

The Raj Bhavan is visible in a distance, at the end of the road where the cars are plying,partially hidden behind the fog....

This trip is forever etched in my memory and we had loads of fun. Months of preparation for the trip, discussions on food , dress and pocket money that we would be bringing along, the train journey and all the other things associated with this trip is something I will never ever forget!

I found these and all the other pics we took during the trip in a couple of albums at mom's place a fortnight ago. I recopied them to share here....

Okay, without further delay, let me start the culinary tour..

Delhi cuisine as such does not exist now! Or dies it!? Well, the Old Delhi area boasts of the traditional Delhi cuisine. As there are more and more people moving around, the restaurants and other eating joints start catering to their needs and hence we can also find cuisines of almost all the states and countries here!

Delhi is very popular for its chaat / fast food and the street food is very popular. The paranthe wali gali/ or the street that sells parathas is famous for the number of parathas that it presents!

It is said that the Delhi cuisne was heavily influenced by the Moghul cuisine.Even today we can see a number of Mughal restaurants and eateries in Old Delhi area.The old Delhi cuisine has both vegetarian and Mughal dishes

During the Colonial rule, the British introduced the pastries and confectioneries that are still popular.

The old Delhi area is very popular for its spicy and tangy Chaat dishes..This area boasts of the famous paranthe wali gali and the Ghantewala Halwa.

As Delhi changed during every century, the cuisine to changed and it is now a potpourri of flavors and tastes and caters to one and all

I will leave it at that as my friends, will have more to share on this cuisine and this post is already getting longer because of our detour.....

As I mentioned earlier, I made this old Delhi speciality - Bedmi Poori and Aloo.This is one of the dishes that is served traditionally for breakfast and it is fired in ghee!I however fried it in oil.

Behind the scene:

The moment I was planning to make a dish from Delhi, I knew I was going to make this one.This has been on my to-do list for a long time!

I made this for breakfast one week end. The kids liked it. Don't they always!! Hubby was a little sceptical to try as it was stuffed with dal and MIL was not sure how it would taste.

Once when I was chatting with Vaishali from whose blog I made this recipe, told me not to skim on ghee and to use freshly cooked potatoes. I followed her advise and prepared the sabzi. I really liked it because of the ghee. The adults at home found it to have a extra ghee and they are not used to having ghee with the meal. They said it tasted great though.

I was really amazed how simple ingredients in the sabzi made it so delicious!!

I used:
Source - Ribbon's to Pasta's

For the dough:

Wheat flour- 2 cups
Ghee- 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste

For the stuffing:

Urad dhal-1/2 cup
Asafoetida powder- a large pinch
Cumin seeds- 1/4 teaspoon
Saunf- 1/4 teaspoon
Kalonji / Onion seeds -1/4 teaspoon
Red chili powder- 1/2 teaspoon
Garam masala- 1/2 teaspoon
Salt to taste

Soak the urad dal for 3-4 hours. Drain and grind to a coarse paste.

Heat oil in a pan and add the cumine seeds, saunf,kalonji.When the cumin crackles, add the urad dhal paste and then the masala powders. Mix well and remove from heat.Divide into small balls.

In a bowl, take the wheat flour,ghee and salt. Add water little by little and knead to a smooth and elastic dough. Keep aside for 30 minutes.

Take a portion of the dough and flatten it out .Place a ball of filling in the centre and bring the edges together.Roll out into pooris.

Heat oil for deep frying and fry the rolled out pooris one by one. Deep fry till golden brown on both side. Drain and serve with aloo sabzi.

For the aloo sabzi

Potato- 2

Turmeric powder a large pinch

Cumin seeds- 1/2 teaspoon

Cumin coriander powder- 1 teaspoon

Garam masala powder- 1/2 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Ghee- 2 teaspoons

Peel and boil potatoes. Mash roughly and keep aside. Mix all the masala powders in a little water and keep aside.

Heat ghee in a pan and add the cumin seeds. When it crackles, add the masalal water and bring to a boil. Add the mashed potato and simmer till the ghee floats on top.