Mooli Paranthas - Stuffed Indian Bread with Radish Stuffing

I have been thinking of publishing this recipe since a long time . Hubby dear has been quite insistent that I post it .....and so one fine day when I was making these ....hubby dear came with the almighty camera and clicked some snaps . Needless to say they are one of our favorite foods....they make for a filling breakfast / brunch/ dinner . Simple , easy to make , filling and completely satiating these paranthas represent the best things about Punjabi cuisine ....

Now that my friend LG decided to host the RCI -Punjab on her new blog Cooking Station I knew I had to take out these photos from the cold storage and publish this post. After having promised her umpteen times to send the entry I am finally sitting just a minutes away from the deadline ....I hope that she would accept this entry with my sincere apologies for being such a lazy bone .


Ingredients -



For the filling :

Radish/ Mooli - 2 ( medium size, grated coarsely)
Green chili - 2-3 ( as per taste)
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Carom seeds / Ajwain - 1 tsp
Coriander leaves - 2 tb sp
Salt - as per taste

For the dough :

Wheat flour - 2 cups
Water - as required

Oil for frying

Method :

Make the dough with water , knead it with hands or in a food processor to a medium firm dough ( it should not be soft otherwise it would be difficult to roll it into a parantha after stuffing)

Wash and peel the radishes to remove the outer skin. Then coarsely grate the radish , leave it as it is for 5-10 minutes . Then firmly squeeze the grated radish and drain all the water , keep repeating this till the time almost no water is squeezed out.

Then add the coriander leaves, chili powder, carom seeds and green chili. Mix well the whole mixture . Add salt at the end ( the salt and chili should be a little on the higher side , because it will be compensating for the salt less dough )

The final filling

Make a small ( slightly bigger than a golf ball ) ball from the dough and roll it into a circle after dusting with plain flour. Then take this rolled out dough in one hand and put about a tbsp. of filling at the centre . Then bring all the sides to the centre and pinch them tightly . Then roll it into a ball , dust with plain flour and roll out into a circle with very light hands .

Simultaneously heat a girdle /tava and once hot put the rolled out parantha on it . Once slight brown specks appear at the bottom of the parantha turn it over and apply oil all over the surface . Then turn over to the other side and apply oil . Cook evenly on both sides till you get brown specks on the surface of the parantha.

Serve immediately with a dollop of butter / fresh cream or Pickles and Curd.


I am also sending this as an entry for the Roti-mela being hosted by Srivalli of cooking4allseasons.

Poori Mania - Palak/ Spinach Poori with Kala chana and Sooji Halwa

When I saw pooris being blogged on every blog that I visited ...I thought what is all with this poori mania ????........

A little more blog patrolling revealed that Anita of A Mad Tea Party has started this and declared poori - bhaaji as the national food of India. I must say I whole heartily agree with her, but instead of making pooris with bhaaji .....I decided to make poori with the traditional kala chana " black chickpeas" and Sooji halwa , which are my hubby's favorite also.

Traditionally this combination is made at the end of the nine days fasting period called "Nav ratra" in the northern parts of the country .

Pooris have become a rare treat these days with the increased awareness about the HDLs and LDLs ..but this combination is always welcomed in our home and you can serve this for any meal of the day and be rest assured that it will be devoured with much gusto and happiness ;-) . I added palak "spinach" to the poori dough to assuage our guilt about devouring them and also to add a little more taste and color to it.....well here comes my recipe for the same.

Palak Poori ( about 15 )

Wheat flour - 1.5 cups

Palak/ spinach - 1 bunch

Salt - as per taste

Oil - 1 tbsp

Oil for frying

Clean and wash the spinach and then boil it in a pressure cooker with very little water. After 2 whistles , remove the cooker from the stove and cool it under running water . You can also use a microwave for this purpose .Puree the spinach in a blender .

Take the flour in bowl and add the salt. Then add the 1 tb sp oil and rub the flour well between your fingers. Then add the spinach puree to the flour and knead to make soft dough . If the puree is not enough then you can add a little water to prepare the dough. Set the dough aside for 15 mins after covering with a moist cloth.

Pinch out small balls of dough and roll them into small circles with the help of a rolling pin . Deep fry these circles in hot oil . Puffed up delicious pooris are ready !

Sooji Halwa ( for 2 people)

Sooji/ Semolina - 1/2 cup

Besan / Gram flour - 1 tb sp.

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Ghee - 1/3 cup

Cardamom - 2-3

Water - 2 cups

Dry fruits - as per taste

Dry roast the sooji in a pan till it becomes fragrant . Then add the besan/ gram four and stir for a minute . Add the ghee to this mixture and keep stirring continuously . Fry till the time the ingredients become light brown ( some people like the halwa to be whitish or a little pale ...if you like it that ways than you can stop the roasting at that stage , I like mine a little dark in color so I roast it a little longer) . Lower the flame to minimum and add crushed cardamom . Then add the sugar and immediately add the water . Let the mixture simmer at medium flame . Keep stirring continuously till the consistency becomes thick . Take off the stove and garnish with dry fruits of your choice.