time for weekend breakfast... It has to be rich n heavy or the ones tat are time comsuming for preparations.. Usually saturdays is booked for masala Akki roti. But some times there is a change to the menu. N it was time for some hot fluffy puri's with avrekalu gravy. Avrekalu is also known as flat beans or filed beans. Its popular in karnataka n its a crazy time when its avrekalu season (usually winter.. but now available thru out the year). U get to see these beans in literally every dish tat is cooked.
People familiar with Bangalore will know of the averkalu food festival tat is held at VV Puram's Shetru beedi. This place is one of Bangalore's oldest food eat out areas. The night fall brings this street into life n weekend nights will have scores of people flocking here. The food has evolved here over the years. Sometimes I feel the authenticity of this place is lost But then few things that has me visiting this place is the bele obatu (puran poli / sweet roti ) and the avrekalu tat is sold in one of the shops at the start of the street (opp VB Bakery). This shop hosts the avrekalu festival. They dish up varieties of items with avrekalu. Vada's chakali sweets etc. Avrekalu is used in every household too (literally everyday it shows up in food in winter season). used in upma, pulav, gravy, dry sabzi, sweets, sambhar vada n diff snacks.
Oops.. I was to talk about my puri n avrekalu recipe right.. Thgt of VV puram had me thinking all about food and made me lose track ;)
btw... i dont have pics of the avrekalu in its original form. Found a lot of pics on the web but most of them are from blogs. Dint want to flick any .. if u still wondering wat this bean is time u go google :)
hmm now to the recipe.
For the Puri:
1 cup maida
1 cup wheat flour
2 tbspn of fine semolina/rawa/sooji
half teaspoon of salt
a pinch of cooking soda
2 tbspn of milk (for the softness)
water to make a dough
Oil for frying
Mix all the dry ingredients n add milk n water n knead to a little stiff dough. Let rest for about 20 mins. Make small lilttle balls and roll out to make puri's. Keep it a little thick for it to fluff up when frying. Deep fry in hot oil.
For it to blow up like a ballon: when u lower the puri into oil press the puri with the spoon into the oil for few seconds.. it will bounce back like a ballon.
For the gravy :
1 cup avrekalu
1/4 cup fresh grated coconut
1 large onion
a small stick of cinamom
3 to 4 cloves
a teaspoon of black pepper
a pod of garlic
about 1 inch of ginger ( u could also use 2 tbsp of ginger garlic paste instead of fresh ginger garlic)
half cup of fresh corriander
1 meduim tomato
chilli powder to taste
1 tbspn of daniya powder
salt to taste
Keep aside 2 tbspn of chopped onion, avrekalu and tomato and grind all the ingrdients to a fine paste.
in a pan, add 4 tbspn of oil and add chopped onions once its heated. fry for a about a min and add the avrekalu and fry till the raw smell goes off (for about 5 mins) I add salt while frying itself. Once done add the masala paste n fry till u see the oil separating form the masala. Add lil water if its sticking to the pan. Next puree the tomato and add to the gravy. Add water to get the desired consistency and stir. Close n let it simmer until the avrekalu is cooked.
Another pic of the breakfast... don't miss Aarik aiming for the puri's :)
People familiar with Bangalore will know of the averkalu food festival tat is held at VV Puram's Shetru beedi. This place is one of Bangalore's oldest food eat out areas. The night fall brings this street into life n weekend nights will have scores of people flocking here. The food has evolved here over the years. Sometimes I feel the authenticity of this place is lost But then few things that has me visiting this place is the bele obatu (puran poli / sweet roti ) and the avrekalu tat is sold in one of the shops at the start of the street (opp VB Bakery). This shop hosts the avrekalu festival. They dish up varieties of items with avrekalu. Vada's chakali sweets etc. Avrekalu is used in every household too (literally everyday it shows up in food in winter season). used in upma, pulav, gravy, dry sabzi, sweets, sambhar vada n diff snacks.
Oops.. I was to talk about my puri n avrekalu recipe right.. Thgt of VV puram had me thinking all about food and made me lose track ;)
btw... i dont have pics of the avrekalu in its original form. Found a lot of pics on the web but most of them are from blogs. Dint want to flick any .. if u still wondering wat this bean is time u go google :)
hmm now to the recipe.
For the Puri:
1 cup maida
1 cup wheat flour
2 tbspn of fine semolina/rawa/sooji
half teaspoon of salt
a pinch of cooking soda
2 tbspn of milk (for the softness)
water to make a dough
Oil for frying
Mix all the dry ingredients n add milk n water n knead to a little stiff dough. Let rest for about 20 mins. Make small lilttle balls and roll out to make puri's. Keep it a little thick for it to fluff up when frying. Deep fry in hot oil.
For it to blow up like a ballon: when u lower the puri into oil press the puri with the spoon into the oil for few seconds.. it will bounce back like a ballon.
For the gravy :
1 cup avrekalu
1/4 cup fresh grated coconut
1 large onion
a small stick of cinamom
3 to 4 cloves
a teaspoon of black pepper
a pod of garlic
about 1 inch of ginger ( u could also use 2 tbsp of ginger garlic paste instead of fresh ginger garlic)
half cup of fresh corriander
1 meduim tomato
chilli powder to taste
1 tbspn of daniya powder
salt to taste
Keep aside 2 tbspn of chopped onion, avrekalu and tomato and grind all the ingrdients to a fine paste.
in a pan, add 4 tbspn of oil and add chopped onions once its heated. fry for a about a min and add the avrekalu and fry till the raw smell goes off (for about 5 mins) I add salt while frying itself. Once done add the masala paste n fry till u see the oil separating form the masala. Add lil water if its sticking to the pan. Next puree the tomato and add to the gravy. Add water to get the desired consistency and stir. Close n let it simmer until the avrekalu is cooked.
Another pic of the breakfast... don't miss Aarik aiming for the puri's :)
