Mooli Paratha

  My Version

Mooli Paratha or Radish parathas. Delicious North Indian flat bread stuffed with a spicy radish filling. 

Ingredients :
Whole wheat flour	-		1 and 1/2 cups
Salt	-		As required
Oil	-		1 teaspoon
Water	-		Enough to knead into dough
For the stuffing:
Radish	-		2 nos.
Cumin powder	-		1 teaspoon
Coriander powder	-		1 teaspoon
Black pepper powder	-		1/2 tablespoon
Chili powder	-		3/4 tablespoon
Amchur powder	-		1 teaspoon
Kasoor methi	-		1 tablespoon
Salt	-		As required
Onion	-		1 medium
Green chilli	-		1 no or more
Coriander leaves	-		1 small bunch
Butter or ghee	-		As required
Preparation Method :
Coarsely blend the radish, onion, green chilli, coriander and powdered spices. Extract the juice out of stuffing mix. Heat some oil in a wok and add the radish and spice mix and cook for 7-8 minutes on medium heat until all the liquid evaporates and the veggies slightly begin to brown. Mean while make the dough by mixing oil and salt into the flour first. Pour in the extracted juice. Add sufficient water and knead into a fine dough. Make 7 large balls. Press down a ball with your fingers and sprinkle some flour on top. Roll-out the ball slightly. Press down the edges leaving the centre thick. Scoop out a spoonful of the radish filling onto the centre. Gather the edges and seal into a ball. Press down the sealed top with the fingers. Turn the ball upside down. Set all balls this way. Gently roll-out each filled dough balls with a rolling pin. I don't know why, I am not very fond of fancy rolling pins :) I still use a PVC pipe piece to roll out chapattis :) don't know if you noticed it. Not modesty. Actually it is light weight and easy to use. :) While rolling out the rotie, you may come across bubbles. Just prick it gently with a fork and pat the area with your fingers to even the surface and remove all the air out. Continue to roll-out until the fillings are apparent.  Brush the top with some oil or ghee. Onto a really hot tawa, place the flattened paratha, oiled side down. On the top, spoon out some butter or ghee. Or brush some oil. Turn the paratha and allow to cook for couple of seconds. Turn again until the paratha has puffed up and browned. Remove and cut the parathas. Cutting is just an option. Can be served plain, or with some plain yogurt, pickle, dhal, or any curry of your choice. Serve them hot and fresh. You can make stuffed parathas similarly with carrots, cauliflower, potatoes or any veggies of your choice. Small variations are required though. Makes 7 Parathas. Delicious!! :P

Okra Thiyal

My version

Okra or Lady's fingers (Vendaka/bhindi) cooked in a thick roasted and puréed coconut gravy. Thiyal or Theeyal is a Kerala dish and it is prepared using different vegetables. Ulli Thiyal is prepared using whole shallots. Thiyal is also prepared with other vegetables like potato, bitter guard, brinjal etc. Like I mentioned earlier, most dishes in Kerala have coconut added in them in different forms. Well, it is said that the name Kerala or Keralam derived from the Sanskrit word Kera, which means coconut. The land of coconuts :) You will see coconut trees in every nook and corner in Kerala. Maybe so, coconut and coconut oil is an inevitable part of Kerala cuisine.

Ingredients :
Okra	-		3 cups
Coconut oil	-		2-3 tablespoons
Mustard seeds	-		1/2 teaspoon
Dried red chillies	-		4-5 nos.
Curry leaves	-		2 stems
Onion	-		1 medium
Garlic	-		2 cloves
Green chillies	-		2 nos.
Tamarind	-		Lemon sized
Warm water to soak tamarind	-		1/2 cup
Freshly ground coconut	-		3/4 cup
Curry leaves	-		2 stems
Shallots (thinly sliced)	-		4-5 nos.
Coriander seeds	-		2 tablespoons
Dried red chillies	-		7-8 nos.
Water	-		As mentioned
Salt	-		To taste.

Tempering is usually done after the cooking process in this recipe as well. But, like I've said earlier, I personally prefer it at the beginning allowing it to infuse all the flavour and aroma into the gravy. Upto you to try your style :)

Preparation Method :

In a wok throw in the fresh grated coconut and add the curry leaves, sliced shallots, coriander seeds, fennel seeds and dried red chillies. Combine everything well. Turn the flame on medium and keep sautéing until the coconut begins to brown. Then reduce the flame to low and sauté until coconut turns really brown as seen in picture below.  Ahh! I love that colour and my kitchen smells awesome! :) Then cool the roasted coconut mix and fill into a blender. Pour in water enough to cover the coconut and purée into a fine paste. In a wok, heat the coconut oil and crackle the mustard seeds. Add the dried red chilli, curry leaves, garlic, green chillies and chopped onion and sauté. Cut off the head and tail of each okra, cut into two and cut into 1 inch pieces. Then, add the Okra and keep sautéing until the sliminess or glueyness disappears. Soak the tamarind in 1/2 cup of warm water for 10 minutes and extract the pulp. Pour the pulp, into the wok and combine well and allow to simmer for 3 minutes. Then pour in the blended coconut paste and 2 cups of hot water and combine well. ( If you dont want the gravy very thick, add some more water). Add some salt, bring to a boil, then bring down the flame to low and allow the thiyal to simmer on low heat for 10 minutes.  Then turn off the flame and allow to cool. When the thiyal cools it will thicken further. Thiyal is served with rice in Kerala. But, it goes well with chapattis as well. Some even have vellaiappam with it. Do leave your valuable feedback, results, comments, queries, suggestions or criticisms below!