Masala Puri

SuPeR KooK: Smitha

Cuisine: Bangalore :)

I got this recipe from a friend, with no hints about quantities of each ingredient. So I simply add them based on 'i feel like adding this much today'. I cooked this for about 7 people as an appetizer.

This is a dish best had from a Chaat Gaadi vendor. But if you have time on your hands, here is the recipe.

Dry Fry these ingredients till you get a nice aroma. These spices will be ground with a few more ingredients in the next step:
Cinnamon - an inch long
cloves - 2 or 3
black pepper - 1.5 tea spoon
jeera - about 1 Tbsp
saunf - 1 Tbsp
star anise - 1
javantry (Mace - powder of nutmeg shell) - 1 tea spoon
khus khus - 1.5 t spoon
cardamom - 4 to 5 pods

To grind:

Dry fried spices
Dates (More dates = sweeter chaat. I used 10 for 7 people.)
green chili - 2 to 3 . i suggest using green chili paste later in the plate to make it spicier.
onion - I used 1 large sized onion. (that is probably 3 India sized onions)
garlic - 1.5 cloves. (Used less since I don't like garlic.)
Coriander leaves - 1/2 a bunch
pudina leaves - 1 bunch
Grated Coconut (optional) - I used about 3 Tbsp

Heat some oil in a kadai, and pour the ground mixture in. Cook till the mixture thickens. Dilute this with some water and cook again till it thickens. Repeat this process a couple of times.

I usually wait till there is no raw smell, plus the consistency is correct. The consistency should be thicker than Sambhar, but more dilute than gravy.
At this point, add a very little paste of ground peas , little coriander powder,red chilli powder, salt and boil for a few more minutes.

This mixture tends to splutter a bit, so keep a lid handy for the kadai.

You now have the main part ready.

To serve:

Halve about 5 pieces of papdi on a plate.

Add about 3 tablespoons of cooked peas on this.(You can also cook this peas in the gravy.)

Then pour about 1/4 cup of the cooked gravy on it. You could just sprinkle some masalas on this (jeera powder, chat masala).

Add a couple of T-spoons of finely chopped onions and tomatoes.

Top it off with sev and coriander leaves.

optional :Grated carrots

Note about cooking peas :

I simply microwaved them for 4 minutes.

A pressure cooker might over cook the peas, so dont do that...another option is to boil them for 10 minutes.

the best option would be to simply cook the peas in the gravy. You will not get the raw-ish taste of the peas you might be used to, but its still awesome.

Enjoy!