Bihari Mutter Kachori with Bihari Aloo Sabji

Winter is settling in and in this weather one would love to have hot Bihari Mutter Kachori's with Bihari Aloo ki Sabji. Traditionally there is no filling in Bihari Kachori's but I've slightly modernised it by using a pea-filling. Home made is hygienic and one would definitely enjoy cooking it as it does not take much time to prepare this. So without wasting time let me come to the recipe-

INGREDIENTS FOR MUTTER KACHORI

Fresh Green Peas - 300 gms

Ginger - 1 inch grated

Green Chillies - 1 chopped

Roasted crushed cumin (Bhuna Kuta Jeera) - 1/4th tspn

Asafetida (Hing Powder)- 1/4 tspn

Roasted crushed Fennel Seeds (saunf)- 1/4 tspn

cooking oil - 1/2 tspn

chopped coriander - 1 tblspn

salt - to taste

Refined Flour (Maida) - 1 cup

salt - to taste

Hot  Ghee (Moyan) - 2-3 tblspn

Carom Seeds(Ajwain) - a small pinch

Nigella Seeds(Mangrella/Kalonji) - a small pinch

Luke Warm Water - for kneading

Oil - for deep frying - as required

METHOD-

In a flat plate mix refined flour, salt, ghee, carom seeds and Nigella seeds..

Knead a hard dough.

Cover and keep it aside for 20 minutes.

For the filling -

Heat the oil.

Add raw peas. Sprinkle salt.

Saute till oil is well coated on the peas and peas turn slightly soft.

Crush the peas.

Add salt, roasted crushed cumin, fennel seeds and asafetida 

Add grated ginger and chopped chillies, coriander leaves.

Mix well.

Making of Bihari Mutter Kachori-

Take a small ball from the dough.

Flatten it and place 1 tblspn filling.

Close/Seal and prepare a kachori slightly thick. (As shown in the pic)

Deep Fry in hot oil.

Drain in an absorbent paper.

Ingredients for Aloo Sabji

Boiled Potatoes - 4-5 small

Tomatoes -2 medium

Ghee/oil - 1  1/2 tspn

Asafetida (Hing Powder) - 1 tspn

Panchforan - 1 tspn

Bay Leaf - 1

Roasted Cumin powder - 1 tspn

Roasted Coriander powder - 1 1/2 tspn

Garam Masala powder - 1/4 tspn

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tspn

Red Chilly Powder - 1 1/2 tspn

Amchur Powder (Dry Mango Powder) - 1 tspn

Salt - to taste

Chopped Coriander - 1/2 cup

METHOD -

Peel Potatoes and crush it with your hand. do not cut.

Cut tomatoes unevenly into 5-6 pieces.

In a vessel boil 1 1/2 cups of water with the tomatoes till done.

Keep it aside.

In a kadhai (Flat Bottomed Pan) heat oil or ghee.

Add bayleaf.

Add to it panchforan. Let it crackle.

Add asafetida. Mix don't let it burn.

Add potatoes. Mix well to coat the potatoes well with hing and panchforan.

Add all the dried masalas one by one.

First add coriander powder followed by turmeric powder.

Then add red chilly powder, cumin powder and salt.

Mix well. Add tomatoes with the left over water in which the tomatoes were boiled.

Add chopped coriander.

Now add 1/2 cup water and let it boil well for 7-8 minutes on very low flame.

Sprinkle dry mango powder and garam masala powder.

Mix well. Now crush a few potatoes in the vessel itself so as to form a thick gravy.

Use the back side of the kalchul to crush the potatoes.

Serve hot in eco friendly dishes with kachori.

Note - Paanch foran - is a mixture of equal quantities of fennel seeds(Saunf), onion seeds (Kalonji),  fenugreek seeds (methi dana), carom seeds (ajwain), yellow mustard (peeli sarso).

Ghughani

घुघनी is a breakfast brunch dish from Bihar. Morning heavy breakfast is taken and people leave home for their work. Ghughani is prepared from black gram which is a rich source of protein. Having a protein filled breakfast gives energy for day-long hard work. This dish is very commonly found in all the households of Bihar. After the day's work is over and women while winding-up the kitchen make it a point to soak black gram for the following morning breakfast. In summers it can be accompanied by buttermilk (Chaas) which would create a balance as whole spices are used in preparation of ghughani. Years after years this traditional breakfast recipe is passed on to the next generation. When I travelled to Bihar (Bodh Gaya) I got an opportunity to learn this awesome dish. Prepared in mustard oil gives a lovely robust flavour to the dish. Garnished with fresh coriander leaves gives an amazing flavour and one tends to dig into the awesome bite. Traditionally women used to grind the spices in the mortar and pestle called "Silauti" in Bihar. Modern cooking - we use grinder. When the grounded masala is prepared on the "Silauti", it has the unique flavour as it's done for several minutes; the women keep on grinding adding water little by little to get the fine consistency masala. The aroma of this grounded masala is simply divine. 

The black gram has to be cleaned thoroughly and washed with several changes of water till the water runs clear and then soaked overnight for the black gram to swell up. In the morning boil chana (in a pressure cooker) with salt added as per taste. Give 5- whistles, lower the heat and cook for 5-10 minutes more. The black gram is ready to turn into ghughani.

Now coming to the ingredients -

Boiled Black Gram - 1 cup

Mustard Oil - 4 tblspn

Sliced Onions - 4 medium

Chopped Tomato - 1

Turmeric Powder - 1 1/2 tspn

Red Chilly Powder - 1 tspn

Salt - to taste

Bay Leaf (Tejpatta) - 2

For the Ground Masala -

Garlic - 10-12 cloves

Cloves (Laung) - 2-3

Ginger - 1 1/2 inch piece

Cumin Seeds - (Jeera)

Whole Black Pepper (Golki)- 7-8

Whole Dried Red Chilly - 2-3

Fresh Green Chilly - 2-3 (can be adjusted as per liking)

Cinnamon - 1/2 inch stick

Coriander Seeds - 1 tblspn

For the Garnish -

Chopped Fresh Green Coriander - 2 tblspn

Boiled Black Gram - 2 tblspn

Garam Masala Powder - a pinch

METHOD -

• 
  
  Prepare a masala with all the ingredients under "ground masala" using little water.
• 
  
  Heat Oil in a heavy bottomed pan (Kadhai).
• 
  
  Add bay leaf.
• 
  
  Add sliced onion and saute till it turns light brown
• 
  
  Add the ground masala. Bhuno (Saute) it well.
• 
  
  {Don't leave the masala unattended to prevent burning}
• 
  
  Add little water so that the masala does not burn.
• 
  
  Add salt, turmeric and chilly powder. Mix well.
• 
  
  Add Chopped Tomato and again saute it.
• 
  
  When the fat separation happens add boiled chana.
• 
  
  Mix well. Add some water as per thickness of gravy is required.
• 
  
  Cover and give it a boil on low flame.
• 
  
  Transfer into a prestige cooker and give 2 whistles.
• 
  
  Lower the flame and let it cook for 5-6 minutes.
• 
  
  When done transfer into the serving dish.
• 
  
  Sprinkle garam masala.
• 
  
  Sprinkle boiled chana and fresh coriander.
• 
  
  Serve hot with paratha (Indian bread).

Following picture shows without the garnish.