Bathura

We stopped at my friend's house last night on our evening walk, to borrow a jigsaw puzzle to do. When my daughter heard that she was making chole bathura for dinner, she wanted me to make it. Bathura is a traditional Punjabi deep fried flat bread made with a dough of all purpose flour, yogurt, and baking powder. It is usually accompanied with chole. I made this dish for dinner tonight.

Ingredients:
2 Cups all purpose flour
1/4 Cup semolina / sooji
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 Cup yogurt
water, as needed
oil for deep frying

Method:
1. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

2. Add yogurt to it and knead to a stiff dough, adding water as required. Cover and allow the dough to rest for 2 hours.

3. Turn the dough onto a floured work surface. Knead for a couple minutes.

4. shape the dough into a log. Pinch medium size balls off the log.

5. Roll the dough into thin discs. Deep fry in hot oil. Serve hot with chole.

Note:
I cooked the bathura on the stove in a griddle, instead of deep frying. It tasted very good. I enjoyed a guilt free dinner.

1. Place the bathura on a hot griddle. Cook on both sides until golden brown.

2. You can spay some oil on both sides to cook. It will puff up like poori

3. Repeat process with remaining dough. Serve hot with chole.

Arepas filled with Black Beans Sofrito and Queso Fresco

Two of my daughter's best friends from college are of South American descent, Argentina and Venezuela. My daughter was lucky that her roommates cooked (she did not as much). She got introduced to food from their culture, that she passed on to me. Living with us during the pandemic, my daughter sometimes cooks on weekends. She offered to make a Venezuelan dish called Arepa for dinner last night. Arepa is like a thick tortilla made of ground maize dough and filled with meat, beans or cheese. Arepa originates from the northern regions of South America and is part of the cuisines of Colombia and Venezuela. Yucca or cassava can also be used to make Arepas. Last night my daughter made them from white corn meal and filled them with black beans sofrito and queso fresco ( fresh Mexican crumbling cheese).

Ingredients for arepa:
2 1/2 Cups water
2 Cups P.A.N (precooked white corn meal)
1 teaspoon salt

Ingredients for filling:
2 Cups dry black beans, soaked in water for 8 hours
6 quarts water
1 bay leaf
1 Tablespoon oil
2 teaspoon salt
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 teaspoons paprika ( adjust to taste)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground peppercorn
1/2 Cup crumbled queso fresco

Method:
1. Rinse and drain soaked black beans. Cook in 6 quarts of water with bay leaf until soft. You can also pressure cook beans until soft. Allow to cool.
2. Place onion, red pepper, garlic, paprika, cumin, pepper, and salt in a blender and blend it to a coarse mixture, adding a little water if required. This is the sofrito.

3. Heat oil in a large saucepan. Cook sofrito until raw smell of onion leaves. Check for salt and spice and add if required.

4. Remove the bay leaf from the black beans. Drain the water and stir it into the saucepan with sofrito. Add a little water and cook for a few minutes until it thickens. Remove from stove. Set aside.

Arepa:

1. Take 2 1/2 cups of water in a large bowl. Add salt to it and mix until it dissolves. Gradually add 2 cups of maize to water and mix.

2. Knead to a soft non-sticky dough. Cover and leave for 5 minutes.

3. Divide dough into 8 portions. Make a ball of each portion and pat to form a thick round cake.

4. Place arepa on a hot griddle or frying pan. Cook 6-8 minutes without touching, until golden brown. Turn over and cook for 6-8 minutes until golden brown. Repeat process to cook remaining arepas.

5. To serve: Make a slit to open the arepa to make a pocket. Be careful not to cut it in half.

6. Fill arepa with 1/4 cup of black beans and  1 tablespoon queso fresco. You can heat it in the oven for a couple minutes before serving. Guacamole would be a great accompaniment to this dish.

Note: You can use canned black beans and canned sofrito. Just rinse and drain the beans. Cook with sofrito for 5 minutes.

Lettuce Wraps (Vegetarian)

First time we had vegetarian lettuce wrap was in the Asian restaurant P.F. Chang's. We always order this when we eat there. It is also a popular appetizer in California Pizza Kitchen. My kids love this. It is basically Asian style sweet and spicy crunchy tofu, mushroom and water chestnuts with a special sauce, wrapped in large lettuce leaves. I made this popular dish for lunch last week. I made it with mushroom, Kabocha squash, tofu and vegetarian patties that was cooked in the air fryer. It was a healthy filling lunch.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Kabocha squash, diced

1 Cup Cauliflower florets

8 oz. baby Bella mushrooms, diced

4 oz extra firm tofu, cubed

5 Vegetarian patties

1/2 Cup green onions, thinly sliced

large lettuce leaves for wraps

For Sauce:

4 Tablespoons hoisin sauce

4 Tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

3 teaspoons sesame oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons finely minced fresh ginger

1 small Thai chili, seeded and minced

1 teaspoon brown sugar

Method:

1. Mix the ingredients for sauce in a blender and blend to a coarse sauce.

2. Take the vegetables and tofu in separate bowls. Mix them with some of the sauce.

3. Roast the vegetables and tofu separately in the air fryer at 370 degrees for 10 minutes each or until done. Crumble the tofu.

4. Roast patties in air fryer. Cut them into small pieces when cool. 

5. I made 2 types of filling as my mom and daughter do not like mushrooms. 

6. Divide diced patties and tofu. I made one filling with kabocha squash, cauliflower and half of the patties and tofu. The other filling with mushroom, and the other half of tofu and patties.

7. Spoon the desired filling on the lettuce. Drizzle with some sauce. Sprinkle some sliced green onion and enjoy the delicious wrap.

Note:
Another way to make this dish is to saute the vegetables in a pan on the stove. Then add the sauce to it. Mix 1 tablespoon corn flour to 1/4 cup of water and stir into the vegetable mixture to bind them.

Sweet Corn Soup

I love to eat soup any time of the year. Sweet corn soup is a favorite Indo-Chinese dish. Sweet yellow or white corn, diced carrots and green peas cooked in water or broth. I made the soup with fresh corn last week.

Ingredients ( for 4 servings):

1 1/2 Cups frozen or fresh corn

3/4 Cup corn

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon minced ginger

1 Carrot, peeled and diced

1/2 Cup green peas (optional)

2 green onion (scallion), sliced

4 Cups water or clear broth

salt and pepper to taste

                                               

Method:

1. Blend 3/4 cup corn to a creamy paste. Set aside.

                                   

2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large stock pot. Add ginger and garlic. Saute for a minute.

                                                   

3. Add corn, carrot and peas. Cook for 3 minutes.

                                                    

4. Stir in creamed corn and cook for 2 minutes.

                                                      

5. Add 4 cups of water or clear broth. Cover and cook for 10 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

                                         

6. Garnish with sliced green onion before serving.