bhogichi bhaji

Bhogichi Bhaji in Marathi

Time: Preparation - 20 minutes | Cooking - 15 to 20 minutes
Servings : 3 to 4

Ingredients:
1 big potato, peeled and cubed (approx 1 to 1.5 cup)
1 medium Eggplant or 3 to 4 small eggplants (approx 1 to 1.25 cup medium cubes)
1 cup carrot, medium cubes
1/2 cup fresh green chana (I used frozen)
1/4 cup soaked Peanuts (soak for 2 hours)
1/4 cup Pavta beans (Indian style lima beans)
6 pieces of Drumsticks (3 inch) (tip 1)
For Tempering: 2 tbsp oil, 2 pinches mustard seeds, 2 pinches hing, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp red chili powder, 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
3-4 curry leaves
2 tbsp roasted sesame seeds, coarsely crushed
2 tsp Goda Masala - click here for recipe
2 tbsp Tamarind juice
1 to 1.5 tbsp jaggery, grated
1/4 cup fresh coconut
salt to taste

Method:
1) Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, hing, turmeric, red chili powder, curry leaves. Then add potato cubes, fresh chana, pavta beans, drumsticks and peanuts. Cover and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. stir occasionally.
2) Then add eggplant and carrot. Mix well. Add 1/2 cup water, cover the pan and cook over medium heat.
3) Once vegetables are almost cooked, add tamarind juice and goda masala. Also add little water if required.
4) Add jaggery after vegetables are cooked nicely. Also add roasted sesame powder and fresh coconut. Sprinkle little salt if needed. Boil for 1 minute and serve immediately with Millet Roti.

Tips:
1) Use fresh drumsticks. Aged and stale drumsticks have hard beans which takes longer to cook. In that case, pressure cook drumstick with 2 whistles.
2) It takes about 15 to 20 minutes to cook the vegetables. For a quicker version, pressure cook chana, Pavta (lima beans), drumsticks, peanuts upto 2 whistles. However, the vegetables cooked in the pan taste more flavorful that quick version.

Gulpoli

Gulpoli in Marathi

Time: around 2 hours
Yield: approx 25 gulpoli

Ingredients:
Stuffing
1/2 kg Jaggery
1 cup Besan flour (Chickpea flour/ Gram flour)
1/2 cup Oil
2 halves of dry coconut
3/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup poppy seeds
1/2 cup peanuts
Cover
1 and 1/2 cup maida
3/4 cup wheat flour
2 tbsp oil
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp besan (Optional)

Method:
1) Grate the dry coconut. Dry roast till golden brown. Gently crush with hands. We need around 1/2 to 3/4 cup of crushed coconut. If it is less, then grate some more coconut. Roast and crush it.
2) Dry roast sesame seeds, poppy seeds separately, till golden brown. Grind to a fine powder.
3) Dry roast peanuts. Remove the peels and grind the peanuts to a fine powder.
4) Heat a pan. Add 1/2 cup oil. Add 1 cup besan flour and roast till, you sense nice aroma and color changes til golden.
5) Grate the jaggery to a fine powder. Add all the roasted items to the grated jaggery. Knead to a semi-stiff dough.
6) Mix maida, wheat flour, salt and besan. Heat 2 tbsp oil to the smoke point. Add it to the flour mixture. Make a medium consistency dough by adding water. Use little oil if required. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
7) Divide the stuffing into 23 to 25 equal balls.
8) For the cover, we will need two equal dough balls for 1 stuffing ball. Therefore, the 2 dough balls should be slightly smaller than stuffing ball.
9) Sandwich the stuffing ball between two dough balls. Seal the edges. Use dry flour and roll it to a thin roti. While rolling, do not flip the sides.
10) Roast over medium-high heated tawa. Roast both the sides. Put it on a paper towel. Stack them into Chapati Container after cools off.
Gulpoli can be served warm or cold. It tastes delicious either way. Do not forget to put a dollop of desi ghee.
Gulpoli stays fresh for 8 to 10 days at room temp. Hence, you can stack some extra gulpoli and enjoy them for few more days.

Tips:
1) The proportion of the flours can be changed according to your preference. If you want firm and little crispy gulpoli, then use only maida and add hot oil. If you want soft gulpoli, then use wheat flour and do not use hot oil, use room temp. oil.