Pithla bhakri
Maharashtra's quick village dinner: besan whisked into water and cooked thick in a tadka of mustard seeds, garlic, green chillies and onion, eaten with hand-patted jowar bhakris. Cooked down dry it becomes zunka. A Jain home leaves out the onion and garlic and adds a little chopped tomato to the cumin and hing instead.
- 55 minTime
- 55 minHands-on
- 4Portions
- 18 gprotein per portion
- 590kcal per portion
Ingredients for 4 portions
- 120 gBesan
- ≈ 750 mlWater, for the pithla
- 3 mlTurmeric
- to tasteSalt
- 3 tbspGroundnut oil
- 1 tspMustard seeds
- 1 tspCumin, seeds
- 1 mlHing (asafoetida)
- 1 sprigCurry leaves
- 6 clovesGarlic, crushed
- 4Green chillies, chopped
- 1Onion, chopped
- 20 gCoriander leaves, chopped
On the side
- 400 gJowar flour
- ≈ 280 mlWater, hot, for the dough
Method
- Mix the jowar flour with a pinch of salt. Pour in most of the hot water and stir with a spoon. When cool enough to handle, knead a quarter at a time with the heel of your hand into a smooth dough, adding the rest of the water as needed.
- Make the bhakris: pat an orange-sized ball of dough out on a floured board into a thin round. Lay it on a hot tawa, brush the top with water and cook for a minute. Flip, cook the other side, then puff it over the flame. Make 8 and wrap them in a cloth.
- Whisk the besan with the water for the pithla, the turmeric and salt into a lump-free batter.
- Heat the oil in a kadai and add the mustard seeds. When they splutter, add the cumin, hing, curry leaves, garlic and green chillies, then the onion, and sauté until the onion is soft, about 3 minutes.
- Pour in the batter and stir constantly on a medium flame for 5–7 minutes until it thickens and leaves the sides. Cover and leave on a low flame for 3 minutes. Stir in the coriander leaves.
- Serve the pithla hot with the bhakris.
