Phenomenal Pati-Saptas, a dream folded in three

 

Amazing Rice flour pancakes from the heart of Bengal, stuffed with kheer n Aam-satto/Aam-papad

 

When it comes to pati-spatas , everything becomes clear water, there is no conflict or confusion, it is delicious like a dream, soft like love n slightly crisp at times like reality itself. I have loved it all through my childhood, love it dearly now and as I make them I get dissolved in their being. We can call them sweet pancakes generally but trust me they are so much more than that.

 

The batter is made from rice flour mainly, sometimes semolina and flour is added to the rice flour and milk is added to get to the desired thin consistency. When it comes to the stuffing we have very beautiful choices, one is freshly grated coconut cooked with date jaggery which is the supremely delicious ‘Nalen Khejur Gurr’ or sugarcane jaggery which has its earthy sweet magic, another is kheer which is milk simmered until it almost solidifies n then mixed with a little sugar. In my version I have created a new flavor for the stuffing and it was inspired by a gift- some days ago my friend gave me a beautiful gift-home-made dry mango cakes-‘AAM-SATTO’, a box full of them. Aam-satto is made from fresh mango pulp mixed with water and a touch of spices, then the batter is spread thinly over plates and sun-dried until the water evaporates and the rest settles as a thick layer of cake-the flavor intensifies and changes under the sun light and we get aam-satto.

Back home I softened the aam-satto with milk, then mixed them with kheer until a beautiful rich mixture was obtained- sweet n with a slight touch of tang and filled with that mango flavor. When I stuffed them inside the soft pati-sapta they made me smile, they taste exclusively delish and my friend found them refreshingly different delicious.

 

Winter is a good time for pati-sapta, in fact every time is a good time for them but in the winter it gets special for a number of reasons, one is it feels great to bite into the warm pati-saptas in a cold afternoon, second in the winter the majestic nalen gurr which is a type of jaggery made from dates, becomes available and that takes everything to a whole different level.

 

Pati-sapta is a pithe, pithe is a term used for deserts made from mainly rice-flour or a combination of rice-flour n flour or semolina made during a certain season or festivals in Bengal.

 

So now since I cant wait any more for the recipe, here you go.

 

For The Recipe: you will need

For the Pati-Sapta

Rice-flour- 2 cups

Plain flour- ½ cup approximately

Semolina- ¼ cup approximately

Milk (full fat/skimmed)- 500 ml approximately

Salt- a pinch

Sugar- 2 tbsp

Vegetable oil/ghee- ½ cup

For the Kheer

Milk (full-fat)- 1 litre

Sugar – about 2 tbsp

 

For the Aam-Satto stuffing

Aam-satto/dry mango cake/aam-papad- 150 gm

Milk- a little to soak them

Kheer-Half the quantity of kheer made above

1. Begin by adding the rice flour to the milk at room temperature, the milk should not be cold, whisk in the rice flour with a wooden spatula or wire whisk until the batter is smooth, then add the semolina and whisk until smooth, then add the flour n whisk until the batter is smooth. The consistency of the batter should be thin n flow-y, like if you pour the batter from a ladle on a pan , you should be able to spread the batter relatively easily over the surface of the pan. If the batter is not thin with the given measurement above add some more milk to achieve that consistency, then add a pinch of salt to it, mix well, now let the batter rest for about 30 minutes.
2. Making the kheer is a complete new recipe, for that take full-fat milk in a wok/kadai with a large surface area and let the milk come to a boil, then reduce the heat to lowest and keep simmering until the milk reduces to a solid mass where all the water component from it has evaporated, this will take about 30 minutes. Keep scratching the sides every 4 minutes and incorporate that into the milk as it is getting done, don't leave the milk and go away when this is happening, if you are not using a heavy bottomed wok the milk can burn at the bottom and ruin all your effort, so if you can, use a heavy bottomed wok and stay near the milk and stir it well every 3 minutes. When the milk has been reduced to a solid mass almost, stir continuously until it becomes a solid mass, then add the sugar and let it melt completely, then remove it from the heat onto a plate, the kheer should be sweet but not too sweet.
3. For the aam-satto kheer, soak them in warm milk for half an hour until they soften, then smash them with a fork until uniformly mixed, after that add half of the kheer n a couple of teaspoon of milk to make a spreadable consistency mixture. When that is done, you have to do the same with the kheer, if the kheer is very solid , add some milk and lighten it up.
4. Time to make the pati-sapta finally, so take a flat frying pan or chatu or pancake pan, keep it on high heat and let it get hot, then take any flavorless vegetable oil like soya bean oil or ghee, smear it over the surface of the pan, pour 1 tbsp of oil and heat it in the pan then pour it over the batter n mix it well. Now make the flame go to minimum, smear the pan again with ghee or oil and take a ladle full of the batter and lift up the pan in one hand and pour the batter on the pan, then spread the batter in a round form, you can do it with a spatula too, just work with a light hand, push the batter lightly to create a round shape, then increase the heat the medium and give it about 1 minute, with a spoon lift the pancake slightly to see if the surface has caramelized, if not give it some more time, then take and place one tbsp of aam-satto kheer mixture and spread it in the middle of the pancake , then fold the pan cake in three parts, then take it off the pan.
5. So now smear the surface of the pan again with ghee or oil and lift the pan, mix the batter well and pour a ladle full of batter on the pan and do like before. Keep the initial temperature of the pan low so that when you pour the batter it doesn't settle immediately in the pan, when the initial temperature is low you have time to spread the batter easily either by rotating the pan or by gentle spreading the batter with the spatula, once the batter is spread increase the temperature to medium and let the caramelize, then fold it in three.
6. Similarly make all the pati-sapta, fill them with aam-satto kheer and kheer. And then we are done.

 

So here we are, we have successfully made all the pati-saptas and I am sure you have tasted them already while you were still making them, that's what I do all the time, now tell me, don't they just taste out-of-this world, soft succulent inside, crispy outside and so soft, so now share it with your loved ones, eat them warm or cold, they are delicious in every stage, so now you have one more great recipe in your collection. So you know what! Bon Appetit.

E for Elo-Jhelo

A crispy sweet bite for Diwali, a beautiful Indian Bengali sweet Pastry, crafted with love, a little Elo-Melo (Tangled) n a lot of Elo-Jhelo!

So as it turns out on this Durga Pooja, I was thousands of miles away from Bengal, I couldn’t absorb all the flavors, fragrance and sound that is all there in Bengal during the pooja, but perhaps so couldn’t some of you, who had to stay thousands of miles apart because life is like this or if you are someone who is not familiar with it-I will say get into it. For my dear reader who is reading me right now, I couldn’t give you something nice during the pooja, but now I can and Diwali/Deepawali is in the air and everywhere soon there are gonna lit a thousand lights, so I had to tell you about how to make Elo-Jhelo.

Think about this name ‘ELO-JHELO’, interesting name isn’t it? When I look at the word I feel as if it comes from the Aztecs, however it comes from Bengal, India. It is a sweet pastry, made out of all purpose flour, vegetable oil n ghee, sugar and some touch of aromatic spices. The dough is prepared, made into small balls, then they are rolled individually, cuts are splashed across the surface of the rolled thin dough, then folded over n over until it gets all tangled n overlapping, producing a beautiful spiral like shape which looks like flower petals or the shape of a flame from a lamp n the rest is on your imagination.

When I begin to wonder about the name, I try to connect the dots, like elo-melo in Bengali would suggest tangled, so on that line ‘Elo-jhelo’ may come from ‘Elo-melo’ because you see the dough strands are tangled in a way but never messy, they are beautifully elegant.

This pastry is deep-fried in flavorless vegetable oil, then a sugar syrup is prepared on the heat until it gets as thick like honey going towards one string consistency, the crispy fried pastry is dipped into the syrup to coat them, then taken out after 1-2 minutes and  they are ready. This is a kind of ‘Nimki’ which can be both sweet n savory, a nimki is a Bengali term for fried pastry.

Diwali or as we sometimes we say it Deepawali is just around this weekend, this is the time to prepare a lot of sweets- Gulab Jamun, Kaju katli, Motichur ke laddu n so many more, so make Elo-jhelo, the great thing about them is that they are not overly sweet, slightly sweet, they look great, they are versatile and it is so much fun making them with the whole family sitting around, the father making the dough, the mother rolling out, the little kids making the cuts- well it is a possibility…ha-ha. Most important is the bite-literally delicious n you always wanna have some more without eating a lot of sugar.

I flavored my elo-jhelo with white n black sesame seeds, and green cardamom n a touch of saffron, a traditional elo-jhelo is devoid of any such extra flavors and is still very delicious, so you can always go the traditional way or sometimes add flavors that you like. I incorporated the cardamom n saffron flavor in the sugar syrup itself. So this Deepawali I expect some Elo-jhelo in your home, have fun, share it with your friends, it is a labor of love.

So let me tell you now the secret, here we go.

For The Recipe: we will need

For the Dough

All purpose Flour-4 cups

Vegetable oil-1/2 cup (I used ½ tbsp of ghee n so I used less then ½ cup of oil)

Salt- a pinch

Water-slightly less than 1 cup

For the Syrup

Sugar-2 cups

Water 1 ½ cups

Green cardamom-2, crushed n slightly powdered

Saffron strands-2 pinches

For Frying

6-8 cups vegetable oil

1. Begin by adding the salt n the  ½ cup vegetable oil or a combination of ghee n vegetable oil like I did, if you are adding both like me then reduce the oil by the same amount so the total goes to ½ cup, rub the oil into the flour , do it well, make sure the fat is well distributed into the flour, rub the flour n oil together into your palm with a light hand, it will take 3 minutes, then start adding the water, add half the water at first, mix n then add half of the half, mix, see how the dough is coming, we will need slightly less than 1 cup water, so start to gather the dough as you add more water, when you feel the dough will come together you can stop adding the water, there will be around 2 tbsp of water left in the cup which you don’t need. So now knead the dough for about 5-6 minutes, the dough will become smooth, we want dough which is slightly firm, not on the softer side, so it will a little hard work kneading the firm dough. When the dough is smooth after 5-6 minutes, divide it in half, the roll each half into a cylindrical log, then with a knife cut the log at 1 ½ inch interval or tear off small portions from the log and make into balls of 1 ½ inch diameter. When all the balls are done, cover n rest for 20 minutes.

2. After 20 minutes pour a little vegetable oil into a bowl, take one ball and dip your finger into the oil and with that touch of oil roll the ball into a smooth ball again, oil the surface of the wooden board or marble slightly, oil the rolling pin, place the ball on the surface n with your palm press on it to make it into a flat uniform round disc. Start rolling the disc with the rolling pin into a uniform thin circle of about 4 inches in diameter, lift it up and sprinkle some white n black sesame seed on the surface, then place it lightly again on the surface, then with a sharp knife make a slit leaving about ½ inch space at the ends, after that make parallel cuts at about less then ½ inch gap. When the cuts are done start rolling the disc carefully at one end, hold the top n down portions of the disc and with light hands roll the disc onto itself, the slit strips will come overlapping and keep your hand at both the ends as you roll and with another finger help the dough to come up from the surface as you roll. At the end the strips will be overlapped and the top n down will be pointed holding the whole piece together.

3. Prepare all the balls like this, now place deep pot of kadai/wok on the heat, add the oil and let it become medium hot, we don’t want the oil to be very hot or the elo-jhelo will color quickly. When the oil is medium hot take one piece and dip is slightly into the oil, it should not start to bubble vigorously, if it is the oil is too hot, take it off the heat, let it cool slightly, now when you place the elo-jhelo it will start to bubble up a little or a moment after it goes in the oil, always keep the oil to low n medium low, add about 5-6 at one time, flip them every 2 minutes, when they attain a light brown to brown color you can take them off which will take about 5-6 minutes.

4. In another wok add the sugar n water on medium heat, let the sugar melt, then make the heat high and let it come to a boil,  give it around 10 minutes, check the syrup by dipping a spoon and place some drops on a plate and then touch it, when it begins to thick a little stay alert, add the crushed green cardamom n saffron strands, test the syrup again, when the syrup gets thick like honey or when you place a drop between your fingers and you can see one string forming between your fingers it is ready. Place the fried warm elo-jhelo into the syrup, coat it well , give them 1 minute in the syrup , then drip off the excess syrup and take them off. Prepare all the elo-jhelo like this.  Start making the syrup when you put the oil into the heat, this way when you first batch of elo-jhelo will be ready the syrup will also be ready and you can dip them right away.

Note: instead of placing the disc onto the sesame seeds, you can toast the sesame seeds on a pan and then coat the fried elo-jhelo as they just come out of the sugar syrup with the roasted sesame seeds, they will stick on the sugary elo-jhelo very well.

Hey, they are all ready now! They look amazing right, I told you n now bite into one and hear the sweet crunch n after that share the sweet crunch with all around you. Happy Diwali, Shubh Deepawali, Subho Kaali Pujo and guess what? Bon Appétit! May the light bless us.

Hyderabadi Tootak Tales...what flavors it hides inside

Tootaks from Hyderabadi cuisine, a tale in crispy semolina pastry n herbal spicy vegetable filling

I first thought of making ‘Tootaks’  when I stumbled upon  them inside a book n they were all over the place. They had this unusual shape which reminded me of ‘Modaks’ which comes from the neighboring state of ‘Maharashtra’ which are sweet, still they were a bit different. The top part of them were rounded, unlike modak not pointed, the lower half were oval that made them look like a traditional water pot ‘Ghati’.  Their color was subdued with a slight touch of yellow ochre n it reminded me of the color of the beach. This is how I was seduced.

The name is quite interesting ‘Tootak’ , saying their name twice gets me to the famous Indian song ‘Tootak tootak tootiyan’ but they are far from the song.  Their name derives from the Indian Hindi phrase ‘Tu Takta Reh Jaye Ga’ which will mean ‘you will be left astounding or gaping’- look at the first two words of the Hindi phrase ‘Tu Tak-ta’, so casually we can imagine tu-tak or tootak will suggest ‘you astound’- cool  eh! So they belong to Hyderabadi cuisine/ Deccani cuisine in its origin, a signature dish of the local Hindu Kayastha community people.

By structure a tootak has two parts, the outside shell, crispy, still little soft inside-that is semolina pastry treated with ghee, milk n spices and the inside filling which is traditionally made from mutton mince flavored with onions, garlic, ginger, coriander, green chilies, lemon juice . In my version I create a spicy amazing vegetable filing with carrots, coriander, barbatti, onion, garlic, ginger, shahi jeera, black sesame seed, green capsicum, jalapenos, tomato, yogurt, coconut pieces, lime juice n mint leaves.

What I really like the most is how the semolina which is sooji or rawa in Indian terms is treated to make the dough which runs almost in similar lines of creating a short crust pastry but still uniquely different. The semolina is rubbed with chilled ghee n a spice mixture until it feels like wet sand and just hold together, this mixture is put to rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator, then it is kneaded with milk until it becomes a medium soft dough, which further rests for 15 minutes and then they are shaped with the filling inside.

I love the flavor of the  black sesame seeds, so in my version of tootaks I included them in the game both to give a depth of flavor and to create an interesting playful look for them and they looked so cool at the end of baking. Oh yes! These beauties are baked in the oven –not deep fried- so now there is one more reason for you to make them. So let’s get the hands dirty, shall we?

So now I will straightway take you to the recipe, let’s have a roll.

For The Recipe:  You will need

Makes 12-14 Tootaks

For the Semolina Shell:

Semolina/Sooji/Rawa- 2 cups

Ghee (clarified butter) - 4 tbsp, chilled

Salt- ¾ tsp

Sugar- 1 tsp, powdered

Milk- ½ cup approximately

Black pepper- 1 tsp, crushed n powdered

Black cumin seeds (Shahi Jeera) - ½ tsp- slightly roasted n powdered

Green cardamom- 2, lightly roasted n powdered

Clove- 1, slightly roasted n powdered

For the Filling:

Carrot- 1 medium, shredded

Barbatti/Yard long Bean- 2, finely sliced

Onion- 1 medium, finely chopped

Green chilies-3/4 – finely chopped

Green capsicum- 2 tbsp, finely chopped

Coriander leaves n stalks- 2-3tbsp, finely chopped

Jalapenos- 2 tbsp, chopped

Ginger- ½ inch, minced

Garlic- 2 medium cloves, minced

Mint leaves, fresh or dry-1 tbsp

Shahi jeera- ½ tsp

Black sesame seed- 1 tbsp

Fresh coconut- 2 tbsp, chopped into ¼ inch pieces

Yogurt- 1 tbsp, whisked

Tomato-1/2 of a medium tomato, chopped

Black pepper- ½ tsp, freshly crushed

Salt

Pink rock salt- a pinch

Sugar- 2 pinches

Red chili powder-1/4 tsp

Turmeric- 1 pinch

Vegetable oil- 2 tbsp

Pre-heat oven to 160 Celsius/325 Fahrenheit.

1. Let’s start by making the dough, for that put the ghee in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes to chill it, then mix the semolina with salt, sugar, ground black pepper, the crushed spices n then add the chilled ghee n rub it in with soft hands using your fingertips, this will take about 5- 7minutes, and the mixture will resemble wet sand and the mixture will hold together when you press it lightly between your palms. If this doesn’t not happen nothing to worry, add a little more chilled ghee like ½ tsp and 1 tsp of water, rub it in with soft hands n you will see the mixture will just hold together when you press it lightly. At this point cover it with Clingfilm, rest it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

2. Now for the filling, put a frying pan on medium heat and heat the oil moderately, add the shahi jeera and black sesame seeds, when they sputter, add the shredded carrot, chopped barbatti beans, green chilies, coriander stalks, toss them, give them 1 minute on medium high heat, then add the ginger n garlic mince, mix, give them 30 seconds, then add onion, green capsicum, tomato, coconut pieces, coriander leaves n mix it all in. Now on medium high flame stir-fry them, we want them to caramelize a bit, so keeping the flame on medium high is important and stir them every 30 seconds so they don’t burn, give them 5 minutes like this, stir often. After that reduce the heat to low, add a pinch of sugar, pink rock salt,  then add salt, red chili powder , turmeric, add a touch of water so that the spices don’t burn, mix it all in, on the lowest flame give them 5-6 minutes. Then take the pan away from the heat for a moment, add the whisked yogurt n mix well, put the pan back on low heat and add the jalapenos, mint leaves, give them about 3-5 minutes until the whole mixture dries up. There will a lot of brown bits in the bottom, they will add amazing flavor, so dash a little water on the bottom and scratch with the spatula to mix them all in, let the whole mixture dry again and we are almost done, lastly add the lime juice, adjust the seasoning n add the black pepper powder. Take the mixture off the pan on a plate, let it cool.

3. After 30 minutes take the semolina mixture out and add a little milk n knead to mix in it, then add some more n knead, then add the rest and start kneading the dough until you get a dough which leaves sides of the vessel n comes together, knead for about 5-7 minutes and you will have a medium soft dough. Test the dough by making a small ball and shaping it like tootak without any crack, if you can do that you are done. Cover n rest for 15 minutes.

4. Now take a big lime size ball of dough in your hands n roll it between your palms with a soft hand to make a smooth ball, then flatten the ball by pressing it between your palm, now put your thumb in the middle n make a depression, lightly make that depression into a round shape, then with soft hands press all around that as you give it the shape of a small bowl, pressing down to give an uniform thickness as you go around. Then fill the bowl with 1 tsp of filling, press it lightly, then fold the sides and the top to seal the filling n bring the both the sides to the top with light hand, give that part a conical shape, then with one finger press on it to give it rounded shape. Hold the tootak, roll it by keeping it on your palm to give a flat bottom, the middle will be oval rounded and at the top it will be conical rounded. That’s all. Prepare all the tootaks like this.

5. Pre-heat the oven to 160 Celsius/325 Fahrenheit,  brush all the tootaks lightly with vegetable oil with your fingers or a brush, now scatter black sesame seeds on a flat surface. Take one tootak and make it sit on the seeds pressing it lightly, the seeds will stick to the base, then tilt the tootak and roll it lightly on the seeds on its sides, now hold the tootak upside down and press the top lightly again on the seeds, then make it straight and place them on a baking sheet. So at the end the tootak will have a sesame seed base, a rim of black sesame seeds n the top with some seeds, prepare all like this.

6. Place them in the oven, bake them for 15-25 minutes until they looks dry and when you tap them with your nail it feels hard, not soft like before, now put the top grill on in your oven and give them around 5 minutes until they just start to get color. I increased the temperature to 180 Celsius/350 F while doing this. In this point you have to careful, watch them, as they get slightly brown they are ready. Take them out n give them 10 minutes to cool, then put them on a wire rack to cool further. Eat them while they are warm n even cold.

So now munch on and share it with everybody, spread the tootaks everywhere. Bon Appétit!