Thalipeeth

One friend went back to India last week, he was with us for a last cuppa coffee, and before going he gave me this bag and said..".. you can use it better than any of us.." Eh? My blank face must have spoken volumes more than my bleak "Thank You". Curioser and curioser... (Alice in Wonderland, guys!).. When I opened the bag (after he left) I found a bag of Thalipeeth BhajaNi(a flour mix).. AHA! Just the thing for a Sunday breakfast !
Thalipeeth was and still is among one of my favourite snacks...I remember the times when my Mother used to make these for me.. I used to love sampling even the dough, so tasty!

The ready Thalipeeth, hot off the stove, would be served with a dollop of fresh home made butter. I would eat it with just the butter or for variation with yogurt or sometimes ketchup..

So this Sunday I made Thalipeeth... lucky for me I got the bhajaNi (flour mix). I had searched for it in the Indian Store here , but no go. I even contempleted making the bhajaNi, but that meant grinding which is not an easy task when u don't have the heavy duty grinders as in the home land. But for those who want to make the mix just follow the recipe below :

The proportions given in RUCHIRA- the cook book are as follows :

4 cups Bajri

2 cup Jowar

1 cup Urad dal

1 cup Chana dal

1/2 cup Wheat

1/2 cup Rice

Roast all the daals, wheat and rice let it cool down. Grind it to a fine powder. Bhajani is ready.*Pour some hot water on the Jowar and roast it on low fire.The Thalipeeth will become crisp.

A word of caution : Bajri becomes bitter if kept for a long period.

In the Indian stores out here we can easily get Jowar/ Rice/wheat/Besan . So here is an alternative to the traditional flour, and a quick one too:

1 cup of Jowar Flour

1 cup of Rice Flour

1/2 cup of Besan

1/2 cup of Wheat flour

Jeera and Corriander powder

1 Onion Finely chopped

1 spn. Red chilli powder /3-4 green chilies finely chopped (vary as per individual taste and liking)

Salt to taste

1/2 sp. Turmeric

A Dash Asafetida

Oil

Take all the above 4 flours in a plate.Heat some oil(3 spoons) pour it on the mixture of the flours.(Mix it with a spoon as it is hot). Add the remaining ingredients and mix the dough well.Make small balls and pat the thalipeeth using the palm, here I used a smooth polythene (a lays chips bag cut open), applied a bit of oil, so that the dough would not stick to the sheet . Do not pat it too thin, then bore a hole in the middle and roast with some oil on the Tawa. It does eat up a good bit of oil, but that gives it a wonderful appetising smell and texture and taste. Serve hot with a dollop of butter.

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