Ashtami prashad - Kaale Chhole, Poori & Atte Ka Halwa

Happy Durga Ashtami everyone! I am bringing to you the typical halwa, poori-chhole that is cooked early morning for the Ashtami pooja at my home and most other North Indian households. After nine days of Navratri and following a strict no non-vegetarian, no onion-garlic diet we conclude it on the eighth day called Ashtami by offering this prasad to Maa Durga the Goddess first and later feasting on this yummy authentic North Indian food for the rest of the day.

We try out the poori or fluffy deep-fried bread in so many ways in the same day. First we eat the hot, bubbling and fluffy poori straight out of the wok with spicy dry kaale chhole or black-brown chickpeas. Then hot and velvety atte ka halwa or wholewheat sweet pudding is slathered on top of the soft poori and devoured slowly taking in the taste of halwa and poori in every bite.

We eat such a packed breakfast of poori, chhole and halwa that lunch is skipped and then by 4 pm when the hunger again strikes, we go looking for some leftover pooris from the morning in the roti ka dabba or hot case and then eat them with aam ka achaar or raw mango pickle, washing it down with a cup of kadak chai.

So now you know what is on the menu in every North Indian house when it is Ashtami or Navmi! Nothing else is cooked afterwards as this dish is repeated in several combinations throughout the day. Dinner is mostly the leftover chhole with steamed rice or fresh phulkas or chapatti.

Kaale Chhole

The Kaale Chhole or  Sookhe Kaale Chane or Black Chickpeas (Dry) is a recipe from Punjab. These are super easy and since it is onion-garlic free it requires less chopping of veggies and if the chhole is pressure cooked in advance the tadka or tempering for this recipe can be prepared in under 30 min. Since this is prasad for Ashtami pooja so no onion, no garlic is added. But still its yummy. :-) See the step-by-step recipe for Kaale Chhole here. 

Poori

Learn how to make fluffy poori from the step-by-step recipe provided here. For poori, I always prepare the dough well in advance. If I have to make it early in the morning I prepare the dough in the night and store it in fridge. I find it easier to handle the dough which has take its time to rest.

Halwa

Being a sweet dish, halwa is made on special occasions or festivals in most Indian households using different kinds of flour like suji (semolina) or atta (wholewheat flour) or mixing the two. When the bride comes to her new home after marriage, she is expected to make a signature halwa dish and that is the way she makes it into the hearts of her in-laws. :-)

It is fairly easy but still you need to be careful and keep stirring while roasting the flour in the ghee so that no lumps are formed. For the Atte Ka Halwa recipe click here!

Hope you all had a divine Ashtami. Happy Ashtami/Kanjak/Vishu to all those celebrating! :-)

Poori

Poori is the perfect comfort food, eaten hot and fluffy just out of a wok bubbling with hot cooking oil. Since it is a deep-fried bread, it is prepared only on special occasions. One such occasion is the Durga Ashtami or the eighth day of Navratri, the north Indian festival of fasting for nine days to cleanse and purify the soul and pray to the Goddess Durga.

Poori, mostly accompanied with aloo ki sabzi (spicy potato curry cooked in tomato sauce) or with white or brown chickpea (mostly dry with very less amount of gravy) is something that can easily delight any person. See the recipe for making Kaale Chhole (brown chickpea) here.

Perfect food to takeaway for picnics, long journeys or for packing into dabbas for the school or office, pooris are delicious both when hot or even when not. Eating them with aam ka achaar or raw mango pickle and washing it down with a cup of kadak chai, is a cherished memory from several trips taken by road and train with my family. :-)

Poori, just like any other bread, is versatile enough to be eaten in so many ways. Eat the hot, bubbling and fluffy poori straight out of the wok with spicy dry kaale chhole or black-brown chickpeas or aloo ki sabzi. If you have a sweet tooth, go for the epic puri-halwa combo wherein hot and velvety atte ka halwa or wholewheat sweet pudding is slathered on top of the soft poori and devoured slowly taking in the taste of halwa and poori in every bite. Here is a super simple recipe to make yummy Atte Ka Halwa.

For poori, I always prepare the dough well in advance. If I have to make it early in the morning, I prepare the dough in the night and store it in an air-tight container in the fridge. I find it easier to handle the dough which has take its time to rest.

Preparing the Dough for Poori

Time: 10 min

Ingredients:

3 cups wholewheat flour

1/2-1 cup water

1 tbsp ghee

1 tsp salt

Kneading the dough

In a flat bottomed container. Add in the flour, salt, ghee and mix. Now using your hands start kneading the dough adding little water every now and then.

The dough for the poori needs to be tight and not very soft and thus requires very little water. So add water in parts and only when required. We need a dough that is hard and easier to handle. Refrigerate for atleast an hour.

Flattening the dough

Make small peda or balls with dough and using a little oil flatten it with a belan or a rolling pin. Make the number of round flat pooris as required.

Frying the flat pooris

In a wok, heat enough refined oil and once its really hot start adding the pooris one by one, frying on both sides until golden brown. Take out with a big kadchhi or spatula on a napkin. Serve hot with chana or halwa.

How do you like to make your poori? Do you add ajwain or carom seeds?

Tell me all your tales about poori, I'd love to read them.

Thanks for reading! :-)