Hyderabadi Chicken haleem

Hyderabadi Haleem is an authentic and traditional Ramadan delicacy served during Iftar after breaking the fast. This dish has got all the nutritions that one requires after  fasting the whole day. Haleem is a delicacy, which you can never miss if you ever want a taste of Hyderabad food. the traditional haleem is a must try dish in one's life.  In recognition of its cultural significance and popularity, in 2010 it was granted Geographic indication status (GIS) by the Indian GIS Registry Office making it the first non vegetarian dish in India to receive the status.

Haleem is a stew composed of meat, different varieties of lentils, spices which is made into a thick.paste. Traditionally this haleem is cooked on a low flame for about 12 hours and two people are required to stir the haleem using a wooden paddle. It is made by adding loads of ghee to make it richer, but at home we can add as we want. In Hyderabad, Pista house is famous for haleem. When we were in Bangalore, we used to order haleem from Hyderabad Pista house and would get our share within a day. In Andhra, almost all the people who are fasting will make this dish and during one fasting time, I tasted this dish when my neighbors prepared and instantly fell in love with this dish. Every year one time during fasting, I would make this dish as my daughter and my husband love this.

I have posted one haleem dish before in my blog, But that only has broken wheat and chicken. Over the years I tried different versions and here I am today with the most authentic version, but I have added less ghee and also a less time consuming version.  Here I have blended everything using an electric hand blender, you can also use a hand masher. This is a dish which is packed with full of proteins and one of the best delicacies to be eaten during the month of Ramadan. With a dash of lemon juice, will bring out the flavors in this dish. Hope you will try this dish and please let me know.

 Ingredients:
For the Chicken:

1. Boneless Chicken- 1lb
2. Ginger garlic paste- 1 tbsp
3. Red chili powder- 1 tbsp
4. Cumin Powder- 1 tsp
5. Turmeric Powder- 1/2 tbsp
6. Coriander powder- 1 tbsp
7. Garam Masala Powder- 1 tbsp
8. Chopped Coriander Leaves- a bunch
9. Onions(sliced)- 1no
10. Lemon Juice- 1 tbsp
11. salt- as required

Pulses:

1. Broken Wheat- 2 Cups
2. Urad dal/ Black Gram - 2 tbsp
3. Chana Dal/ Split Chick peas- 2tbsp
4. Toor Dal/ Split Pigeon Peas- 2 tbsp
5. Moong Dal/ Yellow Split lentil- 2 tbsp
6. Water- 4 Cups
7. Salt- as required
8. For assembling:
9. Red Chili powder-1 tbsp
10. Garam Masala Powder- 1 tsp
11. Pepper powder- 1 tsp

For Frying:

1. Oil- 1 tbsp
2. Onions- 1/2 no
3. Lemon Juice- 1 tbsp

Garnish:

1. Coriander leaves

Method for preparing chicken:

• Put all the ingredients required for the chicken in a pressure cooker and cook on a low flame for almost an hour.

Method for pulses:

• Soak the pulses for 3-4 hours.
• Pressure cook all the ingredients under pulses and cook well for almost an hour on a low flame.

Method for assembling:

• Blend the cooked chicken well using a hand blender.
• Add this chicken mixture to the cooked pulses and blend well so that everything gets mixed thoroughly. Cook on a low flame. Add little water if required.
• Add the red chili powder, Garam masala powder, pepper powder and salt if required. Mix well. Switch off the flame after 15 minutes.
• Fry the onions to golden brown, keep it aside.
• Garnish the haleem using fried onions, lemon juice, coriander leaves and a table spoon of ghee. Enjoy hot and delicious haleem.

Lentils Stuffed Sweet Flatbreads/ Puran Poli/ Bobbatlu

These classic lentil stuffed flatbreads are popular Indian sweet which is made during festivals. They have different names in different parts of India, like the Puran Poli, bobbatlu, obbattu, holige, boli, poli and so on.

In this, the stuffing is filled with jaggery and gram dal which is boiled and then blended well till it thickens. The outer layer is either a wheat dough or a plain flour dough or we can mix both the wheat flour and plain flour and make dough out of it.

stuffed and rolled puran poli 

This is liked by my kids which are also very healthy and nutritious. This will be a good after school snack. You can roll and freeze them. When required thaw and cook.

I remember as a kid, when we were in Andhra, my neighbor's used to share us the festive dishes which were very delicious. Among them, I liked this Puran Poli a lot as it looked like a chapati and it tasted sweet. Try this out and let me know.

Ingredients:

For the dough:

1. Wheat flour- 2 Cups
2. Homemade Ghee- 1 tbsp+ 3 tbsp for smearing while cooking
3. Salt- a pinch
4. Water- required to knead the dough
5. For the stuffing:
6. Chana Dal/ Bengal Gram- 1 cup
7. Jaggery- 1 Cup
8. Cardamom powder- 1 tsp
9. Ghee- 1tbsp

Method:

1. Mix 1 tbsp of ghee, water, salt and the whole wheat flour together till it forms a soft, bouncy dough. Keep this aside till the stuffing is ready by covering the dough with a damp cloth.
2. Meanwhile, for the stuffing, cook the washed and drained chana dal in a pressure cooker till it becomes soft and mushy.
3. Strain the dal and let this cool for some time. Grind the cooled dal along with powdered jaggery and cardamom powder to a smooth consistency.
4. Heat the ghee in a pan, add the ground dal- jaggery mixture. Stir well continuously on low flame, till the mixture starts leaving the edges of the pan and slowly it thickens.
5. Switch off the pan and let this mixture cool. Make some medium sized balls from the mixture and keep this aside.
6. Make balls out of the wheat dough and take a ball flatten it with your fingers and place dal- jaggery balls in the middle and close the dough to cover the stuffing.
7. Gently roll this using a rolling pin, do not use pressure while rolling, or else the stuffing will come out.
8. Heat a tawa and cook the above made Puran Poli y smearing little ghee in between. Flip on both the sides and when they are equally cooked and golden brown in color remove from stove and repeat with the remaining dough and the stuffing. Serve hot.

Baked Parippu Vada/ Baked Lentil Fritters

I never knew that we can bake parippu vada/ lentil fritters till my husband who is calorie conscious told me to make parippu vada but bake it instead of frying which we do usually. I was thinking of someone would have ever tried baking these fritters when he sent me a link of baked parippu vada. I was amazed and thought of giving it a  try, but was not sure about the taste, texture or the crispness which is fully loaded when we fry these in oil.

One evening, I baked them till done i.e till light golden color on top and surprisingly they turned out perfectly delicious. My husband and my little one finished off in a go. A very delicious and a healthy version of fried fritters.

Parippu vada is also called as masala vada, which is prepared using split peas, can also be prepared using a different combination of lentils. In Kerala, we can see these in almost all the tea shops. It is a must have snack for Keralites. My dad, who loves all the fried snacks, loves eating these vadas along with small bananas and a cup of hot tea. I too love them like that. Try these and am sure that you all will like them.

Ingredients:

1. Chana dal- 1 cup
2. Red chilies- 5- 6 nos
3. Ginger (chopped)- 2 tbsp
4. Curry leaves- few
5. Salt- as required
6. Chopped Onions- 1 no
7. Oil- 1 tsp

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Soak the chana dal for about 3 hours and drain it for some time. Pat dry the drained dal using a kitchen towel and grind the dal to a coarse puree along with curry leaves, ginger and red chilies.
3. Make sure that before grinding all the soaked dal, keep aside 3 tbsp of dal. This can be used when mixing everything.
4. Transfer the ground dal mixture into a bowl and fold in the chopped onions, salt and the whole dal which we kept aside without grinding.
5. Mix and shape them into flat discs and place on a greased baking tray or on a parchment paper.
6. Brush oil on top of the discs. Bake for about 20- 25 minutes. Flip them, halfway through. When they cool down, serve them along with desired chutneys or just like that along with evening tea.