Tuesday 1 October 2013

Thalipeeth

Thalipeeth, sigh. The name itself brings water in my mouth. There is a simple reason why... the flavours of the flour! The flour used for thalipeeth is called 'thalipeethachi bhajni'. The word 'bhajne' in Marathi literally translates to roast. Yes, you guessed it right, the flour is made by slow roasting rice, pulses such as chana dal, moong dal, urad dal, bajri, jowari, nachni and spices such as corriander seeds and cumin seeds individually and then grinding them together into a fragrant flour. This fragrance is also a great way to determine whether the flour is fresh or not.


Thalipeeth is the flatbread made by flattening the dough prepared from the bhajni on a tawa using your fingers and then shallow frying it to give a crispy, golden brown flatbread. This beauty of a dish is crisp on the outside and a little soft on the inside. It has the flavours of slow roasted flours, onions and corriander. It makes for a great snack or main course. Thalipeeth is best enjoyed right off the tawa with loni (white butter).



Thalipeeth hot off the tawa... now where is that loni?


Ingredients

1 cup thalipeeth bhajni
1 medium onion finely chopped
2 tsps red chilly powder
10-15 corriander leaves finely chopped
Salt to taste
Water to knead the dough
Oil to shallow fry the thalipeeth

Method

Mix with your fingers a dry mixture of the bhajni, onion, red chilly powder, corriander leaves and salt. Add a little water and knead a firm dough. Let it rest for 15 minutes. Make balls of around 2 inch diameter with the dough.

On a cold tawa, put some oil and using your fingers flatten the ball from inside to the edges. Heat the tawa and shallow fry the thalipeeth till golden brown on both sides. It is best done on a medium flame, though it takes a little time, you will get perfect crispiness on both sides and the inside will also be cooked properly.

Eat it with white butter (loni).






2 comments:

  1. Now all I need is bhajani... :D...

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    Replies
    1. Hahaha yepp! You can add it to the list of things to be carried from India for the December trip!

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