Palak Masala Poori(Indian fried bread with Spinach)

I love my challenges as they come and the Cooking secretly Challenge is one of the best I have ever seen till now.You get the best bloggers as partners who give you challenging combinations of ingredients.This month’s partner was Rafeeda AR – A wonderful blogger and human being who blogs at thebigsweettooth.com

Rafeeda gave me 2 ingredients – Bay Leaf and Spinach and I gave her Flour and Saffron.She made lovely cookies out of the ingredients and here is the link:

http://thebigsweettooth.com/2015/11/saffron-olive-oil-cookies.html

I wanted to prepare a snack with my ingredients as we have a lot of festivals coming our way and lots of guests would be expected.The idea of a deep fried poori instantly appealed to me and I planned out the recipe.As the challenge included Bay Leaves,I thought of preparing a Masala to be mixed into the dough for sensational tasting pooris.

This recipe was featured in Priya Suresh’s Shhhhh Secretly Cooking Challenge!Thanks Priya Suresh – the lady behind the Challenge,Mayuri Patel for giving me such a wonderful partner and Rafeeda AR for your lovely ingredients.

And here follows the recipe:

Preparation Time : 1 hour

Makes : 12-14 Pooris

INGREDIENTS

For the Poori:

1 cup Spinach(boiled in salted water,drained and pureed)

1/2 cup whole wheat flour(atta)

1/2 cup all purpose flour(maida)

2 tbsp Semolina

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp Oil

Oil for frying

For the Masala:

2 Bay Leaves

2 Black Cardamom pods(badi elaichi)

2 Green Cardamom pods(Choti elaichi)

1 small stick Cinnamon(dalchini)

2 Cloves(laung)

1 tbsp Fennel Seeds(saunf)

1 tsp salt

METHOD

For the Masala:

Dry roast Bay Leaves,Back Cardamom,the seeds from the Green Cardamom pods,Cloves,Fennel Seeds and Cinnamon till the lovely aroma is released.Cool to room temperature and dry grind to a fine powder.Sieve and mix the salt well into the powder.

For the Pooris:

Take out the puree in a mixing bowl.Add whole wheat flour,all purpose flour,semolina,salt and the 2 tbsp Oil.Add the prepared spice powder and knead into a soft dough.Keep it aside for 30 minutes to “set”.

Heat Oil on medium heat.Make small balls out of the dough.Roll out pooris with the aid of some warm Oil.When the Oil is ready,fry each poori till puffed up and golden brown.

Serve hot with sweet yogurt and pickle.

Some shots of the Pooris:

Served with sweet yogurt and Mango Pickle