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Halwa Poori Cholay

A desi breakfast consisting of a spicy chickpeas dish, a rich semolina sweet dish and soft yummy pooris. Perfect breakfast for a lazy weekend.
Print Recipe
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

Ingredients for Halwa
  • 1 cup semolina
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup ghee or butter you can opt to use up to half this amount
  • 1 can or 2 cups evaporated milk you can use whole milk instead
  • 1/4 tsp. cardamom powder
  • pinch of colour and/or saffron optional
  • crushed or flaked nuts for garnishing
Ingredients for Cholay
  • 4 tbsp. oil
  • 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds/rai
  • 2-3 limro/curry leaves chopped
  • 1/4 tsp. garlic paste
  • 2 tbsp. grated raw mango or 1 tsp. aamchoor powder
  • 1 large chopped tomato
  • 1 tbsp. tomato paste/puree
  • 2 green chillies chopped
  • 2 cups boiled chickpeas
  • 3 medium potatoes boiled and cubed
  • 1/2 tsp. cumin powder
  • 1/4 tsp. turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp. red chilli powder
  • salt to taste
  • 1 tsp. lemon juice
  • chopped coriander for garnishing
Ingredients for Pooris
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup atta flour
  • 2 tbsp. yoghurt
  • 3 tbsp. oil
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • pinch of baking powder
  • warm water for kneading you can add a bit of milk in it for extra soft pooris
  • oil for deep frying

Method
 

For the Halwa:
  1. Heat ghee/butter in a pan, add the semolina and fry on low heat until colour starts to change and it gives a lovely nutty aroma. You should keep stirring often so the colour is even. In the meantime, pour the milk and sugar, saffron and/or food color into a blender and blend until well combined.
    Once the semolina is golden, slowly add the blended milk/sugar mixture a little at a time. Be careful not to pour it all at once because it will splutter. Once all the milk is in the semolina, keep stirring and let it cook until most of the moisture is gone. Add the cardamom powder, mix it in, then cover and set on low heat to steam for 5 minutes. Garnish with nuts before serving.
For the Cholay:
  1. Heat oil, add mustard seeds and cumin seeds, let them splutter. Then add the curry leaves, followed by garlic paste, grated mango, 1 chopped chilli and chopped tomatoes. Cook until the water from the tomato evaporates. Add the turmeric, cumin and chilli powders, plus the tomato paste. Fry for a minute, then add the chickpeas and potatoes.
    Let the masala coat everything nicely, sprinkle some salt. Then add 1 cup water. Turn the heat down to low and cover the pot. Let it simmer gently on low heat for about 15 minutes, then open and mash some of the potatoes/chickpeas just to help thicken the gravy slightly.
    Add the remaining green chilies and the lemon juice. Adjust salt and garnish with chopped coriander. Done! 🙂
For the Pooris:
  1. Sift the flour, add the baking powder, salt, yoghurt and oil. Gradually add in the warm water and knead to a soft dough. Let it sit for about 20mins, then divide the dough into 10-12 pieces. Roll each one out to about 4 inches diameter.
    For soft puris proceed as follows:
    Heat your oil, make sure it's quite hot. Put in a poori in the hot oil and immediately start splashing hot oil over the top of it with a spoon.
    Gently press down on the poori with the back of a wooden spoon or spatula, and you will see it start to puff up. If the poori turns dark in less than a minute, the oil is too hot. Reduce the heat of the stove. Gently press down with the spatula, and wait till it puffs completely, it should take only few seconds.
    Flip the poori over and cook the other side until golden brown.
    For crispy Pooris, this is what you need to do:
    After you've rolled out your pooris, make small slits all over them. This will stop them from puffing up, and they will stay flat and crisp. Fry them in the oil on both sides until golden and remove.
    Drain on paper towels.