Alu wadis ( Colocasia rolls)

Alu wadis are prevalent in both Gujurati as well as Maharashtrian cuisine.However there are some differences in the stuffing and the way we eat it.

While Gujuratis eat them steamed with oil tadka, we normally shallow/deep fry them after steaming.

My mom got huge Alu(Colocasia) leaves, for making this snack, which is a favorite with us. Though it might work with any leaves,the use of these leaves is ideal, because they are thicker and stronger than other leafy vegetables, and can stand stacking, folding, rolling and steaming with sturdiness and character.

I don't have the recipe in exact quantities because I was just clicking pictures while my mom made them, but I will list out the ingredients and you can just play it along by taste(or you can get the recipe off any Indian food blog)

The roll filling is mainly made of Gram flour to which we add a bit of rice flour(for crispness), salt, paprika, asafoetida, turmeric, jaggery and tamarind pulp and water, to make a spreadable paste. It should taste sweet and sour, with a little heat.

Modaks...

Every year on Ganesha Chaturthi, I hover around my mom, like a little kid, trying to sneak spoonfuls of sweetened coconut filling, while she efficiently makes the most artisitic modaks that I have ever tasted in my life. For the uninitiated, modak is a sweet that the lord Ganesha loves, and is made of steamed rice flour with a sweet coconut filling.

It's tricky to make, needs nimble fingers and years of practice. My mom has been making these since she was maybe just 10 years old, and reminisces a bit painfully of a time when people used to be hearty eaters, and would easily eat them in dozens at the least. 

With all that experience, she makes a mean modak. What do I do? I meddle and take pictures with sticky hands and steam and sugar covered cellphones.

So here's how it went down....in pictures....

A plateful of modaks, waiting to be steamed :)

There you go...steamed, pretty and oh so yummy, all for you....!! (Sorry for the fuzzy quality, there was steam on my lens after a totally useless attempt to catch the steam on camera)

Maharashtrian Food: Most people do not know about Maharashtrian food, and those who do, think that our food is made up of Zunka Bhakar and Wadapav, and coconut fish curry. However after years of seeing my mom make the most varied variety of complicated and delectable dishes, I strongly feel that I need to do my bit, however small, of getting a few of the dishes across to my readers. In this endeavor, I promise to introduce you to all the typical fare that requires more than just curry masala and coconut milk. 

Puran Polis - Sweet Maharashtrian flat bread

When it comes to cooking Indian food, especially Maharashtrian cuisine, there is only person I trust to hand down the yummiest tasting dishes, and that would be my Mom. She makes the most intricate desserts, the most delicate savouries and makes it look like she was just dusting off a speck of dirt....but every time I get a recipe from her, I get this feeling of walking on a ledge, exhilarating and scary.......

This Holi festival, I finally had enough courage to attempt making those really delicate Puran Polis(Puran = stuffing made of Chana dal also called as Bengal Gram Dal I think, Poli = flat bread), because even for people who make these regularly, there are several things than can go wrong, and instead of a delicate golden yellow tastes-like-a-piece-of-heaven bread might end up with a really heavy Paratha with the taste of flour coming through like a normal bread, and thats a strict no no.

Making the stuffing:
1 cup Chana Dal
1 cup Jaggery, 2-3 cups sugar
Cardamom, saffron and nutmeg for flavor( around 1/2 a tsp each, and 7-8 strands of saffron)

Boil chana dal until soft (6-7 cups of water to boil if cooking directly in a vessel, I used a pressure cooker and 1.5 cups of water)
Strain any remaining water from the dal and keep it on the strainer for 10-15 minutes till most of the water is removed.

Add jaggery and sugar to the chana daal and cook over medium heat. The jaggery and sugar will melt and with the Chana daal will form a liquidy mixture.