Had a pretty cool day. Spent most of the time in the kitchen, giving a helping hand to my other half. Woke up at 9.00 am. After the usual market chores, a quick glance at the weekly news and a copious breakfast (which sustained me until a delayed lunch time at 2.45 pm), settled with the preparation of a special meal.
We often make special preparations on Sundays when everybody is at home. I’m not a good cook though. It’s not my stuff. Sierra does most of it. But I do try my hand on occasions. So what did we cook? Are you used to Indian cuisine? We prepared what we call “dholl puri”. What’s that? Shrugging? OK, let me tell you.
It’s a common quick snack sold everywhere, in the street corners, here in Mauritius. Of Indian origin, it’s a sort of flat bread stuffed with dholl and eaten with “chutney” (oh! Another new stuff, but not as awkward as it may appear – it’s simply a kind of paste made of tomatoes crushed with onions, garlic, coriander leaves and chilies, which are all oriental aromatic stuffs). You may accompany it with any curry or plate (fish, chicken, beef, veggies or whatever) if you wish. We made chicken curry today, right?
Now, for the “dholl puri” you need some flour, dholl, salt and aniseed. Bring the dholl to boil and then crush it to a uniform mash, adding salt and ground cumin to taste. In a separate bowl or plate knead the flour into dough and make small balls. Reshape the ball hollow like a bowl and fill it with the dholl mash you made earlier. Close the flour ball by sticking the open ends together; then roll it in a flat circular shape (using a roller on a flat surface). Depending on the amount of the dough used it should be no more than 6 inches in diameter approximately. Place the flat and circular dholl-stuffed dough on hot plate and cook for a few minutes, turning it upside down to ensure it’s cooked on both sides. Your “dholl puri” is ready.
With chutney or curry, enjoy.
Mauritian residing in Rodrigues, Amanoola Khayrattee (pen name Alfa King) is contributing writer and journalist to La Gazette Mag de l’océan indien and This Week News Mauritius.
Retired, former meteorological cadre, trade unionist and OSH consultant, Amanoola has written for in-house union and other journals, publications and magazines. He runs two blogs since 2007: “Alfa King Memories”, and “Le Journal d’Alfa King”. When he is not reading or writing, he is on a 10+ km daily hike in anticipation of his monthly trails.
Amanoola may be reached at [email protected].
Sounds good to me.
I’m sure you’ll love it, Beccy, perhaps with a less hot chutney….
I forgot to mention that the roller is called “Belna”; the flat surface we use is called “Chowki”; and the hot plate, “Tawa”, all indian words.
And the dholl-stuffed dough should be smeared with oil, for smooth cooking.
Less hot is definitely the way I’d go, not so my husband and son.