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    Home » Vegetarian Side Dishes » Varan Bhat, Spinach Dal Curry, Pakoras, Puran Poli ~ Maharashtrian Thali

    Varan Bhat, Spinach Dal Curry, Pakoras, Puran Poli ~ Maharashtrian Thali

    Published: Jun 24, 2013 · Modified: Oct 5, 2020 by Srivalli · 16 Comments

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    We are starting the final week of BM 29. I know I say this every time, yet can't stop myself from saying it. Days simply fly and I feel sad that yet another BM comes to an end, carrying with it the month that went by. Can't believe this year has already over by six months and it feels like just yesterday we welcomed the new year.

    Anyway coming back to the theme, I have chosen to do Course wise meals from any state, with a specific subcategory. I always feel making the theme a little more complicated within the assumptions of sensibility, we do end up reading more on the cuisine than anything else. I somehow ended up selecting Maharashtrian dishes and finally on Lunch dishes. It has to be rice and gravy types again. Of course, it refers to anything that goes as a combo.

    Today's post is the last in reverse order. I made this simple thali this weekend, unlike the rest of it that was done a couple of weeks back. This month was very relaxing as I managed to cook most of the dishes as part of our everyday dishes and that surely helped. It goes against my belief that I need to cook BM posts the day before and really stress myself. For a change, having all the dishes clicked proved quite good for the whole schema of things.

    The recipes I prepared were shared by a Maharashtrian in a group that I am a member of. I must say that I can't claim the authenticity of the way I have prepared, though she typically shared how it is prepared at her place. So any flaws in the method are all mine and not intentionally done.

    As with all, the recipe is just a reference, we end up cooking it as how it might suit our family, though I tried my best not to change much. On the whole, we loved it and I was happy that Konda loved this meal. It's rare she eats dal and rice willingly.

    Though the thali I made is in no way a part of the traditional thali that makes up a Maharashtrian thali, I decide this makes a mini thali on its own!








    Spinach Dal Curry ~ Dal Palak

    Spinach dal curry | Dal-palak

    Ingredients Needed

    Spinach - 1/2 bunch / 1 cup leaves
    Toor dal - 1/2 cup
    Chana dal / Bengal Gram Dal - 1/4 cup
    Turmeric powder a pinch

    For tempering

    Oil - 2 tsp
    Raw Peanuts - 2-3 tsp
    Dry red chilies - 6
    Onion - 1 small
    Garlic cloves, crushed - 4 -5
    Coriander leaves handful
    Curry patta handful
    Hing a pinch
    Salt to taste
    Lime juice few drops

    Method

    Wash dal. Wash spinach leaves in saltwater. Chop them. In a pressure cooker, take the greens along with dal and add enough water and turmeric. Pressure cook or boil them till soft.

    Mash dal and spinach. Keep aside.

    For tempering:

    Chop onion. Crush garlic cloves. Wash peanuts.

    Heat a kadhai with oil, when hot add mustard seeds. When mustard seeds crackle, add asafoetida, red chilies, curry leaves, and garlic cloves. Add peanuts and fry. Add chopped onions and fry them till translucent.

    Pour dal and spinach mixture into the pan. Add water for desired thickness. Bring it to a boil.

    Add salt, Lime juice, and simmer for 10 minutes.

    Garnish with coriander leaves while serving.

    Serve hot with chapati or rice.

    Notes:

    Methi leaves can also be used along with Spinach.




    This pakora recipe is derived from the kadhi Gole recipe that I had. Since I wasn't planning to make the kadhi, I was tempted to just make the pakodas. As I had the spinach leaves, I mixed up the rest and made delicious pakoras.

    The pakoras really added zing to the entire thali. Imagine if Konda loved the dal because of these, you can know delicious this must have been. You must have made palak pakoras, or aloo pakoras, or most onion pakoras, however, all mixed up together gave an altogether different taste.

    The original recipe calls either for spinach or potato, I mixed up both.

    Spinach Potato Onion pakoras

    Ingredients Needed

    Gram FLour / Besan -  1 Cup
    Onion Chopped - 1/4 Cup
    Spinach Chopped - 1/4 Cup
    Potato Chopped - 1/4 Cup
    Ginger, grated - 1/4 Tsp
    Red Chili Powder - 1 Tsp
    Salt To Taste
    Baking Powder - 1/2 Tsp
    Oil For Deep Frying

    How to make the pakodas

    Wash and chop the spinach. Peel the potatoes and onions

    Take all the ingredients in a bowl, and mix well. Slowly add water to make a thick batter.

    Heat a Kadai with oil enough to deep fry and gently drop in the batter and cook on both sides.

    Drain on a kitchen towel.

    Varan Bhat

    This is exactly the same as Mudda Pappu. Except maybe the consistency of the dal. Varan Bhat is supposed to be the mandatory start in a Maharashtrian Meal, just as in Andhra. So I didn't' want to miss out on this.

    Take 1/2 cup toor dal, wash well and pressure cook with a pinch of turmeric powder and few drops of oil.

    Once the pressure falls down, heat a Kadai with a tbsp of ghee, temper with 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, add the mashed dal.

    Add salt and 1/2 cup water and bring to boil. Serve with steaming rice.


    After thinking so much about the recipes that are famous in Maharashtra, I can't miss out Puran Poli. I know Puran Poli is what we make as Sweet Poli. However, one major difference that I knew differs from the natives I spoke with, said they make with wheat flour. Whereas I can never imagine Poli being made with anything other than maida.

    However since I found almost all the blogs showing wheat flour, plus two sources while talking, confirmed that they do actually make with wheat flour, I went ahead and made it. I must confess it wasn't the same. It tasted like sweet chapati. And yes it didn't taste like our regular poli. Still, I was glad that I made this as well.

    Ingredients Needed:

    Wheat flour - 1 cup
    Filling made with Channa dal and jaggery of 1 cup each.
    Cardamon powder a pinch
    Nutmeg powder a pinch

    Made the usual way as I normally make poli.

    Print Pin

    Varan Bhat, Spinach Dal Curry, Pakoras, Puran Poli ~ Maharashtrian Thali

    Course Main Dish – Gravies
    Cuisine Maharashtra
    Author Srivalli
    Tried this recipe?Mention @spicingyourlife_ or tag #spicingyourlife_!

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. vaishali sabnani says

      June 24, 2013 at 12:50 pm

      The mini thali with all the dishes looks tempting.I had been eyeing those pakoras ever since I saw them on weekend cooking.and yes even in Gujarat the poli is made with wheat flour.

      Reply
    2. Sapana Behl says

      June 24, 2013 at 1:18 pm

      You are making me hungry with such wonderful thali!!

      Reply
    3. Jayanthi Padmanabhan says

      June 24, 2013 at 3:01 pm

      Such a complete wholesome meal. Looks great. The pakoras look and sound scrumptious.

      Reply
    4. Priya Srinivasan says

      June 24, 2013 at 3:48 pm

      Tempting thali there!! Loving those pakoda!!!Yes I do agree we change the recipe a bit to suit our tastes! !!

      Reply
    5. divya says

      June 24, 2013 at 8:38 pm

      looks real yummy ! wonderful clicks !

      Reply
    6. Ramya Krishnamurthy says

      June 25, 2013 at 5:52 am

      wondeful and lipsmacking thali!

      Reply
    7. Harini-Jaya R says

      June 25, 2013 at 1:37 am

      That is a very tempting thali Valli.

      Reply
    8. Chef Mireille says

      June 25, 2013 at 3:45 am

      like the use of peanuts must give such a nice flavor. whole platter looks scrumptious

      Reply
    9. Priya Suresh says

      June 25, 2013 at 7:07 pm

      Omg, wonderful platter, dunno how u have this much time to make a complete thali..beautiful dishes, everything looks fabulous.

      Reply
    10. Preeti Garg says

      June 26, 2013 at 6:58 am

      Wonderful platter from Maharashtra...

      I love this version of dal

      Reply
    11. Veena Theagarajan says

      June 26, 2013 at 6:13 am

      very nice lunch thali.. Love the combo

      Reply
    12. Saraswathi Tharagaram says

      June 26, 2013 at 1:41 pm

      Love this go green concept!! Will try this version too.

      Reply
    13. Manju says

      June 27, 2013 at 12:10 pm

      Need to finish the plate. In spinach dal you have mentioned about curry patta but didn't tell where to use that and I didn't know what it is? Can you explain ?

      Reply
    14. Srivalli says

      June 27, 2013 at 12:41 pm

      Manju I added it as we normally do during tempering at the end.

      Reply
    15. Pavani N says

      June 27, 2013 at 2:47 pm

      That thali looks soooo good Valli. Simple everyday dishes--so comforting and yummy!! I loved cooking Maharashtrian dishes too. They are so earthy and delicious.

      Reply
    16. Kalyani says

      July 03, 2013 at 9:58 am

      Thali looks soo good Valli – wonder where u get the time with 4 blogs, three kids, a day job and playing princi maam to all of us at BM :-)) hats off to ur patience !

      Reply

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