• Whole Wheat flour – 2 cups
• Water – 1 cup
• Salt to taste

Preparation Method

Making Dough:

1. Take wheat flour in a wide shallow bottomed vessel.
2. Mix the salt in that thoroughly.
3. Now start adding the water little by little and mix it with your fingers till all the water got absorbed.
4. As the dough starts to form, add water as much as needed to form the dough. so that the dough is not wet and sticky.
5. Even the dough should also not so stiff as to  make it difficult to work with.
6. Knead well, once you have a nice firm ball of dough.
7. Kneading makes the chapthi’s softer.
8. Punch the dough with the heel of your hand, knuckle and fold and again make a ball of dough.
9. Repeat this punching, knuckling and pulling.
10. Leave it for an hour or two by covering with a damp cloth or in a airtight container.

Making Chapathis:

1. Keep the tawa in a medium heat.
2. Take a 2-3 tbsps of wheat flour in a small plate.
3. Knead the dough prepared once again and start making small portions of about a large lemon size.
4. Take a each portion and roll it into a ball between your palms, then squeeze it between the heels of your hands to flatten it a bit.
5. Dip it in the dry wheat flour so that it coats well on both the sides.
6. Sprinkle some flour on the chapathi making wooden board.
7. Keep the flatten chapathi dough on the board and start rolling it out.
8. Roll your rolling pin towards yourself and give slight pressure on your right hand. This will make chapathi turn automatically.
9. With experience it will come out easily.Till then you’ll have to rotate it manually.
10. If the dough sticks to your board or rolling pin, sprinkle the flour on it.
11. Make a circle of about 10 to 12 cm diameter and as thin as you can.
12. Check the heat of the tawa and place the chapathi on it. Toss the chapthis between your palms so that extra dry flour will get rid off before placing the tawa.
13. Reduce the heat to low and start rolling out the next chapathi.
14. After half a minute the surface of the chapathi will start becoming dry and slightly blistered.
15. Now turn it over with help of tongs. (once you have gained experience, your fingers will start playing doing this easily)
16. Half a minute later the under side of the chapathi would also have become dry and have brown patches.
17. Remove the tawa from the heat and keep the first side of the chapathi directly on the flame.
18. It will puff up immediately.Turn it over and take it off the fire. (Leave few more seconds if you want to roast it some more time)
19. Keep the chapathi in a casserole or bread basket. In this stage you can apply ghee or oil or butter if opt for it.
20. Repeat the process for the rest of the dough.

Note:

1. Alternatively you can toast the chapathi on the tawa itself instead of toasting directly on the flame.
2. Gently pressing with folded clean kitchen towel on the sides of the chapathi slightly rotating it will make it puff.

• Wheat flour – 1 cup
• Water – 1 cup
• Oil for deep frying
• Salt to taste

Preparation Method

1. Mix all the ingredients except oil, make a dough in exactly the same way as for chapathis.
2. Knead well, cover and keep it for an hour.
3. Make small portions of about a lemon size and roll out by sprinkling minimum amount of dry flour.
4. Do this just before you start cooking so that it won’t dry out.
5. Heat oil in a medium size kadai till it has become very hot.
6. Drop the rolled out poori in the hot oil. The poori will first sink and then start coming up.
7. Keep pushing it down into the oil.  The poori would have puffed with the underside turning golden brown.
8. Turn it over and fry for a second till the other becomes golden brown.
9. Take the poori out and and place it an plate lined with kitchen towel.
10. Repeat the same for the next poori.
11. Make fresh poori whenever is needed.

Variations

1. Only with Maida or with 1:1 ratio of Wheat flour and Maida can be used to make poori’s.
2. Milk can also be used while kneading the dough.
3. Rava can be added of about 2 tbsps for 2 cups of flour while kneading the dough. This will keep the poori’s puffed for long time but the poori’s won’t be so soft.

Ingredients

• Rice -2 cups
• Water – a litre.

1. Wash the rice well and soak it in water for 30 minutes.
2. Bring the water to boil.
3. Drain the rice through a large stariner and put it in the water.
4. Wait until he water boils and cook till the rice has become soft.
5. Test it by crushing few grains between finger and thumb, it should be soft but not mushy.
6. Drain, by pouring the entire contents of the pan out into a large strainer.
7. Put the rice back in the pan and keep it in a very low heat for a minute.
8. Fluff up with a fork and Serve hot.

Preparation Method II

Ingredients

Rice –  2cups

Water – 4 cups

Wash the rice well and soak it in water for 30 minutes.

Drain the water and pour the measured water of about  cups in it.

U can either the place the vessel in a pressure cooker and give 3- whistles.

Or transfer to a electric cooker and cook till the rice is done.

This method ensures that the rice is cooked in just enough water to be absorbed, without any waste of nutrients.

• Wheat flour – 2 cups
• Water – 1 cup
• Oil or ghee – 1 cup
• Salt to taste

Preparation Method:

1. Make dough using the wheat flour, water with salt. Knead and keep aside.
2. Heat the tawa and start making small portions of dough of about a large lemon size.
3. Roll out as you do for chapathi and smear half a teaspoon of oil all over the surface.
4. Fold the roti into half and apply oil all over the surface again and fold again.
5. Now you would have got a small triangular shape piece. Roll it out into thick paratha by maintaining the triangle shape.
6. Once the tawa is hot(it should not be very hot as required for chapathi) place the paratha over it.
7. Start rolling for next paratha. Once the upper surface of the paratha begins to rise in blisters, turn it to other side.
8. Apply half a teaspoon of oil over it and wait until the underside also showa brown spots.
9. Turn it and apply oil over the surface. Cook till both are cooked well with brown spots all over.
10. Remove the paratha and put it in the bread basket.
11. Repeat till all the parathas are made.

• Raw Rice                              -  1 cup
• Pesarapappu                      -  1/2 cup
• Water                                    -  3 cups
• Salt to taste

Preparation Method

Dry roast the dal till the raw smell goes off.

Wash rice and dal. Add water, salt and cook for 3 whistles in a pressure cooker or in electric cooker.

Serve hot with vankaya pachi pulusu and kobbari pachidi.

Ingredients

Curd/ Yoghurt       –             1/2   tsp

Boiled Milk           –             500 ml

Preparation Method

Boil the milk till a thick creamy layer formed on the top of the milk.

Switch off the stove when the milk starts coming up.

if you want the curd creamy, keep the milk simmering and boil for 15 minutes, so that the milk reduces.

Another way of thickening is to add milk powder of about a tablespoon or fresh cream, whichever taste suits you.

Transfer the milk to the vessel (preferably a tight lid container) in which you want to set the curd.

let it cool till it is just mildly warm.

Take 1/2 tsp of curd, if its summer, if its winter you can add 1 tsp (Don’t think it’s very less, this amount of adding curd makes the resulting curd thick)

Make a paste of the curd in the spoon by using your index finger.

Mix this thoroughly in the milk.

Without disturbing the vessel, tightly cover the vessel with a lid and place in a microwave oven/ kitchen shelf. Means keep it in a warm place.you can keep it in the sun or in a insulated casseroles.

Allow it for about 4-5 hrs. If you do this in the morning 7-8 am, you can get thick fresh curd by 12.30 pm to 1 p.m.

If its winter you can do it the night, allow to set overnight. Keep the vessel in the refrigerator in the morning, so that it won’t become sour.

If the curd is not set even after 4 hrs, the reason may is that the milk wasn’t hot enough.

To set it take a bowl of would-be curd, set it in a larger, shallow vessel, and pour boiling water all around it. You can see the curd setting within five minutes. Take the vessel out once it shows sign of setting,

otherwise, the curd may over-set and split.

If you want to make buttermilk, take some curd and churn it with wooden blender or a electric one.

Add some water according to the consistency needed and churn again till foams are formed on the top.

To Thicken curd, you can drain out some of the water.

Put it in a close-meshed nylon strainer, or take a clean thin white cloth, spread it over a shallow vessel, and turn the curd into it.

Tie the edges of the cloth and hang the bundle to drip. you can keep it in the fridge in summer.

Take the curd out when you get the desired consistency.

Word of Caution

The right setting of curd depends upon 3 factors

1.) The milk should not be too hot or too cold. It should be warm enough.

2.) The amount of curd you are adding should not be more than 1 tsp(otherwise the curd will become sour very soon).

3.) Mixing thoroughly and allowing it to set without any disturbance.