Sarvapindi/Ginappa

This is my second blog post for the day & i promise i am in no blog frenzy :)..I posted about Karadayan Nombu, bcoz yesterday was the festival and a later update just wouldn't make sense..right??! Now, the second post is for Valli's Indian Cooking Challenge!!

This time for ICC, the dish we had to prepare was a popular Telangana snack  called  'Sarvapindi or Ginappa'. The dish gets its name from its method of cooking..I believe Sarva/Ginne means deep bowl and pindi/appa means a snack.. So there it is Sarvapindi... 


When i saw the challenge, i for a change knew about it.. infact a couple of months back i had prepared this too.. not the same ingredients though & not with so much detailing either.. How did i know about it & from whom you ask ?? well, its none other then the talking chef.. Sanjay Thumma :) ( Vah re vah star! ).. I was seeing some recipe, which i don't remember & the name Sarvapindi got my attention! He had explained how his grandma would make this dish & how important it was to learn & preserve the regional recipe ( couldn't agree more!)..So i had to try it..sounded a lot like Akki roti & i knew i would love it..


This time when i saw the challenge, i did as per the instructions & i got a very good snack..For me it was perfect, looked like the picture i saw & tasted great too. S doesn't like  Akki roti, so i knew he wouldn't enjoy this.. so prepared it for myself & thoroughly enjoyed it..


Valli did give us a couple of options, for us to understand the dish better & i choose Usha's method to make the same..Shout out to you Usha :).. So let me get started with dish! Did i just hear you say..Finally !! ;)

Crispy outer cover and soft on the inside

Ingredients
1. Rice Flour - 1 cup (My cup measures 236 ml)
2. Sesame seeds - 1/4 cup
3. Cumin/Jeera - 1tsp
4. Green Chillies - 2-3 ( I like it a little spicy)
5. Onion - 1/2 cup
6. Garlic - 1 pod
7. Roasted Peanuts - a fistful
8. Cilantro - 1/2 cup tightly packed
9. Salt - to taste
10. Curry Leaves - a sprig
11. Water - 1/3 cup
12. Oil - 3tsp per pindi


The original recipe also mentions green onions.. I didn't have it, so didn't use that!


Preparation Time!!
1. I had roasted peanuts, so i soaked that in water for 10 minutes ( If you don't have roasted peanuts handy, then dry roast the peanuts in a pan & de-skin them, before soaking)
2. In a big bowl, take the rice flour, to this add the cumin seeds, salt and mix well.Keep ready
3. Blend chopped onions, green chillies & garlic in a blender without adding any water. The water onion oozes is good enough
4. Add the blended mixture to the flour, add finely chopped cilantro, curly leaves to the mixture and mix well
5. Now add the soaked peanuts, and add sesame seeds after washing them in warm water
6. Now slowly mix everything to form a soft dough.. the moisture in onion chili mixture, will help hold the dough initially, then add the water slowly to form a soft dough..
(The mixture should not be sticky, neither hard..soft like that for akki roti or chapati)
7. Heat the pan..keep on low.. Divide the dough to 3 different potions
8. Add a little oil on the pan and smear all around. Then, take one ball and flatten it out on the pan and make them very thin..the thinner, the crispier..Once done, make small holes in them..drizzle oil in them

 9. Cook covered for 5 minutes on medium heat ( I followed the instructions to T ;) ) and then removed the lid & reduced the flame to low and cook for another 10 minutes
10. You can see neat the holes, they would turn brown, an indication its turning crispy! 

Serve hot & enjoy.. It really doesn't need anything to accompany it, coz its spicy and tastes good! If you have tasted Akki roti & like it..then you will love this :)


All you need is some patience for the dish to cook..& the urge to try out a different snack! A word of caution..dont make them if you have guests coming..coz you are gonna make them wait ;)


Pointers
* You could add finely chopped onions to the flour directly,but i always find the problem that they come off when i put them on the pan.. so i prefer to blend them
**  The pindi's could be turned over  & cooked for 1-2 minutes..However, I avoided this, as there is tendency for the pindi to break and i wanted the shape for my snaps :)

Variations
1. You could add Channa dal too.. Make sure you soak them for 1-2 hrs
2. You could used grated bottle guard..if you add this, reduce the water, as the bottle guard moisture would be enough to make the dough soft
3. At home, my mom would grate radish & carrot and add that Akki roti.. i guess it should work for this too!