Making Badi (Wadi) at home

Badi(Wadi)

Badi are dry preparation of urd dal along with vegetables / spices. They are made during summer or winter season when the sun shine is good and are preserved so that they can be made to vegetable for main course with rice / roti. http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2011/08/badi-ki-sabji.html . In Kumaon Badi are preferably made from Urd dal and Cucumber, whereas in Punjab Badi are made from Urd dal and lots of spices. Badi once made can be stored for as long as 1-2 years in a dry air tight container. The Badi available in the market are sometimes too spicy for one’s taste,  thus makes them at home as per your taste and combine the Kumaon and Punjabi Badi style to get your own composition like I do always.

Badi made at home are better because they are hygienically made and are cost effective also.

Preparation Time: 7 Hrs. (6 hr. soaking time included)

Making Time: 15 min. (Time taken for drying not included)
Servings: 40-50 badi (Wadi) 

Ingredients Required for making Badi:

• 250 gm. Dhuli Urd Dal (Split urd dal without black cover)

• 250 gm. Cucumber 

Cucumber

Direction For Making Badi:

• Wash urd dal till water comes out clean.

• Soak washed Urd dal in excess of water for at least 6 hrs.

• Wash and peel cucumber.

Peeled Cucumber

• Cut the cucumber to two halves lengthwise.

• Remove the soft part with seeds from cucumber and do not use it for making Badi.

Peeled Cucumber with center soft portion removed

• Grate the hard part of cucumber after removing the soft part.

• Squeeze water from the grated cucumber as much as possible and keep the juice of cucumber in a bowl.

Squeezed juices to be used for grinding the Dal

• Keep the grated and cucumber aside.

• Drain the water from soaked Urd dal.

• Discard the water.

• Grind the soaked urd dal in a grinder mixer to a thick fine paste.

Urd Dal paste

• If required add the juice squeezed from the grated cucumber while grinding the dal.

• Add the grated cucumber to the thick paste of Urd Dal and beat to a fluffy smooth uniform mixture.

Grated ,squeezed cucumber added to Dal paste

mixture of grated cucumber and dal paste beaten to creamy consistency

• Grease a plate and portion out small part of this mixture with the help of fingers and thumb in the form of a blob on the greased plate.

• Each portion should be at least 2 cm. away from each other.

Mixture of dal and cucumber blobs for badi

• Keep the plate with the Badi in open, under sun so that Badi dry fast.

• It will take 1-2 days for the Badi to dry in summers and 3-4 days in winters.

• Dried badi will be easily removed from the plate.

• Scrape them off the plate and turn them upside down and keep under the sun for drying for a day more.

• Badi should become dry form both sides before storing.

Cucumber badi dried and to be stored

Zucchini badi

• Store the dried Badi in a dry airtight container.

• Use them to make Badi ki Sabji as and when you want. Badi ki sabji is a good variation in diet from regular Dal.

Tips:

• Do not use the water in which dal is soaked else the Badi will get slight unpleasant odor.

• Do not throw away the juice squeezed from the grated cucumber; always use it for grinding the dal.

• If the juice is left even after grinding the dal then use it for making dough for chapatti.

• Each portion on the plate of the dal paste and cucumber should not be more than 2-3 cm big.

• Make sure Badi are dried from both sides properly else fungus will grow on badi.

• Do not add salt to the mixture from which badi are being made. Salt loses its water of crystallization thus causing the badi blob which has been portioned out to spread thin and badi will become thin and crumbly. Not good for making badi sabji.

Suggested Variations:

• Deep fry the Badi to golden brown color and sprinkle some salt,chili powder and amchur enjoy as snack.

• Badi can be made by filling the badi batter in a plastic bag and piping them on a greased 

Batter of badi being piped from plastic bag

•  Zucchini, Green pumpkin can be taken instead of Cucumber.

Zucchini

• Zucchini and Green pumpkin should not be peeled only soft seed part should be removed from them before grating.

Unpeeled Zucchini cut to half

Washed Zucchini with center soft portion removed

Zucchini and dal batter for badi

• Red pumpkin, bottle gourd if taken then they should be peeled before grating.

• Finely cut Palak, (Spinach), Methi leaves, Coriander leaves can be added to the Paste of Urd dal to get badi of different flavor and taste.

• Coarsely ground spices like cloves, cinnamon, red chilies can be added to the dal paste with vegetables individually to get badi with different spicy flavor.

• 2-3 cm. stick of cinnamon, 4-5 cloves, 10-12 black pepper and 5-6 red chilies can be ground together coarsely and added to the dal paste with vegetables before making badi.

• Spices can be added to the dal paste without any vegetables and made to Badi.

Making dough for Roti and Paratha (Dough for indian bread)

Soft, pliable dough for roti / paratha

The quality of dough is the deciding factor how good the roti / paratha are made. Hard dough and roti / paratha will not be soft, gooey dough and rolling the dough to roti / paratha will become extremely difficult. I learnt this truth hard way. After marriage when I entered my kitchen I had no Idea how to make dough for roti. I added water to flour and it became thin so I added some more flour and mixed. Now it became hard. I kept on repeating this and for myself and my husband landed up making dough of one Kg flour. Dough sticking to my hands and on the plate, flour spilled on the kitchen platform was sight to be seen. When my maid came she had a hearty laugh at my cost. Since then 30 years have gone by and now wish to write about the process of making dough for the benefit of other so that nobody has to face the same fate as mine!!!

Preparation Time: 5 min.

Making Time: 10 min

Servings: Makes 12-15 Roti / 8-10 Paratha

Ingredients Required For Making Dough for Roti / Paratha:

• 250 gm. Whole Wheat flour

• 200ml. Water

Direction for Making Dough for Roti / Paratha:

• Take wheat flour in a bowl or big plate.

• Add 40-45 ml. of water and mix with your fingers till all water gets mixed.

Adding water in little portion

• Repeat again by adding 40-45 ml. water and mixing with remaining dry flour.

Mixing the flour and water

• Add 20-30 ml. water and mix collecting the dry flour with wet flour.

Kneading and mixing

• Start ploughing through the wet flour mixture with your knuckles and fist. This is called kneading. Mix the wet and dry flour in this process.

Kneading the flour to mix dry and wet flour

• Flatten the dryish dough which will be formed and add 25-30 ml. water and mix by kneading  folding the flattened dough due to kneading and kneading again.

Folding and Kneading to get soft dough

• Repeat this flattening and kneading action 2-3 times.

• Flatten the roughly made dough (It will be slightly hard and not pliable). Add 10 ml. of water and knead.

Dough almost ready

• While kneading the dough will flatten, fold and knead 4-5 times. This will make the dough soft  and  pliable.

Soft, pliable doughfor roti / paratha

• Store in airtight container.

• This dough can be kept in fridge for 3-4 days but outside the fridge at 35-38^oCit starts fermenting in 6-7 hrs.
• The amount of water required may vary by with the type of flour and the coarseness of flour.

Tips:

• Excess of water can make the dough gooey which can be made to proper dough by adding dry flour

• Hard dough can always be made to soft dough by adding water and kneading so add water in little proportions to avoid messy situation.

Suggested Variations:

• 1/2Teaspoon salt can be added to the flour before kneading.

• After the dough is made 1/2teaspoon oil can be sprinkled on the dough and made to big ball and stored.

• 1 Teaspoon oil  / ghee can be added to flour before making the dough.

Bura (Dry Grainy powdered sugar)

Bura

Bura is sugar heated so that it loses its water of crystallization and then powdered to get rid of any lumps which are formed. In northern India and Gujarat this form of sugar is taken with rice-ghee, Chapatti-ghee combination. For making laddu my mom used to use bura rather than sugar powder. When I got married I wanted to know why I should do this extra work. So on inquiring from her she told me the secret of tasty laddu. Because when I used powdered sugar then the texture and taste of laddu did not come out same as the laddu she used to make.

She told me that bura makes the laddu very tasty and gives slightly grainy texture. Since then 32 years have passed by and I have never prepared any type of laddu without bura. now be it deepawali, Holi or any festival my preparations for the festivals start by making Bura.

Making Time: 30 min

Servings: 500 gm. Bura

Ingredients required for making Bura:

• 500 gm. Sugar

Directions For Making Bura:

• Take sugar in a thick bottom wok and heat it on low flame with continuous stirring.

Sugar being heated in a thick bottom wok

• Sugar will start getting dry after 5 min. of heating.

After 5 min. of heating on low flame

• Keep on heating it with continuous stirring.

After 10 min. of heating

• After 10-15 min. of heating its texture will change completely and it will start melting.

After 15 min. of heating

• Keep cooking on low flame with continuous stirring for another 10 min. 

After 25 min. of heating

• Switch off the gas.

• The sugar will be now dry brittle and will have few lumps.

• Take this hot sugar (Bura) on a plate and cool it to room temperature.

Coarse Bura being cooled

• When cold grind in a mixer to powder.

• Bura is ready. 

Bura

• This can be taken with rice, paratha, puri as well as used to make laddu.

Tips:

• Always use thick bottom wok.

• Stir continuously.

• Take out immediately once it is dried after melting starts.

• Continuous stirring makes sure that sugar does neither caramelize and least amount of lumps is formed.