I am not sure when my romance with the Padhir Peni began, but must be a decade ago.. Since it is a Karnataka based dish, I must have had it at a wedding/function held there or in someone’s house there or someone who is from that state.. Anyways, that doesnt matter.. This is a dish that I love, it resembles a giant puri of sorts but is quite flaky..
In weddings, I remember the staff putting a separate plate near the banana leaf, placing the Pathir peni, another guy sprinkling some powdered sugar on it and then finally a good cupful of hot milk/badam milk is poured on it. You then wait for a few mins for the peni to soak up the milk before digging in. Infact, I remember skipping meals and just having one yummy peni..
It has become an unsaid rule in my family that anyone who goes to karnataka or knows someone from there shall bring back few of these for me [well I do share it with all]
Last week, one evening gramma was glued to the TV watching a cookery show, Revathy Shanmugam when I happened to look up from the laptop and noticed she was making Padhir Peni. I always thought it was a complicated thing to make and did not bother finding out recipes. But when I saw this show, I realised even though it involved a long process, it wasn’t complicated or rocket science..
A few days later, thanks to the incessant rains, we decided to give it a shot and must say it came out quite well… Here is how it is made,
For the dough
Maida [you can alternatively use Chiroti Rava]- 1 cup
Water – enough to knead the dough
Salt a pinch
For the Paste:
Rice Flour- 2 tsp
Ghee – 2 tsp
Others
Oil for Deep frying
Powdered sugar
The Process
In a bowl, mix the ingredients for the dough and make a smooth dough [ almost like what you make for roti] – set this aside , covering with a cloth or cling film
In another bowl mix the rice flour and ghee to make a nice paste [ shouldn’t be too thick or too runny]
Now take the dough, make balls – roll them out like rotis – you will need 4 for each batch. Once the 4 have been rolled out, apply the paste between layers.
Once done, roll the entire thing like a swiss roll[ long log] and cut into pieces.
Press them down flat so you can see the layers and paste from the top.
Gently roll them out into thick puri like things.
Take a pan, add oil and let it heat up.. Now deep fry these once by one on gentle flame till they are cooked all through
Sprinkle generous amounts of sugar and eat it as it is or with hot milk..
Food was delicious and tasty..The live chaat and live dosa spots were a smash hit among our guests..The staff were very polite , cooperative and are an excellant team..Overall it was an awesome ,excellant and memorable experiance..
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