Gudi Padva thali - easy pressure cooker chole, kheer and puri

So last Thursday was "Gudi Padva". It is the marathi new year. But I really had no idea about it. I woke up and lifted up the blinds and saw the opposite apartment had a gudi. And then I went "Ok....so today must be Gudi Padva." I did not have anything to make the gudi nor am I good with pujas. But my brother and his wife are good at it and thanks to them, here is a picture of what a gudi is.

So I decided to do the thing I am good at : make a special meal.Traditionally, srikhand is made on this day. But again, unprepared as I was, there wasn't much yogurt at home and I was planning on making yogurt at home, which I did, but it wouldn't be done in time to make srikhand. So I decided to make seviyan kheer. And to make it a whole lot special, I decided to make chole and puri along with it.


It was just the right time to try out my bookmarked chole recipe from http://ribbonstopastas.blogspot.in/ I recently discovered this blog and it is great with lots of good recipes.

Lazy person's chole 
adapted from dhabe de chole

I call this the the lazy person's chole because it does not involve any grinding and bhuno-ing. It just involves dumping everything in the pressure cooker and you are done. But that doesn't mean it is any less tasty than the labor-intensive version. In fact, we really loved it.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup	dry chole/chickpeas
1	medium potato
1	large onion
2 inch	ginger
1	green chilli
1 tsp	coriander powder
1/2 tsp	cumin powder
1 tsp	salt
1 tsp	chaat masala
1/2 tsp	pepper powder
1/4 tsp	asafoetida
2	bay leaves

• Soak the chole for 6 hrs. But since I was in a hurry, I soaked the chole in hot water for 4 hrs.
• Take a pressure cooker and add the drained chole, chopped potato, onion, ginger and slit green chilli. I did not make it too spicy. 
• Add the coriander, cumin, pepper powders, salt, chaat masala, asafoetida and bay leaves.
• Add enough water to cover everything by an inch and give it a stir.
• Cook in the pressure cooker till the chole are cooked. I cooked on med-high till the first whistle and then on med-low for 20-25 mins.

For Masala:

1 tbsp	oil
1 tsp	ghee
1/4 tsp	chilli powder
1/4 tsp	turmeric powder
1/2 tsp	coriander powder
1/2 tsp	cumin powder
2 tsp	amchoor powder
1 tsp	chole masala
1 tsp	garam masala

• Heat oil and ghee in a pan.
• Add all the other ingredients and let them roast for a minute
• Add to the cooked chole
• Pressure cook again for 1 whistle. 
• When you open the pressure cooker, you will be amazed to see the onions and all the other ingredients have melted to form a beautiful gravy.

Seviyan kheer

This kheer was very creamy and just the right consistency. I loved scooping it with the poori and also with a spoon.

Makes about 10 servings

Ingredients:

12 oz can	evaporated milk
4 cups	whole milk
1 1/2 cups	water
100 gm	thin roasted vermicelli/seviyan (half a packet, broken in small pieces with scissor)
1/2 cup	sugar
8-10	cardamom pods
12	almonds
12	pistachios
1/4 cup	raisins

• Pour evaporated milk, whole milk and water together in a heavy bottom pan and bring to a boil. Keep stirring the milk at regular intervals at all times to avoid sticking at the bottom.
• Once the milk has boiled, reduce the heat to low. Add the vermicelli. Continue to cook till vermicelli is soft and the milk has reduced to 3/4th the original quantity (about 20 minutes).
• Add sugar and powdered cardamom pods.
• Meanwhile, put the almonds and pistachios in a small bowl with enough water to cover them and microwave for a minute. Peel and chop.
• Add the nuts and raisins to the simmering kheer and take it off the heat. Serve cold or at room temperature. 

Notes:
 I used evaporated milk as it is already thick and the cooking time will be reduced.
The kheer can also be made using only whole milk as is traditionally done which will take about double the time.