The most famous breakfast dish in Old Delhi is bedmi aloo and nagori halwa. If you go to any place in Old Delhi be it Chandni Chowk, Sita Ram Bazar, Gali Batashewali or Ballimaran, you would find the sweet smell of halwa and the mouth-watering smell of bedmi aloo wafting in the air from every halwai’s oven.
Originally, Sita Ram Bazar, Gali Batashewali and Ballimaran were predominantly kayastha mohallas. Not surprisingly, in our childhood whenever we went to our nani’s place we often had bedmi aloo and nagori halwa accompanied by cold milk flavoured with fanta(it was a orange drink from coca cola company) with thick malai or its called “Fanta wala doodh” in our breakfast. Fanta milk is an interesting drink, the recipe of which I would share with you later on.
Coming back to bedmi aloo, you may wonder what is so special about bedmi that it is not called dal ki kachori but bedmi? Actually, bedmi is prepared in a different way than kachori. In kachori we used roasted udad dal masala but in bedmi we use raw ground udad dal and mixed with masala and filled into rolled dough after which the kachori are fried twice, which gives the bedmis an added crispiness and its distinct flavour but now-a-days halwais rarely follow this recipe.
Aloo for bedmi is prepared simply with salt , red chillies and amchoor. And this serve with special chutney which is prepared from whole methi seeds, dry mango, red chillies etc. which are soaked overnight and boiled. Readymade masala is now available, but only in Old Delhi.
The traditional recipe for making bedmi is now all but lost. Nowadays, most people prepare bedmi like ordinary kachoris but I have tried to give you the original recipe. I hope you will enjoy making bedmi and your guests will enjoy eating it.
Prep Time: 2 hrs
Cooking Time: 45 mins
Total Time: 2 hrs 45 mins
Serves: 30 Bedmi
ALOO KI SABZI
Ingredients:
1. Potatoes- 5-6
2. Whole red chillies- 3-4
3. Cumin seeds-1 tsp
4. Hing (asafoetida)- ¼ tsp
5. Red chilli powder- 1 tsp
6. Amchoor ( dry mango) powder -1tsp
7. Oil – 1 tbsp
8. Chopped coriander leaves- 1 tbsp
9. Salt to taste
Method:
1. Wash all the potatoes well.
2. Without peeling, cut all the potatoes into small pieces.
3. Keep them in water otherwise they will turn black.
4. Heat the oil in a pressure cooker adding cumin seeds(zeera). When the seeds crackle add asafoetida(hing) and whole red chillies.
5. Add potatoes, chilli powder and salt in it. Stir the mix for some time.
6. Add 1.5 or 2 glass of water in it. Now close the lid of the pressure cooker.
7. Keep the cooker on the flame for 3 whistles. Afterwards, put the gas on ‘slow flame’ for 5-7 minutes.
8. Turn off the gas. Wait until the pressure subsides.
9. Now open the lid. Now slightly mash the potatoes a little with a spoon.
10. Add amchoor powder and chopped coriander leaves. Put the cooker again on the flame for some time till the aloo sabzi starts boiling.
11. If you want your aloo sabzi more spicy you can add chopped green chillies or a little more red chilli powder.
KACHORI
(1 bowl = 250 ml)
Ingredients for bedmi stuffing:
1. Udad dal - 1/2 bowl
2. Zeera (cumin seeds)- 1/2 tsp (optional)
3. Hing (asafoetida)- 1/4 tsp
4. Red chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
5. Salt to taste
Bedmi stuffing:
1. Rinse ½ bowl udad dal 2-3 times in a bowl and soak udad dal with enough water for 2 hours.
2. Afterwards, drain all the water from udad dal and add soaked udad dal into a grinder jar.
3. Grind to a roughly coarse mixture.
4. Transfer coarsely ground udad dal mixture in a bowl.
5. Add salt, red chilli powder and hing (asafoetida) to it.
6. Mix all ingredients well and keep aside.
Ingredients for bedmi dough:
1. Atta (whole wheat flour) - 2 bowls
2. Salt -1/2 tsp
3. ½ cup of water or add as required
Method for making bedmi dough:
1. Take 2 bowls of whole wheat flour (atta) and salt in a pan.
2. Add water in parts and knead the dough till soft.
3. Cover the dough with moist muslin cloth or kitchen towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Method for stuffing and frying bedmi:
1. After 30 minutes, knead the dough lightly.
2. Roll the dough into a loi (balls). This will depend how big bedmi you want to make.
3. The ingredients are sufficient to make 30 bedmi.
4. Rub some oil on your palm and take a loi on you palm and flatten it with your fingers. Keep the edges thin while flattening. You can also use rolling pin (belan) to flatten. (Tip: Put some oil on chakla and apply some oil on the rolling pin so the dough won’t stick to the rolling pin)
5. Now place the 1 tsp udad dal stuffing on the dough.
6. Bring the edges of the dough together and join them at the centre. Excess dough can be removed.
7. Make all the stuffed loi first. Cover them with moist cloth, otherwise they will dry.
8. Now take one loi. Flatten the top and gently roll the bedmi with the rolling pin (belan) to get a medium thickness kachori.
9. Prepare all bedmi in this way. Keep them covered by a moist muslin or cotton cloth, otherwise they will dry.
10. Take a wok or kadhai. Add oil for frying.
11. Heat the oil to medium high heat. To test that the oil is hot enough, drop a small dough piece in the oil. If the dough goes to bottom then floats to top in 4 to 6 seconds, the oil is hot enough.
12. Now you can add bedmi.
13. When the bedmi starts puffing up, turn it to the other side. Remove the bedmi from the oil when it is half done. (Because the bedmi is fried twice). Fry all the bedmi in a same way and keep aside.
14. Fry the bedmi for second time when you are going to serve it.
15. This time, keep the oil on medium flame. Add half fried bedmi one by one and fry them on a low- medium flame.
16. When the base becomes light golden then gently turn the bedmi over. The frying takes about 7-9 minutes, so one has to be patient.
17. Continue to fry on a low-medium flame till the bedmi becomes golden. While frying you can turn them often to get an even colour. Regulate the temperature from low to low-medium as required.
18. Fry the bedmi till they become golden and nicely crisp from outside.
19. Place bedmi on a tissue paper so the excess oil is absorbed. Fry all the bedmi this way.
Your bedmi and aloo is ready. Serve the hot bedmi with tasty aloo ki sabzi and achar (pickle).
Tip:
1. If you feel that udad dal is little soft for stuffing, add 1 or 2 tsp besan (gram flour) in it. Then it will be easy for you to fill bedmi.
2. If you want bedmis really crispy, fry them twice on a low flame.
Nutrition Facts:
Per serving: 4 kachori + 1 bowl aloo sabzi
Cal: 238kcal
Fat: 4.48gm
Protein: 8.87gm
Carbohydrate: 51.6 gm