Chicken Biryani and Mango Bread Pudding

America's Test Chicken consists of two separate chickens, each with her own take on this cooking thing. Check out Chicken One's related blog, A Travel for Taste where she shares travel stories and recipes collected whenever she ventures abroad. And give Chicken Two's very relevant blog, Poop from the Coop, a read. There you can find stories about her personal adventure re-experiencing the kitchen after many years away. Please join our Facebook group to share your own recipes, kitchen practices and know-how. We are also on Pinterest and Instagram.

The complete recipes appear at the end of this post. 

From Chicken One: Chicken Biryani from Ambur in Southern India This recipe is from one of my favorite Indian food blogs, Indian Kitchen. I've learned so much from the author, Preeti Tamilarasan, and will try to pass along what I've learned here. The dish this time is biryani, variably spelled biriyani. It's a spicy (of course) meat and rice dish and could easily be confused with curry. I think the difference is that, for biryani, the rice is cooked with the meat and spices instead of being served along with them. Biryani is made with what is called a "dum" process. Basically, it's layering the meat and spice mixture with partially cooked rice in a tightly covered pan for the final cooking stage. This effectively steams the rice done and allows the flavors to marry and permeate the rice. Another thing about this recipe is that (it seems to me) many Indian recipes call for, or mention as optional, adding food coloring. It's true for many tandoori recipes and also for this one. I don't like to add colors, but maybe it's a characteristic of the cuisine to do so. In my opinion, turmeric is enough food coloring! One more note: this recipe (and many of Preeti's recipes) call for ginger-garlic paste. It's simply equal measures of fresh garlic and ginger all mashed together with a little olive oil to form a paste. I make my own, though I've seen it at the Indian market for sale in jars. As is typical for Indian cuisine, this recipe starts with infusing some hot oil with a few spices before adding anything else to the pan: There are a lot of different spices in this dish, as well as chicken, onions, tomatoes, mint and cilantro. The chicken is cooked with some of the spices first, then the rest of the ingredients are added: This is known as a chicken masala (="mixture"). It's set aside while you partially cook some basmati rice. And here is where the one SCAFU (Situation Chicken All Fowled Up) occurred. I overcooked the rice, which resulted in the biryani being kind of mushy. But the taste was there and I'll know better next time. Just cook the rice barely halfway so it's still crunchy and remove from the heat. Then layer the masala with the rice in the original masala pan, cover tightly and cook on low for about 30 minutes.  At the end, stir it all up together and serve hot. Preeti's instructions state you can pressure cook this recipe. She writes this intriguing note at the end: "Pressure cook for 2 whistles and serve hot." What? I've used pressure cookers but had no idea what that meant! With some internet sleuthing, I found a comment in a Chowhound.com forum. It said pressure cook three minutes for every whistle the recipe calls for.  Well, that was helpful, but I still needed more info. If you're interested in a full explanation about whistling pressure cookers in India, click here. I love the 'net!

From Chicken Two: Mango Bread Pudding with Chai Spices Well, what's a great dinner without a tasty desert? I got this recipe from Indian Cooking Unfolded by Raghavan Iyer, my go-to cookbook for all things Indian. If you're a beginner like me, I highly recommend it.  This recipe combines an old comfort food, bread pudding, with wonderful chai spices and fresh fruit. I used a day old french baguette. Fresh mangoes, cubed. I used a coffee grinder for the spices (not the same one I use for coffee). Be sure to grind to a fine consistency or you will be picking spices out of your teeth! Been there, done that! Yummy! Ok, I confess....I made this recipe twice before I got it right. My mangoes were super ripe and super juicy so the consistency was too moist even though I allotted extra baking time. The second time I used not-so-ripe mangoes and it was fine. If you can only get ripe ones, cut back on the milk a little. And grind, grind, grind those spices! I had chunks of peppercorn between my teeth the first time. This was definitely worth remaking to get it right! It was yummy! Give it a try! Happy cooking!

Chicken Biryani from Ambur (South India)

Ingredients

• 10 ounces chicken, cubed
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 cloves
• 1/2 cinnamon stick
• 1 star anise
• 2 to 3 bay leaves
• 2 green cardamom pods
• 2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste
• 1 cup plain yogurt, whisked
• salt to taste (about 2 teaspoons)
• 3 medium onions, chopped fine
• 1 to 2 green chilis (serrano or jalepeno), chopped
• 3 medium tomatoes, chopped fine
• 1 cup fresh mint leaves, moderately packed
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 9 cups water
• 2 cups basmati rice
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Cooking Directions

1. For the chicken masala:
2. Marinate chicken turmeric for 10 minutes.
3. Heat oil in a heavy pan large enough to hold the chicken mixture and the cooked rice. Infuse the oil by adding cloves, cinnamon, star anise, bay leaf and cardamom. Cook for a minute or two.
4. Add ginger-garlic paste and saute til hot through. Add 1 tablespoon yogurt and cook for a minute on low.
5. Add marinated chicken and about 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, covered, on low for 10 minutes.
6. Add chopped onions and green chilies. Cook for a minute.
7. Add chopped tomatoes and mash the pulp. Cook for a minute.
8. Add mint and cilantro. Saute for 2 minutes. Add cayenne, coriander powder and remaining yogurt.
9. Mix well everything and let it cook for another 5 minutes.
10. Remove from the heat and transfer this masala to another bowl. Set aside.
11. For the rice :
12. Soak rice for 20 minutes, drain and rinse.
13. Boil 9 cups water in a large saucepan. Once it starts boiling, add rice.
14. Add salt to taste, about 2 teaspoons, and sprinkle with lemon juice.
15. Cook, uncovered,on medium-low til half cooked (about 6 to 10 minutes). The grains will be long & firm but not hard. And the grains will be separate.
16. Remove from the heat and drain the water completely. Set aside.
17. For the dum process:
18. In the same pan in which you cooked the chicken masala, pour a ladle full of masala to the pan and spread to cover the bottom.
19. Spread a layer of rice to cover the chicken.
20. Continue layering chicken masala with rice until you use up the ingredients. End with a layer of rice.
21. Cook, tightly covered (use aluminum foil if you need to), over a low flame for 20 to 30 minutes.
22. Remove from heat just before serving.
23. Mix everything well and serve hot.

Mango Bread Pudding with Chai Spices
Ingredients

• nonfat cooking spray
• 4 cups stale bread, cubed
• 2 large ripe mangoes, cubed - about 4 cups
• 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom seeds
• 1 piece cinnamon stick, broken into small pieces
• 2 cups whole milk
• 2 large egg whites, slightly beaten
• 12 cup tightly packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• whipped cream - optional

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 F. Lightly spray a 9 inch square baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Pile the bread and mango cubes into the baking dish, distributing them evenly.

3. Grind peppercorns, cloves, cardamom seeds, and cinnamon stick to  the consistency of finely ground pepper.

4. Place the milk, egg whites, brown sugar, vanilla and freshly ground spices in a medium size bowl ans whisk to mix. Pour over the bread and mangoes and allow to sit for about 5 minutes to get thoroughly soaked.

5. Bake the pudding, uncovered, until it appears to have set and an inserted knife comes out clean - about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

6. Serve warm with whipped cream, if desired. It was wonderfully sweet and spicy, so I chose not to use the topping.
 

Stuffed Bitter Gourd and Flat Green Beans

America's Test Chicken consists of two separate chickens, each with her own take on this cooking thing. Check out Chicken One's related blog, A Travel for Taste where she shares travel stories and recipes collected whenever she ventures abroad. And give Chicken Two's new, also-related blog, Poop from the Coop a read. There you can find stories about her personal adventure re-experiencing the kitchen after many years away. Please join our Facebook group to share your own recipes, kitchen practices and know-how. We are also on Pinterest and Instagram.

The complete recipes appear at the end of this post.

From Chicken One: Bitter Gourd Stuffed with Green Mango I was inspired to this recipe because of my first visit to the local Indian supermarket, Patel Brothers, which is actually a chain. I saw bitter gourds there and they looked like something Ripley had brought back from outer space. This truly ugly veggie goes by the name kerela in India, among others. Apprently it turns a lovely gold with bright red seeds inside when it's ripe. This form is immature, and so, so bitter - hence the name. I got this recipe from one of my favorites, Indian Harvest by Vikas Khanna. Evidently it's a comfort food in India and quite healthy for you. Healthy or not, NOBODY liked this dish! Maybe I made it wrong, but I followed the recipe precisely. I'd love it if someone who knows how to cook these things would let me know if it seems alright to them. Meanwhile, I won't be making these again. But I'll post pictures because they are very photogenic in the way a toad is photogenic. To add insult to injury, these bitter darlings are filled with a very tart grated green mango concoction which only serves to embitter them further. When I cut them and began removing the seeds and pith, I discovered the insides could be red, white or yellow. It was very strange not knowing if this was ok. But I forged ahead. After I cleaned out the seeds and marinated them with salt and turmeric, I put them in the frying oil: It was kind of like frying little armored reptiles. Then I set about making the grated mango filling, which is spiced and cooked. Then I brought them all together in a very attractive finished product that no one ate. I really did throw all of it in the trash can. It was completely inedible to our western tastes! But it was a lot of fun and I truly dig working with all these exotic spices and ingredients. So maybe I'll never cook bitter gourd again, but I would say it's probably the only thing us Chickens have tried that I wouldn't do again.

From Chicken Two: Flat Green Beans  (Papdi Chi Bhaji) One of the things I'm enjoying the most about cooking Indian food is discovering never-seen-before vegetables in the Indian market. I had to photograph the vegetable and the name (which is sometimes spelled funny) and then go home and look it up. Papdi is one of those vegetables. This recipe originates in Goa in the southwest region of India, and I discovered several versions. I chose the simple one, of course! You'll find the recipe below. You will see that it calls for a wok but I just used a large frying pan with high sides and it worked just fine. I have to say these beans were a little hard to get used to. They have  a rather rough texture and are just a little bitter - which is probably why they add the sweet stuff along with the savory! I'm sure you can use this recipe with a more traditional green bean and it will turn out great. I'm going to try it with snow peas. Give it a try and let me know what bean you used! Enjoy!

Bitter Gourd Stuffed with Green Mango

Ingredients

• 8-10 tender bitter gourds
• 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
• salt to taste
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil + more for frying
• 3-4 dried red chiles, broken in half
• 2 teaspoons fennel seeds, coarsely crushed
• 2 green mangoes, grated
• 1 piece fresh ginger, 1 inch long, peeled and minced
• 1 green chile (serrano), minced
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• juice of 1 lemon

Cooking Directions

1. Cut tips off bitter gourds and gently scrape with back of a spoon. Cut into 2 1/2 - 3-inch rounds resembling cannelloni. Scoop out and remove seeds with back of a spoon. Evenly rub with 1 teaspoon of the turmeric and salt. Let rest at least 30 minutes at room temperature.
2. In medium pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add red chilies and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Remove from heat; remove chilies with slotted spoon and reserve for garnish.
3. Reheat infused oil in pan and add fennel seeds, grated mango, ginger, remaining turmeric, green chili, ground coriander and cumin. Cook, stirring continuously until mixture becomes dry and fragrant, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and lemon juice. Remove from heat and keep warm.
4. Heat vegetable oil for frying to 350 F.
5. Gently squeeze bitter gourd pieces and pat dry. Carefully fry them until they are darker in color and slightly crisp.
6. Remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towel. Fill with green mango mixture and serve hot, garnished with red chilies.

Flat Green Beans (Papdi Chi Bhaji)

Ingredients

• 1 pound flat green beans (papdi)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon goda masala
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 pinch asafoetida
• 1-inch wide piece jaggery
• salt to taste

Cooking Directions

1. Wash and dry the beans. Remove string from each bean and break it into 2 or 3 even-sized pieces.
2. Heat oil in a wok and season it with mustard seed, asafoetida and turmeric. Then add the beans and saute.
3. Sprinkle the goda masala, coriander and cumin seed powders over the vegetable and mix it. Add the jaggery.
4. Cook it, covered, for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. You can use a steel plate as a lid for the skillet and pour some water on it. As this heats, it helps to cook the vegetables. Add the water on the lid to the dish if it requires more moisture. However, if you are making gravy, allow the water to evaporate in the process of cooking.
5. Serve hot.

 

Spicy Rice Pilaf (Pilau Masala) & Carrot Rice (Carrot Sadam)

America's Test Chicken consists of two separate chickens, each with her own take on this cooking thing. Check out Chicken One's related blog, A Travel for Taste where she shares travel stories and recipes collected whenever she ventures abroad. And give Chicken Two's new, also-related blog, Poop from the Coop a read. There you can find stories about her personal adventure re-experiencing the kitchen after many years away. Please join our Facebook group to share your own recipes, kitchen practices and know-how. We are also on Pinterest and Instagram.

The complete recipes appear at the end of this post.

From Chicken One:   Spicy Rice Pilaf (Pilau Masala) If you've been following this blog, you know that America's Test Chicken is all about trying things in the kitchen that intimidate us. At the beginning of this year we delved into Indian cuisine, covering everything from vindaloo to tandoori. This time each Chicken chose a rice dish from India. You might know them as pilaf, which is variously spelled pilau or pulao in India. Pilaf/pilau is defined by perfuming some oil with spices before sauteeing rice in the oil. After that, the rice is cooked in a standard way. My pilau is from northern India and is referred to as Pilau Masala, which really just means spicy rice. My recipe comes from Indian Harvest by Vikas Khanna, although it does appear in Indian Cooking Unfolded by Raghavan Iyer with slight variation - plus hundreds more recipes online. This rice is a wonderful side dish to curry or alone as a main dish. The ingredients are simple and beautiful: Cloves, cardamom and bay leaf perfume the oil, then onions are added: And finally the rice. After the rice sautes, you can either cook uncovered until the rice is tender, or you can cover it and steam it til done. I cooked this batch uncovered per the recipe, but I think next time I'll steam it. I know the method better, and I won't have to keep adding liquid and tending it so closely. The word 'perfume' truly is the description for this! The flavor is very light and subtle, and the scent is sweet. It reminds me of the cinnamon rice-and-raisins I had as a child. This pilau, however, is not sweet at all, just lusciously savory. It's easily converted to vegetarian by using vegetable stock or plain water, though I used chicken stock (of course!). I added the split chickpeas per the recipe, and they provide lots of protein for vegetarian types. Besides, I had some left over from the puran poli recipe. However, you can leave those out, too, if you like. I think lentils would work just as well. Oh, man, now I'm hungry!

From Chicken Two: Carrot Rice (Carrot Sadam) There seem to be many versions of this tasty dish so I picked the simpler version that can be made quickly as a side or even a main dish. It originates from southern India and is often used as a lunch to pack in the kids' lunch box.  I take that to mean it can be served hot or cold. Just a few ingredients that include peanuts, onion, ginger and carrots.  You'll find the recipe below. I just want to point out that the jar of basmati rice (above) used to be full! We've been cooking (and eating) a lot of Indian dishes lately and that usually calls for rice!! The recipe says grate the carrots, but I only had small ones in the fridge so I ground them instead. Improvise, I say! This version calls for margarine to sauté the vegetables and spices, but I used ghee. You can also use a healthy oil as a substitute. This is a very tasty dish, somewhat nutty and I will definitely cook it again, possibly as the main course with a salad or green veggie. I have some left over, so I'm going to try it cold too....I figure the kids must like it if it's so common! Give it a try! Enjoy!

Pilau Masala (Spicy Rice Pilaf)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 large bay leaf
• 3 cloves
• 3 whole pods cardamom
• 1 cinnamon stick, 3 inches
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup split chickpeas (chana dal), rinsed and drained
• 1 cup basmati rice, rinsed and drained
• 2 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock or water
• salt to taste
• fresh ground pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup frozen peas, thawed

Cooking Directions

1. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Saute bay leaf, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon for 1 minute. Add onion and saute another 2 to 3 minutes til soft.
2. Add chickpeas and cook 2 minutes, stirring.
3. Add in rice and saute another 2 minutes.
4. Add stock, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until moisture is absorbed and rice and chickpeas are just tender.
5. Serve hot. 

Carrot Rice (Carrot Sadam)

Ingredients

• 1 cup basmati rice
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup roasted peanuts
• 1 tablespoon margarin
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
• 3/4 cup grated carrots
• salt to taste
• cayenne pepper to taste
• chopped fresh cilantro

Cooking Directions

1. Combine rice and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover with lid, and allow to steam until tender, about 20 minutes.
2. While rice is cooking, grind peanuts in a blender and set aside. Heat the margarine in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned golden brown about 10 minutes. Stir in ginger, carrots, and salt to taste. Reduce heat to low and cover to steam 5 minutes. Stir in cayenne pepper and peanuts. When rice is done, add it to skillet and stir gently to combine with other ingredients. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

 

Two Flatbreads from India: Puran Poli & Aloo Parantha

America's Test Chicken consists of two separate chickens, each with her own take on this cooking thing. Check out Chicken One's related blog, A Travel for Taste where she shares travel stories and recipes collected whenever she ventures abroad. And give Chicken Two's new, also-related blog, Poop from the Coop a read. There you can find stories about her personal adventure re-experiencing the kitchen after many years away. Please join our Facebook group to share your own recipes, kitchen practices and know-how. We are also on Pinterest and Instagram.

The complete recipes appear at the end of this post.

From Chicken One: Puran Poli As we mentioned in our last post, the first time we tried these flatbreads from India it was a total SCAFU (Situation Chicken All Fowled Up)! So, get your mango chutney and chickpea filling ready, because the second time was the charm and today you can see our success with these things. My recipe is from Indian Harvest by Vikas Khanna and is a variation on Marathi puran poli, sez the author. Well, those words meant nothing to me, so I ran a quick search online after my first attempt. I found that the Marathi is large group (about 120 million souls) in and around western India's state of Maharashtra. Their language is also called Marathi. Puran poli is a festival bread for special occasions, which I'd guessed because it's so sweet. The sweet filling is the 'puran' part and the flatbread is the 'poli'. Side note: flatbreads in general can also be called 'roti', which is easy to remember because - round! I should have run my internet search before I tried the flatbread the first time, because I found this great, step-by-step description with lovely photos here. So, after wrestling with a very stiff, brittle dough in the first attempt (don't look at these photos from the first time)... ...I realized I needed much more moisture in the dough to make it more elastic and allowing - the direct opposite problem that Chicken Two had over there in column 2 the first time! So here is a much more authentic-looking, elastic dough from Round Two.You're supposed to roll it out very flat then put a dollop of the puran filling in the middle: After that you bring the dough up around the filling (this is where my brittle dough broke on the first try) and pinch it together, kind of like a Chinese dumpling. Once it's sealed, roll it out as flat as possible. You can see here that I need a couple of decades more practice before I can get it to roll out the second time without squishing out through the dough: After that, you lay it on a hot, oiled griddle (read, cast iron skillet) for a couple of minutes on each side til the dough becomes bread. I really think mine was still too thick. I ran out of puran filling about halfway through (because I'd eaten so much of it beforehand!), so I made plain poli with the rest of the dough. The whole thing is supposed to puff up, but the closest I got was one side puffing up, but at that point I felt like I'd won the flatbread Olympics! You probably see the smoke in the pictures above. It's from excess flour on the flatbread. Chicken Two and I worked out a system during our experimentation of brushing off the excess flour with a dry pastry brush (not the silicon type) before putting it in the skillet, then brushing the other side which is now facing up while the first side cooks. It's that burning flour that causes the smoke (and smoke alarm!), so wipe out that skillet between rounds. This also prevents burnt flour from affixing itself to the next poli. We are so happy we did this a second time! In addition, we had fun using our new chaklas and belans - and we learned just how appropriate to the work those tools are. A word about the taste: the puran filling is very sweet and delicious. The flatbread, however, as the vehicle to deliver the flavor, is very neutral and bland, though it has coconut in it. Try these recipes and let us know how you fare.

From Chicken Two: Aloo Parantha For contrast, I chose aloo parantha.(That's potato chile bread to the rest of us!) from Raghavan Iyer's Indian Cooking Unfolded.  It's a stuffed flatbread recipe with just enough filling to make it interesting. The filling is actually mashed potatoes with lots of spices and chopped chile peppers. If you've been following my Poop from the Coop, you know I tried this a while ago and failed miserably. (I highly recommend reading this...you will find some helpful hints) This second attempt was much better, being oh so much wiser this time! I made the recipe the night before (not something mentioned in the directions), wrapped it in plastic wrap and refrigerated it. (also not mentioned. Hey, what's a little departure from the instructions, right?) This actually dried it out slightly and made it much easier to roll out. I still used lots of flour to roll it out, but not nearly as much as I did last time when trying to get it to roll without sticking to everything. In fact, I found that if I made a ball, then patted the ball flat with my hands, and then tried to roll it out, it was much easier to work with. Overall, the experience was much better and I'm glad we repeated the process so I could at least get closer to the intended result. I'm convinced that the humidity in Florida, in spite of the a/c, makes a big difference in how dough reacts. I will say this....after refrigerating it overnight, I was able to taste the spices...in fact there was a nice little kick to the bread as an after taste. These breads are great vehicles for some awesome dips and chutneys! Give this a try and let me know how you did!

Puran Poli (Jaggery and Cardamom Festival Flatbread)

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour + more for dusting
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 tablespoons grated coconut
• 2 tablespoons plain yogurt
• 3/4 cup water

Cooking Directions

1. Toast the coconut in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly until it begins to brown, about 2 minutes.
2. Combine flours in large bowl with coconut, yogurt and 1 teaspoon oil. Mix well. Add 1 tablespoon of water at a time, mixing well after each, until a pliable dough forms (about 3/4 cup water total). Cover with damp towel and let rest 30 minutes or more at room temperature.
3. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball. Flatten a ball on a floured surface and roll to 6-inch-diameter disc. Brush lightly with oil.
4. Spoon filling into middle. Gather edges of dough and crimp around filling, pressing out all air. Seal dough well and flatten ball with palm. Roll into 4-to-6-inch disc.
5. Place on oiled griddle or cast iron pan over medium heat. Cook 1-to-2 minutes per side until lightly browned with dark spots and puffy areas.
6. Remove to serving plate. Repeat with rest of dough.
7. Serve warm or cool.

Aloo Parantha (Potato Chili Bread)

Ingredients

• 1 pound russet or Yukon Gold potatoes
• 1/2 cup firmly packed fresh cilantro leaves and stems
• 6 pieces fresh ginger (25-cent size; unpeeled)
• 2 fresh green serrano chiles
• 1 1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher or sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 cup durum wheat (semolina) flour
• 1/2 cup pastry flour + more for dusting
• ghee or melted butter

Cooking Directions

1. Boil potatoes until soft and mashable. Save about 1/2 cup of the potato water when draining.
2. Combine cilantro, ginger and chiles in a food processor and, using pulse, mince until fragrant but not watery.
3. Combine potatoes to the minced herb-chile blend, add salt and the garam masala.
4. Add the durum and pastry flour. Add a few tablespoons of warm potato water, stirring as you go. Keep adding water by the tablespoon until the mixture forms a soft ball.
5. Gather the dough and knead into a soft ball. If it's too wet, dust it with a little more pastry flour and knead until you get the right soft-dry consistency. (remember my warning!) Cover with plastic wrap until ready to use.
6. Roll dough into an 8-inch log and cut crosswise into 16 pieces. Shape each piece into a ball and press flat.
7. Heat a medium skillet (preferably non stick or cast iron) over medium heat.
8. While the pan is heating, roll out a dough patty into a round of about 5 or 6 inches in diameter. Make sure it's evenly thin.
9. Place the round in the skillet and cook until some bumps and bubbles appear and the underside has some brown spots and looks cooked, 2 or 3 minutes.
10. Immediately turn the round over until the second side has brown spots. Brush the round with ghee and turn it over to sear it, about 15 seconds; repeat with other side.
11. Remove from pan and slip between two sheets of foil to keep warm.
12. Repeat with remaining dough.
13. Best served fresh and warm but they will keep, wrapped in foil and refrigerated, for up to 4 days. Reheat, still wrapped in foil, in a 250 degree oven F for 20 minutes.