Zunka bhakri is a traditional dish in Marathi cuisine. Zunka is slightly spicy sabzi made with onion, besan, and regular spices which is a dry version of besan pithla. It is typically prepared as a side dish with jowar bhakri. The best part of the recipe is that this no-fuss recipe is made with ingredients that you are sure to have at home! Serve it along with salad and papad for lunch or dinner. Do try this!
The key to making tasty zunka and jowar bhakri at home are
For zunka
- Firstly, zunka taste great when besan is properly roasted. So roast besan on medium-low flame till it slightly changes its color and becomes aromatic.
- Secondly while cooking zunka sprinkle water in batches, or else besan will turn sticky.
- Lastly, zunka tastes great when served moist and spicy. you may have to sprinkle some water and reheat it before serving it.
For jowar bhakri
- Firstly, always use hot water to knead the jowar dough for a soft roti. alternatively, you can also use warm water if you cannot handle hot water.
- Secondly, once the dough is prepared, immediately start preparing the rotis. the dough should not be kept for a longer time as it will lose its moisture and would turn brittle.
- lastly, cook roti on medium flame also sprinkles some water on top of raw rotis once it is transferred to tawa. moisture would help rotis to turn soft and fluffy.
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Zunka bhakri recipe | Marathi zunka recipe | dry pitla recipe | jowar bhakri recipe
Ingredients
For zunka
- 4 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- Pinch of hing
- 7-8 garlic cloves
- 1 cup or 2 chopped onion
- 1 cup besan
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- Salt to taste
- 1 cup water
- Some coriander leaves
For zunka tempering (optional)
- 1 tbsp oil
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
- 1 dry red chilli
- Some curry leaves
For jowar bhakri
- 2 cup water
- Salt to taste
- 1 tsp ghee
- 2 cup jowar flour
Instructions
Making zunka
- In a pan, add oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, hing, and garlic cloves. Sauté it.
- Then add chopped onion, turmeric powder, and green chili slits. Sauté till onion is slightly transparent.
- Now add besan and roast till it slightly changes its color and becomes aromatic.
- add red chili powder and salt. mix well.
- sprinkle ¼ cup of water and cover the pan for 2 minutes. mix well.
- keep sprinkling water in batches until the mixture turns moist. I have sprinkled almost 1 cup of water in batches.
- give a good mix making sure there are no lumps.
- Now in a tadka pan, add 1 tbsp oil, mustard seeds, dry red chili and curry leaves. sauté it and add tempering into zunka.
- lastly, add in coriander leaves and enjoy zunka with bhakri.
Making jowar bhakri
- In a pan, add water, salt, and ghee. mix well and bring water to boil.
- When water starts to boil, lower the flame and add the flour mixture to it. mix well with a rolling pin.
- Switch off the gas. Cover and steam dough for 3 minutes.
- Now add the flour mixture into a large pan and press it with the bowl. The dough should be smooth and soft. add little hot water if the dough is not properly bind.
- Now take a medium size ball and flatten it out between your palm.
- Then place it on a rolling board and dust some dry flour on it to prevent it from sticking while patting it.
- now pat gently with one hand and roll it slightly with a rolling pin, make sure to dust with jowar flour if required.
- furthermore, place the bhakri on hot tawa. press gently and cook all the sides.
- serve super soft jowar bhakri with junka and chutney.
Notes
For Zunka
- do not over-roast garlic cloves otherwise, it tastes bitter.
- the proportion of chopped onion and gram flour (besan) should be equal.
- roast besan on medium-low flame till it slightly changes its color and becomes aromatic.
- the proportion of water should be equal to besan.
- sprinkle water on zunka mixture; do not add more otherwise there is a lump in the besan mixture.
- cover immediately and cook the mixture in water vapor.
- stir the mixture and break the lump from it.
- zunka tastes great when it is served hot.
- add flour gradually and mix it with a rolling pin.
- switch off the gas and cook flour for 3 minutes into steam.
- press cooked flour with flour giving it stretchiness and binding.
- when flour is slightly hot, combine it and make it smooth.
- cook bhakri on medium flame.
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