Squash Puris

Packing lunch for my kindergartner is always a challenge. What works one day may or may not work another time. But so far, these Squash Puris or 'Lal Bhoplyachya Purya' have had a high success rate. She ofcourse loves puris, so once a week its either these squash puris or palak puris for her lunch box.

The availability of frozen cooked squash here makes this a breeze to prepare. I've heard from my cousin, who is an ophthalmologist, that lal bhopla (orange squash) is very good for eyesight, hence I try to cook it once every week, sometimes in a curry (using fresh lal bhopla) or in raita (lal bhoplayache bharit using frozen cooked squash) and ofcourse these puris for N.

Here's how I make them:

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3 tbsp frozen cooked squash (thaw overnight in the fridge or for 2-3 hrs on the counter)
2 tsp sugar
pinch of salt
oil

Make a slightly stiff dough with the above, using 1-2 drops of oil. Keep for 1/2 hr. Roll out into puris. I've used a star-shaped cookie cutter to make the puris in the above picture. Deep fry in hot oil. Drain on a paper towel. The addition of sugar makes these puris slightly sweetish but not overly so.

Hope you folks like these simple puris.

These puris are my contribution to the Kids Lunchbox event at Cooking Up Something Nice.

I am editing this post after my trip to India Dec. 2008. I found out that these squash puris are called 'Gharges' in Marathi. They are made pretty much the same as above, except jaggery is used instead of sugar. The jaggery and squash are cooked together and then the wheat flour is mixed into them. I made a batch of these gharges for N's lunch box after my return and she loved them just as much. I'll end this post with a picture of these gharges.