Sindhi Kadhi
Vegetables
Carrots, tomatoes, Doodhi, Bhee, Kachalu (arbi), Suran, potatoes, Seeng, Bhindi, white peas, Guar.
Method
Chop and wash all the vegetables (keep potato skins on, do not peel peas). Cut bhee slanting so as to reduce fibre.
In a large pot, heat oil. Add methi and jeera (1:2). Once it crackles (methi should not become dark). Add besan and roast till dark pink. When it is about to finish roasting, add curry leaves and heeng. Then add water and stir. Add haldi and boil for a while.
Now start adding vegetables in the following order:
Suran, bhee, guar, finely chopped ginger, tomatoes, big pieces of green chillies, carrots, large pieces of potatoes (give small cuts in potatoes so that the spices go in). Remove the tips of green peas. Kachalu, doodhi, green peas, seeng.
Add salt, kokum. Let it boil till most of the vegetables are cooked. Now add tamarind water, red chilli powder. Finally add bhindi and fresh coriander, cover and let it cook for a few more mins on sim.
Dals
1. Thuma (Garlic) Wali Daal — Yellow or Green Moong
Wash yellow or green moong dal, add enough water, salt, turmeric, oil and large pieces of tomatoes and boil in a pressure cooker. Add more water and mash the dal properly. Add big pieces of green chillies and simmer on the gas.
In a small pan add oil and coarsely crushed garlic (or chopped garlic) and fry till golden brown. Add red chilli powder and immediately add the chonk to the dal. Cover immediately to preserve flavour. Mix and serve.
Variations for Yellow Moong Daal (can also be made with other daal)
1. Jeera — oil + jeera + red chilli powder (+ green chillies).
2. Methi — Also add tamarind water / kokum after boiling. Chonk: oil + methi dana (fenugreek) + jeera (1:2 proportion) + red chilli powder.
3. Photewali (Cardamom) — Do not add tomato while boiling. Also don't add green chilli. Add black pepper powder. Chonk: oil + cardamom powder.
4. Makhni Daal — Do not add tomato while boiling. Also omit green chillies and keep the daal thick. Sprinkle red chilli powder, coriander, amchoor, garam masala on top. Pour hot oil on top.
Toor Daal
Boil with salt, turmeric and oil. Mash well and add water. Add tamarind and kokum. Add green chillies, tomatoes.
Chonk: oil + methi + jeera + hing + red chilli powder.
Variations for Chana Daal
1. Daag Wali Daal (Browned Onion) — Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add sliced onions and fry till golden brown. Add water, chana daal, tomatoes, turmeric and salt and pressure cook till soft but not mashed. (Also add big pieces of potatoes.) Goes well with brown rice.
Variation 2: Mash well, add more water, add tamarind/kokum. Goes well with plain rice.
Tip: Add shahjeera to the rice that goes with these daals.
2. Seyal Daal (there is no onion)
Boil daal with turmeric till half cooked. Open the pressure cooker. Add diced onion (at slightly big pieces), tomatoes, green chillies, slight garam masala. Cook for another while and serve with rotis.
3. Daal Pakwan (or with puri)
Same as makhni daal recipe from moong daal section.
Vegetables
1. Dum Aloo
Boil small potatoes and peel (or big ones, peel and chop). Prick with fork or slit with a knife.
Heat oil in a pot. Add ajwain seeds. Prepare a paste of dry spices (turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander cumin powder, amchoor, salt, garam masala) in water and add the paste to the pot. Fry for a while till oil separates. Prepare a finely ground paste of tomatoes and ginger. Add the tomato-ginger paste and fry well. Add the potatoes and fry well. Add water and cook well, covered on a low flame. Garnish with fresh green coriander.
Guar
Boil in water. In oil, crush garlic till brown. Cut tomatoes and add turmeric, amchoor, dhaniya, chilli powder. Add guar. Put on sim.
Basar Patata (variation)
Heat oil, add garlic cloves till brown. Add potatoes and bhindi. Add tomato pieces. Once it softens, add spices, then add onions (spring onions or big pieces of spring onion). Stir some more, add water, let it come to a boil. Mix one tsp of flour (atta) in water and add. Let it cook. Heat some oil, add mustard seeds, red chilli powder and add.
Moong
Capsicum + green chillies + potato + tomato + sprout. Raita.
Pumpkin
Heat oil and brown sliced onions till dark. Add chopped tomatoes, ginger, green chillies, turmeric, red chilli powder, dhaniya powder, suro masala, salt. Add chopped pumpkin pieces, cover and stir a few times. Cook till soft. Add a very little water (depends on the pumpkin). No garlic in this one. No amchoor in this one.
Variation
Jeera + tomato + masalas + pumpkin.
Pumpkin Daag
Chop pumpkin into small pieces. Brown onion well on sim. Add a bit of water and pumpkin. Add tomato, green chillies, dry spices and salt. Cover and cook on sim. Saute coriander.
Jeera variation
Oil, jeera, pumpkin, tomato and spices.
Capsicum
1-2 tsp besan — roast without oil, keep aside. Heat oil, add mustard, jeera, capsicum masalas, besan. Lots of amchoor.
(For Navratna, put hing in tadka.)
Sai Bhaji
Spinach + dill + cilantro + mint (just a bit) + methi (good amount) + green chillies + ginger + onion + carrot + potato + doodhi (optional) + tomato + salt + soaked chana dal. Haldi. Pressure cook till daal is soft (but not mushy). A bit of water and a few drops of oil. Mash with wooden spoon. Add soaked tamarind and boil. For tadka, heat oil + crushed garlic (coarse) + red chilli powder. Boil again.
Carrot
Dice carrot (small). Salt it and leave aside, wash (remove sweetness). Oil + garlic (small bud) + carrots + tomato + methi + dhaniya + turmeric + coriander + green chillies + ginger. Cover. When oil separates, it's done. Salt.
Baingan Bharta
Roast and mash eggplant. Heat oil/ghee + cardamom powder + eggplant. Add salt and turmeric. Add slight water. Add black pepper. Bhuuno.
Same method for turai.
Lauki Kofte
Grate the lauki. Dry masalas. Besan. Fry the koftas. Make red gravy.
Turnips (Daal Ghughrni)
Dice the turnips. Slice/diced onion, brown ghughrn, tomato, spices, bhuno. Add soaked daal, water, chopped green chillies. Serve with chapati/phulko.
Green Beans (without onion for Navratna)
Cut beans and potatoes in medium size. Heat oil, add jeera, beans and potato. Saute for a while. Add tomatoes, turmeric, chillies, coriander powder, amchoor, salt, a little water. Cover and cook.
Methi Patata
Oil + garlic big pieces. Let it brown. Put potato cubes, let it fry. Add few tomatoes. Add spices. Add methi + coriander. When half done, add some water. Spices: coriander, turmeric, salt. Add green chillies + ginger (while frying).
Green Gravy (Multipurpose)
This is a multipurpose gravy. I made the masala and froze it in portions. Works for making potatoes, chole, ghotsi and many other vegetables. Also for making seyal mahi.
Grind together (coarsely): coriander (with most of the stems), green chillies, ginger, garlic (lots of it), tomatoes (not too many), onions (not too many). Saute in oil till oil separates. Cool and freeze.
Rice
Maryodi ka Pulo (Aloo)
Oil + jeera + ground ginger + tomato. Saute well, oil separates. Add turmeric + chillies + dhaniya + garam masala. Add half-fried maryodi. Add water + salt.
Tomato Rice
Oil + jeera + tomato + when oil separates, add dhaniya powder + whole pepper + finely chopped green chillies. Add rice + salt + water and cook.
Mangodi Pulao
1. Deep fry the mangodi. Heat oil, add sliced onion — brown well, tomato, water (let onion mash). Add mangodi, haldi and dhaniya mixed. Add water and keep bhuuno. One cooker whistle. Add ghee, garam masala, fresh dhania. (Should get thick gravy.)
2. Brown onion, water, whole black pepper, ghee, garam masala, dhaniya powder, green chillies. When water boils, add rice. Serve rice, top with mangodi sabzi.
Stuffed Patta Gobi Rice
Soak rice. Remove cabbage leaves. For regular cabbage, blanch them in salted water. Brown finely chopped onion. Add the soaked rice, salt, coriander powder, suro masala, whole coriander, whole pepper and saute till water (from soaking) dries up (just a few mins). Stuff the leaves with the rice (keep it loose leaving room for rice expansion). Put some oil on the pressure cooker (to avoid sticking). Put the rolls in layers and add water (2 x rice — water in the cabbage). Pressure cook for 1 whistle. Then check. Sprinkle water for the top rolls and cook without whistle till everything is cooked. Serve warm.
Breads & Snacks
Kachori
Soak urad daal + small handful of yellow moong daal overnight. Drain and coarsely crush (in a small food processor). For masala mix: whole jeera (tiny amount), saunf (good amount), dhaniya powder, haldi (just a bit), red chilli powder, amchoor (lots!), heeng, garam masala, suro masala. (Masala quantity should be good.)
Now heat oil, add masala and saute, add daal, salt and mix. Saute until water dries up (not completely dry). Cool and make balls and set aside.
For dough: mix A.P. flour, salt, oil (good amount) and water and make a soft dough. Make balls and set aside.
Now flatten each dough ball with hands, place the daal ball, close and fry on low heat oil. The oil should be hot initially, but then fry low and slow and more.
Kutti
Whole wheat flour + oil (multi pader mou) + water + crushed pepper + whole jeera — knead dough harder than roti. Roll into very thick noti and roast on mostly low flame. Can increase in-between if required. Crush with rolling pin and set aside.
Mix jaggery with water (heat) until it dissolves. Add ghee to the chaslni. Mix everything together.
Patta Phulko
Make basic roti dough (no oil, no salt). Roll, make a hole in the middle, spread oil. Start rolling from middle into two-three layers. Cut and roll. Then roll again, roast on tawa. Add ghee (after fully off tawa). Heat ghee, water, ajwain and jeera and make a divide syrup. Open the flaky layers, spoon the syrup and serve.
Thari Wali Bhatta (Broken Wheat)
Heat 1-2 tsp ghee in a pressure cooker. Add a pinch of whole jeera. Add 1/2 cup coarse broken wheat. Saute for a few minutes. Add 3-4 whole peppers. Add 3 cup water and a pinch of salt. Let the water boil for a while till the water thickens and reduces by about half. Then close the lid of the cooker and get 3-4 whistles. Once the pressure releases, use wooden mandiro to crumble it a bit. Then add another 2-3 cups water and about 1/2 cup jaggery. Once it all comes together, serve warm with ghee.
Appetizers
Egg Cake
I had this practically at every household that I visited after the wedding. Memories.
Boil macaroni (I used Ditali) and set aside. Chop onions and potatoes in small dices and fry separately in oil till you see a nice golden brown colour on each. Cool. (I used one medium potato, half an onion and a handful of dry pasta.) Whisk three eggs. Add salt, black pepper, a pinch of garam masala powder and coriander cumin powder. Add potatoes, onion, pasta, chopped coriander. Steam it on top of a pan with boiling water (no steam on top). Cut into squares. May add cheese.
Radhal Mani
Soak leftover rotis for about an hour. In a pan, heat oil, add whole cloves / big pieces of garlic and saute till brown onion. Add big pieces of tomato. Add salt and let the tomatoes soften. Add small pieces of ginger. Add turmeric and amchoor and add water. Also add whole pearl onions or big pieces of onion and big pieces of green chillies. Add salt and let it come to a boil. Now press the rotis with hand to remove excess water, mash with hands and add to the pot. Cover and let cook for about 5-10 mins. For tadka: heat oil, add mustard seeds and red chilli powder and add to the pot.
Sweets
Gud ka Rice — Navratri / Ashtami
Boil gud (jaggery) with water with a pinch of salt (1/4 the normal). When boils, add soaked rice. Add a spoonful of ghee. When water starts evaporating, add whole fennel seeds and sliced coconut (long, thin pieces). Do not mix. Cover and let cook.
Yellow Tehri — Navratna / Chawal
Soak 1 cup of rice. In 2 cups water, add 1 cup of sugar, ghee, cardamom, saffron and a pinch of salt. Pressure cook for 2 whistles, put on sim for 10-15 mins and close the gas. Open and mix. Can also add some orange food colour.
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