Recipes for Drinks

A to Z Of Sindhi Food

Alka Keswani — Mon, 10 Jan 2022 13:46:01 +0000

When I started working on my project about documenting ancient, traditional as well as lost recipes from Sindhi cuisine, a few years ago, the biggest challenge I faced was the lack of accessible information about the same. The limited documents that I could access, were in Arabic Sindhi, a script that I never could learn, despite of trying umpteen number of times, since my childhood. I felt stuck up. So the only way to move forward was to learn the Arabic script and to make sure that I don’t give up this time, I took up a challenge; The AlifBe of Sindhi cuisine i.e A-Z of Sindhi food. You can read more about this project here! It was a roller coaster ride and I ain’t exaggerating! The challenges I faced while trying to understand the basics of the scripts, the consonants (52 alphabets!!!!), the vowels, the formation of alphabets, the corresponding alphabets in Devanagari and Roman Sindhi, to find apt dishes, the recipes etc were immense and as if the stress was not enough, I took a plunge and started creating recipe videos too despite of knowing that I will have to learn shooting a video, to manage recording and cooking at the same time, to edit the video (biggest challenge) and to publish it, on my own.I was a nut case! Though I did end up taking a lot of help from my better half but still I managed to pull most of the things on my own. I feel accomplished! I am still not well versed with the script as the word formation is bit difficult to understand unless you are able to remember how each alphabet appears in any word depending on its position in the word. For Example look at the جهہ (Jh/झ) and its various avatars… I need to put more efforts to learn, to memorise and to understand the nuances of the language and the script but I am feeling hopeful! I cannot move ahead without thanking those who played an important part in this project of mine! A big thank you to Shobha Lalchandani Di, Barkha Khushalani Di, Amrita Lal, Surraya Kapri and Deepak Keswani for being always there to help me understand the script, to clear my doubts and to encourage me to keep marching on. Thank you Asha Chand Di, for your ‘Learn Sindhi’ App as it helped me in practising the alphabets in a fun way. Thank you Deepak Keswani, yet again, for creating easy to use Sindhi Dictionary and Sindhi Keyboard Winding up the project AlifBe with this handy, easy to refer list of all the dishes. Do click on the links provided, to get the recipe. Please note that out of 52 alphabets of Alif Be (The Arabic Sindhi script) I had to skip three alphabets; ظ ,ح ,ث since I couldn’t find any Vegetarian Sindhi dish with the names starting with these particular alphabets. So here we go!!! A to Z of Sindhi Food (AlifBe of Sindhi food): ا (अ/A) as inAhmedabad or as in Atte Ja Ladoon ب (ब/B) as in Baby or as in Besan Ji Aani ٻ (B^) as in B^aaru (child) or as in B^itto Lolo پ (प/P) as in Parrot or P as in Pali ڀ (भ/Bh) as in Bharat or as in Bheendi Khatti ت (त/T~) as in Taiwan or as in Tosha ٿ (थ/Th~) as in Thirsty or as in Thumaro ٽ (ट/Tt) as in Towel or as in Tamate Ji Chutney ٺ (ठ/Th) as in Thakur or as in Thab^ak Vadiyun ث (स/S) as in Simple or as in Saandhano ج (ज/J) as in Japan or as in Jwar Ji Tikki ڄ (ॼ/J^) as in J^ibh or as in J^eth Ji Sesa جهہ (झ/jh) made by combining ج ( J) and ھ (h) as in Jhansi or as in Jhang Pulao ڃ (ञ/J~) as in J^aj`a Ji Roti چ (च/Ch) as in Chair or as in Chetichand Ji Sesa ڇ (छ/Chh) as in Chhattisgarh or as inChhola Dabhal خ (ख़/Khh) as in Khalifa or as in Khhoraak د (द/D~) as in Dehradun or as in Dal Dimma ڌ (ध/Dh~) as in Dharamshala or as in Dhaage Waara Karela ڏ (ड/D^) as in D^aha (Ten in Sindhi) or as in D^othiyun ڊ (ड/D) as in Daddy or as in Dabal Pakora ڍ (ढ/Dh) as in Dhaka or as in Dhodho Chatni ذ (ज़/Z) as in Zaro or as in Kagzi Lemon Pickle ر (र/R) as in Rajasthan or as in Raanh ڙ (ड़/R^) as in लड़का, पेड़, लड़ाई or as in Rabdi ز (ज़/Z) as in Zanzeer or as in Zaefrani Kulfi ش (श/Sh) as in Shimla or as in Sharbat ص (स/S) as in Summer or as in Misri ض (ज़/Z) as in Zaroor or as in Zaroori Masalha ط (त/T~) as in Tara or as in Ta’am ع (अ/A) as in Arab or as in Arq غ (ग़/G̣) as in Gazal or as in Magaz Ja Ladoo ف (फ़/F) as in Faluda or as in Faludo ڦ (फ/Ph) as in Phone or as in Phepho Mirch ق (क़/Q) as in Qatar or as in Qeeme Jo Lolo ڪ (क/K) as in Kashmir or as in Kokum Waari Dal ک (ख/Kh) as in Khajoor or as in Khoyo گ (ग/G) as in Ganga or as in Gyarsi Khado ڳ (ग्/G^) as in G^aaro (Red) or as in G^ach For Mahalaxmi گهہ (घ/Gh) as in Ghee or as in Ghotyal Saag^ ڱ (ङ/ng/G~) as in Singing or as in Singyun Tamate Mein ل (ल/L) as in Love or as in Lor^h م (म/M) as in Mithai or as in Majoon Barfi ن (न/N) as in Nagpur or as in Nasarpuri Seyal Bhaji ڻ (ण/N~) as in Brahman or as in Batan Papdi Chaat و (व/V) as in Varanasi or as in Vataran Ji Lilotari ھ (ह/H) as in Haridwar or as in Hurbe Jeere Mein Patata ء (अ/A/Hamzo/Amdhro) as in Mau or as in Gogrun Ji Khatain ي (य/Y) as in Yam or as in Viyam Ja Khaada

The post A to Z Of Sindhi Food appeared first on Sindhi Rasoi |Sindhi Recipes.

Sharbat~ AlifBe~27

Alka Keswani — Sun, 13 Jun 2021 20:22:03 +0000

There are only two consonants in the sixth shape group of Sindhi AlifBe; س (s/स) and ش (Sh/श)! Actually the 27th consonant in Sindhi AlifBe is س but it is already covered in the 10th Post in AlifBe series. And hence we will consider the next consonant as the 27th one which is ش in Arabic Sindhi, श in Devanagari and in Roman Sindhi it is ‘Sh‘ as in Shimla! And the corresponding dish is Sharbat! In Sindhi language, Sharbat could mean both; the syrup as well as the Cordial (non alcoholic beverage)! Sharbat The word Sharbat comes from the Arabic word ‘Shariba’ which is a verb for ‘Drink’ Believed to be originated in Iran in 11th century, Sharbat became a favorite beverage of Turks and later the Italian adapted it as ‘Sorbetto’! The Turk style sharbat, to be precise, the Rose Sherbet is generally made by crumbling (or massaging) rose petals along with sugar and letting it sit for few hours, after which it is mixed with sugar syrup, water and ice to make Sharbat. The process of mixing rose petals with sugar was used by ancient people and the sweetened crumbled rose petals (conserve) were used as a base for mixing medicines or healing herbs for treating various health disorders. Cuneiform texts written in Mesopotamia (Modern day-Iraq) in the second millennium BC suggest that roses were boiled in water to produce aromatic water as distillation process was unknown to ancient people. And though the Alchemists of Alexendria (50 BCE) are credited for introducing Distillation process, remnants of distillation apparatus (pots) made from terra-cota were found in Harrapa excavations. ((Source: here!). Those were similar to the traditional Deg Bhapka ‘apparatus’ being used for hydro distillation of flowers to produce Attar (Ittr or Perfume) in Kannauj (Uttar Pradesh), consisting of Deg (cauldron), Bhapka (copper receiver),the Chonga (condenser made from bamboo), a bhatti (furnace), a Gachchi (cooling water tank) and a Kuppi (bottle). So maybe making attar was a common phenomenon in the Harrapan era. Sharbat is believed to reach India through Moghuls in around 16th century! Though Sharbat could be made from various flowers and fruits too, the one we are talking about is ‘Gulab jo Sharbat’ or Rose Sharbat. Interestingly the term Gulab in Urdu (and in Hindi) means Rose flower but in Persian Gulab or Golab word is actually a combination of two nouns; Gol/Gul meaning flower and ‘aab’ meaning ‘water’. So Golab in Persian means ‘water of a flower’ or a distillate of a flower, not necessarily ‘of the Rose flower’. Coming to the Sharbat, one can make it in various ways. Most of the commercially available sherbet (syrups) are made by flavoring concentrated sugar syrup or it could be a blend sugar, dextrose or liquid glucose, with artificial flavors /essence and artificial colors to make the syrup an eye appealing one. Sharing here, some different ways to make Rose Sherbet including the traditional methods! Regular Syrup: Mix 5 cups water with 6 and half cups of granulated sugar and bring it to a boil. Add a tbsp of lemon juice and let the syrup boil further till thick syrup is obtained (anywhere from 15 -20 minutes on medium flame). Switch off the gas and add few drops of food color and appropriate essence, for example, red color and Rose essence, Yellow color and Pineapple essence, Green color and Khus Essence etc. You can also use Emulsions instead of food color and essence. Syrup using Rose Petals: Boil ½ kg rose petals with 2 cups of water and 1.5 kg of granulated sugar till 1 thread consistency is achieved. Strain and discard the pulp. Store the syrup in glass bottles or jars. Sharbat using Petal extract Add 1 and half cup of granulated sugar to half cup of rose petals in a bowl and rub well. Can add a tbsp of citric acid or lemon juice too. Add around 4-5 cups of water. Cover and allow it to stand for minimum 2-3 days. For making sharbat, add few tsp of this extract to few tsp of sugar syrup (unflavored) and iced water. Till two decades back, making Rose Sharbat (Syrup) was an annual affair at our home. My parents would make plenty of Syrup bottles to send in as food gifts for summer festivals to married aunts/sisters. I have distinct memories of my father measuring out sugar and water portions, pounding green cardamoms, cleaning flowers, rinsing well and cleaning up tall glass bottles etc while my mom would cook the syrup in batches. Each batch was then strained by my father and the sweetened pulp was given to us to relish. That would be our instant ‘Gulkand’. The syrup would be poured in the bottle, few drops of red food color and rose essence were added along with silver varq and each bottle was given a good shake. The bottles were loosely capped and kept in a large parat filled with water, for cooling. That would not only facilitate cooling of the syrup but would also ensure that no ants contaminate the syrup. Once cooled, the bottles were capped tightly and stored in cool and dry places (The Cupboard with the net in olden days while later, in the refrigerator). We used to buy ice from the local juice corners or the ice vendors on the cycle to make Sharbat , before the refrigerator became a part of our lives. While I distinctly remember the whole Sharbat making process and those Gulkand treats, I was not sure of the variety of roses used for the same. Many moons ago, in an ongoing discussion about Gulkand, Sangeeta Khanna, a food and nutrition consultant and one of my favorite food bloggers, pointed out that Damascus rose (Rosa damascena) is one the preferred rose varieties for the concoction or for making Gulkand. Many home makers who make Sharbat at home suggest to use Indian desi Gulab or musk rose (Rosa moschata), a variety closely related to the Persian Hybrid; Damascus for the syrup. Print Sharbat~ AlifBe~27 A flavored syrup made from dried rose petals. Ingredients 1 Cup dried rose petals (or 125 gm of fresh petals) 2 +2 cups Sugar 2+1 cup of water 5-6 Green Cardamoms Juice of 1 lemon/lime ¼ -1/2 tsp of Red color (Optional) Few drops of Rose Essence Method Check and discard any twigs or wilted petals from dried/fresh petals. Wash with water for 1-2 times and spread on a kitchen towel to remove excess water. In a large bowl, mix petals and three cups of sugar and rub the mix well. Allow the mix to stand (covered) for 3-4 hours. This process (mixing sugar and petals and allowing it to stand) is optional. You can directly jump to the next step. Boil 2 cups of water add it to petals and sugar mixture. Leave covered for another 4-5 hours. Now pour the mix in a pan/vessel and bring it to a boil. Add juice of a lemon/lime and crushed cardamoms. Once the mix starts boiling, lower the flame and allow it to simmer for 30-35 minutes. In another vessel, heat 1 cup of water and pour it in the simmering syrup. Add the remaining 1 cup of sugar and continue to thicken the syrup till one thread consistency is reached. Switch off the flame and strain the syrup. Add food color (optional) and rose essence and once cool, transfer the syrup in a glass jar or bottle. Store in refrigerator. Note: Once you boil the mix for 30-40 minutes, you can switch off the gas and add 1 cup of powdered sugar instead of hot water and sugar granules and mix till no lumps remain in the syrup. I don't prefer this method but the method is commonly used by many. I got around 405 ml of syrup from the above mentioned quantities. 3.5.3251 Please note: Though the Sharbat in the bottle looks deep red without added color, when you mix the syrup with iced water the color of the drink fades and may appear orange to brownish (as seen in one of the images) and hence I added 1/4th tsp of red color to the syrup. You may need more color for deeper shades or if the flower petals yield paler syrup. And finally, a small video about writing the alphabets in Sindhi!

The post Sharbat~ AlifBe~27 appeared first on Sindhi Rasoi |Sindhi Recipes.

Thadhal|Thandai|Mahashivratri Special

Alka Keswani — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 10:36:35 +0000

Thaadal or Thandai is a refreshing drink made from milk , poppyseeds, almonds and flavored with peppercorns, rose petals and elaichi, usually served on occasion of Mahashivratri and Holi festival.

The post Thadhal|Thandai|Mahashivratri Special appeared first on Sindhi Rasoi |Sindhi Recipes.

Its New Year for Us

Alka Keswani — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:58:57 +0000

Time surely have wings, or else how does it flies away? It seems like just yesterday, when I wished the readers of my blog, “A Happy New Year”,as per Sindhi calender. And here we are again , celebrating Chetichand (The New year) today. And no we aren’t alone in our celebrations, because every year, Maharastrians join in for the Gudi padva,while Kannada and Telugu people celebrate the day as Ugadi You can check out last year’s post on Behrana Saheb, and do join me this year to welcome our New Year with all the fun and frolic Share with me how you celebrate this day, about the rituals you follow,about the food you cook or eat on this special day I on my part will share this simple MILK ROSE, which is distributed as prasad on this day, along with some boiled chickpeas and turmeric added rice For making milk rose, we need sherbet (actually sorbet….confused?? well read it here) or rose syrup. So first lets make that, in case you do not have that bottle of Roohafza, handy. Print Rose Sherbet Easy rose sherbet recipe.This concentrate have a shelf life of more than 6 months Ingredients Sugar 1kg Water 375 ml Milk 1 tsp (or 2 tsp lemon juice ) Rose colour (Red colour in liquid form,approximately 1 tsp for each bottle) Green cardamom 3-4 Rose Essence just few drops Some rose petals (red rose, but cleaned thoroughly or else skip this) Method Clean rose petals and soak them in 1 cup of water for 12-20 hours. In a thick bottom pan or any other huge container, boil sugar along with water, elaichi, the rose petals along with water in which petals were soaked and add milk (or lemon juice). Addition of milk or lemon juice will bring the impurities of sugar on the surface as a scum Remove the impurities settled on the surface Let it boil,till it slightly thickens and change the colour(One thread consistency) if too dilute it will taste less sweet,and if too thick,the sugar will crystallize after refrigeration. Let it cool completely and then strain it Add 2-3 drops of essence and colour and store it in clean glass bottles Add few spoons of this syrup to ¾ glass of water, add some ice cubes to make simple sherbet For Milkrose, add 2-3 tsp of this syrup to ¾ glass of boiled but cooled milk, add sugar if needed, few ice cubes and serve chilled 3.2.2885 In the above picture, from front to backwards its, Milkrose, strawberry flavored,pineapple flavored,and orange flavored sherbet.For all these, the basic procedure remains same,except that the colours and essence are used as per the flavor preferred.Also do note that in case you ought to wish to make Kaalakhata or orange flavor,do not use milk to remove impurities, use lemon juice and also some citric acid crystals (tatri) too for that tangy taste Here I would like to thank Vk (my another BIL)who passed on these valuable tips to me and also helped me penning down exact measurements of ingredients And also before any body shouts Plagiarism here,let me assure you that this picture is indeed inspired by Soma’s gorgeous Flor de jamaica beverage pictures,though mine is such a shoddy job done.I find it really hard to click liquids.So if any one can share some tips and tricks, kindly do share with me This refreshing Pink beverage is going to FIC-Pink, a brainchild of Sunshinemom of Tongueticklers, hosted this month by Priya of Priya’s Easy N Tasty recipes. Hope this comes under the category of that Pink which you expected

The post Its New Year for Us appeared first on Sindhi Rasoi |Sindhi Recipes.

An Alphonso Treat

Alka Keswani — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 05:51:12 +0000

My Dear Husband who is a generally not fond of Food,surprised me one day,when I accompanied him to one of his Friend’s Marriage ceremony, after our engagement(So he was my Fiance then….). That was the first time Icame to know his Love for Shrikhand there.Since that was ,what he enjoyed most from the awesome platter of Traditional Maharashtrian Food. So like a very curious Wife -To-Be,who obviously believed that the way to man’s heart is through his stomach, searched high and low for shrikhand’s Recipe.And mind you , at those times, Internet was an unheard of a thing for geeks like me. So somehow i got its recipe from one of the neighbor, purchased the ingredients required and like a usual bubbly enthusiastic female,trying to woo her would- be -better- half, headed in HIS KITCHEN, in his absence, to churn out a surprise for him. Now in all this, I had a companion who guided me to the Unknown Kitchen and utensils (since that home was new for me), stood besides me, acted as a perfect assistant, helping in blending etc, and watching with all the curiosity and giggles, the making of shrikhand.Well, till this date i don’t know whether Hubby dear liked that shrikhand or not, I only know that it was the first thing I made for him and he did ate it :-). And that Helper was Sk (My Brother-in-law), the little jovial fellow, who after that first brush in kitchen, joined me in many more culinary experiments Months later, as a new bride, I always had this fellow(Sk of course) , ready to indulge (when it was good) or bear(when food turned out awful) my experiments in kitchen.Who not only relished the good parathas and kokis,but also the burnt toasts and awful gravies with same smile on his face (I know after every disastrous meal, he would sneak out to some restaurant or street food stall, have a binge and return back burping and saying…today’s meal was superb,when are you going to make same again??(You cheat…liar…) The reason for sharing these memories is that it’s Sk’s Birthday today,and though I am unable to make him eat any of his favorite on his birthday,Iam virtually sending him some favorites of his, with all the fond memories and Hearty Wishes Every Alphonso Mango landing our home was surely on his TO-FINISH Agenda.So much , that even when everyone at home would be about to retire at night,this crazy mango lover would suddenly remember a Mango lying around home, and would jump with excitement …How about a mango Shake now…Now ??? 12 o’clock (Night)??? Well anything for you dear…and off we use to go in kitchen,and with his help would churn out some quick mango shakes , much to my MIL’s surprise at the blenders (Mixie) working at midnight in our Kitchen So dear, for all those Good old days, and of course on Your birthday…here’s CHEERS from whole family with this Mango shake , for you 🙂 The recipe…well there is hardly any, just throw in a ripe Alphonso Mango, peeled and diced (save one slice for garnishing) in a blender (mixie) along with about two glass full of boiled and cooled milk, about 2-3 tsp of sugar, some almonds and ice cubes and blend till a smooth mixture is obtained Pour in glasses (will yield about 3 servings ), topped with some Almond slivers, some mango cubes (yes the one slice that you saved), some ice cubes, and for that ROSY kick, you can add few drops of Rose syrup while blending.

The post An Alphonso Treat appeared first on Sindhi Rasoi |Sindhi Recipes.