Bhelpuri~ One of the most popular chaat/ street food! Indians need no introduction for this quick to whip up, tangy mixture of puffed rice, boiled potatoes, chopped onion, farsan (crispy or crunchy, mixed fried munchies) mint and coriander chutney (dip), sweet tamarind/sonth chutney topped up with some crunchy sev (thin, fried, salted gram flour noodle strings). I sometimes wonder if its just Sindhis, who have a strong affinity for chaats or does it apply to all the communities of India? I doubt whether anyone can resist any type of lip smacking chaat, be it Panipuri, Sevpuri, Dahi puri, Raga patties…
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A plateful of ‘Ubhaaryal Phota’ or the boiled, whole (in pods) fresh garbanzo beans stirs memories in many a hearts, particularly if you belong to the ‘pre gizmo-freak generation’. The generation that never got bored despite of the absence of social media networks, 3GS, WiFi, smart phones, X-box, infinite TV channels and coffee shops to hang around with friends. Now when I hear my son complaining about how often he feels bored of his board games, Cartoon channels, baseball and unlimited access to books and computer games, I can’t help but sit and wonder; what was it, that kept us…
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Each year on 13th January, Sindhis celebrate Laal Loi, or Lohri, as known in Punjabi, also famous as a ‘Festival of Bonfire’ ! Laal Loi is celebrated to express the feeling of gratitude to the natural and supernatural forces for the bounty of Rabi (Winter) crops.So it is a harvest festival of Hindus and is celebrated with fun and folklore, while gathering around a bonfire, singing, dancing, performing rituals and gearing up for the upcoming harvest of Rabi crops. Sindhis celebrate Lal loi in the same way as Punjabis do! Young folks gather loads of dry wood/ logs/ sticks/old furniture…
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Praghree (Praghri/Pragri), a deep fried crunchy, layered puff stuffed with Khoya/mawa, is a seasonal delicacy, made only during Holi Festival ( Indian Festival of colours). Rarely will you find these crunchy, sticky delights during rest of the year. Very high in calories but an addictive sweet, Praghree have many fans; specially from Sindhi Community. Almost every Sindhi sweet shop will stock this around Holi and generally there are two varieties of it. One is stuffed with Khoya and other with Chabu Halwo (cornflour pudding/Bombay Karachi halwa). This fascinating sweet could be made at home, but you need to have a…
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Dal Moth~ Many of you might confuse it with the snack Dal Moth (Farsan), but this isn’t it ! Generally Sindhis relish a hearty breakfast of Dal Moong and Koki, where Dal moong being yellow moong dal topped over whole green gram. Personally I find green grams bit bland and not much appealing to my palate. Technically too, I face a problem with green grams..if overcooked these turn slimy instead of creamy and if undercooked, the curry and moong stand separated and somehow the whole dish do not come together nicely. For this reason, I find Moth beans, known as…
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Vadi/Vari/ Badi, the sun dried lentil cake is very popular in Sindhi cuisine.There are many recipes to make the sun dried lentil cakes at home, but generally the store brought, spicy, Amritsar Vari is preferred. The Vari, bursting with flavors of black pepper and garam masala imparts a meaty flavor to whatever dish it is added, be it the potato curry or the Pulav. Traditionally, in Sindhi Cuisine, a flavorsome Pulav is made using Vari, the preparation being bit elaborate and the ingredients, of course, varies from recipe to recipe ! But I was in a mood to savor rice…
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It seems like ages since I last shared a recipe here ! Life appears to be like a calender being flipped crazily, changing moments into days, days into weeks and weeks into months! And when life seems like a mad rush of events, I tend to switch off my mind towards what’s happening around and distill my thoughts to get a clear picture and a focused vision. That’s what was happening around in past few months and hence the hiatus! But at the back end some really exciting projects came into my way and I tried to give my best…












