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5 Sindhi Dishes From Leftovers

Alka Keswani — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 10:24:20 +0000

5 Sindhi Dishes made from the Leftovers No matter how particular you are about cooking just the right quantities of food, there may be some leftover food at your home, at some point of the time. Generally we just reheat the food and consume as it is but there are times when we relish the leftovers in a different avatar. Here are 5 such Sindhi style recipes requiring a few basic ingredients to give a makeover to your leftovers. Do tell me in the comments section if you have tried any of these. Also do tell me about your favorite dishes from any cuisine, made using leftovers. Let’s check the 5 Sindhi dishes from Leftovers: Saibhaji Tikki : Most of you must have cooked or tasted the Sindhi Saibhaji; a healthy mish mash of Spinach and other greens, assorted veggies/onions, tomatoes, dal and basic spices. And when Sindhis have some leftover Saibhaji they love to turn the subzi into Tikkis (Kebab/Patty). Just heat the Saibhaji to reduce excess moisture, if any and add some Gram flour/Semolina (either or both) for the binding. Adjust the seasoning. You can add some chopped onions, coriander leaves, pounded anardana, some amchoor and a little of garam masala to enhance the flavors. Divide into small portions and make round patty/tikkis. Heat a griddle/pan, spread some Ghee/oil and place the tikkis. Cook on medium heat, flipping intermittently, till the tikkis are brown and crisp. Sprinkle some chaat masala/Amchoor before serving. Tastes best with Mint coriander chutney. Seyal Phulka Also called Seyal Maani, this dish is one of the most popular dishes in Sindhi cuisine and it is made using leftover roti/chapati/Phulka. It is made in a few different ways. Some prefer cooking it in a pounded greens’ mix while others make it in garlic tomato base. Some stuff the green mix in leftover rotis (whole), fold it like a Calzone and cook it under some weight, on a griddle. I prefer the one made using fresh green garlic (when in season) and tomatoes. You can use regular garlic when fresh green garlic is not available. Check the Recipe Video of Sindhi Seyal Maani/Seyal Phulka! You can check more Sindhi food recipes on my Youtube channel SindhiRasoiOfficial. Do like, subscribe and share with your friends and family. Aur Pya Chanvar Aur means Mustard seeds and Chanvar means Rice in Sindhi. The ‘tempered’ /stir fried rice dish is popular in many regional cuisines but Sindhis make it with the most basic tempering. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan, add a few curry leaves and 1 tsp mustard seeds. When the seeds crackle, add 1 tsp (or as per taste) red chilli powder, 1/4 th tsp turmeric powder and add leftover boiled/steamed rice (around 2 cups). Add some salt to taste and sprinkle a few drops of water. Mix well and cook on medium heat for 3-4 minutes. I prefer the rice to be softer in texture and hence I add 2-3 tbsp of water and cover the pan with a lid and cook it on low flame for 5 minutes. Enjoy Aur Pya Chanvar piping hot, with some Papad/Dahi/Pickle. Dal Jo Chilro A Chilro is a savoury pancake and is generally made using whole wheat flour or Gramflour (Besan Jo Chilro). But Ma, my MIL, often makes the Cheela (Chilro) from leftover mung dal. Heat the leftover mung dal well to thicken its consistency . For one cup of thickened dal, you may need 2 tbsp of besan/atta and 1-2 tbsp of suji (Semolina). Besan acts as thickening as well as a binding agent. Semolina too absorbs the moisture and renders crisp texture to the Cheela. You can adjust the proportions of flour and Suji as per your liking. The idea is to make a batter of spreadable consistency. Leave aside the batter for 10 minutes. Heat a flat pan/griddle and pour around 1 tbsp of oil/ghee. When hot, carefully add this hot oil to the batter. This is to make the Chilro more crisp. Now spread the batter on the pan (divide the batter in two portions if you want thinner cheela). Cook on medium to low flame, flipping gently in between. Do add some more oil/ghee while cooking. Cook it till the surface appears to be brown and crisp. Relish it hot, with some green chutney or Ketchup. Goes well with bread as well as Roti. Here is the Recipe Video of Cheela made from leftover Dal! Mithi Dab^al (Sweetened Bread) If you have few leftover bread slices that are not fresh enough to make Sandwiches or if you have some leftover syrup after the Gulab Jamuns are done and dusted with, then this simpler, dairy free version of Shahi Tukda/ Double Ka Meetha is just perfect to use up the leftovers and to satiate your sweet cravings. Just cut the bread slices in any shape (Triangle, Circle, Square, Rectangle), deep fry till golden brown and crisp and allow it to cool down a bit. Add the fried bread pieces to warm (and not the hot) syrup, remove on a plate/platter and enjoy. The bread may turn too soggy if you dip hot bread in hot syrup. Also, the bread may not soak enough syrup if the bread and syrup both are very cold. Drizzle some syrup while serving and garnish with chopped nuts for that extra oomph. Do share your tips/tricks/recipes to use the leftover food in a delicious way.

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10 Winter Special Sindhi Dishes

Alka Keswani — Wed, 11 Jan 2023 08:49:07 +0000

Winter season in Mumbai is a boon for those who love to eat a variety of greens/leafy vegetables. Sarson ka Saag, Bathua, Saag of Hara bhara, fresh Methi, Paalak, green garlic etc make our meals so refreshing. Winters also bring a bounty of red juicy Carrots, plump pods of Peas, Kand, tender Radish and Sweet potatoes in the markets. Walking down the lanes of vegetable markets in this season means walking down the memory lanes, pausing at the carts loaded with winter produce, admiring the array of colors, sniffing the freshest vegetables and fruits, picking the best from the lot, remembering the food your parents/grandparents cooked, drooling at the thoughts of savouring your favorite seasonal food and eagerly heading towards home with the bag full of nostalgia. Winter season in Mumbai evoke memories of my Mother cleaning (picking) drumstick flowers by tilting the aluminium winnow to collect the rolling buds at one end. Memories of the friends in the neighbourhood chatting while enjoying Sawa Phota or the Choliya (fresh Garbanzo beans) picking pods from bunches of the Saag, memories of the family gathering on a Sunday evening to savour boiled D^adhri (Pods), the wonderful moments spent with the Aunt K in the neighbourhood slurping ‘Aur Jo Ras‘ made by her on a cozy winter afternoon eyeing on the preparations being done for making Thoom Ja Vada to be savoured as evening snacks. Here are 10 Winter Special Sindhi dishes that I would like to share with you all. Do try these, if you are blessed enough to find the seasonal produce in the markets around you. The list includes the winter special sweets that Sindhis love to indulge in! Suhanjhro Traditional Sindhi style curry made using Drumstick flowers or Sahjan ke Phool. It is a very delicious and nutritious curry though cleaning Moringa (Sahjan) flowers is a time consuming process but it is totally worth it. Do check the recipe here! Pali Pali or the fresh tender leaves of chana (Hara Bhara saag) cooked in rustic desi style is not a dish but an emotion, particularly for the elderly Sindhis who would often talk about the Golden era when the pali was cooked on logs/sigri, mashed (Ghotna) crazily with wooden whisker and was had with Chanvar Ji maani (Roti made from rice flour) and home made white butter, a pure winter bliss! Do check the recipe of this saag here! D^adhri The tender pods of Khesari, boiled and garnished with loads of amchoor and coriander powder are one of my most favorite snacks to enjoy at leisure. Have you ever tried these? Find more details about D^adhri here! Sawa Phota Fresh pods of Chickpeas/Garbanzo beans, also known as Choliya or Har bhara in local languages are either boiled and spiced up or roasted with spices. The boiled Sawa Phota are one of my most favorite Winter special Sindhi dishes. Thoom Ja vada Deep fried patties/tikkis made with pounded fresh green garlic, chillies, coriander leaves, flavored with Annardana and basic spices i.e the Thoom Ja Vada are simply irresistible and the garlic lovers would vouch for it. If it sounds interesting to you, then do check the recipe here! Vataran Ji Lilotari Vatana or fresh green peas rule the vegetable markets during winters.Do you, like me, buy the pods in bulk,shell and stock the peas for the rest of the year? If you have some fresh peas in your refrigerator then I would suggest trying this Vataran Ji Lilotari, a curry loved by Brahma Khatri Sindhis. Do check my blog post about the Brahma Khatris and about the Vataran Ji Lilotari here! Gogrun Ji Khatain Turnips and green garlic, both found during winter season are pickled with mustard seeds to make this lovely yellow colored kanji pickle. If you haven’t tried this pickle yet, then I would suggest you to grab some turnips and garlic and make this ASAP! The recipe of Sindhi style Turnip Pickle is shared here! Saandhyal Gajrun Saandhan in Sindhi means to preserve or to conserve something. Saandhyal Gajrun is a tangy, sweetish pickle made using juicy red carrots, mustard oil, Rai dal and basic spices. Do check the recipe of lip smacking Sindhi style carrot pickle here ! Khorak (Khhoraak) For Sindhis Khorak is an ultimate Khurak to ward off the evils of seasonal allergies and to boost the immunity. A mix of roasted flour, poppy seeds, dry fruits/nuts, ghee and edible gum makes Khhoraak an ideal sweet to consume in cold weather as it gives warmth and energy too. Find the recipe of Khorak here! Majoon Yet another body and soul warming sweet dish, Majun/Majoon, not to be confused with Majoun, a Unani medicine made using Cannabis, is a sweet made around Diwali and is had through out the winter season. A delicious mix of Chhuhara (dried dates) dry fruits/nuts, ghee, sugar and mawa and much more, this is a must try! Check the recipe here! Which one of the above mentioned Winter special Sindhi dishes is your favorite?

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Dadhri|Forgotten Sindhi Snack

Alka Keswani — Tue, 01 Feb 2022 12:56:45 +0000

D^adhri, a healthy snack loaded with nostalgia! I grew up in Ulhasnagar, a place where many Sindhis still follow their traditions, where the old rituals are still valued, where you can hear the locals speaking in Sindhi language, the families eating Sindhi food on daily basis and Sindhi festivals being celebrated traditionally. It is a place where you can still find the forgotten food like Kuneh Ja beeh, Lor^h, Beeh Ja pakora/Tikki, Suhanjhro, Pali etc. As a child growing up in a typical middle class Sindhi family, I remember consuming only seasonal vegetables, fruits/food and nothing fancy/exotic/imported. It was not a fad but a norm in those days. You can read more about my rants on how the certain things in the modern world annoy me, and about my food memories from the past, here! Winter blessings! I wait for winters to cook my favorite food as some of my favorite vegetables/greens are available for a brief period from December- January. The winter delicacies like Turnips, Drumstick flowers, Fresh green garlic, Cholia saag, Lor^h are available only for a brief period. Another lesser known, seasonal delicacy that I always crave for is D^adhri (डधिड़ी)! My memories of enjoying a plate full of hot boiled D^adhri garnished with spices on a cold winter evening, after returning from school/college, often invoke cravings for these seasonal pods every winter but from past two decades I couldn’t find these in the local markets. Neither could find it during my innumerable trips to Ulhasnagar. Suddenly two days ago, Chef Jyoti Vishnani, of Sindh Da Swaad fame told me that she spotted D^adhri in Ulhasnagar and if she should get some for me! I couldn’t believe my luck! But well, ” Agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaaho to puri Qaynat usey tumse milane ki koshish mein lag jaati hai.” My good luck and the generous friend made it happen and the D^adhri reached me, against all odds:-) Thank you Jyoti, thank you, dil se!! D^adhri, as far as I know, was a term used for specific tiny green pods, that were boiled whole and consumed as snacks. I was not aware of the botanical/regional names of these pods. When I discussed it with my extremely knowledgeable friend, a respected blogger, nutrition consultant, recipe developer, healthy, sustainable food promoter, with Master’s degree in Botany, Sangeeta Khanna, she suggested that it could be Khesari (Lathyrus sativus L) a controversial dal that was banned for years. Now when I finally had the D^adhri, I showed her the pics of the same and she confirmed that it is indeed Khesari!Thank you, Sangeeta Khanna 🙂 Many Sindhis told me that they call boiled Peas pods as D^adhri, and not necessarily only the Khesari. Friends from Sindh tell me that the Khesari is also known as Phari (plural= P haryoon)! There is hardly a recipe for D^adhri. Just pick the fresh looking pods, discarding dried, wilted or rotten pods. Rinse with water a couple of times. Either boil in an open pan, with enough salt, some turmeric and water for 20-25 minutes or cook in a pressure cooker (15 minutes on low flame after 1 whistle or cook on medium heat for 4 whistles of the cooker). Drain and garnish with some black salt, coriander powder, red chilli powder and amchoor. Some also add little of tamarind juice. As kids we were asked to hold each boiled pod towards the light source. The boiled pods would be fairly transparent and if you see any suspicious bits in the pods (worms, insect or rotten peas) discard it. I seriously don’t remember if we were actually able to figure out the bad stuff but we would religiously hold each pod against the light, pretending to scrutinise each, like a CID officer but eventually popping each pod in the mouth 😉 Actually to eat D^adhri one has to hold the pod in between the teeth, pull out the skin of the pod, thereby releasing the flavorful ‘peas’ in the mouth. Have shared a Reel about cooking D^adhri on Instagram. Update: Sharing the video here:

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Matar Pao|Black Vatana Chaat

Alka Keswani — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 08:36:37 +0000

Matar Pao or the black vatana chaat is a classic street food dish from Ulhasnagar, my home town! It is made by cooking dried black peas (Kaala Matar/Vatana) with salt and water and the curry is generally flavoured with just pepper. A spicier version is made by adding garam masala powder by many vendors. The rustic flavours of the dish come from cooking vatana for longer duration, till soft and then by mashing some to make the gravy more thicker, homogenous and flavourful. Dried black peas take forever to cook and hence soaking these for 12 – 24 hours is a must. Also adding a little of baking soda is highly recommended or else the peas would take ridiculously long time to cook well. The Matar pao chaat is easy to assemble. Just top the pao with boiled vatana, chutneys, chaat masala (optional), pepper (optional), boiled potato cubes, chopped onions and sev/papdi/dalmoth. Check this recipe video : If you happen to visit Ulhasnagar, particularly, camp number 5, during Chaliha festival, you will spot many vendors around Puj Chaliha Sahib Mandir, selling this chaat on the carts. The chaat during those 40 days of festival is made without using any garlic or onions (in curry and in chutneys) and is usually topped with grated cabbage, boiled kachalu (Arbi) / potatoes. Pao is optional for the devotees. Also no Farsan is used for those who are observing Chaliha fast. Print Matar Pao|Black Vatana Chaat Dried black peas curry and Pao chaat Ingredients 1 cup dried Black peas Salt as per taste 1 tbsp black pepper powder ⅛th tsp cooking soda (Pakode waali soda) For Chaat 5 Pao 2 boiled potatoes 1 large onion Chaat masala (optional) to garnish Mint coriander chutney (5-6 tbsp or as much preferred) Sweet Tamarind chutney (3-4 tbsp or as much preferred) Farsan (Papdi/Dalmoth/Nylon sev) to garnish Coriander leaves to garnish Method Pick, wash and soak dried black peas in enough water for 12 to 24 hours. Change water once if soaking for more than 12 hours. Rinse well with water before cooking. In a pressure cooker add soaked peas, 3 cups of water, salt and cooking soda. Close the cooker with the lid. Cook on high heat till 1 whistle . Cook under pressure, on lowest heat for around 30 minutes. Turn off the flame. When the pressure subsides, open the lid of the cooker and check if the peas are cooked well. Pinch few peas in between your fingers and thumb and if easily mashed, the peas are ready to eat. Else, add some water, if needed and cook further. Using back of the ladle, mash some peas so as to thicken the gravy. The gravy should not be too watery. If the gravy is very loose, heat it further and if there is barely any gravy then add some hot water. Add black pepper powder. You can add some garam masala at this stage. For assembling the chaat, take a serving platter and place pao cut into bite sized pieces. Pour piping hot vatana/matar curry over it. Add boiled potatoes cut in cubes/pieces and chopped onions. Pour some mint coriander chutney, sweet tamarind chutney ( Cheat version:I took half a cup of tamarind water and added 3 tbsp of jaggery and microwaved it for 3 minutes. Added some salt, kala namak, chaat masala, chilli powder and hing to it). You can garnish with some chaat masala and pepper (I didn't use any). For the recipe of home made chaat masala, check this video of mine. Top the chaat with some farsan of your choice. Papdi, Nylon sev and dal moth are the popular choices. Garnish with coriander leaves and consume immediately. 3.5.3251

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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

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