Aur Jo Ras~A Sindhi Curry

Alka Keswani — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 21:14:36 +0000

Human beings are really nasty…When a kid is supposed to act like a kid, he/she wants to be treated like an adult. And when finally one day, the little, cute kid had grown enough to take the worldly responsibilities, all he /she needs is to become a kid again and get pampered by the family. Sounds similar to your thoughts?? Well I don’t know about you, but I definitely, am a confused soul.While I was a sweet little kid (No giggling please…I was actually sweet, mind you…..), I hated those cheek pulling aunties and wished I grew up a little and when I did, I could only hear mom’s shrieks like…Don’t do that….Don’t sit like that….you can’t roam around the streets……girls are not supposed to settle scores with bully guys……why can’t you behave like a teenager girl etc etc. Uff! I again wished to grow up more so that I would be treated like a responsible lady, with no rules framed around me, for me , by the elders. I was a revolt… Well, finally I was a bride to my groom and I thought I was now a free soul to make my rules (and bend them) and that gone are the days of elders shouting or fuming at me. I was thoroughly pampered as a wife by my hubby, but alas it only lasted till our baby was born. After that I was no longer eligible for the bear hugs when I was upset, no ‘Sorry cards’ to pep up my mood after fights, no cuddling when nightmares hounded me, no silly sweet nothings murmured, no more walks hand in hand, no favourite foods of mine cooked for me (except by my mom who send in occasionally, my very favorite foods), no consoling when I was shattered with the mad things happening around. Now this wasn’t because people around me didn’t love me anymore…it’s just that now everybody expect a Mom of 7 year old to be a responsible, strong, mature lady, capable of handling EVERYTHING around her (Duh….). Yeah..I was finally a strong soul that I longed for….but as I said earlier, human beings are nasty….so now all that I crave for are simple gestures that brighten up a kiddie mind inside me. Those teeny weeny candies given to me as a bribe to behave nicely in front of relatives, those little dolls gifted, when I fair-ed well in exams, the ridiculously decorated birthday cards by friends, those not-so-costly but adored like gold, gifts by neighbors and friends, the GOOD or VERY GOOD remarks given by teachers in the notebooks when I wrote properly, those sweet hugs by parents when I did well in school, my dear Mother making my favorite dishes on my birthdays, and friends and neighbors surrounding me on that day, just to get some extra attention and maybe an extra chocolate (well honestly me too did same on their birthdays…lolz)……I miss those sweet pampering so much. Well as they say, nothing remains same forever, so now it’s our kid’s turn to be pampered as we were, by our parents. Not that I am complaining, but sometimes the kid inside you budge its head and you feel like grabbing some more attention, some more applauds, some more bribes (not monetary of course) from the people around you. So while I ranted about all this, I simultaneously pampered my self, in absence of anyone else to do the honours. And what better for a foodie and a blogger than to cook something for herself ?? To begin with, one of our neighbour…. Aunty K, who was a very enthusiastic lady, never tired of daily chores, a wonderful cook and a jolly fellow, always made some simple but drool worthy food and would make a point to send a share to our home (my maternal family). My mother actually learnt sabudana khichdi, potato toasters, Idly sambhar etc from that graceful lady. Alas, Aunty K, is no more with us. But she still stirs some great memories and specially reminds me of a Sindhi kadhi (no not the usual one) which used to be the most tasty kadhi I ever had at her place. Sindhis,as any other caste are divided further in sub castes and one among them is CHAAPRU. I found their mannerisms more similar to Gujaratis or Kutchis, than Sindhis. Don’t know the truth, it’s just my observation for that one family. And a typical, traditional Chaapru kadhi called Aur Jo Ras is what I made for myself. The reason being that no one else in family is interested in that, so I just ended up cooking for myself and enjoying alone. I slurped two bowls of this Kadhi and skipped my lunch as well as dinner. No marks for guessing how much I relished that taste and those moments of being me, with me, for me 🙂 So today I share with you, yet another authentic Sindhi Kadhi, and the recipe is of Aunty K’s father -in-law, respectfully called as Baba. Aur jo ras is nothing but a tangy curry, dominated by the flavors of garlic and mustard seeds and spiced up with just green chillies and tamarind.The USP of this dish is the besan roll, so do not skip the rolls, as they actually add a wonderful dimension to the flavors of curry Print Aur Jo Ras~A Sindhi Curry Rating 5.0 from 2 reviews Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 40 mins Total time: 50 mins Serves: 2-3 Aur Jo ras is a tangy,Sindhi style kadhi, made from mustard seeds and garlic and flavored with lots of vegetables and besan ke gattey (gram flour dumplings) Ingredients Garlic -1 whole pod Green chillies 2-3 Mustard seeds 2-3 tsp Tamarind pulp 2-3 tsp(more or less as per your taste) Sliced or cubed vegetables like Radish and Potato(i used only these) Gram flour-3/4 th cup Salt Turmeric powder ¼ tsp Red chilly powder ½ tsp Oil 1 -2 tsp Water 2-4 glasses Coriander leaves for garnishing Method In a pan or kadai, add peeled and crushed garlic (save 2-3 cloves for later use) and green chillies and some oil (just a tsp or more) Saute it for some time, but DO NOT LET THE GARLIC TURN BROWN Add mustard seeds, saute it for few seconds and then add sliced radish and potato chunks and add about 2 glass of water Add tamarind pulp,salt,turmeric powder and let it boil for few minutes, simmer it later for few minutes,till potato is cooked Meanwhile add some salt, some crushed garlic (yeah...use that saved cloves of garlic here) and red chilly powder to the gram flour and knead a stiff dough using little water Make small oblong rolls of this dough (about 6-7)and drop them to the simmering kadhi Cook until potato and besan rolls are cooked from the center (anywhere between 15-30 minutes Add water if required,this kadhi is of dilute consistency.Adjust the seasoning Garnish with some chopped coriander leaves and enjoy it as a soup to warm yourself or pour it over some Khichdi or rice and have a hearty meal 3.5.3251

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Kadhoo (lauki) Ja Kofta

Alka Keswani — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:47:25 +0000

Health Zeal says that “The bottle gourd is low in saturated fat and cholesterol yet high in dietary fibre, vitamin C, riboflavin, zinc, thiamin, iron, magnesium and manganese. It also contains moderate amount of vitamin-B complex. Its high water content makes it very cooling. Medicinally, it is used as a purgative, an antidote for certain poisons and a cure for cough. An infusion of the seeds can be drunk to cure chills and headaches “ Yet this humble vegetable is neglected and people consider it as a vegetable for elder generation or have a notion that this vegetable is eaten only during illness I do agree that when kadhoo is cooked simply, like chopped and cooked in tomato gravy,or stir fried with dry masalas, kids make faces and youngsters run away (yes you can be strict with kids to eat kadhoo, but youngsters would definitely flee) coz, the dish doesn’t look appetizing to the people who are not used to the flavour of this sweetish veggie So in these circumstances I always stick to my tried and tested method of camouflaging veggies, so that kids can’t recognize what they are eating (cheating…….yes…..but necessary to develop liking in kids for such healthy veggies) So here is one recipe which is bit high on calorie content, but wise ladies …you can trim off calories by baking koftas in microwave (if u have one) or shallow fry with minimum oil This is again a recipe for dual entries …One is for dear Pooja of My Creative ideas who is hosting an event of Bottle gourd as Vegetable of week And another one is for sweet Sia of Monsoon spice hosting a lovely event called WBB-Summer Feast. Sia this would not be a recipe for breakfast, but for brunch, it’s a sure relish Print Kadhoo(lauki) Ja Kofta Rating 3.0 from 1 reviews Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 45 mins Serves: 3 Lauki ke kofte or fried, spicy bottle gourd dumplings cooked in onion gravy Ingredients For Kofte Bottle gourd (Kadhoo) 1 medium sized Gram flour 2 tbsp Oil 2 tsp Salt A pinch of baking soda Turmeric powder ¼ tsp Coriander powder 1 tsp Garam masala powder ½ tsp Cumin seeds 1 tsp Annardana or dried pomegranate seeds (optional) a spoonful Green chillies 3-4 Coriander leaves Ginger as much preferred Garlic 3-4 cloves (or if available use 2 tsp of chopped saayi thoom or spring onions) Oil for frying For Curry Onions 2 Tomato 1 large sized Green chillies 2-3 Ginger about an inch Turmeric powder ¼ tsp Coriander powder 1 tsp Garam masala powder ¼ tsp Salt Oil 1-2 tsp Kitchen king powder and kasuri methi powder (strictly optional) ¼ tsp and 1 tsp respectively Method To Make Kofte Peel and grate lauki, rinse with water and boil in salted water for 2 minutes Let it cool,then squeeze out water (you can use this water as vegetable stock for gravy) add very little salt, turmeric powder,chopped green chillies, garlic, coriander leaves and garam masala powder. Taste and adjust the seasoning Then add two heaped tablespoons of gram flour (besan), one spoon of oil, a pinch of baking soda, cumin seeds and mix properly Grease palms of your hands and take a small portion of this mixture and make a round or oval shape Fry it properly on medium flame in hot oil, till crisp brown.Repeat the procedure for rest of mixture (If koftas tend to break, then either oil is not properly hot or you need to add some more amount of besan) To Make Gravy Fry chopped onions in little amount of oil, till brown Add grind-ed tomato, green chillies, ginger and turmeric powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder, kitchen king and kasuri methi and fry till thick paste is obtained. Alternatively one can fry the onions, then grind them to attain a smooth gravy Add salt and little water to achieve gravy like consistency. Let it boil for few minutes and simmer it till the rawness of masalas is gone (if using pressure cooker wait for 4 whistles) While serving, place few kofte in bowl, pour hot gravy over it and garnish it with coriander leaves. Never boil the kofte in gravy, as they are very soft and would crumble and get mashed easily. Tastes best with phulkas or Rotis 3.5.3251

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Aur Jo Ras~A Sindhi Curry

Kadhoo (lauki) Ja Kofta