healthy snacks Archives | Sindhi Rasoi |Sindhi Recipes

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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Lor^h| Lotus Corms|AlifBe~42

Alka Keswani — Fri, 22 Oct 2021 06:31:26 +0000

Lor^h!! Lotus corms Not many of you might be aware of the Lor^h/Lor^hu/Lor^hiyun (लोड्ह/लोड्हु) from the Sindhi cuisine. Not many of you might have tasted the earthy, rustic Lor^h. Only a few of you may remember your grandparents or parents relishing these and I bet only a handful of you appreciate the flavours of these ugly looking corms (or bulbs) of Lotus plant. AlifBe # 42 The 42th alphabet of Arabic Sindhi script is ل in Sindhi, ल in Devanagari and ‘L‘ in Roman Sindhi. When I first made the list of dishes for the AlifBe of Sindhi food series, I had plenty of options for the letter ‘L’ as there are many Sindhi dishes with names starting with this alphabet but as the project kept delaying, the list kept changing depending on the availability of the ingredients or the season. At the beginning of this month I had made up my mind that it would be Lor^h for ‘L‘ as these black beauties appear in the market for a brief period around Navratri. Lor^h are very hard to find as these are neither available online, nor in the super marts, nor in your local markets, unless there is a large percentage of Sindhi dwellers around. I literally approached every possible source to connect me with the vendor from whom I used to buy these, till a decade ago. But no one was able to help. I was about to give up! But then as the saying goes ” What you seek is seeking you”….I experienced the magic ! I received a call from the Chef Vicky Ratnani (Ah! the joy of boasting!), the celebrity Chef (no introduction needed) who also runs The Speak Easy kitchen dishing out scrumptious meals, including popular Sindhi gems like Dal Pakwan, Sindhi Mutton/Chicken, Saibhaji, Kadhi etc that you can order online. And guess what he had to discuss? Yes, the Lor^h!!! He was telling about how he spotted the Lotus corms at a popular Sindhi shop in Khar and that he was wondering how these could be used in interesting ways (Do watch his Insta video about the lovely salad he made using Lorh). I couldn’t help but crib about how I was unable to find some around. And guess what? The most humble, generous celebrity Chef, packed some for me and despite the courier chaos he didn’t give up and sent one of his staff members to personally deliver it to my home. Who does that? Well, that sweet gesture of Chef Vicky Ratnani truly touched my heart! Thank you Chef Vicky, for the Lor^h and Zillion thanks for always encouraging me to work harder! Coming back to the Lor^h (लोड्ह), you may have read about my love for these unusual tasting corms in this post! But like many of you, even I had limited knowledge about what exactly these are. My friend Sangeeta Khanna enlightened me a few years ago, that these are the corms of Lotus or maybe a Water Lily plant. So what are corms? Some plants have underground stems that are swollen (mostly round or oval) and are used as the storehouse of nutrients/food. The plant stores nutrients in these stems, called corms, during the season. These reserved nutrients in the corms are then used by the plant to produce leaves, flowers, roots etc in the next season. So basically corms store nutrients throughout the unfavourable season to help the plant reproduce when the right season arrives. Experts, kindly correct me if I am wrong!! Ps: A little more research lead me to the fact that these are probably known as Shaluk, the Nymphaeaceae root vegetable (also the Lily is called with the same name, I guess) and are relished in Bangladesh as well. And Lor^h are the corms of Lotus or maybe the water lily plant. Sindhi dictionary mentions it as a root tuber of water lily. These are often found on the carts along with Lotus stem and Pabhodi (Pabhun) i.e Lotus pods around Navratri and the season lasts for barely a few weeks. My father was very fond of such seasonal vegetables and fruits and would often buy these when in season. Mom would boil these with just salt and water and we would enjoy these, hot and fresh, with a dash of salt and pounded black pepper and some mint coriander chutney. Video Recipe of Lor^h: Back in Sindh, the elderly would add Lor^h instead of potatoes in many vegetable preparations. Have you ever tasted these?Do you like the Lor^h? Show the picture of Lor^h to the elderly around you and let me know if they could recognise these or if they remember eating these? Print Lor^ha| Lotus Corms|AlifBe~42 Ingredients 250 gm Lor^h 2 Tbsp Salt 1 lit Water Salt & Pepper For Chutney 1 Cup Coriander leaves ½ Cup Mint leaves 3-4 Spinach leaves 2-3 Green chillies 3 Garlic cloves 1” Ginger 1 tsp Cumin Seeds 4-5 Black PepperCorns ½ tsp Black salt Tamarind (a small lump, soaked in few tbsp of water Salt as per taste 2-3 ice cubes (to retain the green color) Method Rinse Lorh with water and get rid of mud and grit. In a pressure cooker, add the Lorh. Add the water (must be above the level of Lorh) and 2-3 tbsp of salt. Wait for 1 whistle and then lower the heat. Cook on low flame for 30-40 minutes. Switch off the heat. When the pressure subsides, open the lid of the cooker and drain the boiled Lorh. Peel, cut in slices/quarters/cubes and garnish with salt and black pepper powder. Dip each slice in mint coriander chutney and enjoy the seasonal bliss! Green Chutney Pick and rinse with water, coriander leaves (along with tender stems), mint and spinach leaves. Soak a small lump of tamarind in some water. In a blender jar, mix the leaves, chillies, ginger, garlic, salt, peppercorns, cumin and black salt/rock salt. Add soaked tamarind and 2-3 ice cubes. Blend till the chutney is smooth. Stays good for 2 days in the refrigerator. If you wish to make the chutney in bulk and store it for a longer duration, then do not add tamarind. In that case, while serving, add some fresh lemon juice or beaten curds (dahi). 3.5.3251 And here is a short tutorial about how to write alphabets in Arabic Sindhi!

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Exploring The World Of Millets With Crazy Kadchi

Alka Keswani — Tue, 04 Aug 2020 11:10:35 +0000

Millets the latest category of superfood, as approved by the West had traditionally been a part of staple food in many regional cuisines but were considered as fodder food by many. Now when the world is waking up to a new era of wholesome, nutritious and ‘real’ food, millets are the new fad. Thankfully few varieties of millets like sorghum (Jowar), Bajra, Samo etc are part of traditional Sindhi cuisine and we have been relishing these in the form of patted flatbreads (Doda/Dodoh), porridge (Samo porridge known as Kirng in Sindhi), for cooking Satvik meals using Sauri (Bagar/Barnyard) for Gyaaras (Ekadashi) and consuming Rajgira (Amaranth) in the form of ladoos, chikki etc. My knowledge about Millets was restricted to above mentioned varieties and honestly speaking, I never could figure out how these could be used in ways that would appeal young and old or how to make variety of appetizing snacks or droolworthy meals by incorporating millets.Then I came across Shalini Rajani, the Recipe Developer, Trainer and Founder at Crazy Kadchi and we talked for hours and hours, about Sindhi food. She was a copywriter by profession then, but her heart was into the fascinating world of food! She quit her full time advertising career as a Creative Copy Supervisor in the year 2013 and since then she has been religiously working on developing recipes using ancient grains and creating unusual or ingenious dishes!Not many have a heart to ditch their flourishing careers and head towards uncharted path, following their dreams and slogging hard, day and night, week after weeks, for years, and yet keep on marching, passionately, despite of all the hardships and hiccups. I have been following her journey… from slogging in the corporate world to organizing cooking workshops covering regional cuisines, soups and salads, Mocktails, baking etc, from catering healthy home made snacks to taking up cooking sessions teaching exciting Navratri food, sans the otherwise omnipresent potatoes (# Potato free Navratra) and by using millets in most amazing ways (how does Kuttu katori chaat and a Barnyard millet fruit tart sound?) and I am truly proud of her. Last year I got lucky and received some of her signature snacks- home made, healthy, delicious and I was so delighted when the otherwise apprehensive family members too relished those goodies like anything. I just wanted to learn those recipes so that I could make healthy and nourishing snacks for the family. Thankfully I got many of her recipes by following her weekly articles in the newspaper that are all about nourishing food and she often uses unexplored ingredients to create dishes that have unique flavors, textures and are usually loaded with oomph factor. You can check her published recipes here ! Till date, Shalini has conducted 188 offline and online workshops introducing millets to the uninitiated and helping others to include millets in their daily diets in unique ways. I always wished to attend one of her workshops but she being in Gurgaon and me, in Mumbai, it was not possible until the covid 19 situation trapped us in our respective homes and forced us to look around for feasible options to carry on our work, online.So recently when I was talking to Shalini over phone about how things have changed in the lockdown, she told me that she is now conducting online cooking workshops and that there is a popular one, called ‘5 day Millets workshop’ that includes a theory session (one to one, over phone/online) and plenty of amazing recipes using millets and other healthy ingredients, in most creative ways. The sessions are spread across the days and if you request her, she does let you follow the classes at your own pace considering that the Covid 19 situation is not easy for many to handle on day to day basis. The recipes are shared via email, along with cooking videos too, to make things easier and more fascinating.I requested her to enroll me too, for the online workshop and she went out of the way to arrange the theory session at 7:30 in the morning to suit my erratic and hectic daily schedule. The session was an eye opener, to say the least, as I already mentioned how restricted my knowledge about millets used to be. I took the liberty of discussing my diet restrictions and she, very patiently handled my doubts and queries. I received the recipes (via email) as per the process of workshop and I am supposed to try out and discuss issues or doubts if any, with her and provide my feedback once I try out her recipes. You can contact her via facebook or Whatsapp and rest assured, every doubt, every query would be answered by her. Do follow her on Instagram @crazykadchi to explore the world of millets. You can thank me later 🙂 Here are some of her wonderful creations!( Veg Millet Biryani with beetroot botis, Jowar and Spinach kadhi, Ragi Papad) Pic Courtesy : Shalini Rajani @ Crazy kadchi! I have started using millets following her recommendations and the first of her recipes that I tried was of Millet Kebab, crisp from outside and soft from inside’ patties with the goodness of millets, dal, herbs, vegetables and desi ghee Also, since we are talking about millets let me share this small video about patting Juar jo dodoh or the Sindhi style patted jowar roti.Take 2 cups of jowar flour, add salt, one chopped onion, chopped green chillies as per taste,some coriander leaves,2-3 cloves of pounded garlic (usefresh green garlic if available), a tsp of oil/ghee and knead a soft dough. Divide the dough in two portions, roll one portion between palms to make a round ball, flatten it and either pat it directly on a heated tawa ( as shown in video) or use a plastic sheet or butter paper to first pat it and then transfer it on heated griddle. Smear some ghee / oil and flip and cook till done, pouring little ghee and flipping intermittently. Serve hot with curds/ chutney/dal/ subzi of your choice. https://youtu.be/k23wTx_L2I

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Tomato Toaster~Salsa Stuffed Toasted Sandwich

Alka Keswani — Sat, 21 Jun 2014 18:41:03 +0000

Long long ago when life was all about school, homework, friends, doll marriages, ludo, carom, skipping ropes, sibling fights and having crush on Bollywood stars, food was not a hyped fad and terms like Gourmet, Haute cuisine, Molecular gastronomy, were unheard of. Eating out was a luxury strictly indulged in, during Diwali and the family get- togethers meant a bunch of family members slogging all the day to prepare the feast. Festivals meant some extra cooking, little ahead of the D-day, to share food with friends, family and neighbors. Packaged food was nowhere in the scene and food was generally prepared with locally available, affordable ingredients. Spices were sundried and ground either at home or got done at local flour mill. Food was made from scratch and instant food probably meant a quick Upma, Poha , Koki etc. More importance was given to the quality and variety of wholesome food and less emphasis on ‘protein rich’, ‘gluten free’, ‘carb free’, ‘sugar free’ meals. More efforts were put in cooking the food with fresh ingredients while the presentation and garnishing was of least significance. My mother always used to knead fresh dough for making rotis, for every meal. She used to cook just as much food as required so that there were hardly any leftovers. Working on limited budget, the homemakers generally purchased only those vegetables and fruits that were sensibly priced, but fresh, even if that meant walking down to vegetable market every single day. So on a day when cauliflower was sold at low price in vegetable market, one can find gobi aloo, gobi paratha, gobi keema, gobi pulav etc being cooked in almost every home in that locality.Soaring prices of onions would result in using it sparingly and by switching over to tomato based curries. When rice got costly people used to eat more wheat and viceversa. I guess that’s how inflation was managed in that era, unlike now when multiple source of incomes in families lead to buying ingredients that we need, despite of ridiculously high price tag. People try to impress guests by cooking ‘restaurant style’ food, made with exotic ingredients, using frozen food, with some unpronounceable ‘nomenclature’. Well, blame it on food going global and all sorts of cookery shows that consistently imparts ‘knowledge’ to us. And oh ! hail the Google! We must change with the changing times and so am I, but somehow for me, nothing can beat a simple homely meal, freshly made, using ‘real’ ingredients. I was raised the old school way . Simple food stirs memories.. yes, ofcourse ! And today is just that kind of day when I walked down the memory lane to relive the moments of the rain soaked evenings, when we, the hungry kids, back from school, used to look forward to piping hot evening snacks, lovingly made by dear mother. The sinful cutlets, Pakora (fritters), the delicious chaat, sawa phota, healthy Upma, seyal pao and the yummy tomato toasters. Oh well, the last one being one of the most favorite of mine ! Tomato toasters could be made in jiffy, using the ingredients almost always available in kitchen. A kind of salsa is made by mixing chopped onions and tomatoes, spiced up with green chilies, fresh coriander leaves and basic powdered spices. The salsa is then stuffed in laadi pao/Pav or placed between 2 bread slices and cooked on griddle till crisp golden brown. A very simple recipe, ready in minutes and taste heavenly with some green coriander chutney or the mighty tomato ketchup. Give it a try !!! Print Tomato Toaster~Salsa Stuffed Toasted Sandwich Rating 4.3 from 3 reviews Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 10 mins Total time: 15 mins Serves: 2 A toasted sandwich stuffed with spicy salsa Ingredients 2 small red onions 1 large tomato 2 green chilies Salt as per taste Dash of red chilli powder ¼ tsp turmeric powder 1 tsp coriander powder Some fresh coriander leaves 8 bread slices or 4 Pav Method Peel and finely chop the onions.Chop tomato, green chillies and add some salt. Mash the mixture and sort of squeeze it. Reserve the liquid (wont be much) and use it in any curry. Add spice powders, chopped coriander leaves and mix well. Stuff a portion of this mixture between two bread slices or in the pav. Repeat for rest of the bread. Heat a griddle and grease it well with some oil. Place the sandwich on hot griddle and lower the flame to sim. Place a flat metal dinner plate/thali (steel/ copper/ aluminum) over the sandwich and place any heavy utensil on top of the plate. Flip the sandwich after a minute and pour some oil to avoid sticking of sandwich and to make it more crisp.Cook sandwich till both sides appear crisp brown. Depending on the size of griddle, you can cook 2-3 sandwiches at one go. Serve it hot with chutney or tomato ketchup. Notes Some people do not like the taste of undercooked onions. In that case, before stuffing in sandwich you can microwave the mixture for 30 seconds or cook in a pan for a minute or so, to make the onions more soft. 3.2.2708

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