khorak Archives | Sindhi Rasoi |Sindhi Recipes

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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Khhoraak for AlifBe ~17

Alka Keswani — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 07:41:35 +0000

Technically the 17th letter of AlifBe or the Sindhi Alphabet is ح i.e ‘H’ but this particular alphabet is not used for words of Sindhi origin (there is another ‘H’in the AlifBe and it will be covered in future post when we will arrive on it) and hence there is no corresponding dish in Sindhi cuisine. So we will jump to next letter which, again, is used to write words of non Sindhi origin but thankfully we have a popular Sindhi dish starting with that letter. Any guesses?? Well, the 17th letter is خ which is ख़ in Devanagari (Kindly note the Nukta or the dot) and ‘Khh’ in Roman Sindhi. Many a times people are unable to differentiate between ख़ (with a dot) and ख (without a dot) and hence use the latter one inappropriately. A word starting with ख़ is Khalifa as in Burj Khalifa. In Roman Sindhi it is Burj Khhalifa and बुर्ज ख़लीफ़ा in Devanagari ! And a Sindhi dish starting with this letter is Khhoraak! It probably comes from the word Khhoraak or Khhurak i.e a diet (portion of food). Khorak also means a dose of medicine. A small portion of this sweet is good enough to have for a meal with milk (breakfast) and it provides good immunity and nourishment hence the word Khorak is well justified for this sweet. Khhoraak Khhoraak or Khorak as many call it, is a traditional Sindhi sweet made exclusively in winters. It is also popularly made for new mothers as a part of post natal care wherein the new mother is fed with healthy, nutritious food. Since Khhoraak is made using plenty of dry fruits/nuts, ghee and Khaun (edible gum) it is also considered very beneficial for lactating mothers. Sindhis do not consume this sweet in summers since it could lead to heat production in the body and hence I was reluctant to make this. There were no enough nuts in the pantry nor any poppy seeds and since the lockdown (from March 2020) we do not venture out or call in for home deliveries until inevitable. Also from past many days, I have been experiencing moments of (emotional) meltdown thinking of all those near and dear ones fighting with the deadly virus and about all those who succumbed to the disease. Losing a dear friend, Chef Dinesh Keswani was yet another blow and things got more difficult to deal with. I am still struggling to absorb all that is happening around and I know that most of us are going through the hard times, physically, financially and emotionally. So the thought of cooking anything festive or rich in such a scenario felt stupid and inconsiderate and I was actually on the verge of giving up the AlifBe series. But then I needed something to keep me occupied, something to distract me from the chaos around, something that can help to calm down my nerves, to push me out of the bed, to temporarily stop thinking about all the conversations happening over social media with friends as well as strangers, madly seeking help to deal with the crisis. Strangely, I often find cooking therapeutic and sometimes it does help me to gain control over the overwhelming emotions! I don’t know how far I can carry on with this series since circumstances are so unfavourable. Not only I feel emotionally drained out but also the lack of resources to procure required ingredients is slowing down the pace of AlifBe series. And I am in no mood to go out of the way to hunt for the required ingredients. But I will keep marching on, till I can! Coming back to Khhoraak: Khhoraak is a winter delicacy made from whole wheat flour, ghee, nuts, poppy seeds and edible gum. The texture of Khhorak is generally soft crunchy or brittle but it totally depends on the quantities of fat (ghee) and edible gum used. If you use less ghee or gum it will turn out crumbly soft, if you use oil or mix of ghee and oil, then again, the sweet will be more fudge like than crunchy brittle. If you use sugar syrup then too the consistency will vary. Thin syrup will yield softer Khhoraak while thick syrup will make khhoraak hard. Ideally poppy seeds are added but since I didn’t had any, I used thick rawa (semolina). Also I didn’t add any melon seeds as there were none at home. There are no hard and fast rules about the types of nuts/seeds used and about the quantity of each. It’s flexible! Many people confuse Khhoraak with Majun, yet another winter delicacy. But both are very different in terms of texture, ingredients and flavors too. Khorak is made from roasted flour. Majun is made without using any flour. Mawa is used in Majun while Khorak is made without mawa. Edible gum is used in Khorak but not in Majun. Print Khhoraak for AlifBe ~17 Khhoraak is a winter delicacy made from whole wheat flour, ghee, edible gum and nuts. Ingredients 1 and half cup whole wheat flour 1 and half cup Ghee (I used 1 cup) 1 and half cup Sugar (I used 1 cup) 30 gms of Edible gum 2 tbsp of Poppy seeds (Khaskhas) 12-15 Almonds 10-12 Cashew Nuts 10 Unsalted Pistachios A handful each of of Black raisins and Kishmish ¼ cup of melon seeds (I didn't add any) 5-6 green cardamoms peeled and pounded or powdered ¾ cup hot milk or hot water Few thin slices of Kopra chopped into bits or 3-4 tsp of desiccated coconut powder Method Dry roast melon seeds if using. You can dry roast some almonds and pistachios that you can use for garnishing. Mix sugar in hot milk or hot water and keep aside. The idea is to allow sugar to melt as much as possible. Chop or slice nuts. Reserve some chopped nuts for garnish. Take a flat plate with sides or any cake pan/tray and grease it with oil/ghee. This will be used to spread the Khhoraak. Heat a tbsp of ghee in a thick bottomed pan or kadai. Fry edible gum, in batches, till nicely puffed. Drain and let it cool. Grind to make fine powder. Keep aside. In the same pan pour remaining ghee and add flour. Keep the flame on low. Roast the flour on low flame, stirring continuously, till light brown. This will take anywhere from 15-25 minutes depending on the flame and quantity of flour. Add powdered edible gum, poppy seeds, kopra or desiccated powder (whichever using) and elaichi powder. Keep roasting on low flame and add chopped almonds, pistachios and cashew nuts and melon seeds. Reserve some nuts and seeds for the garnish. Once the flour turns nice brown, add raisins and sugar that was mixed with hot water or milk. Mix quickly as the flour will absorb liquid pretty fast. Switch off the flame and quickly pour the contents on the greased plate. Take a flat steel bowl and press the Khhoraak with the base of the bowl, all over, to smoothen the surface. Garnish with remaining nuts/seeds and press a bit again. Let Khhoraak cool down a bit and then using a sharp knife slice it into desired shape (square or diamond) and size. Do not move the slices. Allow it to cool for a few hours and then separate out slices of Khhoraak. Store in an airtight container. It stays good for a few weeks and beyond if refrigerated. A small slice of this with a glass of milk is an ideal breakfast option during winters. 3.5.3251 And before I sign off, here is a small video about how the letter خ !

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