Sindhi Alphabet 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

The post A to Z Of Sindhi Food appeared first on Sindhi Rasoi |Sindhi Recipes.

Rabri~AlifBe~25

Alka Keswani — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 07:23:46 +0000

The Dairy products could be divided in many types, for example, heat desiccated (khoya), heat and acid coagulated (paneer, cheese), clarified butter (ghee), frozen (Ice cream), frozen concentrated milk (Kulfi variant) and condensed or concentrated products like Rabdi, Basundi etc. In the spotlight today is the Rabri or Rabdi or as many Sindhis call it, Reb^di! Rabri is a concentrated, sweetened whole fat milk and is considered to be of high nutritive value. It is a traditional preparation and its variations are mentioned in ancient food manuscripts, in food related accounts from 16th century and even in popular Mangal Kavyas (Poems of Benediction, in Bengali literature) composed between 13th (or is it 15th?) to 18th Century! There are plenty of versions of Rabri depending on the flavors of the ingredients used, for example, the dry fruit rabri, Khoye waali Rabri, Sitaphal (Custard Apple) rabri or Seb (Apple) rabri, Kesar, Mango, Gulkand Rabri etc. Also, depending on the process of making Rabri and on the texture of the final product, a Rabri it could be classified as Ghatta Rabri, Lachedar, Lachedar khurchan waali, Sar Rabri, Basundi, Faluda waali rabri , Chena Rabdi etc. The basic rules of making a Rabri are same i.e Simmer full fat milk till three fold or four fold concentrations (i.e till it reduces to 1/3rd or 1/4th of its original volume), add sugar and cook a little more. But different kinds of rabri are made by adopting different methods of treating the cream (malai) collected while the milk is being reduced. As the milk is gently simmered, layers of cream appear on the surface. The milk is allowed to simmer undisturbed as stirring would hamper formation of cream layer. Milk is stirred gently only at intervals to prevent the milk from sticking to the bottom of the Kadai. The simmering milk is fanned from the top so that the surface is cooler so as to facilitate formation of cream layers from time to time. The thin cream layers are carefully collected either on the side of the pan/kadai or allowed to thicken a bit and then collected in another vessel only to be added back at the later stage! While on the side of the pan, the cream layers tend to dry out and are then scrapped and added to the final sweetened concentrated milk (here, the rabri) and hence the term Khurchan (the scrapes)! If the cream layers are thinner and are scraped from the sides and mixed in, the rabri is called Khurchan waali Rabri . If the slightly thickened cream layers are mixed and stirred in the rabri the resulting chunkier rabri is called Ghatta Rabri. The texture is not very different in both the cases and many would call both as the Rabri. If larger chunks of thick cream layers are dunked in the rabri it is called as Lachedar (flaky) Rabri. But again, not many consider Lachedar and Khurchan types to be different. Many even label either of it as Lachedar Khurchan waali rabri. Then there is Bengali style Sar Rabri where the malai is really thick and it is neatly cut into slices (squares or rectangles) and served with some thickened milk. Basundi on the other hand is more smooth (creamier) and little runny as compared to the Lachedar Rabri and is generally without any clotted cream (flakes). Rabdi for Faluda is less chunkier than Lachedar but more concentrated and grainier than Basundi! Mostly commercial Rabri is made from high fat Buffalo milk (6% or above, fat) and while some rely on basic ingredients i.e Milk and sugar only, you may find a Rabdi that is made using a little of Tatri (citric acid crystals), lemon juice, curds etc. A perfectly made Rabri will have chunkier malai bits and smooth condensed (concentrated) milk and not the chunks suspended in milk that looks curdled or whey like. And well, by now you may have figured out why the Rabri is in spotlight today, no? The 25th letter in the AlifBe of Sindhi food is ڙ in Sindhi, ड़ in Devanagari and is represented by R^ in Roman Sindhi. No word starts with ड़ in Devanagari and so is the case with Arabic Sindhi too and hence ڙ never comes in the beginning of any Sindhi word. The consonant sound (Voiced retroflex flap ) is peculiar and is used in few languages only. Sindhi and Devanagari Transliteration courtesy Deepak Keswani and Barkha Khushalani! Some Hindi words where this letter is used are: लड़का, पेड़, लड़ाई and of course रबड़ी Kindly note that the Rabri words begin with another R (We have covered it in the Previous post)! Print Rabri~AlifBe~25 Rating 3.0 from 1 reviews A rich and delicious dessert made by reducing milk! Ingredients 1 lit full fat milk ( I used Amul's milk with 6% fat) 3 Tbsp Sugar (Add a tbsp more if you like it very well sweetened) Method Take a thick bottomed kadai, add 2 tbsp of water or grease the kadai with ghee. Pour full fat milk and heat it on medium to high flame till it starts bubbling. Lower the flame. Remaining process needs to be done on medium flame only. A very low flame will not only increase the making time but will also alter the color of the final dish . Traditionally one has to swing hand held fan over the kadai to ensure that the cream is formed quickly. I just kept switching the ceiling fan on and off but it was not of much help! Do not stir milk very frequently as it will hamper cream formation. Just keep a spatula in the kadai and at decent intervals gently scrap the bottom of the kadai with it, without lifting the spatula off the surface. Collect the cream formed on the surface and gently move it to the sides of the kadai. Allow the cream to dry while being stuck on the sides. Keep collecting cream by pushing it to the sides and keep sticking cream on the sides of the kadai. Continue with the process till the milk is reduced to ⅓rd of its original volume. You can go ahead till it is ¼th of its volume. Add 3-4 tbsp of Sugar and gently mix it. Now mix in the thickened flakes and scraped dried thin layers in the reduced, sweetened milk. Allow the mix to cook a little more and then transfer the contents in a bowl. Once cool enough, refrigerate the Rabri for few hours. Rabri tends to thicken after cooling and more so, after the refrigeration. If you find it too thick for your liking after it is cool, simply mix in few tsp of boiled (but warm) milk. You can add saffron, cardamon, dried nuts etc if you wish to make Kulfi from this Rabri. 3.5.3251 And for those who are following the AlifBe series to learn Sindhi script, here is a short video about how to write ڙ in Sindhi:

The post Rabri~AlifBe~25 appeared first on Sindhi Rasoi |Sindhi Recipes.

AlifBe of Sindhi Food~ Recap

Alka Keswani — Mon, 03 May 2021 10:36:35 +0000

In my first post of AlifBe series I have mentioned that the 52 letters of Sindhi Alphabet, known as AlifBe or Alaph Ambhu, could be divided into sixteen basic shape groups. So far I have covered 17 ( Have skipped one alphabet as it is not used for words of Sindhi origin). Sharing a list of all that are covered so far! A short recap: 1st Shape Group: ا (अ/A) is the only alphabet in first shape group! ا as in ‘Attack’ or ا as in Atte Ja Ladoon The following 9 alphabets come under the second basic shape group characterised by a boat shaped base with varying numbers and positions of dots. 2nd Shape group: 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 or C) as in Simple or Circle or as in Saandhano 3rd Shape group: 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 جھ (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 in Chhola Dabhal خ (ख़/Khh) as in Khalifa or as in Khhoraak In the next blog post we will start with alphabets/consonants of 4th Shape group. Take care folks!!

The post AlifBe of Sindhi Food~ Recap appeared first on Sindhi Rasoi |Sindhi Recipes.

Cheti Chand Ji Sesa ~ AlifBe~15

Alka Keswani — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 04:48:13 +0000

Today (13th April 2021) is Cheti Chand and we, the Sindhis, celebrate it as our New year, with great enthusiasm. Why do Sindhis Celebrate Cheti Chand? The legend says that people in Sindh (Now in Pakistan) were tortured by an arrogant ruler named Mirikshah who tried to force Hindu Sindhis to accept Islam. Sindhis being followers of Varun Devta, Lord of Waters, gathered on the banks of holy Sindhu (Indus) River and prayed for some miracle to save them. After fasting and praying for many days there was an akashvani that the Lord Vishnu will soon take birth in an avatar of a child to a couple; Rai Ratan and Devaki, at Nasarpur. So the Sindhis went to Mirikshah and requested him to grant them few months to accept his order. The over confident ruler obliged. And as predicted, in the Chet (Chaitra) month a child was born to Devaki Ma and was named Uderolal. To offer their gratitude, Sindhi folks marched towards the river carrying sweetened rice, boiled chole (kabuli chana) and milk to feed the fishes/sea creatures. And as we all know, the child grew up to save Sindhis from tyrant rulers and was later known as Jhulelal! And the birth of Lord Jhulelal is celebrated as Cheti chand. Since then, every year Sindhis gather on Cheti chand and processions are held by carrying Behrana Saheb to any local river or lake, just like the people did in olden days, as per the legend To make Behrana, a bronze Thali ( or a steel thal) is taken and some raw rice, sugar or misri, ghee and little kumkum is spread. A huge mound is made from atta ( kneaded dough) and is placed on the thal. The mound represents Lord Jhulelal. The mound is then smeared with sindhoor/Kumkum (please donot use chemical loaded Sindhoor) that represents clothes of Jhulelal saeen. Laung (cloves) and Nanda phota (green cardamom, ideally 101, but the count varies) are stuck in the mound .These spices represent ornaments of Lord Jhulelal . A block of Misri i.e crystallised lumps of sugar are placed at the top of the mound. A lamp of dough is made (mostly panchmukhi i.e having five edges to place five cotton wicks or Chaumukhi i.e 4 edges) and filled with ghee. Fresh flowers, fruits (5 types of fruits) and some red cloth is also placed in the thal. This Thal is placed in front of an idol or picture of Lord Jhulelal and hymns are sang to praise the Lord. A Prasad of sweetened rice (Tayri) and boiled chole is distributed. Many Sindhi people and Sindhi Associations organize langar/ buffet meals for the devotees gathered for the occasion. The Behrana (always carried on head), along with a Pooja Thali (coconut, dough lamp, agarbatti, flowers, kalash filled with water) is then taken to a river body and people dance and sing and pray on the way. Sindhis call it ‘ Chej’. Many Prasad counters on the way distribute Tayri, chola, raanh (black eyed beans), pulav, sherbet, milkrose, chanadal bread, bread pakora etc. Finally the Behrana is immersed in a river or a lake and a small Pooja is done. Bhajans are sang and the ritual ends with an Aarti and Palav (a small prayer recited while holding out an open end of duppata or a shirt or a hem of kurta/garment to make a jholi). And for 15th letter of Sindhi AlifBe i.e چ , ‘Ch’ in Roman Sindhi and च in Devanagari I have picked (but obviously) ‘Cheti Chand Ji Sesa’ i.e Prasad offered and distributed on Cheti chand. Tayri/Tahiri/Tairi (sweetened rice) and boiled kabuli chana, both are mandatory to offer to Lord Jhulelal and the devotees love this Prasad! Chola or Kabuli chana are simply boiled with water and salt till very soft. Generally it is not garnished with any spices. Also Kohar i.e black vatana, boiled till tender, are also distributed. Wishing everyone a blessed year ahead. Cheti Chand kyun lakh lakh wadhayun (millions of good wishes for Cheti Chand)! Jai Jhulelal!! Print Cheti Chand Ji Sesa ~ AlifBe~15 Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 20 mins Total time: 25 mins Tairi or Tayri is a Sindhi Sweet rice preparation made on special occasions and Sindhi Festivals like Chalia and Chetichand Ingredients Rice (Basmati or regular) 1 and half cup Sugar ideally 1 and half cups but I used 1 cup of it. You can use jaggery instead Water 3 cups ( varies with variety of rice used) Saunf (Fennel seeds) 2 tsp Dhoongi ( Dried coconut kernel/kopra/copra) few thin slices Draakh/Daakh (Black Raisins) 2 tbsp Oil/Ghee 1 tbsp Green cardamoms 2 (optional) Roasted/fried dry fruits/nuts like almonds, unsalted pistachio/cashew (Optional..I didn't used any !) Saffron - few strands Orange red/ orange yellow/Jalebi colour few drops (I didn't use any !). Method Rinse well and soak rice for half hour. In a tsp of water or milk soak saffron strands, if using. There are two methods of cooking rice. One, you can simply boil rice with water and other is that you first heat a tbsp of oil in a pan , add soaked and drained rice and gently roast it for few minutes. Then add water to cook rice. I have skipped the bhunoing part! Boil rice with water (you can add a pinch of salt) on high flame till the grains swell.You can add green cardamoms too. Cook covered till almost 75 % done. Drain excess water if any, to avoid overcooking. In the meantime, roast/ fry, nuts/almonds (if using). Heat a tbsp of oil in a small pan and add thin slices of Copra (kopra) and black raisins.Put off the gas and immediately add fennel seeds. Add sugar (or jaggery), soaked saffron and the kopra+raisins+ fennel mixture upon the rice and cook on lowest flame.If using food colour, add it at this stage. The liquid colour could be used as it is, while if using food colour in powder form then dissolve it first in a tsp of water and then add in rice. You can use a griddle and place the rice container over the griddle and cook on lowest flame.The rice must be covered with a lid at this stage. Mix very gently (just once) and cook till the sugar melts and is absorbed by rice. Tairi cooked with using colour is generally orange in colour. If cooked with organic jaggery, it is brownish in colour, if cooked using normal jaggery and sugar or just sugar, it is pale white in colour while if saffron is used it gets yellowish hues. 3.5.3251 And here is a short video to help you understand how چ is written in Sindhi!

The post Cheti Chand Ji Sesa ~ AlifBe~15 appeared first on Sindhi Rasoi |Sindhi Recipes.

Besan Ji Aani For Alif Be~2

Alka Keswani — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 11:01:27 +0000

#Alif Be of Sindhi Food~2 The second alphabet of Arabic Sindhi is ب as B in Baby!As mentioned in the previous post, the Sindhi alphabet is divisible into 16 basic shape groups. In the first shape group we have just one alphabet ا i.e ‘A’! In the second shape group there are 9 alphabets with similar basic shapes, followed by two more alphabets that are similar to some extent. And yet each alphabet is unique because of the position and number of dot/s in each alphabet. So the 1st alphabet of this group, which is the second alphabet of Alifbe is ب or B as in Baby and in Sindhi we are taught as ب for Badak (Badak is duck in Sindhi).Since many are not aware about the formation of Sindhi alphabets, I am sharing a small video about how to form letters or write in Sindhi. Please do check this video: So a Sindhi dish for ب is Besan Ji Aani. Aani in Sindhi refers to fish roe or fish eggs. Sindhis living along the Sindhu river were blessed to find fish roe in abundance and they would either season it with spices and fry it or would mix it with gram flour and spices and make pakora or tikki using those sac enclosed eggs. The fried aani were then added to gravy (i.e Ras) or cooked on a bed of chopped onions and tomatoes, in a pan to make Aani basar (Basar=Onions in Sindhi) also known Aani Seyal. Over a period of time, the dispersed Sindhi Community found it hard to fetch fresh roe in their part of the world and also many Sindhis turned vegetarian after they started following different spiritual leaders. So instead of mixing fish eggs with besan to make pakora or tikki, they would add khuskhus (Poppy seeds) or even sooji (Semolina) to mimic the texture of fish egg pakora. These besan tikkis were then fried and cooked in the same way as Aani basar and hence now we call the vegetarian version as Besan Ji Aani/ Besan Tikki basar/ Besan Aani Seyal etc. Print Besan Ji Aani For Alif Be~2 Gramflour tikkis cooked in onion tomato base Ingredients For Besan Tikki Gram Flour 2 Cups Khuskhus (poppy seeds, soaked for 1-2 hours and strained) 2 tsp Green chillies 3, finely chopped Crushed dry Pomegranate seeds (anardana) 1tsp Whole coriander seeds 2 tsp Coriander leaves, 4-5 sprigs Turmeric powder ¼ tsp Oil 3-4 tsp/Ghee 2-3 tsp Salt as per taste Water to knead a stiff dough Oil to fry Aani For Onion Tomato base Onions 3 - 4 Tomatoes 2 Turmeric powder ¼ tsp Coriander powder 1 heaped tsp Garam masala powder ¼ tsp Green chillies 2 or more Ginger 1” Oil 1 tbsp Method To 2 cups of gram flour add salt, khus khus, green chillies, oil, turmeric powder and mix everything well. Adding very little quantity of water at a time, knead a hard but manageable dough.On a greased surface, place the dough and make a long cylindrical roll and then flatten it. Cut the roll into approx. 3-4 inch long pieces.Alternately, you can just make small tikkis by patting a portion of dough between your palms. In a frying pan, heat sufficient amount of oil and deep fry the tikkis, in batches, on medium to low flame, til light golden brown. Drain on tissue paper or kitchen towel. Empty the pan but leave behind a tbsp of oil. Add sliced or chopped onions (don't chop very finely), ginger and chillies and cook till onions turn soft/pink (don’t let the onions caramelise). Add chopped tomatoes and salt and cook on medium flame for 2 minutes. Lower the flame and cover the pan. Add dry spices (except garam masala) and mix well. Sprinkle some water if the mix tends to stick to the bottom of the pan. When tomatoes are slightly cooked, add fried tikkis and mix gently. Add 2-3 spoons of water and cover the pan with a lid and put some weight on the lid. Gently mix the subzi intermittently and sprinkle some more water if needed. Cook till oil leaves the mix. Sprinkle some garam masala and fresh coriander leaves and cook on low flame for a few more minutes. Serve it with freshly made rotis or phulka. 3.5.3251

The post Besan Ji Aani For Alif Be~2 appeared first on Sindhi Rasoi |Sindhi Recipes.