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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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Viyam Ja Khaada|Postpartum Food|AlifBe~49

Alka Keswani — Fri, 31 Dec 2021 15:07:37 +0000

The last alphabet of AlifBe, the Sindhi alphabet is ي in Arabic Sindhi, य in Devanagari and ‘Y’ is Roman Sindhi. It is also used as a vowel and could be pronounced as /e/ (even long /eee/). No Sindhi dish starts with the letter Y. Hence for the last alphabet in this series I have picked ‘Viyam Ja khaada’ . Viyam /Vyam/Vi-am means Delivery (Child birth) and Khaada means food/dishes. So basically it means the food that is supposed to be consumed by new mothers, particularly for the first 40 days after child birth. Traditionally, the new mother is supposed to consume nutrient dense, freshly cooked, home made food, following dietary restrictions. The food is cooked without onions, garlic, garam masala, coriander seeds, turmeric etc . Refined oils are strictly avoided and meals are cooked in Ghee only. No pungent ingredients are used to cook meals for the lactating mothers for the first forty days. Cruciferous vegetables, beans, pulses are also avoided for initial few weeks. Cold food, cold drinks, ice creams, fried food etc are also avoided. Cumin seeds are generously added to almost every dish. Chillies are avoided and only black pepper powder is used to make food for the new moms. Vegetables like bitter melons, Sponge gourds, Ridge gourds, bottle gourds, drumsticks etc are to be consumed. These vegetables are cooked in tomato based curries, flavored with green cardamoms and black pepper. Fenugreek leaves, drumstick flowers, dried tender drumsticks (Suhandhro) are most commonly had by the lactating mothers in the first few weeks after delivery. Steamed rice, pulav, biryani etc are avoided for first 40 days. Khichdi cooked in Ghee with pepper corns and green cardamoms is generally had in the lunch along with Methi or gourd’s curry. The rotis are made with whole wheat flour with loads of cumin, pepper and Ghee added to it. Lolo i.e roti sweetened with jaggery is mandatory to have and so are the home made sweets like Khorak, Majun, Khoyo, Magaz Ja ladoo etc, enriched with dry fruits, nuts, Khaun (Gum/Gond). A special mix of digestive herbs and nuts, called Fakki, is made for the new mothers. Broken wheat, Jowar or millet porridge could be had for the breakfast. A special sweet beverage is made, known as Tring/Ting by roasting whole wheat flour in ghee and is flavored with cumin and peppercorns. The above Thali represents the food that could be consumed by a new mom, not necessarily in a single meal. Starting from carrots, in a clockwise direction the dishes are as follows: 1) Carrots 2) Chehro Phulko (Cumin, salt, pepper flavored roti) 3) Methi (Fenugreek leaves) 4) Singyun Tamate mein (Drumsticks cooked in tomato gravy) 5) Tooryun (Sponge gourds) 6) Phote mein Karela (Bitter gourds cooked in Cardamom flavored curry) 7) Lolo (in the centre of the Thali). Check the recipe of lolo here! 8) Rajgira ladoo (Not home made) 9) Tring (placed out of the Thali) Since most of the times, food is exclusively cooked for the new mother, I am sharing recipes for smaller portions (1-2 people max.) Chehro Phulko: Just add salt, pepper powder and cumin seeds to the whole wheat flour dough and make a thicker roti. Use ghee liberally to cook the roti. Methi: In a kadai (Preferably an iron wok), heat a tbsp of ghee and add a tbsp of cumin seeds (optional). Add two cups of fenugreek leaves and saute on high heat. Add a large tomato, finely chopped and salt as per the taste. Cook covered till tomatoes are mushy and the excess of moisture evaporates. Singyun Tamate mein: In a pressure cooker, heat 1 tbsp of ghee. Add 1 heaped tbsp of cumin seeds, 2 green cardamoms and then add two grated/blended tomatoes. Add salt and cook on high heat. Ginger is optional. Some do add it while others skip. When tomatoes are cooked (ghee leaves the sides) add drumsticks (7-8 pieces) that are scrapped and cut into 2 inch pieces, each. Mix and add around 1 glass of water, if you want it soupy or else add around 3/4 th glass of water. Sprinkle around 1/4th tbsp of back pepper and cover the cooker with the lid. Wait for one whistle and then lower the heat. Switch off the heat after 3-4 minutes. Can garnish with coriander leaves (optional) and pounded black pepper. Tooryun: Peel and chop 2-3 sponge gourds/ridge gourds. In a pan, heat 1 tbsp of Ghee and add 1 tbsp of cumin seeds. When the seeds crackle add 2 green cardamoms and 1 large tomato, chopped or blended. Add salt and around 1/4th – 1/2 tbsp of black pepper powder. Cook covered, for 8-10 minutes. Can add few spoons of water if the gourd is not cooked well by now. Garnish with some more black pepper powder while serving. Photey mein Karela: Bitter melons could be cooked in tomato gravy (Refer the Drumsticks curry recipe shared above) or could be made in watery gravy. The Photey mein karela that I made were without tomatoes. Peel, slit and smear salt inside the slits of gourds. After 2-3 hours, rinse the gourds (2 large or 3, if smaller in size) with water, multiple times and squeeze well. Heat 2 tsp of ghee in a pan/kadai/cooker and saute the salted gourds. Add 2-4 green cardamoms. Cook for 2 minutes on high heat and then lower the flame. Keep stirring frequently. After 5 minutes, add around 2 glasses of water, some salt and black pepper powder. Allow the gourds to cook, covered. In a pan it make take 15-20 minutes. If cooking in a pressure cooker, cook for 2-3 whistles. Garnish with more black pepper powder while eating. Tring: Recipe by Ms Neetu Matani! Video Recipe of Tring: In a pan, heat 1 tbsp of ghee. Add 1 tbsp of whole wheat flour. Roast on low heat. Add more ghee if needed. When aromatic, add 1 and half glass of water. Stir vigorously to avoid lumps. Use a whisker to break lumps, if any. Add 2-3 green cardamoms and 1 heaped spoon of jaggery (or more if you wish) and mix well. Allow it to simmer till it thickens a bit (3-5 minutes). Add 1/2 tbsp cumin seeds, 4-5 whole pepper corns and mix well. Simmer for 2-3 minutes or till the consistency is soup like. Transfer to a bowl and garnish with dried fruits/nuts. Some do add a little of poppy seeds and dried coconut powder too. Serve warm, preferably for the breakfast. And here is the last tutorial explaining the formation of Sindhi alphabet ي!

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Hurbe Jeere Mein Patata|AlifBe~47

Alka Keswani — Fri, 17 Dec 2021 11:11:23 +0000

The AlifBe of Sindhi food series is inching towards the end and I am trying to stay focused and enthusiastic about blogging beyond the AlifBe series. Wish me luck, dear friends! For the uninitiated, there are 52 alphabets in Arabic Sindhi script. Out of 52, I have skipped three alphabets, namely ح , ظ , ث i.e ‘S’, ‘Z’ and ‘H’ respectively as these are used in the words of Non Sindhi origin (i.e in words that are Arabic, Persian etc) while هہ , ز , س are used for the similar sounds (S, Z, H) in words of Sindhi origin. For example if you need to write the word Zaheen (an Urdu word ) you will have to use ذ (Z) but for Zameen (a Hindi/Sindhi) in Sindhi you will useز (Z). Similarly if you need to write the word ‘Sawab‘(Virtue) which is of Arabic/Urdu in origin you will use ث while for ‘Saagar‘ (sea), a word of Sanskrit origin, you will use س. Same way, for the words of Urdu/Persian/Arabic origin we use the letter ح (H) for example, as in ‘Hajaamat‘ while for the words of Sindhi/Sanskrit/Hindi origin, we use هہ, as in ‘Haathi‘ (Elephant). Got the drift? And well, the 47th alphabet that we are on to, is the ‘H’ used in words of Sindhi origin. It is هہ in Sindhi, ह in Devanagari and ‘H’ in Roman Sindhi. There aren’t many traditional Sindhi dishes with names beginning with ‘H’ so I had picked this one though it is very basic and so common that perhaps all of you might be cooking it at your homes. ‘Hurb^e Jeere Mein Patata‘, the dish of the day, is nothing but potatoes cooked in tomatoes with pronounced flavors of Hurb^o (Fenugreek seeds/Methi dana) and Jeero (Cumin seeds). And though it may look and sound similar to ‘Singhyun Tamate mein‘, and ‘Vataran Ji Lilotari‘ the flavour profile varies considerably. Print Hurbe Jeere Mein Patata|AlifBe~47 Rating 4.0 from 1 reviews Serves: 3-4 servings Potatoes cooked in a tomato based gravy, flavored with fenugreek and cumin seeds. Ingredients 5 Medium sized Potatoes 4 Medium sized Tomatoes 2 Green Chilies ½ inch piece of Ginger 2-3 tbsp Oil/Ghee 7-8 Curry leaves (Optional) 1 tsp Cumin seeds ½ tsp Fenugreek seeds ½ tsp Turmeric powder 1 Tbsb Coriander powder 2 Cups of water Salt as per taste Handful of Coriander leaves. Method Peel and cut potatoes in cubes. Rinse with water, soak in salted water till further use. Grate or blend tomatoes. In a pressure cooker, heat 2-3 tbsp of Oil/Ghee. Add curry leaves, cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds (Methidana or Hurb^o), chopped ginger and chillies. When cumin seeds turn darker in shade, add grated/blended tomatoes. Add salt, turmeric, coriander powder and mix well. Cook on high heat for 2 minutes. Drain the potatoes and add to the tomato gravy. Adjust the salt and cook on high heat for 4-5 minutes or till the oil separates. Add some coriander leaves and save the rest for the garnish. Add 2 cups of water and close the pressure cooker with the lid. Wait for 2 whistles on medium heat. Lower the flame and let the curry simmer for 2-3 minutes. Switch off the flame. When the pressure of the cooker subsides, open the lid. Check the consistency of the gravy. If thick, add some water and allow it to come to a boil. If there is more water in the gravy than required, then boil it further till it reaches to preferred consistency. Garnish with coriander leaves are serve with roti/ Puri. 3.5.3251 Check this short Tutorial about how to write alphabet هہ in Sindhi!

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Batan Papdi Chaat |AlifBe~45

Alka Keswani — Thu, 25 Nov 2021 08:38:21 +0000

Want secret recipes of Batan Papdi Chutney and special Chaat masala? Do check the video recipe : AlifBe~ 45 The 45th Alphabet of Arabic Sindhi script is ڻ in Sindhi, ण in Devanagari and N~ in Roman Sindhi. In Hindi or Devanagari, no word starts with this particular alphabet. Same is the case with the Sindhi script and the ण appears in the middle or at the end of any word. In English it is generally denoted by ‘N’ as in Ramayan, Raavan, Brahman etc due to lack of proper corresponding alphabet for ण, in English. And I have picked one of my favourite street foods for this alphabet in the AlifBe series! Batan Paapdi (Papdi) or Batar Papdi It is a very unique chaat available in Sindhi dominated areas. The base of this chaat is Batan~ or the Batar, the kadak round ‘biscuit’, often had with tea. More popular as Ulhasnagar special Chaat, the batan~ papdi chaat is named so, perhaps, due to the button shaped ‘biscuits’ (or kadak pao, as some like to call it) or maybe it is a wrongly pronounced term for the batar; the makhaniya or buttery biscuits. And no, Surti batar or the Jeera batar wont work for this chaat as those are not very porous. You can find the ‘Sindhi Batan~’ in Sindhi dominated areas in many Kirana shops. The porous batan~ have a look and texture similar to an over baked (kadak) mini laadi pao. The Batan~ are topped with boiled potatoes, onions, papdi, dalmoth and 3 types of chutneys. Each morsel of this chaat is like a ‘riot of flavors’ in the mouth! Sach mein…batan papdi ki kasam 😉 The flavors of Batan~ papdi chaat at every eatery/cart vary a bit because of the spice blends and the chutneys used. Each vendor uses his or her secret recipes for the chutney as well as the spice mix and hence it is not appropriate to say that the following recipe is ‘the’ recipe for making this chaat, but it is definitely one of those ‘secret’ recipes that would help you to recreate the ‘thele waali batan~ papdi‘ sort of flavors. Commercially, most of the vendors make 3 types of chutneys for Batan~ papdi; Spicy green chutney– used sparingly in general but if someone wants the dish to be spicy, the quantity of this chutney is increased. Mint coriander chutney for the minty, refreshing flavors Tangy tamarind chutney, the star ingredient! Also, each vendor uses unique spice blend or the Chaat masala that imparts distinct flavors to the chaat. I have shared one such spice blend (like chaat masala) recipe below along with 3 chutney recipes. But if making three types of chutneys and chaat masala sounds tedious to you then you can try the cheat version i.e, 1) Use any chaat masala of your choice. 2) Skip making spicy chilli chutney. Just use that mint coriander chutney that you generally stock in your refrigerator. Dilute it with some chilled water and add panipuri masala or Jaljeera powder. But believe me, the tangy tamarind chutney is the heart of Batar Papdi and should not be compromised. It is very easy to make. You can make a base paste in bulk and preserve it in the refrigerator for few weeks.(Recipe shared below). And when you crave for panipuri or batan papadi, just use a portion of that chutney paste, add some chilled water and some tamarind paste/water. Easy? Print Batan Papdi Chaat |AlifBe~45 Rating 5.0 from 1 reviews Ulhasnagar special Batan~ or Batar Papdi chaat is a unique street food made using makhaniya biscuits as the base. Ingredients For Batan~ Papdi Chaat 10-12 Batan~ 1 Big Onion ¼ of small beetroot (raw) 2 Boiled Potatoes 1 Bowl Papdi ½ Bowl Dal moth Green Chilli Chutney (Recipe shared below) Mint Coriander Chutney Tangy Chutney (Recipe shared below) Spice Mix/Chaat Masala (Recipe shared below) Or any branded or home made chaat masala For special Chaat masala ½ inch Dalchini (Cinnamon) 1 tbsp Coriander seeds 1 tbsp Fennel seeds 1 tbsp Cumin seeds 1 tbsp Red Chilli powder 1 tbsp Amchoor Powder 2 pinches of Ajwain (Carom seeds) ½ tbsp Roasted Cumin powder ¼th tsp Saunth (Dried ginger powder) ½ tsp Black salt ¼th tsp Hing (Asafoetida) 4-5 Cloves 8-10 Black pepper corns ¼ tsp Salt 1 tsp Sugar 1-2 tbsp dried mint leaves ¼ tsp Citric acid (I didn't use any) For spicy green chilli chutney 4-5 green chillies 3-4 spinach leaves 1 inch piece ginger ¾ th cup of coriander leaves Salt/kalanamak as per taste Tangy Tamarind chutney 12-15 Mint leaves 1 tbsp Amchoor ½ tsp Kaala Namak ½ tsp red chilli powder ½ tsp Cumin seeds 2 pinches of Ajwain (Carom seeds) 2 pinches of Hing (Asafoetida) (optional) 2-3 tbsp of water ½ tsp Citric acid i,e Tatri (I didn't use any) ¼ tbsp Salt Other ingredients Lemon sized ball of Tamarind 1 cup water to soak tamarind 750 ml chilled/iced water Method Make mint coriander chutney. You can check its recipe here For special chaat masala powder, just blend the ingredients mentioned under "Special Chaat masala" to make a fine powder. Store it in a clean and dry glass bottle. Use it to garnish any type of chaat. For spicy green chilli chutney, just blend green chillies, ginger, spinach and coriander leaves. Use a little of water, if needed, to make a smooth paste. Do not dilute this chutney. For the tangy chutney, soak tamarind in water for 20 minutes. Mash well, with fingers and discard the pulp. In a blender jar, add all ingredients mentioned under "Tangy Tamarind chutney". Using a tbsp or so of water, make a smooth paste. You can store this paste in the refrigerator for few weeks and can use it to make Panipuri ka khatta paani. Take 750 ml of chilled water, add some ice too. Add the above mentioned paste and mix it well. Adjust seasoning. Can add a bit of sugar or jaggery to balance the flavors. Commercially many vendors use citric acid (Tatri) too, to make this chutney but I didn't use any. Boil and peel potatoes and cut in small chunks/ random slices. Finely chop onion and beetroot and mix together. Add some fresh coriander leaves too. To assemble the chaat, cut open each batan (refer the video). Ideally batan~ are first flash dipped in the tangy chutney but you will have to be very quick at this step else the batan tend to get too soggy and swell up. You can skip this step. Place the batan in the serving plate with the porous side up. Lay some potatoes over each batan, sprinkle chaat masala (home made/branded, any chaat masala will do). Top it with spicy chilli chutney (more if you like it spicy, less, if you like it mild), some mint coriander chutney, papdi, dal moth, onions and then pour over 1-2 ladle full of chilled tangy tamarind chutney and consume the chaat immediately. 3.5.3251 As always, here is a small tutorial to understand how to write in Arabic Sindhi!

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Nasarpuri Seyal Bhaji |AlifBe~44

Alka Keswani — Sat, 20 Nov 2021 15:08:00 +0000

To watch the video recipe of Nasarpuri style Seyal Bhaji, please check my Youtube channel, SindhiRasoiOfficial. Click here to visit the link! The 44th ‘alphabet’ of Arabic Sindhi Script, AlifBe, is ن in Sindhi, न in Devanagari and ‘N’ in Roman Sindhi. N as in Nagpur, Nagaland, Nigeria or as in Nasarpur. And the corresponding dish is ‘ Nasarpuri Seyal Bhaji, with Dhokri (Dhokryun)’. Nasarpur (Nasarpur/Nasserpur): Nasarpur is one of the oldest known places in Sindh (now in Pakistan), that finds mentions in not only the history and geography of ancient civilization, but also in the legends associated with the Lord Jhulelal, an incarnation of Varun Dev, that the Sindhis have great faith in! It is in the small town of Nassarpur that the Lord Jhulelal was born and hence the place holds a great significance for the Sindhi community. Nasarpuri Sindhis are those whose ancestors came from Nasarpur and this Sindhi subset is a small community consisting of barely few hundred families, residing in India and abroad. Honestly speaking I was not aware of the culture, traditions and cuisine of Nasapuri Sindhis till I came across some people in Sindhirasoi fb group. And then I got in touch with Jyoti Mulchandani, a fabulous lady working on many aspects of Sindhi culture, language and people, who enlightened me more about the Nasarpuri culture. You can check her blog, SindhiKhazana to gain more insights. She also introduced me to her sister Geeta (Urvashi Dhama) and I got to learn so much from her, not only about the Nasarpuri community, but also about the Brahmakhatris, yet another Sindhi subset with lesser exposure in the so called mainstream Sindhi community. Thanks to the two sisters I came to know how popular the Seyal Bhaji (in green gravy base) is, in the Nasarpuri cuisine. I also came across some information about Dhokri (Dhokni) i.e the flat dough discs, steamed/ cooked in the seyal style base, consumed by some Sindhis. I was intrigued. I am utterly grateful to Pooja Abichandani who not only guided me about Nasarpuri food but also helped me connect with Ms Rashmi Chandani who shared helpful details about the community along with detailed recipes of some of the popular dishes from Nasarpuri cuisine. I am so eager to share all of her recipes, one at a time, on this blog of mine! Pooja Abichandani also introduced me to her mother Ms Rekha Khushalani and oh my! we kept on talking about Sindhi food, food and more food, for hours, till my voice started cracking. Got to learn so much from her about Nasarpuri food and it was such a pleasure to share food memories with each other. Of all the recipes she discussed with me, the Seyal Bhaji was one of the prominent. While she mentioned that Dhokri are added in Nasarpuri style Seyal Bhaji, Rashmi Chandani, on the other hand, believes that Dhokri is not a Nasarpuri addition. I was too intrigued with the idea of addition of Jowar/bajra dough discs in the seyal masala to give it a miss. But since the Dhokri part of the Seyal bhaji is not confirmed to be Nasarpuri style, I chose to name the dish just ‘Nasarpuri Seyal Bhaji’, a traditional dish loved by Nasarpuri as well as other Sindhis belonging to different subsets. The Nasarpuri Seyal Bhaji is basically a semidry curry made using a base of green paste made from coriander leaves, chillies, ginger and garlic. Some add onions in the paste, some add tomatoes as well. Some use chopped or grated onions and tomatoes. One can add any combination of vegetables to this green base, but the most preferred ones are potatoes, Okra, Apple gourds (Meha/Tinde) and small onions. Potatoes are always cut into thick roundels while other veggies are used whole. Some like to stuff vegetables with green masala while others just cook it without stuffing. You can make the Dhokri (also called Dhokni) from Jowar, Bajra or rice flour to which one needs to add the green masala paste, some salt and oil for moyan to make a dough. You can totally skip the Dhokri part and make the subzi with just the vegetables of your choice. Traditionally when such a subzi was made, the Dhokris were laid on a piece of the mulmul cloth that was tied over the rim of the vessel in which the Seyal bhaji was being cooked. The steam arising from the Seyal bhaji would cook the Dhokris and then these were added to the Seyal bhaji and cooked further to absorb more flavors of the Seyal bhaji. Many skip this tricky step and simply place the dough discs, the Dhokri as the top most layer on the Seyal bhaji, and cook it covered, on the low flame, without mixing it, till the Dhokris are steamed (i.e cooked) well. I found a middle path! I have the Idli steamer plate that fits well over the Kadai that I used for making Seyal Bhaji (Refer the Video) and I used it to steam the Dhokri. The recipe that I followed was a mix of many recipes that I picked from the SindhiRasoi group. Thank you Tanisha Makhija, Nana Kunwar, Pooja Abichandani, Rashmi Chandani and Rekha Khushalani ji for all your valuable inputs. Print Nasarpuri Seyal Bhaji |AlifBe~44 Ingredients For green paste: A bunch of coriander leaves 4-5 green chillies 1 inch piece ginger 10-12 garlic cloves Other ingredients 2 Onions 2 Tomatoes 2 Potatoes 7-8 Okra 2-3 Small tender Apple Gourds (Meha/TInde) optional 2 Small whole onions optional (I didn't use onions) 1 tsp Turmeric Powder 2 tsp Coriander Powder 1 Cup Jowar/ Bajra flour 3-4 tbsp Oil Salt as per taste Method Blend or pound using mortar and pestle, coriander leaves, chillies, ginger and garlic. Make a coarse paste. Save 2 -3 tbsp of this paste to make Dhokri. To make Dhokri, mix the above reserved paste with 1 cup of Jowar/Bajra/rice flour and add some salt and 1 tbsp of oil. Mix everything well and using water, a little at a time, bring together the mixture to make a firm dough. No need to knead the dough. Divide it in 7-8 portions and make small flat discs of each portion. These are called Dhokri (Dhokni). Grease each with some oil and keep covered till further use. Ideally one should make Dhokri just before steaming it but to avoid confusion I have mentioned the process in the beginning. Watch the video to understand the steps properly. Heat 2-3 tbsp of oil in a pan. Add 2 small onions, finely chopped. Cook on medium heat till translucent (slightly pink) Add the green paste Add a little of salt and cook till rawness of green paste disappears i.e for 4-5 minutes. This is an optional step but it gives more flavor to the whole vegetables. Remove 2 tbsp of this cooked mixture and use it later to stuff Tinde and Okra. You can use whole vegetables without stuffing too. Add chopped tomatoes, some salt (salt is to be added in various stages so add a little at a time), turmeric and coriander powder and cook on medium heat while the pan is covered with a lid. Meanwhile peel and slice potatoes in thick roundels and soak these in salted water till further use. Peel and slit apple gourds, onions, if using, into criss cross to make a space for stuffing. Tip off the ends of Okra and slit each from top (head) towards the tip. Coming back to the gravy, mash tomatoes and then add potato roundels. Stir to coat potatoes and cook covered on medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Stuff Apple gourds, onions and Okra with the cooked onions and green masala mix that we saved. Since potatoes take longer to cook, we added it first. Now add stuffed gourds and onions (if using) and gently mix the sabzi. Add 2 cups of water to the sabzi and place an idli steamer plate over it. Traditionally a muslin cloth was tied over the rim of the vessel but I found it to be tricky hence used the idli plate. Luckily my idli plate fits well over the kadai that I used for making the sabzi. Lower the heat to minimum. Place a clean piece of mulmul cloth over the plate. Moisten it slightly. Place the Dhokryun on the cloth adjacent to each other. Cover the lid of the pan and allow everything to cook on low heat. The stuffed vegetables will cook inside the pan and the Dhokri will get steamed above the pan using the steam arising from the boiling gravy. After 7-8 minutes, the Dhokri will be set. Transfer each on a plate carefully. Give the sabzi a mix, add few tbsp of water (or more if you need a little gravy) and make a layer of stuffed bhindi (okra) and steamed Dhokri above the sabzi. Cover and cook on low heat for 5 minutes. Flip once, very gently and cook covered, for 5 more minutes. The Nasarpuri style Seyal Bhaji with Jowar Dhokri is ready to relish. Ideally had with roti, but you can enjoy it as a side dish with dal rice or have it just as it is since the Jowar Dhokri is very filling and tastes amazing in combination with potatoes, okra and gourds. Here is a simpler version of the recipe: Blend 2 small onions, 2 tomatoes, coriander leaves, ginger, garlic and chillies to make a paste Use some of this paste to make Dhokri and add the rest of this paste in a pan with 3 tbsp of oil. Cook on medium heat till rawness of onions and garlic is gone.Add salt, turmeric and coriander powder. Add potato roundels and a little salt. Cook and cover for few minutes. Add 2 cups of water. Lay other whole vegetables (apple gourds, onions, Okra) and Dhokris above the potato and gravy mix. Do not mix. Cover and allow to cook on low flame for 10 minutes or so. Stir very gently so as to not break the Dhokri. Cook covered for 8-10 minutes more, till a knife pierced in Dhokri comes out clean. Make Dho 3.5.3251 And finally, a small video tutorial to learn how to write in Arabic Sindhi:

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