sindhi recipe Archives | Sindhi Rasoi |Sindhi Recipes

Mitha Pehun|Sweet Poha

Alka Keswani — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 07:48:33 +0000

Mitha Pehun or/ Peyun ~ Sweet Poha I always thought that the dish Poha made in Sindhi homes is a relatively new adaptation from the kitchens of Maharashtrian neighbours. The popularity of the humble dish could be judged by the fact that it became one of the most preferred breakfast options for serving the guests, be it during weddings, condolence meets or even for religious gatherings like Varsi (Death Anniversaries) of religious or spiritual leaders. Gradually when I got to taste the traditional poha made at homes of my Maharashtrian and Gujarati friends and neighbours, I realised that there are many variations of Poha ; Kanda poha, batata poha, poha cooked with boiled potatoes/ with fried peanuts/ roasted/ cooked peanuts, poha garnished with coconut shavings/ farsan/ sev etc. I got to know about Indori Poha flavored with Jeeravan masala too thanks to Google. In the majority of Sindhi homes, Poha is cooked by sautéing potatoes and onions in a tempering of curry leaves, mustard seeds and chillies. Some add tomatoes & vegetables like carrots, peas etc. Peanuts are seldom used (I do add it many a times) while coconut is never added in Sindhi Style Poha. While serving the dish some do add curds/chopped onions while others enjoy it with a dash of lemon juice and some Nylon sev/farsan. You can find the recipe of Savoury Poha here ! Post marriage I saw Ma, my MIL making it in a similar way but she would call it Peyun & not Poha. There was no internet or Google in those days to learn whether the flattened rice was consumed in any traditional way by Sindhis across the world or by our ancestors. Some years ago, Surraya Kapri, the lady originally from Sindh but now living abroad, asked me if we make traditional Sindhi style Pehun. I was confused. The flattened rice flakes had been a part of ancient Sindhi cuisine and I was obviously not aware of that. She told me that the Sindhi Pehun or Peyun are sweet and not savoury. Rinsed and drained flattened rice flakes are cooked with either sugar or the sugar syrup, flavoured with Ghee and green cardamoms. I had never seen such a dish made in homes around me. After discussing it with many elderly Sindhis living far and wide (Thanks to the Social media, messengers, emails and web calls) I finally got it confirmed that the sweet peyun, are indeed a part of ancient Sindhi cuisine. Mitha Pehun ~ Sweet Poha Print Mitha Pehun|Sweet Poha Flattened rice flakes sweetened with sugar and flavoured with Ghee and Cardamom Ingredients Ingredients 2 Cups Flattened rice (Beaten rice/Poha/Pohe) 1 Cup of Sugar (Adjust as per your liking) 2-3 tbsp of Ghee (Or edible oil) 3-4 Green Cardamoms, pounded ½ Cup water (For method A). No water is needed for method B Dry fruits/nuts like Almonds, Cashews and Pistachios for the garnish Method Method A Check the beaten rice for any infestation or gravel. Place in a colander and hold under the running water till the water runs clear. Place the colander over a large bowl to collect the water that may drain. Allow it to stand for 4-5 minutes. Gently fluff the poha with a fork. In a pan, heat 2 tbsp Ghee/oil and add chopped nuts. Roast on low flame till the nuts are crunchier. Add crushed cardamoms. Add sugar and water and bring it to a boil. Keep mixing till the sugar dissolves. Lower the heat and allow the syrup to simmer for 2 minutes. Once the quantity of water reduces to half and the syrup turns sticky, add drained and fluffed beaten rice flakes and mix gently. Cook on medium flame till Poha turn soft (it could become mushy if not handled properly) after absorbing flavors of the syrup. This barely takes 2 minutes. Mix very gently to avoid a soggy mess. Garnish with nuts and serve with Papad or pickle or enjoy as it is. Method B Rinse and allow the poha to drain in a colander for 5 minutes or so. Fluff the flakes with a fork. In a pan, heat the Ghee/oil and add chopped nuts/dry fruits. Roast on low flame till crunchier. Add crushed cardamoms. Add rinsed Poha and mix gently so as to coat the flakes with Ghee. After a minute add sugar and mix gently. Cook on medium to low heat till the beaten rice flakes turn softer. Please Note: You can garnish it with sliced Kopra and black raisins. Instead of Sugar you can use Jaggery, though the version with Sugar is more popular in Sindhi Cuisine. The Ratio of Poha to Sugar (as well as Jaggery) is 2:1 i.e for every Cup of Poha you would need half cup of Sugar/Jaggery. You can use more or less sugar as per your preference. Make sure that the syrup is sticky and not thin. Do not use Kagzi poha. Jada Poha works best for this dish. 3.5.3251

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Chauran Pharyun|Long Beans

Alka Keswani — Thu, 07 Jul 2022 14:13:09 +0000

Pharyun in Sindhi could mean the pod of any legume or pulse grains but most of the Sindhis consider french beans as the Pharyun. Chauran (or Raanh) means Chawli or black eyed beans and the whole beans are called Chauran Jyun (of) Pharyun. Tender Long beans are not commonly had in many Sindhi homes though fresh pods from the matured beans are often cooked in Sindhi style gravy dish (Ras mein). Recently I found extremely fresh tender long beans and couldn’t resist buying a bunch of it. I cooked it the way Sindhis make Gvar/Guar patata. In the Thali: Chithyal Chauran Pharyun (Long beans) Juar Jo Dhodho (Patted Jowar Roti) Mung (Whole mung) Green chutney (Mint coriander chutney with awla). Vangi (Cucumber) and Ambh (Mango) Confession: Traditionally Sindhis cook cluster beans to make a dry subzi and the beans are crushed/smashed to attain a peculiar texture. I did cook the long beans the traditional way (smashed). The flavors were good but the texture was bit pasty. I prefer slightly undercooked beans so I was not happy with this texture. Chithyal Chauran Pharyun|Long Beans Recipe: Print Chithyal Chauran Pharyun|Long Beans Recipe Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 20 mins Total time: 30 mins Smashed Long beans with potato chunks flavored with garlic Ingredients Long benas 250 gm Potatoes 2 medium sized Onion 1 medium sized Tomato 2 small Green chillies 2 (or use as many you normally do) Ginger a bit Garlic 5-6 cloves Turmeric powder ½ tsp Coriander powder 1 tbsp Salt as per taste Oil 1-2 tbsp Method Wash beans thoroughly, pat dry and trim the tips on both the sides. Cut each bean into small (1 inch) pieces. Peel and dice potatoes into big chunks. Rinse and add salt to potatoes, keep aside for 5 minutes. You can soak potatoes in salted water instead. Pound ginger garlic and chop onion, finely. Take 1-2 tbsps of oil in a pressure cooker and heat it. Add ginger garlic. Cook till the raw smell goes away. Add chopped onion. Cook onions till light brown. Add chopped tomatoes and chillies. Add beans, potatoes, salt, turmeric powder and coriander powder Cook the mix on high heat till the mix starts sticking to the base of the cooker. Add 2-3 spoons of water and close the lid. Cook on medium flame. Wait for a whistle and cook it further on low flame for about 2-3 minutes or till the potatoes are cooked. Heat the subzi on high flame if there is excess moisture. Serve it with roti, or plain boiled rice 3.5.3251

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Matar Pao|Black Vatana Chaat

Alka Keswani — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 08:36:37 +0000

Matar Pao or the black vatana chaat is a classic street food dish from Ulhasnagar, my home town! It is made by cooking dried black peas (Kaala Matar/Vatana) with salt and water and the curry is generally flavoured with just pepper. A spicier version is made by adding garam masala powder by many vendors. The rustic flavours of the dish come from cooking vatana for longer duration, till soft and then by mashing some to make the gravy more thicker, homogenous and flavourful. Dried black peas take forever to cook and hence soaking these for 12 – 24 hours is a must. Also adding a little of baking soda is highly recommended or else the peas would take ridiculously long time to cook well. The Matar pao chaat is easy to assemble. Just top the pao with boiled vatana, chutneys, chaat masala (optional), pepper (optional), boiled potato cubes, chopped onions and sev/papdi/dalmoth. Check this recipe video : If you happen to visit Ulhasnagar, particularly, camp number 5, during Chaliha festival, you will spot many vendors around Puj Chaliha Sahib Mandir, selling this chaat on the carts. The chaat during those 40 days of festival is made without using any garlic or onions (in curry and in chutneys) and is usually topped with grated cabbage, boiled kachalu (Arbi) / potatoes. Pao is optional for the devotees. Also no Farsan is used for those who are observing Chaliha fast. Print Matar Pao|Black Vatana Chaat Dried black peas curry and Pao chaat Ingredients 1 cup dried Black peas Salt as per taste 1 tbsp black pepper powder ⅛th tsp cooking soda (Pakode waali soda) For Chaat 5 Pao 2 boiled potatoes 1 large onion Chaat masala (optional) to garnish Mint coriander chutney (5-6 tbsp or as much preferred) Sweet Tamarind chutney (3-4 tbsp or as much preferred) Farsan (Papdi/Dalmoth/Nylon sev) to garnish Coriander leaves to garnish Method Pick, wash and soak dried black peas in enough water for 12 to 24 hours. Change water once if soaking for more than 12 hours. Rinse well with water before cooking. In a pressure cooker add soaked peas, 3 cups of water, salt and cooking soda. Close the cooker with the lid. Cook on high heat till 1 whistle . Cook under pressure, on lowest heat for around 30 minutes. Turn off the flame. When the pressure subsides, open the lid of the cooker and check if the peas are cooked well. Pinch few peas in between your fingers and thumb and if easily mashed, the peas are ready to eat. Else, add some water, if needed and cook further. Using back of the ladle, mash some peas so as to thicken the gravy. The gravy should not be too watery. If the gravy is very loose, heat it further and if there is barely any gravy then add some hot water. Add black pepper powder. You can add some garam masala at this stage. For assembling the chaat, take a serving platter and place pao cut into bite sized pieces. Pour piping hot vatana/matar curry over it. Add boiled potatoes cut in cubes/pieces and chopped onions. Pour some mint coriander chutney, sweet tamarind chutney ( Cheat version:I took half a cup of tamarind water and added 3 tbsp of jaggery and microwaved it for 3 minutes. Added some salt, kala namak, chaat masala, chilli powder and hing to it). You can garnish with some chaat masala and pepper (I didn't use any). For the recipe of home made chaat masala, check this video of mine. Top the chaat with some farsan of your choice. Papdi, Nylon sev and dal moth are the popular choices. Garnish with coriander leaves and consume immediately. 3.5.3251

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Gogo/Gogro~ Naagpanchmi Food and Rituals

Alka Keswani — Thu, 12 Aug 2021 06:36:31 +0000

Gogo or Gogro is a Sindhi festival celebrated in honor of the God of snakes, named Gogal Devta. It is celebrated as Nag panchmi by many Indian communities. Gogo is now observed only by a small percentage of Sindhi families and many are not aware of the rituals as well. But for those who wish to know why and how this festival was celebrated, here I am, with some details about the Gogo festival. The Legend: Gogo (Gogal), as per a legend, was the grandson of King Gopichand who ruled a place in Thatta (Now in Sindh, Pakistan). Gogo’s mother inhaled the aroma of a flower carrying the ‘soul’ of a saint and got pregnant. No one in her family and around, believed her and to save his family from embarrassment, the King abandoned her. She gave birth to a son named Gogo, in the forest. Gogo grew up in the forest and the legend says that he was immune to snake poison as he was probably bitten by many snakes (many believe that snakes would feed him poison) and when he grew up he started treating snake bites just by his powerful gaze. He also started extracting more venom from snakes to feed his seven disciples. The snakes were offended as no one was afraid of snakes any more and hence one of the snakes decided to kill Gogo. It borrowed venom from a Python and bit Gogo on his jaw where his own gaze won’t reach and hence Gogo couldn’t treat himself and succumbed to the snake bite. When King Cobra came to know about the death of Gogo, it got furious and immediately killed the snake . King Cobra also cursed the Python that it won’t be able to produce venom any more. The legend says that from that moment onwards Pythons turned non poisonous. A logical reason behind celebrating Nag panchmi: Most of our ancestors were either farmers or lived in villages around jungles. In the monsoon when it rains, the burrows where snakes live are often filled with water and hence snakes tend to move out and find shelters around causing fear and anxiety in people living in the vicinity. Also during rains many frogs are found around the ponds and in the fields and snakes like to feast on the amphibians. More the snakes venture out in the field, more scared people would feel. In the mode of panic, even the non-poisonous snakes were/are killed. But our ancestors were aware of the fact that snakes are farmer’s best friends as snakes kill rodents and pests that often destroy the crops. When snake population declines, rodents increase in number causing harm to the crops and the ecosystem is affected too. In olden days many people would collect snakes and keep them covered in huge earthen pots, during monsoons, particularly during Shravan month, feeding the snakes from time to time so that neither villagers are harmed by freely moving snakes nor the snakes get killed. So to sensitise the people about the reptiles and to remove the fear of snakes from their minds, Naag Panchami was celebrated where people would bow down to the otherwise scary reptiles, offering milk to the snakes to seek blessings! In most of the temples or around, on this day, you will find snake charmers carrying non poisonous snakes in baskets. People offer milk to the snakes and money/food/fruits to the snake charmer. Sadly, eventually, this became a business for some people. Ideally snakes do not drink milk but are actually forced to drink it by the charmers to appease people for the sake of money. Urban population is clueless about how to tackle snakes or snake bites so it is not advisable for them to visit snake mounds to offer milk or grains, without a local guide. Considering this situation many Sindhi families no longer observe Gogo. The Food: Sindhis cook food on the eve of Gogo and eat only ‘stale’ or Thadho (cold) food on Naag panchmi. The food made on Gogo is same as that made for Thadri (Satain) but the Pooja rituals are bit different. The stove (Kerosene stove or gas burner) on which Lola are made on the eve of Gogo is not lit for the whole day on Gogo. The food cooked is as follows: (Please click on the name of the dish for its recipe) 1) Lolo : Jaggery sweetened whole wheat flat bread. 2) Koki. : Savory whole wheat roti spiced with onions, chillies, coriander leaves, dried pomegranate seeds etc. 3) Besani : Same as Koki, but here, gram flour is used instead of whole wheat flour 4) Dal paata: Mung dal stuffed paratha. To make dal paata phulka, rinse well and soak moong dal for an hour. Drain and roast slightly with some oil in a pan, add salt, turmeric powder and green chillies (optional) and boil in little water till al dente. Drain if there is any excess water. You can add a tempering of cumin seeds, coriander powder and red chili powder and add some amchoor too. Cool properly and use this to make stuffed parathas, the way aloo parathas (or any other stuffed paratha ) are made, using whole wheat flour dough. Around 1 cup of dal is needed to make 4-5 parathas. Apart from the flatbreads, fried vegetables like Okra, potatoes etc are also made. Urad dal vada are made and are added to beaten curds to make dahi vada on Gogo. Many prefer boondi raita over dahi vada. Some make fritters ( mostly Mirchai pakora i.e Chilli fritters are preferred) while other cook subzis with better shelf life. Stir fried methi, spinach etc are often made for the occasion, along with stuffed bitter gourds. Green chutney, boiled potatoes, beetroot, bread etc are kept handy for those who cannot consume the heavy food for all the three meals and vegetarian sandwich is a nice option for them as it involves no cooking. Pickles and home set curds are mostly had on this day to add to the probiotic quotient of the food. Khatto bhat~u or Kanbo bhat~u is also made in some homes, for this festival. It is basically boiled rice, cooled and mixed with some milk and curd starter (jaaman) along with a little of mustard powder. The mix is allowed to set overnight and is had in the morning, with some fresh curds and a garnish of mustard and pepper powder. Rituals: After making all the food, seven ( the number varies from family to family) Akhryun/Akhdyun are made. A portion of Lola dough is kept aside (or some people make the dough for Akhryun/Akhdyun, separately) and at the end of the cooking process, a small earthen plate called daangi is kept on the stove. The reserved dough is divided in to seven portions. In some families the Akhryun/Akhdyun are cooked on the earthen plate, while in other families, it is left uncooked for the Puja. In some homes these are deep fried. Basically Akhryun are flattened dough balls and are an integral part of Puja rituals. The puja rituals vary considerably from family to family. As mentioned earlier, most of the families follow the same rituals as that of Thadri and you can read all the details about it in this blog post! Now, mostly, on this day, Sindhis offer a mix of milk and water to the snake idols in the temple instead of going around looking for the real snakes.

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Raanh/Chauran ~AlifBe~24

Alka Keswani — Sun, 30 May 2021 06:42:57 +0000

As mentioned many times in the AlifBe series, the 52 letters of Sindhi Alphabet are divisible into 16 shape groups and so far four shape groups are done and dusted! For the recap of the alphabets covered so far, please check this list! In the 5th shape group there are three letters and the first one in this group isر in Arabic Sindhi, र in Devanagari, while in Roman Sindhi it is R as in Ratnagiri/Rajasthan etc. And the corresponding Sindhi dish is Raanh, also called Chauran and Chawli for AlifBe of Sindhi Food #24 Raanh or Black eyed beans are often a part of Prasad in Sindhi temples. Simply boiled with salt and water till soft, Raanh are distributed with Kanau (Karao or Kada Prasad) or with Suji jo seero (Semolina halwa). In many Sindhi homes, Raanh are made in tomato gravy and you can find its recipe here! But personally I like these beans cooked in the typical Sindhi style Onion Tomato gravy, with no other overpowering ingredients like garlic or garam masala powder. I am often asked about how to make a homogenous ‘daag^ waari ras‘ (gravy) without using a blender. ‘Daag^‘ here means a brown coloured gravy that Sindhis use as a base to cook many Sindhi style curries and let me demystify the ‘daag^‘ today! To cook a perfect ‘Daag^ waari ras‘: 1) Make sure that you are using sufficient fat(ghee/oil)…not too much, but just sufficient enough to help proper sautéing of onions. If you use very little oil the onions will stick to the bottom of the pan/cooker and may get burnt or turn crisp. We want perfectly browned but yet soft onions. If you use more than needed fat, the oil will float in the curry and may not to be acceptable to health conscious people. Here is a tip: Add sufficient oil initially, cook onions till brown and then drain out the oil. Re-use it in a day or so to cook another onion based curry. 2) Never allow onions to turn crisp. Crispier onions affect the texture of the final dish as the gravy would look chunkier and not smooth. Make sure that onions are not burnt. Even few burnt bits can turn gravy bitter. 3) Do not blend the gravy using a blender. Always whisk it with a wooden whisker if you want the typical Sindhi flavors of the dish. 4) Once onions and tomatoes are cooked well, add vegetables/meat/chickpeas/Soya chunks etc and bhuno it well till oil separates out (no need to bhuno black eyed beans). Keep sprinkling some water if the contents start sticking to the bottom of the vessel. 5) Add some water to make the gravy and cook vegetables/meat/beans etc first on high flame and then always simmer the curry on low flame, preferably under pressure (Mostly pressure cooker is used to make Daag^ waari ras i.e gravy). 6) You can add Akha garam masala at the beginning or can add some garam masala powder while bhunoing and some, towards the end of cooking process. Hope this helps! If you have any doubts or troubles while cooking any Sindhi food, do let me know via comments and I will make sure to discuss it with you! Here is the recipe: Print Raanh ~AlifBe~24 Raanh or Black eyed Beans cooked in onion tomato gravy! Ingredients Raanh (Black Eyed Beans) 1 cup Onions 2 Tomatoes 2 Green chillies 2-3 (As per taste) Ginger 1 inch piece Salt Turmeric powder ½ tsp Coriander Powder 1 tbsp Oil 2 tbsp Method Pick, rinse several times with water and soak Raanh in water for 6-8 hours. Later discard the water if it is frothy and rinse 1-2 times again. In a pressure cooker heat 2 tbsp of oil, add chopped onions and ginger. Cook onions on medium to low flame, till brown. Add chopped tomatoes, green chillies, turmeric powder and little salt to facilitate softening of tomatoes. Mix well and allow tomatoes to turn mushy. Add about 1 cup of water and close the lid of pressure cooker and wait for 3 whistles. Put off the flame and let the pressure subside! Open the lid, whisk the mixture properly with a wooden whisk (Mandhiyaro). Add soaked beans and some salt along with a tbsp of coriander powder and mix properly. Add some water (about 2 cups) and again close the lid and wait for a whistle of cooker. Put the flame on lowest and allow beans to cook under pressure for 10 minutes. Comparatively fresh beans that are soaked well, tend to soften by then. Else cook a little longer. Once cooked, adjust the consistency of gravy, if needed and serve it garnished with coriander leaves. Goes well with white steamed or boiled rice and/or rotis! 3.5.3251 Signing off with this short video about how to write in Arabic Sindhi!

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