I am sharing a recipe of a vegetarian dish Bhee, Aloo and Wadi ki Sabzi  which is  popular with Sindhis and has a very  distinctive taste and flavour.It goes well with roti, rice or bread.It  alwayBhee, Aloo and Wadi ki Sabzis finds a place on veg buffets. Bhee or lotus stem or kamal kakdi is a delicacy, but only cooked and eaten by a few regions of the country.

BHEE, ALOO & WADI KI SABZI

Ingredients:
> 200 gms Bhee (Kamal Kakdi or lotus stem), scraped and cut into slices about 1/2 cm thick
 > 2 medium sized potatoes peeled and cut into eight pieces each
>  1 Amritsari or any other masala Wadi
> 3 medium sized tomatoes  grated
> 2 green chillies finely chopped
 > 1 inch piece of ginger finely chopped
> 1 tsp coriander powder ( Dhania)
> 1/2 tsp cumminseed (jeera) powder
> 1/2 tsp red chillie powder
> I/4 tsp turmeric powder(Haldi)
> Few coriander leaves finely chopped
> Salt to taste
> 4 tbps oil

Procedure:
Place bhee slices in a pressure cooker. Add one mug of water and boil till the first whistle goes off. Turn off flame and allow cooker to cool. Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan or kadai. Add ginger, green chillies and then onions and saute on low flame till the onions are golden brown . Now add potatoes and boiled bhee ( without the water) and the wadi (broken into pieces) stir on low flame for a couple of minutes. Then add dry spices .. coriander, cumminseed, turmeric and red chillie and again turn around for a couple of minutes. Next add grated tomatoes ,  coriander leaves and salt and continue to turn around on low flame till the tomatoes ate completely well blended and the vegetable has a rich golden brown colour. Add one  and a half mugs of  boiling water,mix and cover the pan with a lid. Cook on low flame for a few minutes till the potatoes and wadi are soft and the vegetable has a thick gravy.
Serve hot garnished with coriander leaves and hot rotis or pav bread.

 

Sai Bhaji is a very popular dish in Sindhi cuisine. Most Sindhi homes make it at least once a week. It has a very unique and delicious taste because of the large number of greens, vegetables and spices and chana dal that go into making it. Sai Bhaji is a very balanced and nutritious dish that goes very well with khichdi, yellow or brown rice or any pulao. Here's how you can make Sai Bhaji in your home.

SAI BHAJI

Ingredients:

 1. 1 Bunch Spinach (Palak)
 2. ¼ bunch Khatti Palak or  Chuka( colloquial name)
 3. 5 to 10 stems of methi  leaves
 4. 5 to 10 stems of Sova or Dil
 5. ½ cup chana dal
 6.1 small potato
 7. 1 medium sized onion
 8. 1 small carrot
 9. 8 to 10 cluster beans
10. 2 to 3 inch piece pumpkin
11. 1 small brinjal
12. 2 medium sized tomatoes grated
13.8 to 10 flakes of garlic
14. 1 inch piece of ginger
15. 2 green chillies
16. ½ tsp turmeric powder
17. ½ tsp Jeera powder
18. 2 tsps coriander powder
19. Salt to taste
20. 4 tbsps oil
21. 1 mug water

Procedure:

Soak the chana dal in a small bowl of water 15 to 20 minutes before you start making Sai Bhaji. Separate leaves from stems of palak, khatti palak, sova and methi, wash well , chop finely and keep aside. Peel and chop all the vegetables very fine and keep aside. Heat oil in a pressure cooker .while it is getting heated, in a mortar and pestle grind ginger and garlic coarsely. Add ginger, garlic and chillies and sauté for a minute or two till the garlic turns golden in colour. Now add chopped onion and sauté till it becomes translucent. Next add the soaked chana dal and chopped pumpkin, potato, carrot, cluster beans and brinjal . Turn all the vegetables around and add the dry spices - turmeric, coriander and cumminseed powder and salt. Next add the chopped tomatoes and stir for a couple of minutes till tomatoes are well blended. Now add one mug of water, close the lid of the pressure cooker and cook on high flame till the first whistle goes off. Lower flame and cook for 10 minutes, after which turn the flame off. Allow the pressure cooker to cool, then open and with a hand blender blend the contents of the cooker so that no grain of dal or piece of vegetable is visible and the Sai Bhaji is of thick puree consistency,

Serve hot with jeera rice or moong dal khichdi.

The festive season is round the corner and most of us like to make something sweet as Prasad on festive and other auspicious days like birthdays, anniversaries etc. We make a wheat flour Halwa ( Kanha Prasad ) which is simple to make , tastes great and generally loved by young and old. Here’s how I make it.

KANHA PRASAD or WHEAT FLOUR HALWA

Ingredients:

· 1 katori or cup wheat flour

· ½ katori or cup sugar

· ½ katori or cup pure ghee

· 2 katoris water

Procedure:

Mix sugar and water in a pan and heat. Bring it to a boil so that the sugar dissolves completely and turn flame off.

Put ghee in a thick kadai and heat. When hot, add the flour , reduce flame and gradually keep turning the flour and ghee mixture on low fame for 10 to 15 minutes, till the mixture is a rich golden brown in colour. Now slowly add the sugar and water mixture, constantly mixing it well so that there are no lumps. When most of the water has been absorbed , cover kadai with lid and cook on the lowest flame for a couple of minutes, till the ghee starts leaving the sides. Now the Halwa is done. Take out in an attractive serving bowl . In case you like , you can garnish the Halwa with almond flakes.

Since I  play Bridge with friends quite frequently at home from around 4pm to about 7 pm in the evening, I am always looking for recipes of light  , healthy and tasty snacks that I can serve with tea. Last week, I was again wondering what I should serve my friends and since I had freshly made khaman dhokla at home , I decided to experiment and try out something new..... Dhokla Bhel, which turned out to be a Hit with my friends. Sharing below exactly what I did.

Dhokla Bhel
Ingredients:
250 gms fresh and soft khaman dhokla
1 small onion finely chopped
2 green chillies finely chopped
1/2 inch piece ginger finely chopped
few coriander leaves finely chopped
2 - 3 tbps sweet bhel chutney
1-2 tbps hot bhel chutney
50 gms bhel sev

Procedure
Mash/crush the khokla pieces in a bowl finely. Add onion , ginger and chillies and the two chutneys and mix well. Serve in a flat glass dish garnished heavily with bhel sev and topped with coriander leaves.

Lotus stem in Spinach curry

Today i had a few cousins over and one of the things I prepared for them was Lotus Stam (kamal kakdi) in Spinach curry (palak). They and never had it before and since they enjoyed it, I thought you may like to try it.
Here is what you do.

Ingredients:

250 gms Lotus stem
2 bundles spinach
2 green chillies
1 inch piece ginger
8 to 10 flakes of Garlic
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 small ball of tamarind(soaked in half a cup of warm water)
1 sp coriander powder
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
3 to 4 tbps oil
2 tsps wheat flour
salt to taste

Procedure:

Wash and scrape the lotus stem skin, till it is clean. cut into slices of 1/2 cm thickness. In a little water boil the lotus stem in a pressure cooker , just one whistle, turn off and keep aside. Separately steam the spinach for a 3 to 5 minutes in a pan and blend to a puree in a blender. Finely chop/ grind the ginger, garlic and green chillies. Heat oil in a kadai or pan ,add mustard seeds and allow to splutter.. Now add ginger garlic paste , reduce flame and stir for a minnute or two. Now put in the boiled lotus stem without any water). Saute for a minute or two on low flame, add coriander and chilli powder and saute for a couple of minutes more, Now add the spinach puree , stir for a couple of minutes. Now squeeze out the tamarind water and put it in. A minute or two later dissolve the wheat flour in a cup of water mixing it well. Add this to the spinach - lotus stem being cooked, add salt, cover and cook on low flame for about 10 minutes. Serve hot. This dish tastes best when it is had with the famous Mumbai pav (bread) and topped with fine bhel sev.

I like brinjal and therefore am always looking for interesting ways to make it. I recently tried out a recipe for stuffed brinjals given by a Maharashtrian friend and really enjoyed it. Hope you like it too.




Ingredients:

10 to 12 small brinjals
1/4 fresh coconut,, grated
1 onion (small) finely chopped
5 to 6 flakes garlic
l1 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1tsp jeera powder
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp red chillie powder
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp groundnuts (powdered)
8 curry leaves
Few coriander leaves
3tbsps oil
Salt to taste


Procedure:

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a tthick kadai, add chopped onions and garlic and saute. When light brown, add coconut.. Saute for a couple of minutes and remove from fire .Grind onion and coconut to a smooth paste. Add all dry spices to this paste.
Wash brinjals in water, wipe dry and slit vertically into four quarters, but not separated. Stuff each brinjal with the gound paste.
Heat the remaining oil in a thick kadai, give tadka with curry leaves and mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds splutter, add stuffed brinjals, a little water and cover. Cook on very low fame for 10 to 15 minutes till brinjals are soft and done. Serve hot garnished with coriander leaves , hot rotis and dahi.. These brinjals also go well with dal and rice too.

It's been a while since I shared any updates . My extensive overseas travel for about a month put me out of gear. But here I am back now and ready to resume my food blogging.

The festive season is already upon us and we Sindhis make a vegetarian meal on those days with a variety of vegetables , sbacks like aloo tikki , samosas or sanha pakora. On most occasions the rice that ismade is called Taheri which is fragrant delicious sweet rice. I had it earlier this week at a cousin's place after a long time, loved it and decided that I must share the recipe on my blog.

TAHERI

Ingredients:

2 cups Basmati rice

1 cup sugar

10 to 12 cardamoms ( peel and remove seeds)

20 to 30 strands of saffron ( soaked in a little warm water)

3 tablespoons pure ghee

3/4 cup dry fruits ( cahewnuts, almonds,( Slit into halves) and raisins)

4 cups water

3/4 tsp salt

Procedure:

Wash and soak rice in water in a bowl for about 20 minutes. Heat a thick bottomed pan. Add ghee. When melted, add rice, cardomom seeds and saffron with the water . Reduce flame and stir for a couple of minutes. Now add 3 cups of water and salt and cook on medium flame In another pan dissolve sugar in the balance one cup of water by heating it.

When the rice is almost cooked and the waterappears dried up add the dissolved sugar syrup and dry fruits. Cover and cook on lowest flame for about ten minutes or till the rice is steaming . Serve hot. Tastes great by itself too with mango pickle and roasted papad.