Sindhi Rasoi

Today we observed Ekadashi Fast???? I can’t call it Fast, coz it was feast instead ! A heavy Doda (Flatbread) with Potato curry could not be a Fasting food for me, but it was surely Yummy !

Ekadashi  means  the eleventh lunar day (Tithi) of the shukla (bright) or krishna (dark) paksha (fortnight) of every lunar month in the Hindu calendar (Panchang)(Wikipedia)

Today is Vadi Ghyaras or Badi Ekadashi ,and we Sindhis observe it with exuberance,avoiding Grains for whole day and including  in our diet , foods like potato, Sago, Sweet potato, Dates , peanuts,and instead of using wheat flour ,Flours of Sauri ,singhara etc are used to make puris or Dodo(thick flatbread)

So here is a Typical Sindhi Ekadashi Food,which consists of Potato in watery curry ,relished with Dodo made from Sauri Flour.

Non Sindhis would obviously ask me what is sauri,and i can only tell that it is also known as Bagar(Don’t know how it is spelt).Any one Who can share more information on this,kindly put up in comment box or do mail me at sindhirasoi@gmail.com

Anyways coming to the recipe,here it goes:

For Potato curry:

Ingredients:

• Potato 2
• Sauri flour  1 spoon
• Tamarind water 3-4 spoons or as required
• salt
• Black pepper powder 2 pinches
• Green chillies 1
• oil 1 spoon
• water 2 cups

Method:

• Soak tamarind in half cup of water for about 15 min,mash it properly ,discard the pulp
• Now in a pressure cooker add 1 spoon of oil,and mix a spoonful of Sauri flour and roast it till slight change in colour is observed
• Add water(mix well to avoid lumps) ,salt,black pepper powder and potato cubes( You can add  boiled kamalkakdi too)tamarind water,green chillies and mix them properly.Close the lid of cooker and wait for 2 whistles
• later check the consistency of gravy and adjust accordingly.This curry is supposed to be watery
• This preparation is relished during Fast of ekadashi along with gyarsi doda(Thick rotis made from singhare ka atta)

Ghyarsi Dodo:

Ingredients:

• Sauri Flour( one cup for one dodo)
• Salt
• Black pepper(crushed or powdered) 2 pinch
• Oil 2 tspn
• Mashed boiled potato 1

Method:

• Take a cupful of sauri flour,and mix all ingredients.Add a little amount of water and make a soft dough
• Now grease a hot griddle(tawa) and gently pat the dough rolling  in circular motion with palm of your hands,till a thickness of paratha is achieved(since this is bit tricky,an easy way out is to take a clean polythene bag,cut open it ,and lay on kitchen platform.Now sprinlke some atta on this polythene sheet and place the dough,then gently pat it till a circular roti shape is achieved,and carefully pick it up and place on greased and hot griddle
• Pour a little of oil and let it cook on medium flame till small brown patches appear .Toss and cook on other side too
• Enjoy it hot with ghyarsi bhaji or with curd
• Kindly note that this dough tend to get watery and impossible to handle if kept for some time.So knead the flour and immediately make dodo from that.Even if you knead large quantity of it …like say about 5 flatbreads,by the time you finish cooking 3,the rest of dough will turn difficult- to -handle -type.So in that case knead little amount of flour at one Go .And repeat the kneading procedure for rest of Dodas

PS:After lots of RESEARCHING on Net,and going through comments and mails of dear visitors ,i finally came to conclusion  that Sauri is SOMA ,VARAI or bhagar or junglee rice,or Little Millet.You will get complete info at Thecookscottage and here

And now that i am sure what GRAIN it is ,i can gleefully send this Entry to Challenge , a wonderful event by Veda of Iyengar’s kitchen

First of all Belated Diwali Wishes to all the visitors,and i hope this Diwali was as auspicious for you all, as it should be!

Well, Every one must have celebrated Diwali in some or other way……mine was buzzing full of activities and i thoroughly enjoyed that!

Pre- Diwali Days went in Cleaning and scrubbing every nook and corner of the house,followed by lots of shopping for D-Day!

Diwali Day began with a Typical Sindhi breakfast which hubby dear kept avoiding from last many months,DAL PAKWAAN….obviously due to the calories it imparts.But knowing me,can i let him have his way on this Day(this is the day to indulge ,isn’t it?)

After Stuffing myself with this sinful breakfast,it was time to get back in action,a Bhee palaak for lunch(spinach with lotus stem)and then Malai Kofta for Dinner ,which were made to enjoy with Whole family who visit us every year for Diwali Puja(Hatri pooja).

Hatri is nothing but  a small house-like structure made of mud, where a small idol of Lakshmiji sits in the middle.Diyas are lit and prayers are sung in honor of the Goddess of Wealth,followed by Palav and then prasad distribution.

My adorable  Sis-in -law made lip smacking Pavbahji,and my Lovely neighbor send in this Faral(chakli,chivda,ladoo,karanji,namakpada)all relished by everyone along with of course loads of Mithais and Laai (Sindhi Chikkis),followed by more Pooja ceremonies at Relative’s homes and finally some sparklers,crackers and Zameen chakris ,not to forget lanterns and Rangoli,before we signed off for the day ,exhausted but contented !

Did we enjoyed?ofcourse but yeah ,we all thoroughly missed the adorable BIG KID of the family…my bro-in-law, who is away for official visit.Hey Sk….there would be definitely another Diwali when you will be back.

So now lets hop to the recipe of the day,Dal pakwan ….which is a Typical,Authentic Sindhi breakfast.It is deepfried,crisp,unpuffed  Maida puris,flavored with salt ,pepper and Ajwain,served with Chanadal ,which in turn is topped with coriander chutney and tamarind chutney,and /or chopped onions…A true Delight…..

Dal

Ingredients

• 250 gm chana dal(adjust the quantity of dal and other ingredients according to your requirement)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 5-6 of curry leaves(karipatta)
• one small tomato(optional)
• 5 green chillies
• 3 cups water
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• Salt to taste
• 1-2 tspn oil

Pakwan

Ingredients:

• 3 cups All purpose flour(Maida)
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds/Ajwain (caraway)seeds
• 2-3 tspn oil
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp Red chilly powder
• Sufficient water to make a dough
• Oil for deep frying

Method:

Procedure for Dal:

• Wash dal and soak it for an hour
• Pour 1-2 tspn oil in a cooker and allow it to heat. Add cumin seeds,curry leaves and green chillies and fry for a couple of minutes.
• Add grated tomato(optional)and fry it till cooked
• Add dal, turmeric powder and salt.
• Add little water and close the lid of cooker
• Wait for one whistle
• Open the lid,check the dal ,it should be tender but not mushy
• While serving ,sprinkle mango powder(Amchoor), chilly powder,coriander leaves and tamarind chutney and/or coriander chutney,and chopped onions(optional)
• Serve hot with crisp pakwans

Procedure for pakwan:

• Sieve the flour.
• Mix the flour with the cumin seeds/Ajwain, oil, salt and sufficient water and make a dough.
• Dough should not be too hard nor too soft
• Let the dough rest for 15 min
• Later,divide the dough into small portions.
• Roll out a portion like a chapati
• Prick the surface with fork/ knife,so that it don’t puff out(don’t forget to do this)
• Heat the oil till smoking point ,Slide in the Pakwan and carefully fry it,on medium or low flame till it turns crisp and golden in color.
• Serve with hot dal

This Dal Pakwan goes to Sra of When my soup came alive,for her Fourth Helping of  My Legume Love Affair,an event started by Susan

And also to dear Srivalli of cooking4allseasons who is hosting JFI – Festivals (Diwali),Jfi is the event started by Mahanadi

From past few months,i have been feeling this terrible urge of attaining some super power to uproot all the maddening bad ,prevailing around.I can feel a transition within me from being a happy go lucky girl to a nagging,yelling,irked person ,conferring eternal damnation to at least 20 people per day(in my thoughts of course).Little things start bothering me and i see red at drop of the hat.When i discuss this with my friends and well wishers,everyone suggests the same thing…”you can’t change the world,and there is no sense in fretting and fuming,so just calm yourself and better practice some Meditation.” I agree yoga does helps me considerably to cool down,but is it always possible to remain cool,or rather is it always necessary to be as cool as cucumber?
Still i took the suggestions of my friends and practiced some deep breathing exercise every time i was cornered .
Grocery man,weighing 953 gms of sugar instead of 1000 gms in front of my eyes…i deep breathed and remain silent
Ricksha walla (driver of three wheeler public transport) demanded 7 INR instead of official 5 INR rate…i obliged
Telephone connection went boooooohooooo….i remained silent
Internet connection didn’t got restored despite of hundreds of calls to the pathetic customer care guys,and  to even- more -pathetic local service providers….i kept quiet
Ethernet card was destroyed due to lightning,TV tuner card went kaput..i didn’t moaned
Just because we reside at wrong side of  metro city,we go without current for 8 hours a day,while the metro which is just 25 kms (distance between two railway stations)from our place enjoy uninterrupted power supply….I bear this with silence
Dirty politics in offices,bribe greedy officials in government institutions,and policeman demanding free rides in public transport vehicles,female infanticide,people throwing infants and even embryos in garbage bins(whatever their personal excuses be)while garbage stinking  in fronts of homes,potholes on roads,that are shoddily filled when some MLA is expected,only to go crap within few days,and working class idiotically paying their taxes(coz they are deducted at source)while businessman cleverly escapes from the clutches of Honorable finance minister who can hike the rates of petrol when globally crude oil rates shoots to 110$ /barrel,but forgets to dive back , when  the rates slide down to as low as 70 $/bbl

There is more stupidity on TV,with every absurd news served to us as BREAKING NEWS,Reality Shows with not so real tears and stories,vulgar stuff aired in the name of Modernism,and morons hogging up the limelight ,while serious issues concerning to common man are not  voiced even for the heck of Genuine news.All served to us between ADVERTISEMENTS.If you watch TV for say 30 minutes,you end up seeing advertisements for 18 minutes and actual stuff for 12 minutes or even less..I don’t do anything to change that……So  i keep my cool and stop watching TV instead
BUTttttttttttttt
…..how far can a sensible person stay deaf,dumb and blind to such apathy ??Should we always turn our eyes from all this ILL,and just call ourselves cool ?I agree ranting wont change anything,but is it possible for a pulsating heart to ignore all this and keep silent with few pranayams?Wont we be as good as dead then?

I know even when i wrote all this,nothing is gonna change..not even 0.5% …but should we just seal our lips,and ears,and eyes,and lay dead ?
Well after boiling so much of my blood over these issues,i definitely need some energy to go on.When i was a kid,my Mother used to say that pulses and vegetables gives us energy and  make us strong.So now let me have some SUPER MOLECULES or proteins as they are generally called,and what better source than Kaalachana
I am confused to categorize this simple but power packed dish.I can call it salad since it is a food mixture consisting of boiled and raw stuff,with a tangy dressing,but then i also remember this as one of our favorite chaat sold outside our school gate!
So call it whatever you want..but do include this in your diet .
Ingredients

• Kaala chana(black chickpeas)
• Tomato 1
• Onion 1
• salt and pepper to taste
• Tamarind chutney or lemon juice 1-2 tspn
• Boiled potato
• Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

• Pick the chana,rinse properly many times with water ,and soak them for about 5-6 hours
• Later boil it with salty water till cooked.If unsoaked or not soaked for much time,you might need to boil it for more time,otherwise it is almost done in 2-3 whistles in a pressure cooker.Again that depends upon the quality of chana.So keep experimenting
• When done,lay them in serving bowl or plate,top it up with dash of salt ,pepper powder,chaat masala powder(optional),red chilly powder(optional),2 spn (more or less ….depends upon your taste) tamarind water(just soak a ping ball size of tamarind in half cup of water for 10 minutes,mash it and squeeze it properly.Discard the pulp,and use the tamarind water)
• Add chopped onion,tomato,boiled potato,or veggies of your choice.Garnish it with coriander leaves

This simple salad is going for

Sra’s My Legume Love Affair Which is the brainchild of Susan

Sangeeth’s Eat Healthy-Fight Diabetes contest

Divya of Dilse for Diet Food Event

Mahalakshmi (Saghro)-This is one of unique and important festival in the Sindhi festival calendar. The festival is dedicated to Goddess Mahalaxmi, the Goddess of wealth and being celebrated during the “Shiradhs” - a time period of two weeks dedicated for paying homage to forefathers. Celebration of festival starts with tying “Sagaro” a thread belt compiled from raw thread with sixteen knots, on wrist. On the eighth shiradh,sagaro is untiedTo mark the end of festival a special worship prayer of Goddess Mahalaxmi is conducted in near by temple where all the ladies are gathered with sagara of all the family members. Each sagaro is rolled over the set of four “Puris” and for each sagara set of two each Sori [sixteen pointed Tiki] and Titar [with four points] are made and after the worship are to be eaten by the family member concerned.

For this festival Tikyoon, Lola and Satpuda are prepared in Sindhi homes. Satpuda soaked in sweet milk is one of tasty sindhi food.  (source-The sindhu world)

Last month we observed this untying of thread,and the best part of it was making Fried Lola which my son relish like anything

Though normally these are made with sixteen or four points,but i asked my son to help me making those,without bothering how many pointed tips it had,since these were not going for pooja ceremony,but into the school  tiffinbox of my son.And he likes these to be somewhat star shaped:-)

Ingredients:

• 250 gms wheatflour
• 60 gms sugar
• 35 ml oil
• Water
• Green cardamons(choti elaichi)3-4
• Oil for frying
  

Method:

• In a saucepan boil about a cup of water,add sugar,cardamons(peeled or crushed)
• Let the sugar dissolve properly
• Alternatively some of sugar can be substituted with jaggery,so in that case boil jaggery and sugar together, also put a spoonful of milk as it will remove the impurities of sugar
• Now this is tricky as the syrup consistency should not be too thin or else the lolas will be less sweeter.The syrup should be bit sticky when pinched between the fingers
• Now let the syrup cool off properly
• Strain it
• Take the wheat flour ,mix oil and pour the syrup little by little and knead the flour,adding more syrup at intervals
• The dough should be stiff and if needed very small amount of water can be added
• Now take a small portion of this dough,and roll it till a thickness as  that of paratha is achieved
• With the help of  an inverted small steel bowl or glass,or any cutter,cut the rolled dough into small poori sized discs
• You can fry them as it is or to make it more appealing to kids,pinch the edges at short intervals 
• With a fork spoon,prick on one side of these discs so that they get properly fried from  inside.Repeat the whole procedure with remaining dough
  
• Now take a frying pan,heat the oil(remember the oil should not be too hot or else the surface of discs will be browned while inside these will be uncooked,but if oil is too little hot,the lola will crumble or get soggy)
• Deep fry them on low flame till nice golden colour is achieved
• Generally after frying these ,a spoonful of powdered sugar is spread over the centre of these lola,and a spoonful of hot oil is poured over it.But i avoided it,due to the health reasons
• Let them cool,and  later,store them in airtight container.
• Fried lolas ,if stored properly ,have a shelf life of about a week

This is my entry for Paajakas -Deep fried or steam cooked sweets event

Also this goes to Tongueticklers,the  Theme of October is FIC-Brown