Sindhi Rasoi

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

Khas khas or poppy seeds are usually used in Indian cuisine in making gravies and because of its highly nutritive nature it is also used in breads, cakes, cookies, pastries, curries, sweets and confectionery.

Poppy seeds are like tiny hard grains. The Western type is slate blue; the Indian type, off-white. Both are kidney-shaped.  They are similar in flavour and texture and their uses are interchangeable. The seeds mature in a capsule left after the flower fades. They are widely available in a dried form.It gives out a mild sweetish aroma when roasted or baked
And its flavour is Mild until heated, then it becomes nutty, with sweet-spicy under-tones.Source(epicentre)

This Indian sweet/dessert/pudding called Khas khas jo seero is made by my Ma-in-law on every Rakshabandhan(An Indian festival ,when sisters tie a sacred thread on wrists of their brother/s as the symbol of bonding between the siblings)Generally the trend is that Mithai or anything sweet is made for brothers on that day.Hence Ma makes this every year and not only her brothers but all the kids in family and elders too,wait for this occasion just to relish this sweet made by her

The most awesome thing about this sweet is that it can be made without using any sugar  and still taste as sweet as sweets are supposed to be.Kidding???NAAAAAAH

Actually the milk and khaskhas when cooked together imparts natural sweet taste to the seera and moreover chuhara and raisins serve as perfect sweet bites .So you wont miss the presence of any artificial sugar(no need to add even sugar free tablets)Yes if you want it more sweet,you always have an option to add sugar

This is for you Asha Chand Ji ,in response to your sugar- free- sweets- suggestion

This recipe is of Ma  and the above pic is of seera made by her.Hope you all will drool and enjoy!

Khas khas jo seero:

Ingredients:

• Khas khas(poppy seeds) 50 gm (You can start by using 25 gms or less for your first attempt)
• Milk 500 -650 ml (less or more will just affect the final richness of the sweet so go ahead and experiment)
• Vegetable oil 3-4 tablespoons
• Green cardamon(choti elaichi) 4-5
• Dry fruits like Chuhara(dreid dates),almonds,khishmish(raisins) and unsalted pistachios,all chopped into thick slices(except khishmish) Use as much quantity as you want,but at least, one bowl full
• Sugar (optional) as much preferred

Method:

• Soak khas khas in water for 5-6 hours
• Later rinse it few times(you can use tea strainer) and let all the water drain out completely,through  the strainer
• Now grind this khas khas with some vegetable oil.Water or milk if added while grinding,could create lots of spluttering,while cooking.so its better to use oil
• Grind it till a coarse mixture is obtained
• Now in a heavy  bottom pan or kadai,add 2-3 tablespoons of oil.Let it heat properly,then carefully add the grinded paste .Beware of spluttering(you can immediately close the pan with a lid).Add elaichi now.
• Now roast the mixture on high flame ,stirring continuously till a nice aroma of khas khas fills your kitchen.The paste should look pinkish in colour and the raw smell of khas khas should be gone.Don’t over roast it,as that would give a bitter taste to the final product
• Then carefully add  about a cup of boiled milk,bit by bit and mix carefully.Add all the dry fruits now
• Lower the flame ,keep on adding some milk(about half cup) in intervals ,and let it be absorbed by the khaskhas,till khaskhas is cooked.You might need about 500 ml to 650 ml of milk to achieve this target
• The final seera could be of semisolid consistency ,or as shown in picture— a dry form,which could be obtained by cooking seera till oil separates out
• Garnish with some cashews /almonds/pistachios and serve with love

Easycrafts honored me with  Wylde Woman Award.

The purpose of this award is  to send love and acknowledgment to men and women, who brighten your day, teach you new things and live their lives fully with generosity and joy,and as per rule i am linking it back to Tammy

Thanks Ec for your gesture,i truly appreciate it! Let me hold this award for some time,i will surely pass it on to deserving bloggers  ASAP

Till then Enjoy cooking !

15 th August,The  Independence Day of Our India,is truly a special day for all Indians.

To salute the spirit of this day,Pooja of My creative Ideas came with a wonderful event

As per Pooja  Here are the rules to participate in this event:

 ”Cook anything with 3 colors of flag of India. (Orange , White and Green – you can cook dish finally resulting in any of these 3 colors / any single color / all of 3 , slight variation in color of final dish is perfectly OK”

I simply loved the idea,because for people like me who cannot actively contribute to the  festivity of this Memorable day,what is better than to cook a thing as special  as the day itself?

So here I come with a Typical Sindhi Mithai,made with dessicated coconuts.I know there is still a week to go for the D Day,but considering the pathetic situation of non availability of Electricity for almost 8 hrs everyday and Internet connections going Kaput every now and then, hence i didn’t wanted to wait till next week.Despite of all the jabbering against the place i live,i still love my India.So wishing you all a very patriotic Independence day !

This is also my entry for Easycraft’s WYF-COlour in food event since i had used Green colour in this mithai, and green is my favourite colour in food

Nariyal mithai:

Ingredients:

• Dessicated coconut powder(easily available at stores as naariyal ka chura) 250 gms
• Milk powder 2 spoons
• Sugar 250 gms
• Water 2 small cups
• Green colour(edible food colour)
• White rose essence few drops

Method:

• In a thick bottom pan,add water and sugar,and let it boil for few minutes till a syrup of thick consistency is obtained(this is tricky one,as syrup should not be too dilute ,nor too thick)
• Now divide this syrup into two halves,add little amount of green colour in one half and leave the other half as it is
•  Now mix milk powder in the coconut powder
• Put the colourless syrup in the pan and add half of the coconut mixture in it and cook it,mixing continuously,so that the coconut doesn’t get burned or charred
• Cook till the mixture start sticking to pan
• Put it off the flame and mix few drops of rose essence and pour the mix on greased plate and smoothen down till the layer is at least 1 inch thick(a little more or less is ok)
•  Now repeat the same procedure with green syrup and remaining coconut powder,and lay it over the white layer,smoothing it down (you can wet your hands ,coz the hot mixture is sticky)
• Let it cool for a while and then cut it into pieces of desired shape

Mithai or Indian sweets are immensely popular across the world,simply because of the sheer variety ,richness(calories too),taste,texture and tempting appearance.For people who like sweets,a glimpse of Gulabjamuns or a plate of rosgulla is irrestibleA bite of rasmalai,the aroma of hot jalebis,the richness of Khoya burfi,and the simple sweetness of Malai pedas is sure to drive your “sweet sense” to the heights of delights

In India,Mithai is closely associated with festive spirits.Every occassion or festival calls for a celebration with these sweet delicacies.

As one moves from North of India,where Gulabjamuns,jalebis,Motichoor ke ladoo dominates the palates of people,towards the South of India , coconut burfi and Mysore pak,kesari bath and Badam halwas are relished like anything

East has a different genre of Mithai,mostly Known for its Bengali sweets like rosgolla,chamcham,Mishti doi,Sandesh etc,whereas West of India has its own unique sweet flavors as in Modaks,kajukatli,Basundi etc

Sindhi cuisine also has some interesting sweets namely Tosha,Dhouthi,Geeara(emarti),praguree(these all are lesser known to other communities).The more famous ones are Nariyal jhi mithai(coconut) and singhar (sev) jhi mithai

So let’s start with Singhar jhi mithai today

The base of this sweet is Singhar(sev or fried Strings of besan/gramflour).But this recipe calls for non salty sev(hmmm…..now where to hunt these?).So if you are lucky enough to get your hands on some unsalty sev…..grab them… and make this mithai in jiffy.Wait…there is one more hitch(one more…huh?)It also calls for feeka maawa(unsweetened mawa),which is nothing but Milk boiled and reduced till granulated form is achieved.In India one can get this mawa without much hunting,but for other places around globe,it could be as hard to locate mawa as it is to locate a safety pin from ladies handbags(very satirical…..sorry ladies i correct it to MY Handbag….happy now???).

In that case this link could be really helpful to you all who actually aspire to make this otherwise simple Mithai http://www.bawarchi.com/features/feature5.html

Ingredients:

• Feeka(unsalty)sev 250 gms
• Feeka maava 250 gms
• Sugar 250 gms
• Water 1 1/2 cup
• White rose essence just few drops
• Yellow food colour two pinches if using powder form,or else few drops if liquid colour is used
• Almonds /non salty pistachios or varq(thin edible silver foil sheet)for garnishing

Method:

• In a thick bottomed pan,take approximately one and half cup of water and add sugar
• Heat it and mix properly till sugar melts
• Now add yellow colour(You have to trust your instincts ,coz it depends lot upon the quality of food colour use,you can start by using minimum of it)
• Now add Sev and mix gently,taking care not to mash the sev
• Now add Unsweetened mawa and mix again till thick mixture is formed
• Finally add few drops of essence ,mix and immediately take off from fire
• Now take a flat surface plate( Thali) and grease it slightly with vegetable oil
• Lay the mithai mixture on greased surface and spread out evenly
• Use chopped almonds/unsalted pistachios or silver varq to garnish the surface of mithai
• Let it cool properly ,then cut it into desired shaped pieces
• Consume it within a day or two.