Sindhi Rasoi

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

Jai and Bee of Jugalbandi are one of my inspiration behind food photography.Trust these guys for some cool pics and heady stuff in all of their posts.And my personal favorites are of course the fuming “Forgive Me My Nonsense“.I confess that i am always more interested in their pics and rantings,than their recipes(sorry guys)

Jugalbandi comes up every month with a CLICK food photography event,with some amazing themes.And i would lie if i say that I am not tempted to come in their  25 best pics list,so what if i had not succeeded till now?I am not gonna give up so soon

This month theme is crust, and it’s details are here So Bee,here is my  entry for your Click- Crust theme.

The above picture is of a Semolina Rusk. According to wikipedia….A rusk is a rectangular, hard, dry biscuit or a twice-baked bread (zwieback). It is sometimes used as a baby weaning food. In the UK, the name also refers to as  food additive.In sindhi  we call this as Tosh,and mostly enjoy it with Adrak waali chai (ginger tea)

I placed this rusk over my balcony,where the green swinging trees and mushroomed apartments provided a sort of  contrasting backdrop.Since the breeze was heavy,no matter how hard i tried,some crumbs did scattered around,so i left them as it is !

Hope i had done justice to your theme

Moon and stars sit way up high
Earth and trees beneath them lie
The wind blows fragrant lullaby
To cool the night for you and i
On the wing the birds fly free
Leviathan tames angry sea
The flower waits for honeybee
The sunrise wakes new life in me.
And every hour of every day I m learning more
The more I learn, the less I know about before
The less I know, the more I want to look around
Digging deep for clues on higher ground…

The fishes swim while rivers run
Thru fields to feast my eyes upon
Intoxicated drinking from
The loving cup of burning sun
In dreams I’ll crave familiar taste
Of whispered rain on weary face
Of kisses sweet and warm embrace
Another time another place

And every hour of everyday Im learning more
The more I learn, the less I know about before
The less I know, the more I want to look around
Digging deep for clues on higher ground…

This song by UB40 echoes my thoughts regarding the Existence of God around us .Strange??sure…but not untrue!!

Disclaimer: This post is not intended to hurt any body’s sentiments or religious faith.These are just my thoughts and has nothing to do with any particular community or religion.I used this place to express my views and i am sure many of you will be offended,but be sure i didn’t  intended so!

And let me also clarify that this doesn’t have recipe for food,but just food for my thoughts!

So people looking for any sense, kindly stop reading further…….while others do so at your own risk!

To begin with ,I am not one of those usual religious kind of person who prays in front of idol everyday, nor am i a blasphemer,instead ,i belong to that category of spiritual followers who try to seek out their peace of mind and daily dose of  happiness among other little things around rather than visiting daily a temple or mosque,gurudwara or church.
Many will agree with me,and many more will disagree(and that really doesn’t matters)that nowadays the whole concept of worshiping deities have changed.It’s no longer is a calm and serene procedure to visit temples,but a commercialized one,and if it happens to be a really popular temple,you are whisked away in few seconds away from the idol of God,even before you have a decent look at the Almighty,so that to accommodate the huge swarm of people waiting for their turn for Darshan.The VIP people have special routes  to enter the temple,whereas the common man foolishly stands outside waiting for his turn.Some opportunists  Black market  special reserved spaces in queues and you can pay some amount to him and Ho ! you are escorted inside the temple ,without waiting in sun or rain
I agree that there still are people who genuinely offer their prayers and are true followers of Humanity.These sort of people certainly pray with noble intentions and honest faith.But for me visiting any religious place during festival is a torture since i can’t stand huge mass of people,and all the dhakamduki near the prasad counters,the shrilling sound of bahajans playing in loudspeakers and group of people running helter skelter just defeat the whole purpose of finding peace at religious place
So i feel the best time to visit such places is the time when no festival or occasion is there.Only then i find the whole atmosphere of temple or mosque bearable, soothing and pleasant,and one can actually feel the presence of some divine force around.But still it lacks something?what?Why?
I have experienced a  heavenly aura in few of my visits to places like Titwala Ganesh mandir and Haji malang darbar,Mahalaksmi mandir,just to mention a few.No, not inside the temple or dargah ,but on the way ,on the route,around the temple/dargah.The road leading towards the Ganesh temple in Titwala is surrounded by breathtaking greenery,fresh air,clear ponds,and mesmerizing mountains.The uphill climbing of Hajimalang mountain is such a wonderful feeling,that could never be expressed in words.You are tired,your feet starts swelling,the Dargah seems to be still so far to reach,but the beauty of nature around you gives you the strength to go on.The fresh air filling your lungs give you enough energy to huff and puff few more steps uphill.

The roaring sea around Mahalakshmi mandir is sure to stir your souls so deep ,that you can’t help but admire the wonders of GOD.Even the atheists can’t ignore the ripples created in mind when you are near such places. But alas as soon as i enter the temple or dargah,my mind doesnt feel the same intensity of peace as it did just few moments back outside the temple.The idols of God somehow failed to prove the presence of Him,which was but so obviously felt just outside the temple. I guess the difference lies in origin of things.while the idols are man made,the sea,the mountains,the trees are natural ,and there is always a difference of genuiness between natural and artificial things
These snaps clicked on way to Titwala mandir will surely make you believe that God exists amidst nature

Since photography is prohibited inside Ganesh temple,so no pics of interior of temple or  of the Lord Ganesha Himself

So Let me celebrate this Ganesh Utsav with me and My little Ganeshas (not the idol ofcourse but little kids around) in lap of nature ,sharing lots of sweets and cheer and laughter,for isn’t that a better way to please the Divine power??

I had made this butter papdi chaat many weeks ago,but was unable to post it because i wanted to “Google ” info regarding BUTTER.Now don’t confuse it with Butter ,a dairy product made from milk or cream,that we normally use as a spread or condiment(Amul or Mother dairy).

These BUTTER (or maybe batar) are the baked ,hard buns/toast,circular in shape,and not sweet. I was unable to find any information about that,so i will be glad if somebody could enlighten me about ,what it is called in other languages and how they are made

For now ,let me give you a clue on how does these look…….here is the picture of butter

This BUTTER papdi chaat is very famous around the place i live and Sindhis could be seen relishing this chaat at every chaatwalla stall(Thela)

Once you are able to grab some Butter(which are easily available at bakeries atleast in Mumbai),this a very simple chaat to assemble.It is almost same as sevpuri ,with only the variations,that in sevpuri ,unpuffed or puffed puris are used ,whereas here butter are used.And also amount of tangy chutney used in butter papdi is more.I mean butter papdi is almost immersed in chutney

As sevpuri,these too tend to become soggy pretty fast ,so gulp it down the moment you assemble it

Ingredients:

• Butter 5 (you can use as many are required)
• Papdi two handfuls
• Onion 1
• Potato 1
• Coriander leaves for garnishing
• Tamarind chutney 1 small cup
• Sev(optional) a handful
• Salt just a pinch or two
• Chaat masala powder few pinches(optional)
• Red chilly powder to sprinkle

Method:

• Boil,peel and chop potato into small chunks
• Peel and chop onion very finely
• Make tamarind chutney .You can find the recipe here
• In a serving plate ,place the butter with porous side upward
• Spread some potato,onion,crushed papdi,sev and sprinkle some salt and chilly powder(chaat masala too… if you have some)
• Now pour some chutney over it,actually the butter should be half immersed in chutney,but i prefer this chaat to be bit dry
• Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and relish immediately

Other related posts are:

Dahi sev puri

Panipuri