Come March and all the mothers of school going kids,(in Maharashtra atleast)are sweating over the Just In sultry Summers and Final examinations of kids at schools.The rising mercury and increasing anxiety about exams surely plays a great role in losing appetite and the enthusiasm to cook elaborate meals.Its surely is the time for those quick fix lunches like Bhugha chaanwara’n and curd,or Dodo with some buttermilk.The rising prices of fresh(???) vegetables in summer is inversely proportional to the freshness,and hence its hard to stock some green veggies and utilize them before they wilt off.With the refrigerator not working for 6-8 hrs daily(due to loadshedding) the vegetables surely die untimely death

So in such scenario,some dishes that surely comes  handy are the ones which use lentils, gramflour,onion,potatoes etc.

One such dish is  Chilra kadhi, a typical Sindhi Curry, made from  savory Besan Pancakes, in a simple Watery curry,seasoned with mustard seeds and curry leaves

The batter for chilra is same as that of Sindhi Sanna pakora, but instead of deep frying batter, we simply need to roast these on a griddle, till crisp brown and then dump in curry…sounds simple…yes for sure

Here we go, straightaway to the recipe of the Day:

Ingredients:

• 1 small cup gram flour(besan)
• 1 small onion(chopped)
• Handful of coriander leaves(chopped)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp annardana( Dry pomegranate seeds)
• 1 tsp Coriander seeds(akkha dhaniya)
• 2 Green chillies(finely chopped)
• Salt to taste
• Red chilli powder as per taste
• A pinch of baking soda
• Water

OTHER

• Oil for shallow frying
• Mustard seeds and curry leaves for tempering

Method:

• Mix all the ingredients except  oil,mustard seeds and curry leaves,till a batter of medium consistency is obtained
• Now heat a griddle(tawa),and grease it with some oil
• Take a spoonful of the above batter,and slowly spread it ,on tawa to make small chilras(pancakes).
• You can make several chilras at a time , by spreading the mixture on griddle , by spacing them at little distance from each other(Remember to spare about a spoonful of this batter for gravy)
• Pour some more oil and let  them cook on medium flame.
• Toss  when one side is brown and let them cook on other side too. Alternatively you can bake the pancakes
• In the meantime add some water to remaining one spoonful of the batter and let it boil for about two minutes
• Add salt ,red chilly powder and turmeric powder and let it cook further for few minutes
• Heat some oil and add curry leaves and mustard seeds and allow them to splutter
• Add this seasoning in the boiling curry and let it cook further for some time,till the rawness  of ingredients added, is gone.Adjust the seasoning if needed
• While serving , heat the curry(kadhi)and add some chilra and simmer  for about a minute.Do not let it boil for more than a minute or else you will end up with a mushy concoction
• Garnish with coriander leaves and enjoy with Rotis

Now something Exciting…I always admired the pictures with a highlighted stuff in front and a blurred background,but was under impression that it needed some High End Camera to produce such stuff Then i stumbled upon Nag’s post upon Food Photography basics, wherein she had explained how to blur the background and trust me,when i went through it at first glance,i  thought it would be difficult for my Technically-challenged brain, to learn those tips.But to my surprise,when i tried to follow it step by step, it was  damn easy to work with. Here’s how i got my blurred background effect for the above picture

Thank you Nag for your detailed explaination,will wait for some more Photography /Editing tricks from you This is just a trial , next time i am surely work on it neatly

Other related posts :

Kadhi chaawal

Pakora Kadhi

Aur Jo Ras

Human beings are really nasty…When a kid is supposed to act like a kid,he/she wants to be treated like an adult.And when finally one day,the little,cute kid had grown enough to take the worldly responsibilities, all he /she needs is to become a kid again and get pampered by the family. Sounds similar to your thoughts??Well i don’t know about you,but i definitely, am a Confused soul.While i was a sweet little kid(No giggling please….i was Actually sweet, mind you…..),i hated those cheek pulling aunties and wished i grew up a little .and when i did ,i could only hear mom’s shrieks like…Don’t do that….Don’t sit like that….you can’t roam around the streets……girls are not supposed to settle scores with bully guys……why can’t you behave like a teenager girl etc etc.Oofffff  i again wished to grow up more so that i would be treated like a responsible lady with no rules framed around me,for me ,by the elders.I was a revolt…

Well finally i was a bride to my groom and i thought i was now a free soul to make my rules (and bend them) and that gone are the days of elders shouting or fuming at me.

I was thoroughly pampered as a wife by my hubby,but alas it only lasted till our baby was born.After that i was no longer eligible for the bear hugs when i was upset, no Sorry cards to pep up my mood after fights,no cuddling when nightmares hounded me, no silly sweet nothings murmured, no more walks hand in hand, no favourite foods of mine cooked for me(except by my mom who send in occasionally my very favorite foods),no consoling when i was shattered with the mad things happening around.Now this wasn’t because people around me don’t love me anymore…its just that now everybody expect a Mom of 7 year old to be a responsible,strong,mature lady,capable of handling EVERYTHING around her(Duh….).Yeah…i was finally a strong soul that i longed for….but as i said earlier,human beings are nasty….so now all that i crave for are simple gestures that brighten up a kiddie mind inside me.

Those teeny weeny candies given to me as a bribe to behave NICELY in front of relatives,those little dolls gifted ,when i fair-ed well in exams,the ridiculously decorated birthday cards by friends,those not-so-costly but adored like GOLD ,gifts by neighbors and friends,the GOOD or VERY GOOD Remarks given by teachers in the notebooks when i wrote properly ,those sweet hugs by parents when we did well in school, mother making my favorite dishes on my birthdays, and friends and neighbors surrounding me on that day ,just to get some extra attention and maybe an extra chocolate(well honestly me too did same on their birthdays…lolz)……i miss those sweet pamperings so much.

Well as they say,nothing remains same forever,so now its our kid’s turn to be pampered as we were ,by our parents.Not that i am complaining,but sometimes the kid inside you budge its head and you feel like grabbing some more attention,some more applauds,some more bribes(not monetary of course) from the people around you

So while i ranted about all this,i simultaneously pampered my self ,in absence of anyone else to do the honours.And what better for a foodie blogger than to cook something for herself??

To begin with,one of our neighbour…. Aunty K,who was a very enthusiastic lady,never tired of daily chores, a wonderful cook and a jolly fellow,always made some simple but droolworthy food,and would make a point to send a share to our home(my maternal family). My mother actually learnt sabudana khichdi,potato toasters,Idly sambhar and many more ,from that graceful lady.Alas ,Aunty K , is no more with us.Died at young age,but she still stirs some great memories,and specially reminds me of  a Sindhi kadhi(no not the usual one) which used to be  the most tasty kadhi i ever had at her place.

Sindhis as any other caste are divided further in sub castes and one among them is CHAAPRU .I found their mannerisms more similar to Gujratis or Kutchis ,than Sindhis.Don’t know the truth,its just my observation for that one family.And a typical,traditional chaapru kadhi called AUR JO RAS is what i made for myself.The reason being that no one else in family is interested in that,so i just ended up cooking for myself and enjoying alone.I slurped two bowls of this Kadhi and skipped my lunch as well as Dinner.No marks for guessing how much i relished that taste and those moments of Being ME,With ME,For Me

So today i share with you ,yet another authentic Sindhi Kadhi,and the recipe is of Aunty K’s Father -in-law,respectfully called as Baba by everyone

Aur jho ras is nothing but a tangy curry, dominated by the flavors of garlic and mustard seeds and spiced up with just green chillies and tamarind.The USP of this dish is the Besan roll,donot skip the rolls,as they actually add a wonderful dimension to the flavors of curry

Ingredients:

• Garlic -1 whole pod
• Green chillies 2-3
• Mustard seeds 2-3 tsp
• Tamarind pulp 2-3 tsp(more or less as per your taste)
• Sliced or cubed vegetables like Radish and Potato(i used only these)
• Gram flour-6-7 tsp
• Salt
• Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
• Red chilly powder 1/2 tsp
• Oil 1 -2 tsp
• Water 2-4 glasses
• Coriander leaves for garnishing

Method:

• In a pan or kadai,add peeled and crushed garlic(save 2-3 cloves for later use) and green chillies and some oil (just a tspn or more)
• Saute it for some time ,but DO NOT LET THE GARLIC TURN BROWN
• Add mustard seeds,saute it for few seconds,and then add sliced radish and potato chunks and add about 2 glass of water
• Add tamarind pulp,salt,turmeric powder and let it boil for few minutes,simmer it later for few minutes,till potato is cooked
• Meanwhile Add some salt,some crushed garlic (yeah…use that saved cloves of garlic here)and red chilly powder to the gram flour and knead a stiff dough using little water
• Make small oblong rolls of this dough (about 6-7)and drop them to the simmering kadhi
• Cook until potato and besan rolls are cooked from the center(anywhere between 15-30 minutes
• Add water if required,this kadhi is of dilute consistency,and adjust the seasoning
• Garnish with some chopped coriander leaves and enjoy it as  a soup to warm yourself or pour it over some Khichdi or rice and have a hearty meal