Apart from the quintessential Papad, pickle, Kadhi and Saibhaji, Sindhis are well known for their love for the lotus stem and they are the most avid eaters of this slightly nutty, mildly sweet, crunchy stem. Their insatiable appetite for Beeh is the reason that lotus stems are particularly found in markets in and around Sindhi populated areas. Beeh (Lotus stem), dhodhee/Pabhora (lotus seeds) and Lohr (corm) are the parts of Lotus plant that Sindhis eat with great relish. While our Beeh paalak is bit similar to Kashmiri Nadru paalak (Paalak nadir) and our gravy based beeh curries are similar to…
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A Sindhi’s love for Lotus stem dates back to pre-partition era and our forefathers loved the nutty flavored, woodsy looking, stringy/hairy stem of Lotus flower so much that they started cultivating it here in India, around their homes, and hence this Lotus stem or Beeh is still found mostly in Sindhi dominated areas.Those who grew up in areas like Ulhasnagar, Chembur, Khar, Pune, Indore or such other Sindhi populated places, might have tasted, the stuffed Beeh tikki. A signature Sindhi snack, Beeha Ji tikki, is now hardly available in Sindhi eateries and is seldom cooked at homes. I still remember…
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Long long ago when life was all about school, homework, friends, doll marriages, ludo, carom, skipping ropes, sibling fights and having crush on Bollywood stars, food was not a hyped fad and terms like Gourmet, Haute cuisine, Molecular gastronomy, were unheard of. Eating out was a luxury strictly indulged in, during Diwali and the family get- togethers meant a bunch of family members slogging all the day to prepare the feast. Festivals meant some extra cooking, little ahead of the D-day, to share food with friends, family and neighbors. Packaged food was nowhere in the scene and food was generally…
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Kirng or Samo seeds rice is often used in India to cook ‘fasting foods. Also known as Bhagar or Moraia , Samo seeds are a kind of wild rice (seeds), hence named as ‘Jungle rice’. Botanically known as Echinochloa colona, it is actually a weed growing in rice fields. Samo is widely used in India, to prepare rice, sweet porridge and Upma. The samo flour is also used to make unleavened flat breads and is generally consumed during fast, when one needs to avoid grains like rice and wheat. I cooked it as a regular upma, replacing semolina with samo…
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Bhelpuri~ One of the most popular chaat/ street food! Indians need no introduction for this quick to whip up, tangy mixture of puffed rice, boiled potatoes, chopped onion, farsan (crispy or crunchy, mixed fried munchies) mint and coriander chutney (dip), sweet tamarind/sonth chutney topped up with some crunchy sev (thin, fried, salted gram flour noodle strings). I sometimes wonder if its just Sindhis, who have a strong affinity for chaats or does it apply to all the communities of India? I doubt whether anyone can resist any type of lip smacking chaat, be it Panipuri, Sevpuri, Dahi puri, Raga patties…
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A plateful of ‘Ubhaaryal Phota’ or the boiled, whole (in pods) fresh garbanzo beans stirs memories in many a hearts, particularly if you belong to the ‘pre gizmo-freak generation’. The generation that never got bored despite of the absence of social media networks, 3GS, WiFi, smart phones, X-box, infinite TV channels and coffee shops to hang around with friends. Now when I hear my son complaining about how often he feels bored of his board games, Cartoon channels, baseball and unlimited access to books and computer games, I can’t help but sit and wonder; what was it, that kept us…
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Lentils…there are possibly million ways to cook and relish lentils and India is a blessed country, with the sheer variety of lentils grown here, the number of way these get incorporated into our daily diet and the exhaustive combinations of meals that we can make, using split dried lentils or Dal….be it Chana dal, or urad dal, toor dal or humble yellow moong dal ( skinned and split Moong beans) While Sindhis do use variety of legumes and pulses in their daily food, the yellow Moong Dal stays the favorite. Not only we cannot live without our Dal chaawal, but…






