POV: Sindhis make nutritious food out of garden weeds Meet Loonak (लूणक) ~ aka Purslane (Kulfa), which grows in gardens, in fields and even between roadside pavers! Loon in Sindhi refers to salt and Loonak is named so because of its inherent salty flavours. Memories : 1980’s, Summer vacations, roaming in by-lanes, spotting succulent Loonak (purslane) growing street side, shooting up between the cracks of bricks on the road, but you resist the urge to pluck because foraging in urban areas feels awkward and criminal (people gawk as if you are stealing ). “Weeds? No dear, that’s lunch.” You…
-
-
Mitha Pehun or/ Peyun ~ Sweet Poha I always thought that the dish Poha made in Sindhi homes is a relatively new adaptation from the kitchens of Maharashtrian neighbours. The popularity of the humble dish could be judged by the fact that it became one of the most preferred breakfast options for serving the guests, be it during weddings, condolence meets or even for religious gatherings like Varsi (Death Anniversaries) of religious or spiritual leaders. Gradually when I got to taste the traditional poha made at homes of my Maharashtrian and Gujarati friends and neighbours, I realised that there are…
-
Pharyun in Sindhi could mean the pod of any legume or pulse grains but most of the Sindhis consider french beans as the Pharyun. Chauran (or Raanh) means Chawli or black eyed beans and the whole beans are called Chauran Jyun (of) Pharyun. Tender Long beans are not commonly had in many Sindhi homes though fresh pods from the matured beans are often cooked in Sindhi style gravy dish (Ras mein). Recently I found extremely fresh tender long beans and couldn’t resist buying a bunch of it. I cooked it the way Sindhis make Gvar/Guar patata. In the Thali: Chithyal…
-
Matar Pao or the black vatana chaat is a classic street food dish from Ulhasnagar, my home town! It is made by cooking dried black peas (Kaala Matar/Vatana) with salt and water and the curry is generally flavoured with just pepper. A spicier version is made by adding garam masala powder by many vendors. The rustic flavours of the dish come from cooking vatana for longer duration, till soft and then by mashing some to make the gravy more thicker, homogenous and flavourful. Dried black peas take forever to cook and hence soaking these for 12 – 24 hours is…
-
Gogo or Gogro is a Sindhi festival celebrated in honor of the God of snakes, named Gogal Devta. It is celebrated as Nag panchmi by many Indian communities. Gogo is now observed only by a small percentage of Sindhi families and many are not aware of the rituals as well. But for those who wish to know why and how this festival was celebrated, here I am, with some details about the Gogo festival. The Legend: Gogo (Gogal), as per a legend, was the grandson of King Gopichand who ruled a place in Thatta (Now in Sindh, Pakistan). Gogo’s mother…
-
As mentioned many times in the AlifBe series, the 52 letters of Sindhi Alphabet are divisible into 16 shape groups and so far four shape groups are done and dusted! For the recap of the letters covered so far, please check this list! In the 5th shape group there are three letters and the first one in this group isر in Sindhi, र in Devanagari, while in Roman Sindhi it is R as in Ratnagiri/Rajasthan etc. And the corresponding Sindhi dish is Raanh, also called Chauran and Chawli for AlifBe of Sindhi Food #24 Raanh or Black eyed beans are…
-
Traditional Sindhi Pickle, Kadhukash is made by pickling grated raw mango mixed with spices and mustard oil tied in small potlis .












