And the sindhi in me awakens...saayee bhaji

Its time I spoke about Sindhi cooking. Actually my mom's cooking. I first realised I loved food on my mother's kitchen platform. Like all moms, mine is a wonderful cook too. And she makes the most amazing khana. Nothing fancy. Dal chawal and subzi roti - but finger licking good. Infact everytime we have a family jamboree - my mom is comissioned into making dal.
So I used to sit at the platform and watch her cook - and one thing she taught me was never - never ever never - to kill the original flavor of whatever was being cooked. In my mom's book - the cardinal sin is to make your bhindi taste like your gobi. So all the food I learnt to cook and eat was low on masalas, low on oil, steamed, healthy and so so so yummy.
Anyway - this one started about sindhi cooking and thats what it will be - by all means.
Here is my all time favorite sindhi recipe - its called saayee bhaji (and not sai bhaji as in 'sindhi sai') Saayee means green and this one allows you to be as green as you want to be.
Here goes -
2 bunches of palak - washed and roughly chopped
1 bunch of methi - cleaned, washed and roughly chopped
a few sprigs of dill /suva (optional - I find the flavor really overpowering.)
1 1/2 cup of channa dal - soaked for alteast 2 hours
2 potatoes - chopped inot 1' pieces
Handful of cluster beans/ gavar
2-3 small brinjals - chopped into 1' pieces
3 tomatoes - chopped
2 medium onions - chopped
2 tbsps garlic and 2 tbsps ginger - grated
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Dhania - 1 tsp
Tamarind paste - to taste - if its a really good concentrate like tamcon then 1 tbsp should be more than enough.
Salt to taste. 2-3 tbsps of oil
One large pressure cooker.

Heat the oil. Toss in the garlic and ginger - saute till the garlic emits a nice aroma - dont brown it - add onions - saute till translucent. Add tomatoes, all the vegetables, the soaked dal, the sukha masalas. Toss it a little. Add a glass of water. Shut the cooker and cook for 3 whistles.
Open the cooker and blend it. You could use a hand blender or a good old fashioned wooden mandira. The consistency should not be too smooth or too rough - it should be like a dal with some bits of sabji.

This goes best with bhune chawal. I'll post that recipe soon. However, plain chawal would do well too. But i like it the best with pav - or with a nice crusty french baguette.

And yes, the next time I make I'll take some pictures to add to this. I have just discovered that pictures are an integral part of food blogging. Theek hai, I'll learn. And till then - try this and slurp.

And this you must try...Pudina Puris

I made this for breakfast on sunday and was applauded. I cant take the credit for the original recipe (Thank you Tarla Ben!) but here goes

Pudina Puris
2 cups of maida
2 table spoons of ghee
1/2 cup of mint / pudina leaves
1 green chilly
1/2 tsp of jeera / cummin seeds
1 tsp lemon jiuce
Salt and Sugar to taste (but please dont omit the sugar - it adds to the taste)

In a mortar and pestle, pound the pudina, green chilli and cummin.
Add this and the ghee to the maida along with the salt and sugar. Rub it in nicely and knead the dough with a little water.

Roll and fry, on medium heat. These puris turn out khasta (slightly crisp) and taste fantastic with a cuppa chai. I tried them with mango pickles and it kills the flavor of the mint - so that was a bad idea. It tastes great just as it is.

Are they fattening - of course they are!! Are they worth it - of course they are!!!