Watermelon and Cottage Cheese salad
a delicious summer salad
The Sindhi Beeh (Lotus Stem) Pakoda
The Sindhi kitchen revisited! Sindhi food is rather simple to make, in the sense that basically onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic and chillies are what you need to start cooking any dish. We normally don’t use complex pastes made of many spices, and cream or nuts are kept to a minimum. All the recipes handed down in my family are simple, and sometimes even I get surprised when the food turns out to be so delicious in its simplicity. Growing up in Pune, where most of my mom’s family lived, we frequently visited my Mami Kala’s home, which was the headquarters of the Mohinani family. Many beautiful memories are attached to the nanaron (nani’s home) at Kanyashala Road — those lazy afternoons when all the aunties and cousins gathered for scrumptious lunches arranged by my aunt, the wonderful aromas wafting from the kitchen where the cooks (bhaiyas) literally cooked up a feast, everyone laughing and talking. Memories of that bygone era are truly beautiful. Those were the days when the only way to have a group chat was to meet — and of course, the admin was Aunty Kala. The snacks were more often than not fried, but no one cared — we just enjoyed the delicious food and company. Today I would like to share a recipe of Beehyan ja Pakora, which is not commonly served nowadays. This snack is quite simple to make and is my mother’s recipe, using lotus stem — or beeh as we call it in Sindhi. My amma (paternal grandmother) loved this snack and would often ask my mom to make it. This vegetable was served on special occasions at home, especially when important guests were invited for lunch or dinner. Mom always cooked it in a rich onion gravy, topped with raw onion slices, a squirt of lime and some sev sprinkled over the curry, and served it with bread buns or pao, making it easy to dunk into the delicious gravy. Lotus stem on its own is quite bland, but it beautifully absorbs the flavours of whatever spices it is cooked with. Lotus stem is easily available here in Jakarta because it is also widely used in Chinese cooking. In Pune it used to be seasonal — I remember a man who brought lotus stem and pabharees (lotus seeds) all the way from Pimpri, a small satellite town of Pune. Nowadays it is available all year round. As a child I wasn’t very fond of this vegetable, but I have grown to really enjoy it. So here is the recipe — do try it and enjoy. Bheeyan Ja Pakora (Lotus Stem Pakora) Ingredients for the Besan Batter (Chickpea Flour) Method Ingredients for the Beeh Wada (Lotus Stem Filling) Method
Zucchini Turnovers Snack
nother vegetable which has recently been introduced to Indian cuisine is zucchini. This vegetable resembles a cucumber in appearance but has a firmer texture and seeds which are very tiny and almost invisible. It is an emerald green colour and comes from the family of squash. The only difference is that it is harvested quite early, when it reaches a length of about 25 cm, to prevent it from losing its taste. This vegetable, which is a storehouse of nutrients, adapts itself very well to any cuisine, sweet or savoury. Be it a zucchini fritter or just simply tossed with a few herbs and roasted, it makes a great side dish and is very healthy. Today I would like to share with you a snack made with shredded zucchini which I have adapted to an Indian taste. This snack can be pre-made and then reheated and served. The use of oil is very minimal in this snack, and it is a good option for those of you trying to avoid deep-fried snacks. We as mothers know that children are fussy when it comes to eating vegetables. I learnt how to play hide and seek with vegetables in many forms when my children were growing up, sometimes in parathas, sometimes in cakes and idlis. There were beetroot parathas, carrot Sindhi kokis, or spinach idlis, etc. But nowadays young mothers are more health conscious and train their children from an early age to eat healthy. Zucchini is definitely a vegetable which should occupy a permanent space in your vegetable drawer. Ingredients Method
Broccoli Fusion Pancake
Years ago broccoli was a rather unknown vegetable on the Indian table. We Indians know all about the sister counterpart of broccoli, that is the cauliflower, more popularly known as gobi. Every region of India has its own tasty version of gobi, with gobi aloo heading the list. Imagine eating gobi aloo accompanied by a hot elaichi-flavoured moong dal khichdi, washed down with a glass of chilled lassi. Hmmmm, comfort food at its best. The advent of broccoli in India is quite recent, though India is among the top producers of the vegetable. Its popularity is more in the Chinese food world. This lovely emerald green vegetable is a storehouse of nutrients and is a great antioxidant too. It also does not require too much cooking. Having it sautéed with garlic and seasoning, accompanied by steamed rice, makes for a very healthy and tasty dish. This vegetable is also very versatile and can blend with other vegetables such as mushrooms, tofu, and young baby corn. It is also very delicious with a cheddar cheese sauce poured over it and gratinated until golden. I have used broccoli in various ways at home, right from a broccoli tikki up to a broccoli pancake. Today I will share with you a very simple pancake made with semolina and broccoli. This pancake is a great evening snack, or it can even be had for breakfast. It is made in a jiffy and can be prepared beforehand and reheated before serving. I normally serve this with a coconut chutney. Do try it. Broccoli Pancake For the Pancakes Method For the Broccoli Mixture Method
The Royal Touch – Shahi Tukde
Any Indian food lover, especially those who have a sweet tooth, will have definitely tasted this amazing dessert at some point in their lives. This sinfully rich dish has paved its way down the Mughal era, with its route passing through the courts of the nawabs and royal households too, which is why it has an important place in wedding menus and is also very popular during the Ramzan festival, second only to the amazing sheer khurma. This elaborate-looking dish is actually very simple to make, needing just a few ingredients. Many families have their own version of this dish. Some serve it chilled, some at room temperature. Even the way it is served varies from region to region. The Hyderabadi people call it Double Ka Meetha, because of a type of milk bread that they use which literally swells to double its volume when soaked. The bread is always fried first till golden and then soaked in a warm saffron syrup. Once the bread slightly softens up, it is topped with a rich rabri and nuts. This wonderful marriage of flavours, which is a sheer delight in gastronomy, is India’s delicious answer to the bread pudding of the Western world. The simpler Sindhi version of this dessert is known as chash ji dabroti. It was a standard once-a-week dish in our home during winters, which my mom made on most Saturdays. Basically the bread was fried until golden, then dunked in a warm sugar syrup flavoured with saffron and cardamoms. My grandmother, Amma, loved this dish so much that she always asked for second helpings, with me not far behind. The Sindhi version does not include rabri. Today I will share with you my version of the recipe. Enjoy it, though this rich dessert will make calorie-conscious people think twice. Do try a small portion. Shahi Tukde Ingredients for the Rabri Method to Make Rabri Ingredients for Sugar Syrup Method Ingredients for the Bread Base Method to Fry and Assemble
Instant Mango sandesh
The Bengal connection has been a strong one in my life. Having loved Bengali sweets since a very young age, I can never resist a malai rasgulla sandwich or a syrupy cham cham. And how about that spongy rasgulla? And who does not know about the sandesh? This easy-to-make sweet is very popular and comes in many flavours like kesar, mango, pistachio, etc. It is due to the influence of Karachi Sweet Mart, Pune, in my life. The owner’s wife was my mom’s best friend, and these treats were very often on our table. This kind aunty would never lose an opportunity to send us sweets. Very often the doorbell would ring and we were handed a packet of cold rasmalais which were so soft that they literally melted in your mouth. These rasmalais were dunked in a saffron-infused sweet milk base. Oh, how we relished these delicious sweet treats. Even today, on all my visits to India, I still head straight to the Karachi Sweet Mart to buy their Bengali sweets. Bengali sweets are no doubt on the sweeter side of life, but they are lighter than most Indian sweets because they are paneer or cottage cheese based, chenna as it is called by Bengalis. Another plus point being the absence of ghee or oil. Today I will share with you a very simple instant sandesh which makes use of condensed milk and is made in a jiffy. You can substitute the mango essence with soaked and ground saffron or use any other flavouring. This sandesh is best had cold. It also keeps up to a week in the refrigerator. Do try it out. Instant Mango Sandesh Ingredients Method
The Dhokla Quest
Ever since I can remember, I have loved dhoklas, the lovely low-calorie snack which rules Gujarat and also many parts of Western India. It is available in almost all sweetmeat shops, especially those run by Gujaratis or Marwaris. This snack, which is steamed and then tempered with mustard seeds and sesame seeds, is delightfully soft and fluffy when made right. Oh, the pleasure of biting into a piece of freshly made dhokla topped with a cold coconut chutney, supreme pleasure. And I can tell you that every family guards their dhokla recipe very closely. For years I have tried to make the perfect dhokla and have tried so many recipes, some of which have seen the bin and some of them my table. And just when I think, okay, that is it, this is the perfect recipe, along comes another version which I feel is better than the first. But finally, after many trials and errors, I have found my version of the dhokla, which I am going to stick to for a long time. My version is made from semolina, which I love. I know this would not be what is made in many Gujarati households, where dhoklas are traditionally made with soaked and ground chana dal or besan. But it is an instant version which can be made in a jiffy with just a few ingredients. Do try it. Instant Rawa Dhokla Ingredients Method Tempering
The Rain Trail
What is it about the rains which uplifts my mood and makes my heart go pitter patter? For me, rains are soothing, always making me want to just sit in my garden and gaze into the beautiful grey skies. Growing up in India, we eagerly waited for the rainy season to start in June, especially after the immense dry heat of summers in Pune. The grey skies were and still are a very welcoming sight for me, the drum of thunder rolling in the distance and the blaze of lightning streaking the sky bright. Rains brought with them puddles in which we sailed paper boats. It was the season when raincoats and rubber rainy shoes were worn to school. Later on in my teenage years, rains were an excellent excuse to go cycling in the back lanes of Camp, all military areas dotted with quaint cottages of the bygone British rule. Beautiful roads of Pune coloured green because of the rains, the banyan trees which are the pride of Pune lining both sides of these roads. It was pure bliss to cycle down these winding lanes, especially with my best friend Patricia. I have beautiful memories of these cycle rides when getting soaked to the skin added to our carefree and fun loving lives. Rains are an opportunity to eat hot comfort food. Being Indian, for us that probably means piping hot pakodas, garam garam chai, melt-in-your-mouth seeras and halwas, and not forgetting the hot corn on the cob available on most streets in India. It is quite a common and welcoming sight to see the corn vendor busy roasting sweet corn on the cob or bhutta and generously applying fresh lime halves which are dunked in red chilli powder and salt all over the hot charcoal roasted bhutta. Yummm. Luckily for me, I live in Jakarta, Indonesia, which means six months of the year we get rains. For me that is good, but there are many who would beg to differ, especially those whose homes are flooded yearly. Sadly that is the reality of the other side of the coin. Today I will share with you a recipe of moong dal halwa, a sinful, mouthwatering delicacy which is best eaten on a cold rainy day, and listening to your favourite Bollywood songs. Moong Dal Halwa Ingredients Method
Snack Time
Snacks are an all-time favourite with everyone. We all feel these hunger pangs in between meals. Of course nowadays the trend is to snack healthy and we are advised to eat nuts, fruits, and energy bars in lieu of farsans, fried snacks, and sweets. But truthfully, who does not like biting into a hot crisp samosa which has been dunked into a spicy mint chutney or a tangy tomato chilli sauce? Or even a simple fried potato tikki which is so crispy on the outside and soft on the inside? I must confess, I cannot resist fried snacks. I would rather eat a fried tikki once in a way rather than a pan fried one ever so often. But with all due respect, not all snacks are fried, and many non-fried snacks taste equally delicious. Gujarat, for instance, has given us many steamed wonders such as the different varieties of dhoklas, my personal favourite, the melt-in-your-mouth khandvis, the methi muthiyas, etc. Heading south, you get a mixed variety, the steamed idiyappams, idlis, or the crisp medhu wadas. Maharashtra is the state where I was born, and what should I say about our Maharashtrian snacks, I could go on and on. Sabudana wadas, kothimbir vadis, bhakarwadi, and who has not heard of the famous vada pav? Crispy besan-coated spicy potato balls, deep fried and served between a slit pav with generous lashings of garlic and chilli chutney. This street food is one of the most popular snack items sold on the streets. Its price suits all pockets, from the poor man to college students and to the rich who arrive in their Mercedes to buy it. It is also called the poor man’s burger. As young children, snacking was sometimes as simple as a slice of bread with jam on it or even some butter and bread, and then we were off running to meet our friends to play hopscotch or hide and seek. Those were the carefree days of childhood. One memory that stands out is coming home from school to the pungent smell of green chutney being ground on the stone slab by our old helper Girgabai. The fragrance of mint, coriander leaves, and spicy green chillies literally filled the house once a week because Baba loved his chutney to be made in the old-fashioned way. He really enjoyed eating his chutney dabroti, bread as it is called in Sindhi. Today I would like to share with you a snack which I learnt in my cooking group, the Fun and Food Ladies Group, of which I am privileged to be a member. For almost 25 years, this wonderful group has been active in Jakarta for almost 40 years and has members of all age groups. We gather monthly at different members’ homes and we share recipes and host lunches. Today I can truly say that over the years I have learnt a lot of cooking and many other things from the ladies in this group, all of whom are now dear friends. The Sandwich Ball Ingredients Method