Sometimes, a simple cooked subji is all that is needed to satisfy us. Today was one of those days, when I was craving for my Indian food. As normally we have indonesian food for lunch.😊 Made turiya sabji as we sindhis make it. Using only cardamom and shah jeeri for flavouring. Sprinkle a bit of black pepper powder on top. And relish it with a hot chappati.
250 gms chopped turiya.( after peeling) 1 small onion finely chopped. 1 tsp grated ginger 1/2 tsp shah jeera 1/2 tsp freshly ground elaichi powder. Salt to taste. Black pepper powder . Corriander leaves
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan, add the chopped onion and cook till translucent. Add the shah jeeri and elaichi powder.
Add the turiya and grated ginger.
Cook and mash with the back of spoon till it comes together.
Add salt to taste.
Sprinkle black pepper powder and corriander leaves.
Done.
Takes around 10 mins to make this small amount. Good for 2 people.
This recipe , is of a delicious stew made sindhi style. A very very simple and easy recipe. Today I was craving this, so made it. Aur( rai, mustard seeds ) imparts a very good flavour to this dish , hence the name. Feel free to use any vegetables in this preparation. Though I like using the basic, potato, carrot, french beans, whole shallots and wadi. Here I would like to point out that we don’t get wadi in Jakarta, and though I can bring them from India, am not really fond of the dry wadis. So since years I have been making fresh moong dal kachoris and adding to the stew at the last moment just before serving. Now about Authentic recipes. Normally an AUR JI bhaji, will be differently cooked in different houses, there are sindhis who don’t use any tomatoes in the preparation and there are some like me who grew up eating this dish based on a tomato gravy. Have tried making both ways and both ways are delicious. So I cannot really say which of the 2 is authentic. Today I will share the tomato based aur ji bhaji. You can serve this with rice or with phulkas. I love eating this with chapati torn in pieces and added to a bowl of aur ji bhaji..yummm.
Soak 1/4 cup dhuli hui moong dal for 2 hours, drain and grind with minimum water, add a piece of ginger and 1 green chillie while grinding. Season with salt. Mix well.
Fry teaspoons of the mixture to get about 16 fresh wadi/ kachori.Keep aside.
Blanch 2 tomatoes, discard the skin. Put in a mixer jar along with one roughly cut tomato.and a small piece of ginger. Grind and strain the juice. Discard seeds.
Put tomato puree in a sauce pan, add about 3 cups of water, and vegetables. 1 carrot cut into batons 1 peeled and cut potato About 15 peeled shallots 4 french beans( cut each into 3 or 4) Bring to a rolling boil. Add 1 tsp turmeric powder 2 tsps red chillie powder. Salt to taste. Once vegetables are tender, add a slurry of wheatflour. Till the gravy is thick. ( 1 used about 1.5 tbsps in 1/2 cup of water). Add freshly cut corriander leaves and let simmer while we make the tadka.
Heat 2.5 tbsps of oil in a small pan Add 1 tsp of mustard seeds 1 tsp of cumin seeds 1/4 tsp hing 2 sprigs of tender curry leaves 1.5 heaped tbsp of finely minced garlic
Saute till fragrant, add to simmering gravy. Done.
To serve.. Add few kachoris in a bowl and pour hot gravy over them. Enjoy
Maachi kok or fish kok, is a sindhi style of cooking fish. Normally only HILSA/ ILISH fish is cooked in this way… we sindhis call Hilsa as PALLO. Here in jakarta its difficult to get pallo aka hilsa. And frankly I prefer using boneless fish fillets with skin on. . As pallo has too many fine bones. But its a easy recipe. .Do try this and have it with khichdi rice or sindhi phulko( chapati). Its a tangy and spicy dish which does not take long to make. I have also made Paneer using the same recipe. KOK over here means uncooked onion tomato marination. Cooked while pan steaming. Long before Partition, buying Pallo fish was an elaborate affair, and the River Indus in Sindh gave a huge bounty of these fish , especially during the monsoons. Our men ancestors would buy pallo on sundays and this was cooked by the womenfolk , mostly for lunch only, to be enjoyed leisurely. I have seen my mom preparing this kok pallo on many a sundays, for my grandparents or when we had special guests. She would cook this on a special tawa we had ( before the advent of non stick pans). On a sigdi( coal flame). Just before serving she would heat up some brandy in a deep hot metal spoon, flambe it, and pour over the fish..😊( mind you, this was for special guests). My mom cooked andaz se, is a vegetarian but she could cook super tasty non veg.
200 gms Carp fillet ( Gurame)with skin or any other river fish. Gurame is a fresh water fish. ( I tried using red snapper, which is a salt water fish, but sadly it became too dry.) Lightly salt it and keep aside for few mins, rinse and pat dry.
In a bowl, add 1 tbsp oil 1/2 cup finely chopped onion 1 red tomato finely chopped 1 or 2 chopped green chillies 1 tbsp finely chopped ginger. 1 tsp corriander seed powder 1/4 tsp Amchoor 1 tsp garam masala 1 tsp turmeric powder 1 tsp red chillie powder Salt to taste…I used 1 tsp. 2 tbsps yogurt.
Mix this together using your hand, giving the ingredients a good massage. ( can use gloves) Lastly add about 1/4 cup finely chopped corriander leaves. Keep aside.
Back to the fish. Heat 2 to 3 tbsps of oil in a non stick pan. Slip in the fish, skin side down Cook on both sides till 50 percent done. Remove in a plate and apply the masala generously on the white part.
Slip the fish back in, skin side down. Cover and cook on low heat for 10 mins. The steam will cook the masala and fish.
Done. Sprinkle corriander leaves.
Serve hot.
This same masala can be used for making Paneer kok. Shared some photos in comments section.
Today’s recipe is SINDHI PHOTE BHUGO CHICKEN, cardamon/Elaichi chicken. After someone asked me for an authentic sindhi recipe for phote bhuga TEEVARN( mutton), I went straight to the source of my sindhi recipes, MY MOTHER. While I was on a short trip to India. Sadly Mom’s health has detoriated as well as her memory. But she immediately could recall this recipe, and told me. In fact I asked her if we could add tomatoes, she said not at all.😊 so this recipe is more like a stew with a strong cardamon flavour and peppery undertones.A very light on the tummy dish.
Memories of my mom making this super fragrant dish( phote bugo teevarn) on sundays for my grandparents are so clear. My mom is a masterchef of sindhi delicacies, but sadly cannot cook any longer at the grand age of 90. But I am so thankful to have learnt most of my sindhi cooking from her.
Pls try it and have this accompanied by parathas and tawa toasted bread. The simplicity of this dish is what makes it so special. The last time I made it was years ago for my mother in law , but with mushrooms. ( vegetarians please note).
500 gms chicken with bone( 6 good size pieces) make slashes on the chicken. 2 tsps of freshly ground cardamon with skin 4 to 5 whole cardamons..lightly bashed. 2 tsps freshly ground black pepper. 1 tsp shah jeera 1/4 tsp turmeric powder. 1/4 tsp garam masala 1.5 tsps salt. 3 cups water. Finely cut corriander leaves with stems. 3 tbsps oil 2 tbsps Wheat flour mixed with 1/2 cup cold water. ( DO NOT USE CORNFLOUR). Heat oil in a pressure cooker, and add the shah jeera, whole cardamons and the powdered cardamom. After a few seconds add the chicken and start sauting for at least 10 mins. The cardamom will start sticking to the chicken, keep going. Now add the corriander leaves, black pepper powder, turmeric and salt, mix for another 5 mins. The combined flavours of corriander, pepper and cardamom are amazing. Add the water and close lid. After 3 whistles, shut the flame and let the cooker cool down. Open the lid and bring the chicken to a boil. Add the wheat flour slurry and simmer for a few more minutes. Serve hot, sprinkled with black pepper and corriander. Serve with parathas, and tawa toasted bread.or pao.
The recipe which I will share today is usually the base for sindhi pawa(trotters, or paya) but I cook my mutton or chicken,or Lotus stem( beeh) using this recipe of my mother, its easy enough to follow..( had shared the mutton version of this long back in a post on this blog)
SINDHI CHICKEN 1 whole chicken cut into 8 or 10 pieces. 3 big onions, cut fine 2 tomatoes chopped 2 tomatoes boiled and pureed. 2 tbsps ginger garlic paste. 1 tsp shah jeeri 3 tsps red chillie powder( or to taste) 1 tsp haldi powder. 2 tsps dhania powder. 2 tsps home made garam masala( shared recipe previously.) Salt about 2 tsps.
Take a square piece of muslin cloth, about the size of a man’s handkerchief and put these spices onto it
1 tsp cummin seeds 1 pc of cinnamon ( about an inch long) a 2 small dried bay leaves 4 cloves 12 black peppercorns 4 green cardamoms 4 small shallots and 4 cloves of garlic and a small piece of ginger 2 tbsps raw rice and 1 tbsp raw chana dal Tie this into a secure potli and make a bouquet garni, put this packet of spices into a pressure cooker, add chicken into the cooker, add sufficient water and close the lid, cook for about 2 or 3 whistles on medium flame. Once pressure is released from the cooker, Remove the bouquet garni, open it gently, and put the spices into a mixer and blend using about one cup of water, strain this thick spice water and keep aside. ( DISCARD CINNAMON STICK AND BAY LEAVES)
Now take a pot, add about 4 to 5 tbsps of oil, and add 3 finely chopped onions. saute until onions turn pale golden in colour.
Add shah jeeri or caraways seeds to the onions Add 2 tbsps of ginger garlic paste and continue to saute. Now add 2 sliced tomatoes and puree of 2 boiled tomatoes
Continue to saute till every thing comes together and then add dry spices like turmeric, red chillie powder, corriander powder and lastly the king of all masalas …garam masala., season with salt.
Now is the time to add the boiled chicken together with the stock. mix well and let it cook covered for 10 mins, then add the strained spice mixture little by little. Cover once again and simmer till your kitchen is engulfed with the fragrance…abt 15 mins on a low flame, adjust the thickness of the gravy , it should be semi thick and slightly sticky due to the starch in the rice. The chicken literally falls of the bones…
** Tip, Its better to pressure cook the chicken a day before, if possible. Keep the stock, bouquet garni, and water from boiled chicken in the fridge, next day you will see that the stock has turned into jelly. It gives awesome flavours..then you can grind the spices in the bouquet garni. BUT, if time does not permit, then go ahead and cook directly.
Finally add lots of chopped corriander leaves , stir and serve hot with phulkas or bread slices( we prefer pao or bread buns, to soak up the gravy)… and some sindhi kechumbo .
Kechumbo
Rub some salt onto 2 sliced onions, and leave for 5 mins, then wash under running water, squeeze the water out and put the onions in a bowl . now add 2 sliced green chillies , 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar and 1 tsp vinegar. mix well and refrigerate.( I even add grated raw beetroot and grated carrot to my kechumbo)
FOR VEGETARIANS I WOULD SUGGEST MAKING LOTUS STEM AND POTATOES,OR MUSHROOMS. USING THE SAME ABOVE METHOD.
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