Papad Rolls With Fried Potatoes And Capsicum

 VSSS..Vishwa Seva Sindhi Sangam are celebrating 'International Papad Day' on 27th August by bonding our culture on common platform.

I am happy to share a bit of my memories and recipe of Papad Rolls with Fried Potatoes and Capsicum.

I have a very fond memories of my childhood when I lived with my Amma (my maternal grandmom) she would regularly invite her friends at her home in the afternoons and have papad making activity. She would give me too a small dough and ask me to roll out the papad. She would always instruct me to roll on the sides to make a perfect circle. I would help in spreading the papads on a sheet for drying in the sun. The papads would be stored in huge steel containers. There are normally two methods of serving papads..deep fried or roasted. It was practical solution of serving papad and chai to the guests, specially when there were no biscuits or toast at home..

Papads got more common when they started serving in restaurants as 'Masala Papad' that was simply deep fried papad topped with onions tomatoes and masalas. Later people made innovative snacks and now they even cook it.

I have one recipe on papad in my book called #SindhiCuisine. I decided to make something different this time, something that I have never made before. So I went into my kitchen, deep fried long strips of potatoes, cut strips of capsicum and stuffed them into papad rolls. This was secured with a string and deep fried. A gravy was made of garlic, ginger, chillies, curds and dry masalas and papad rolls were cooked in this gravy and the result was a very tasty papad rolls gravy. Do watch my recipe and do try it..you will love it...surely...

Dip Dip Drippin

In good ole days..pre-pandemic, food bloggers met regularly in close knit groups. There were many groups, large and small, identified by their interest in particular field such as food meetings for discussions of spices and recipes,  for baking techniques, for cook and share pot lucks.  Wild Asparagus Table was one such group that worked around the theme of studying the culture and food of the places around the world. It was more like visiting the city virtually and this was something that I have missed a lot.  

But our Watsapp group is active and this week I was able to engage a small group of home-chefs inside my 3BHK flat.  The theme was dips and there was a great variety of dips prepared by all that included humus, Caramel chili dip. Two dips, red pepper dip and low fat dip was made on the spot by Faiziya and Rhea.   

The table was loaded with Roasted Masaledar #grilledChicken  and #LabeneseFalafel and Tahini  by @BimbaNayak 

#PavbhajjiFodue by @Anjali Bhargava

#homebakedBread and #Humus by Binal Valand  

To add little fun to the party, we arrange a fruit salad making competition. @Rabia Patel had brought big variety of fruits such as apples, pears, bananas, berries, grapes. The idea was have a relay by each member to cut and arrange fruit on a plate within a specific time, it worked differently but the end results were good.  And the salad tasted good with caramel dip. 

Desserts were served with  #kesari kheer- saffron rice kheer made by Anjali #ThaiRedRubies of chestnuts in coconut milk by @Reetha Balsavar  

Was very happy with the surprise entry by @Ananya Banerjee, one of the co-founders of #WildAsparagusTable towards the second half of the party. 

Had a tea ceremony with flower blooming in the vase, a drama on the table, with more adrakwali chai and more dips and pita bread and Spicy and savoury #VermecelliinCheese by @Aruna Shetty.  

Our parties are never complete without food gifts. And gifts there were..some masalas and rakhee(friendship band) made by #specialchildren of my SPBschool.  and also...

Quaker energy bars by @quaker_India,  Dorito salsa and dips by @doritosindia and naturally powered energy drink by @O'Natural Mixers that are actually crafted from natural ingredients, ensuring excellent quality, superior taste for naturally enhanced drinking experience. The natural ration is 3:1 that is three parts of O'natural mixers and one part of spirit/juice/flavors&garnishing. These products are available at @Foodhall  

A small gathering but great fun with food knowledge sharing and laughter of course  

There was live demo of Pepper dip by @Faziya Soomar 

Roast 1red bell pepper. De-seed and peel, and chop roughly.

Toast 1 tbsp of walnuts. 

Blend bell pepper, walnuts, 2cloves of garlic, 1/4of a small onion, with olive oil, pink salt and pepper powder. 

You can avoid adding onion if you want the dip consistency to be thick. 

You may sometimes like to add 1tbsp of cream cheese to enhance the taste.   

Also there was live demo of Fat-Free Yogurt  by @Rhea Motwani 

1 box of Nestle slim dahi hung for 1 hour 

1tsp finely chopped green chillies 2 tsp finely chopped garlic 2 tsp finely chopped mint 2 tsp finely chopped coriander 1 sachet splenda or any sugar substitute 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 onion chopped finely 1/4 capsicum chopped finely 

Mix all these ingredients in the hung curd and enjoy with lavash or carrot cucumber sticks  

Thanks to my food community TheFBAI, and to Sam and Saloni Malkani, that I have got in touch with so many foodies. Hope this pandemic ends soon and we go back to living a normal life like we used to.. 

Desi Dal Trail

 During Pandemic, schools were shut down but the learning did not stop.

The virtual classrooms continued and children of Swami Brahmanand Prathisthan, along with their parents became active members online.

Many events were conducted on social media during the year and were appreciated immensely.

One such event was on theme- 'Ahaar' and dal was selected as the prime ingredient. Parents showed great interest in cooking dishes that involved their children in this activity.

Competition was held on Watsapp group and a great variety of dal were prepared by the parents of Special children. The event was a success and everybody wanted to know the recipes of the dal made on that day.

We are happy to share the recipes of Dals made by the parents of Special children of SBP, Centre for PWID, Belapur, and also includes recipes shared by committee members, staff and the jury members. 

The book is now available on kindle with just Rs150.

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Raw Papaya Salad

 Papaya is very nutritious fruit . it contain an enzyme Papain that helps break proteins and aids digestion. Do avoid water after eating papaya, it is not good for health.

Salad made of raw papaya is very tasty because it is sweet, sour, spicy and full of flavours. It pairs well with rice and fried chicken but vegetarians can have it with cutlets.

The ingredients used are 200 gms Papaya 50 gms peanuts 3/4green chilies, 1/2cup tamarind juice 1tbsp of lime juice few kaffir lime leaves 1 chopped tomato 4/5 garlic cloves fish sauce or salt 5/6 french beans 2/3tbsp sugar.

all the ingredients are pounded and mixed.

For demo..hop on to my Utube channel. Do subscribe too Thank you

Guar Ji Bhaji (Cluster Beans)

This is a very simple recipe with no frills and easy to follow and is quick

Cluster bean (we call it Guar in Sindhi) is full of nutrients and it helps control bloodpressure and lower the Cholesterol. 

It is bitter but when boiled and the bitter water discarded, it has sweet taste and makes a very tasty veggie to eat. To get the real taste, minimum  of masalas are used. I have used only 1tsp of Turmeric, 2tsp of Coriander powder and 2tbsp of Pomegranate seeds besides using garlic, chillies and salt. 

Love this veggie so much with just chappatis and a glass of buttermilk and this makes the most satisfying lunch

Method:

1. Wash and chop 250gms cluster beans to bite size and boil it for 15 minutes. 

2. Strain and discard the bitter water. 

3. In pan, add 2tbsp oil. 

4. Add garlic and chilies. 

5. Cook till garlic turn golden brown. 

6. Add the boiled cluster beans. 

7. Mix it lightly. 

8. Add 1tsp salt, 1tsp turmeric powder, 2tsp coriander powder and 2tbsp crushed pomegranate. 

9. Mix and let it cook for ten minutes. 

10. Garnish with coriander leaves. 

11. Serve with chappatis and buttermilk. 

12. Serves 2persons.

Visit my youtube and please do subscribe for more recipes.

Mithee Ambree (Sweet&Sour Mango Pickle)

 Miracles of Nature is everywhere. 

While all the world is in Partial lockdown, and life is literally come to a pause, the flowers and fruits continue to bloom and in this season, I have tasted some amazing mangoes that were sent to me directly from the farms of Devgarh. When they arrived they were raw, I spread them to mature in my spare room and watched them everyday as they changed their colour to yellow and red. Of course, I couldn't eat all, but sharing is caring and with who-so-ever I shared, I earned their blessing. 

It is depressing time really, the lockdown has sucked the life off me. I am really exhausted of the monotonous life of same routine everyday.  Birds sing less, the siren of ambulance shrills more. If it wasn't for my interest in cooking and art, my work on online communication with special school staff and the occasional chat on Watsapp, the days would have stretched endlessly. But thank God for that.

Last week, I made a visit to my sister's house and saw one kilo of chopped mangoes in her kitchen. She had salted the sliced mangoes and was keeping in the sun for drying. I was excited. Here was the chance to record the recipe, while she makes. 

Sweet & Sour Mango pickle is made in every Sindhi house. Enough stock is made that can last for more than a year. It tastes best with Koki or Puri but can be relished even with meals.

She had kept all the ingredients ready on her kitchen platform.

There was one kilo of sugar in one bowl.

50gms of dates were in other bowl

One litre bottle of water.

and there was one orange tray with all the dry masalas such as

1tsp Kalonji seeds

1tsp Cumin seeds

2tbsp red chilies

2tbsp Kashmiri chilies

3pc Dalchini

4-5 Cloves

1tbsp black pepper corns

3-4 Bay leaves

Salt to taste.

Method

First a syrup o is made by boiling sugar and water. Mangoes and all the masalas are added including dates and it is kept for cooking for one hour at medium heat.

2tbsps of Vinegar is added when the cooked pickle cools down.

This is stored in glass jars

You may watch the procedure on my youtube channel here

Spinach With Dried Lentil Dumplings

I remember very faintly my grandmother and my mom in the courtyard of my house in Jaipur, drying Vadis. 

I remember living in a house in Jaipur, was it 3 or 4 rooms, I am not sure, but all the rooms faced a big courtyard in centre. Kitchen and bathroom were on the other side of the courtyard. There would few cots spread across the open space, and there was a small washing area in one corner. A narrow stairway spiralled up to the terrace. The cots were used for sleeping under stars at night, but during the day, it was covered with thin bed sheets to dry various food stuff made in the kitchen.  The elders of the family would always be busy making Papads, pickles and wadis and would dry them in sun on those cots. After I moved to Mumbai, I never went back, but the memory lingers.

 I loved to help in which ever way I could. Rolling out papads was a fun activity for me although the shape was not perfect. 

My Mom used to love Vadis. Even when we lived in Spain, mom would make it at home, by grinding soaked lentils and adding spices and keeping it for drying but the sun was never too strong, so the vadis were never made to perfection.

I think (in our childhood) because our parents used to pamper us therefore we made lot of fuss during meals and had missed out on so many delicious and healthy food. I didn't care much for Vadis for example and always wrinkled my nose when it appeared on the table.

Was it in its name or was it the look, I am not sure, but I would never taste it (because I had choice, there was always more variety to choose from) 

But now, I love it..its spicy, tasty and so full of flavours

Were my mom alive today, she would be happy that now I share her taste.

I have developed the taste for it..and I love it.. tried my mom's recipe

1. Heat 2tbsp oil in a pan and fry 2 cardamoms, 1 inch finely chopped ginger and 1tsp black pepper powder.

2. Add 100gms Vadis and 2 chopped potatoes. 

3. Mix it well. 

4. Add 1tsp turmeric powder, 1tsp spice powder and 1tsp salt. 

5. Add 2 chopped tomatoes. 

6. Cook for 2 minutes till tomatoes soften, mix it well. 

7. Add 1small bunch of spinach and coriander leaves. 

8. Lower the flames and cook for 20 minutes till the potatoes are tender. 

9. Serve with chappatis.

I had made quite a lot for lunch, there was some left overs, that was used to make pulao and that was for my dinner...

If you are following my You-tube channel, you can see the recipe too of Vadis made in Spinach.