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.
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
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.
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
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.
Thoovar ji Dal is regularly cooked in Sindhi homes and is very delicious. Thoovar ji dal is a meal by itself. We don’t have just one small bowl placed as accompaniment like in Thali combo of different regions to be relished with other vegetables, curd, pickles. Nah! We need bigger bowl to relish it, savour each sip, it is spicy, sour, sweet with strong flavours of spices.
It pairs well with boiled rice, spicy fried potatoes and fried brinjals. Dal is nutritious but still, to make it even more healthy we add drum sticks. It tastes so good.
We don't just make a small pot, it is always made in large quantity so, even after all family is fed, there is always leftovers that we normally add to the flour and make flavourful masala Puris for breakfast the next day..which is truly relished with curds and Papad. Nothing is wasted in Sindhi cuisine.
It is very easy to cook.
1.2 cups of Toor dal is soaked for thirty minutes before cooking and then pressure cook it with 1tsp turmeric upto 3 whistles.
2.The boiled dal is churned and strained it.
3.Add 1tsp salt, 1tsp sugar, 5-6 Kokum rind and 1tbsp tamarind paste, keep this flavoured dal aside.
4.In the separate pan, heat 2tbsp oil, add 1tsp cumin seeds, 1tsp fenugreek seeds, small pinch of Hing and 1tbsp of ginger.
5.Fry for few seconds then add 2 chopped tomatoes.
6.Add 100 grams drumsticks and mix it.
7.Add chilies and Curry leaves.
8.Add 1tsp turmeric powder and 1tsp red chili powder.
9.Let it cook on medium flame, stirring it regularly till the drumsticks are tender.
10.Add the flavoured dal. (as prepared in step 3).
11. Mix it well and add water if it is too thick.
12.Let it cook for 30 minutes on low flame.
13.Finally garnish with coriander leaves and lime.
Okay, let me tell you the truth. Parties are fun only when we actually meet our friends, eat the food together and click memories of our friends and the food.
The last memorable potluck we had was on upper deck of AB Celestial in January 2020. We had loved that Episode 6 of our Wild Asparagus Table on Albanian Cuisine. The open space, the breeze and the sunset, how much more exotic can it get?
Our next plan was to have a meeting in some resort, out of Mumbai. We had begun to love our monthly meets where we explored international cuisine. Wild Asparagus Table was initiated by Saloni Malkani and Ananya Banerjee and we really enjoyed our monthly meets of exploring food culture of international cuisine.
And Boom! Pandemic happened and we were locked behind closed doors. We didn’t lose touch, seriously! In fact we have got closer, we were in touch with each other on social media (thank God for that) and as the Corona virus weakened its tentacles, we met.
This time with a theme of #BritishPicnic.
So, we were back on our research trail understanding the custom, culture and the food.
Shilpa Seth Bhambri graciously offered to host the potluck at her beautiful cozy home at Wadala and even bent backward to create an appropriate set-up of London ambience with post cards, books and colourful bicycle decked with full bloom flowers. Although there are more than eighty members in our Watsapp group, but due to Pandemic only ten members could attend.
Exotic menu was planned that wouldn't be available in any restaurant in Mumbai
And, the food that appeared on the table was mind blowing. Every dish was home-cooked with love and interest, every bite was soul satisfying.
Me, I prepared Summer Potato Salad
After a long time, with shopping bag tucked under my elbow and a mask covering my face, I ventured out to shop for ingredients at the food mall. I was excited and I wanted it to be perfect.
I loved my own creation and my friends enjoyed it too. Here is the recipe, if you wish to make:
1. Boil 6 eggs for 20 minutes. Cool and slice them.
2. Place ½ kg red potatoes in a pressure cooker with enough water to cover upto 2 inches and pressure cook upto 3 whistles. Cool, peel and chop the boiled potatoes into bite size squares.
3. Blanch Green Peas, chopped carrots and chopped beans separately.
4. Add the potatoes to a large bowl and add the blanched Peas, carrots and beans. Add salt, black pepper, honey and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. In a medium bowl, combine regular Mayonnaise, BBQ Mayonnaise, Cream Cheese, dijon Mustard. Add refrigerated potatoes and vegetables prepared earlier and mix it gently.
6. Transfer the mixture to Salad bowl, in layers, alternating with sliced boiled eggs.
7. Carefully place Cranberries, boiled Eggs and Chives to style an outdoor picnic theme.
8. Garnish with black pepper, mixed herbs and finely chopped chives.
It truly felt like we were out there, in some picnic spot in London. I am so eagerly waiting for this pandemic to end so that we can freely enjoy the parties again.
