Top Ten Lipsmacking Sindhi Dishes
27th November 2014, Thursday:
Sindhis, as a tradition, are good eaters. (The reason why there aren't any Sindhi super stars in the film industry). That apart, Sindhis have a good sense of gourmet fare. The daily food in most Sindhi households consists of phulkas and chawar accompanied by two dishes, one gravy and one dry veg preparation. In some households you will even find the quaint practice of having the phulka and the rice together, in one bite.
The Sindhi cuisine has traveled a long way since the pre partition days. But the basic essence has remained the same, rather the trademark dishes have been further honed to perfection or fine tuned basis the various sects of Sindhis with the passage of time. So you might have a few tweaks of the same dish between the Hyderabadi Sindhis, the Shikarpuri Sindhis, Amil Sindhis and the Larkhana Sindhis.
The following is a run down of ten of the most epochal Sindhi delicacies:
Sai Bhaji : Of all the famous traditional Sindhi cuisines, Sai bhaji stands out owing to its simplicity, its omnipresence and its health quotient. Simplicity because its very easy to make, omnipresence because its made in every Indian household in one variant or the other and healthy because its power packed with proteins, calcium, iron and Vitamin A. Its a simple magic of adding finely chopped spinach leaves and khatta palak to precooked chana dal in a sauteed mixture of onion, tomatoes, ginger and garlic. (And potatoes - optional). Do not, repeat do not add carrot,cauliflower or brinjal to this as suggested by some master chefs, this is NOT the way traditional Sai Bhaji is made.
Photo source : http://www.awesomecuisine.com/recipes/4/sindhi-sai-bhaji.html
Sindhis, as a tradition, are good eaters. (The reason why there aren't any Sindhi super stars in the film industry). That apart, Sindhis have a good sense of gourmet fare. The daily food in most Sindhi households consists of phulkas and chawar accompanied by two dishes, one gravy and one dry veg preparation. In some households you will even find the quaint practice of having the phulka and the rice together, in one bite.
The Sindhi cuisine has traveled a long way since the pre partition days. But the basic essence has remained the same, rather the trademark dishes have been further honed to perfection or fine tuned basis the various sects of Sindhis with the passage of time. So you might have a few tweaks of the same dish between the Hyderabadi Sindhis, the Shikarpuri Sindhis, Amil Sindhis and the Larkhana Sindhis.
The following is a run down of ten of the most epochal Sindhi delicacies:
Sai Bhaji : Of all the famous traditional Sindhi cuisines, Sai bhaji stands out owing to its simplicity, its omnipresence and its health quotient. Simplicity because its very easy to make, omnipresence because its made in every Indian household in one variant or the other and healthy because its power packed with proteins, calcium, iron and Vitamin A. Its a simple magic of adding finely chopped spinach leaves and khatta palak to precooked chana dal in a sauteed mixture of onion, tomatoes, ginger and garlic. (And potatoes - optional). Do not, repeat do not add carrot,cauliflower or brinjal to this as suggested by some master chefs, this is NOT the way traditional Sai Bhaji is made.
Photo source : http://www.awesomecuisine.com/recipes/4/sindhi-sai-bhaji.html
Seyal Bhee Patata : Another rockstar of a Sindhi cuisine, Bhee Patata is another one of the most popular but unglamourised Sindhi dishes. The lotus root is crunchy and rich in fiber, besides being an excellent source of Vitamin C. Little wonder that it has been held in high esteem since ages in the oriental regions, and is sworn by the Chinese and the Japanese food connoisseurs. Its more of a semi gravy dish, sliced in slants and cooked with potatoes in onion tomato base.
Photo source: http://www.lassiwithlavina.com/24_7_talkischeap/indian-cuisine-%E2%80%93-authentic-home-food-at-sindhi-rasoi/html
Varyoon Patata: A hidden gem. (Vari Sai is typically a much abused stereotypical moniker given to a Sindhi, is it a coincidence? Vari and Sai bhaaji?) Vari is a dried, almost dessicated dumpling of urad dal and spices meshed together - but the actual Vari is sourced only from Amritsar. In Bombay the authentic varis would be available only in some very obscure outlets of Ochi Pasari tucked away in the bylanes of Khar and Chembur. The varis are cooked along with potato cubes in a base of onion and tomatoes and served as a gravy item.Beware, these varis bite with their spice quotient.
Get recipe here: http://www.tasteofsindh.com/vadi-lentil-nuggets/
Dal Pakwaan: A big time winner. Mostly served in the mornings, but this breakfast is sufficient to take care of the ensuing lunch as well. Imagine crisp, crunchy, mildly oiled, rightly spiced up fluffy pakwaans. This served with chana dal (with a tadka of cumin seeds and green chillies) topped with sweet imli chutney and fiery coriander chilli chutney and crushed onion. You have got your day made.
Image Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w748CPRNHto
Bhuga Chawar: Sindhi Chini Bhai Bhai.This is Sindhi fried rice loaded with caramelised onion. This can be made with or without tomatoes. Goes well with any kind of Sindhi veg / non veg preparation.
Photo Source : http://www.offtopicz.com/threads/sindhi-cuisine-spicy-and-rich.78323/
Sindhi Kadhi: Again another famous iconic dish from the Sindh region, the Sindhi Kadhi. Highly nutritious as it amalgamates the nutrients gathered from various vegetables, including cluster beans (gawar), carrots, ladies fingers, and potatoes (used optionally). This tangy broth is made of roasted gram flour and does not include the curd element ubiquitious in Gujarati kadhis. A variation of this is the Tomato kadhi, where a bunch of tomatoes are used instead of the gram flour, but other ingredients remain more or less the same.
Pic courtesy: http://www.sanjeevkapoor.com/recipe/Sindhi-Kadhi-Sanjeev-Kapoor-Kitchen-FoodFood.html
Koki: Koki is an everyday Sindhi breakfast. It is similar to a paratha but uses wheat flour and not maida, and employs much less oil. It has a stuffing of onions and green chillies. Best to be had with tea early in the morning or with salted curds and papad in the late morning.
Find the recipe here: http://jyothi-chhabria.blogspot.in/2012/11/sindhi-breakfast-koki-my-favorite.html
Daas Karela This is again an innovation of a true blue Sindhi. Here a mixture of grated onion, tomato puree, ginger garlic and green chillies is sauteed till golden yellow, and this mixture is then stuffed inside the bellies of golden deep fried bittergourd units, which are then tied with a thread ( to hold the stuffing within ) and shallow fried again.The aroma of the stuffing then seeps within the very pores of the bittergourd, altering its perception altogether.
Photo source : http://yummraj.com/2014/05/28/indus-grill-m-44-first-floor-terrace-greater-kailash-gk-2-new-delhi/
Seyal Pallo: Sindhi cuisine is not bereft of richness for the non vegetarians. This is Rawas fish (we call it Pallo) is cut lengthwise and fried on a non stick pan with very little oil.(This is a very oily fish so the trick lies in balancing the external oil content). To this is added the sauteed mixture of tomato - onion - ginger - garlic, the works. Poured over it is tamarind juice. The entire fare is then kept for simmering on low flame. The resultant is a delight.
Photo source : http://www.gourmetindia.com/blog/9/entry-60-seyal-pallo/
Fote waro Teewan : This is mutton cooked with a strong presence of cardamom.The mutton chops are sauteed in a cardamom over high heat so that the fragrance of the latter permeate the former and give it an altogether different twist.
Photo courtesy: http://erecipeguide.com/elaichi-mutton
So there. This list is not exhaustive, the items are many more than the ones mentioned here. You have tidali dal and sanna pakoras and lime basar ji khataeirn. You have Bhugal singhiyun, Patree khichreen and amb jo murbo.You have dal tikki chaap pattice and parde wara samosa.You have chhola dabhal, seyal dabhal and besan jo chilro. And the list goes on. And don't even get me started on the Sindhi sweet dishes. A separate page for that next time.
Happy feasting.