<p>While Punjabis are known for their delicious chole bhature and South India is popular for its sambar, the Sindhi community has a number of dishes that are unexplored and rarely made by the members of other communities. One such dish of ours is the Sindhi Curry, which is an extremely popular dish in our community yet not available in many places. Though it’s a long recipe, it comes out well when the instructions are followed step by step. <br /><br /></p>.<p> My maternal home is in Mumbai and my mother, Duri Makhijani, would make this curry at least once a week when we were kids.<br /><br /> It was normally made on a Monday as that was the day when we would refrain from eating non-vegetarian food.<br /><br />Even if it was made on any other day, we would choose this brilliant vegetarian curry over fish and other non-vegetarian delicacies. <br /><br />I have two sisters and whenever we knew that Sindhi Curry was being made, we would run home from school. We would devour it with rice and sweet bhoondi laddoo.<br /> It may seem like an odd combination but the laddoo and curry go very well together. However, there was never really a fight for the curry as it was always made in abundance. <br /><br />The thing with Sindhi Curry is that no matter how little of it you want to make, you always end up making a lot as it consists of so many vegetables and a lot of gravy.<br /> In fact, so much of it would be left that my mother would give it to the neighbours. <br />Even today when I make it, I always end up giving it to my friends and neighbours. I learnt this recipe from my mother around ten years ago. She explained the entire procedure to me over the phone. <br /><br />I followed her instructions step by step and the dish turned out great at the first attempt itself. It’s a dish that’s made during all our festivals and special occasions and I make it once a month or so. <br /><br />I enjoy cooking all kinds of dishes, be it authentic Sindhi ones like tomato curry and bhindi in green masala or desserts like kulfi falooda. In fact, I even supply thandai mix to temples during Mahashivaratri and Holi.<br /><br /> However, the Sindhi Curry always brings back great memories. <br />Sometimes, one of my friends in Mumbai would send us this scrumptious curry. Since her name was Hari, we would jokingly call her ‘Hari Curry’!<br /><br />Sindhi curry Recipe<br /><br />Ingredients<br />* ½ cup oil<br />* 2 heaped tbsp gram flour <br />(besan)<br />* ¼ tsp cumin and <br />fenugreek seeds<br />* ½ tsp turmeric<br />* 1 pinch asafoetida (hing)<br />* ¼ cup tamarind pulp/paste<br />* 2 tbsp powdered Jaggery<br />* 1 cup tomato puree<br />* 1 ltr water<br />* 6 green chillies (cut into small pieces)<br />* 10-12 curry leaves<br />* Salt to taste<br /><br />Vegetables<br />* 10 cluster beans <br />* 6 lady fingers<br />* 1 small brinjal <br />* 2 medium-sized <br />potatoes<br />* 1 carrot<br />* 1 drumstick<br />*1 American corn on the (boiled and then added to the curry later)<br /><br />Procedure<br />Cut all the vegetables (except the corn) length-wise, about four pieces each. Soak in salt and water just before cooking. Cluster beans can be trimmed from the top and the bottom and cut into two pieces each.<br />Heat the oil in a big thick bottomed pressure cooker, add the asafoetida, methi seeds and jeera and saute the gram flour till it takes on a deep brown colour. Boil one litre water in another pan and add this boiling water to the flour mixture stirring continuously. Adjust the amount of water to make a semi thick gravy. <br />Add salt to taste, turmeric, green chillies, curry leaves, tamarind paste, jaggery and tomato puree to this besan gravy. Drain the vegetables and add the washed and salted vegetables to this as well. Add the boiled corn cobs. <br />Pressure cook this for about one or two whistles on high flame and then keep on low flame for ten minutes. After opening the cooker, check if the vegetables are cooked thoroughly. If not, keep the cooker on low flame and cook for a while. Adjust the amount of water to make a semi thick gravy. The dish is best served with steaming hot white rice and ‘motichoor bhoondi laddoo’.<br /></p>
<p>While Punjabis are known for their delicious chole bhature and South India is popular for its sambar, the Sindhi community has a number of dishes that are unexplored and rarely made by the members of other communities. One such dish of ours is the Sindhi Curry, which is an extremely popular dish in our community yet not available in many places. Though it’s a long recipe, it comes out well when the instructions are followed step by step. <br /><br /></p>.<p> My maternal home is in Mumbai and my mother, Duri Makhijani, would make this curry at least once a week when we were kids.<br /><br /> It was normally made on a Monday as that was the day when we would refrain from eating non-vegetarian food.<br /><br />Even if it was made on any other day, we would choose this brilliant vegetarian curry over fish and other non-vegetarian delicacies. <br /><br />I have two sisters and whenever we knew that Sindhi Curry was being made, we would run home from school. We would devour it with rice and sweet bhoondi laddoo.<br /> It may seem like an odd combination but the laddoo and curry go very well together. However, there was never really a fight for the curry as it was always made in abundance. <br /><br />The thing with Sindhi Curry is that no matter how little of it you want to make, you always end up making a lot as it consists of so many vegetables and a lot of gravy.<br /> In fact, so much of it would be left that my mother would give it to the neighbours. <br />Even today when I make it, I always end up giving it to my friends and neighbours. I learnt this recipe from my mother around ten years ago. She explained the entire procedure to me over the phone. <br /><br />I followed her instructions step by step and the dish turned out great at the first attempt itself. It’s a dish that’s made during all our festivals and special occasions and I make it once a month or so. <br /><br />I enjoy cooking all kinds of dishes, be it authentic Sindhi ones like tomato curry and bhindi in green masala or desserts like kulfi falooda. In fact, I even supply thandai mix to temples during Mahashivaratri and Holi.<br /><br /> However, the Sindhi Curry always brings back great memories. <br />Sometimes, one of my friends in Mumbai would send us this scrumptious curry. Since her name was Hari, we would jokingly call her ‘Hari Curry’!<br /><br />Sindhi curry Recipe<br /><br />Ingredients<br />* ½ cup oil<br />* 2 heaped tbsp gram flour <br />(besan)<br />* ¼ tsp cumin and <br />fenugreek seeds<br />* ½ tsp turmeric<br />* 1 pinch asafoetida (hing)<br />* ¼ cup tamarind pulp/paste<br />* 2 tbsp powdered Jaggery<br />* 1 cup tomato puree<br />* 1 ltr water<br />* 6 green chillies (cut into small pieces)<br />* 10-12 curry leaves<br />* Salt to taste<br /><br />Vegetables<br />* 10 cluster beans <br />* 6 lady fingers<br />* 1 small brinjal <br />* 2 medium-sized <br />potatoes<br />* 1 carrot<br />* 1 drumstick<br />*1 American corn on the (boiled and then added to the curry later)<br /><br />Procedure<br />Cut all the vegetables (except the corn) length-wise, about four pieces each. Soak in salt and water just before cooking. Cluster beans can be trimmed from the top and the bottom and cut into two pieces each.<br />Heat the oil in a big thick bottomed pressure cooker, add the asafoetida, methi seeds and jeera and saute the gram flour till it takes on a deep brown colour. Boil one litre water in another pan and add this boiling water to the flour mixture stirring continuously. Adjust the amount of water to make a semi thick gravy. <br />Add salt to taste, turmeric, green chillies, curry leaves, tamarind paste, jaggery and tomato puree to this besan gravy. Drain the vegetables and add the washed and salted vegetables to this as well. Add the boiled corn cobs. <br />Pressure cook this for about one or two whistles on high flame and then keep on low flame for ten minutes. After opening the cooker, check if the vegetables are cooked thoroughly. If not, keep the cooker on low flame and cook for a while. Adjust the amount of water to make a semi thick gravy. The dish is best served with steaming hot white rice and ‘motichoor bhoondi laddoo’.<br /></p>
