Saibhaji

There are days when I open the fridge and it seems I'm cooking for a marriage party at home! This feeling surfaces right after I've stuffed my fridge with the week's quota of vegetables, fresh from the wholesale market. The veggies are mostly wiped out by the end of the week with barely twos and threes of something or the other left. A nice way to use up veggies from a stuffed fridge is to prepare saibhaji, a Sindhi dish made of leafy greens, pulses and a variety of vegetables. Not only is it packed with nutrition, it is really delicious and you can even get the fussy ones eating their greens and veggies.

You will need:

2 cups spinach - washed, cleaned and finely chopped
1/4 cup fenugreek leaves/methi - washed, cleaned and finely chopped
1/4 cup green moong dal
1/4 cup yellow moong dal
1/2 cup onions chopped
1 tsp garlic chopped
1 tsp gingerchopped
1 tsp green chillies chopped
2 tomatoes chopped
1/2 cup doodhi chopped
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/4 cup chopped cluster beans
1/4 cup brinjal/eggplant chopped
a pinch of turmeric powder
a pinch of garam masala
salt and red chilli powder to taste

Note 1: You can substitute the moong dals with 1/2 cup channa dal.
Note 2: You can also add 1/2 cup chopped dill leaves(suva) and 1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves for an enhanced flavour.
Note 3: You can also add vegetables like potato, capsicum, okra.



Method:

Heat oil in a pan and fry te onions till golden-brown. Add the minced ginger, garlic and green chillies and fry for a minute. Then add all the chopped vegetables and stir-fry for about 3 minutes. Now add the spinach, fenugreek leaves, dals, salt, chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder and little water and pressure cook for 4 -5 whistles. Turn off from heat. After the cooker has cooled, open the lid and mash the saibhaji lightly (it should not become a paste). Just before serving, temper with ghee and red chilli powder (optional). Saibhaji is served with rice but taste great with rotis too.

Maria Bonita’s Taco Shop

If you are looking for authentic Mexican cuisine, Maria Bonita’s Taco shop is the place to go. Located at Um Al Sheif Street, Near Spinneys, Umm Suqeim, Dubai, the bright yellow display sign of Maria Bonita’s Taco Shop is easy to find. A far cry from the otherwise chic restaurants one expects to find in the upscale Jumeirah, this place has a clean and homely feel to it. With little tables arranged outside and inside (which is quite spacious) and a couple of sleeping green parrots in a cage near the door, it did seem like a popular place since some of the tables were occupied even though we reached there for a really late lunch at 3 pm. The décor and ambience did give a feel of being in a laid back Mexican eatery, far from the glitz and glamour of Dubai. As soon as we were seated, the menu cards were brought to us along with some crisp tortilla chips with a mild tomato salsa and a smoked, fiery salsa. We placed our orders for the drinks – a horchatta and Jamaican hibiscus drink. Horchatta tasted like a thin, watery “phirni” was a sweet rice milk while the Jamaican hibiscus drink was lemony and refreshing. The “guacamole on the spot” was prepared at the table and spiced to our liking was the best I’ve had with the perfect blend of avocado, olive oil, onion, tomato, cilantro, red chillies, salt and pepper, crushed in a mortar and pestle. For the mains, we had an enchilada combo which had three soft tortillas wrapped with shredded chicken with spring onions, sour cream, refried beans and rice and three different salsas. The first tortilla had a salsa verde which was a green sauce made of green tomatillos, cilantro, jalapenos, white onion and lime, the second a salsa rojas which was a red sauce made of tomatoes and red chillies and the third had a chocolate mole salsa. The portions were sufficient for two of us and quite filling. On the whole, the place was not expensive and the food was really good. Yes, we’d certainly go there again to try out more from the menu.

Guacamole on the spot