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.

Sindhi Kadhi

Having Sindhi neighbours resulted in my mother-in-law being an ace at making Sindhi curry. This wholesome and nutritious curry is made with easily available ingredients.
Served with rice, curds and pappad, this is a complete meal in itself as it consists of so many vegetables.

Ingredients:
Brinjal – 1
Carrot -1
Potato – 1
Doodhi/Bottlegourd – 1 piece
Yam/suran - a small piece
Okra/Bhindi – 2
Drumstick – 1
Cluster beans – 10-12
French beans – 5-6
Cauliflower – a small piece broken into florets
Fresh green peas with pods – 5-6
Capsicum – 1
Green chillies – 2
Tomato – ¼ kg
Asafoetida - a pinch
Fenugreek seeds – ½ tsp
Besan/chickpea flour – 2-3 tsp
Curry leaves – 8-10
Turmeric powder, red chilly powder and salt as per taste

Wash, clean and chop all the vegetables. Puree the tomatoes, strain the puree to remove the skin and seeds and keep aside. Heat oil in a pan, add asafoetida, curry leaves, methi seeds, green chillies and besan. Fry till the besan is pink and aromatic. Add the tomato puree, salt, turmeric powder and red chilly powder and cook for a minute. Add a glass of water, potato, brinjal, doodhi, carrot, cluster beans, French beans, cauliflower, peas and the pods, yam and cook on medium flame for around 45 minutes. When these vegetables are ¾ th done, add okra, drumstick and capsicum and cook till done. Serve hot with rice, curds and pappad.

This is my entry to My Dhaba's VCC: VCC Q4-2006: FAHC: FAHC-campaign