All about “colourful” cuisine

Gujrati Cuisine (part-1) 

Gujratis or Gujjus are often get teased by dialogues like “Kemcho, maja ma?”, “Su kare che?” etc. Their language is as sweet as their culture. Now, let’s talk about their cuisine, one thing you all must have noticed in Gujrati cuisine that they mostly include sugar or jaggery in their dishes. That’s how they keep the balance of sweet and salty flavor in the cuisine.  This unique combination of spicy, sweet and salty flavors all together helps in digesting the food in a better manner. So yes, Gujratifood is tasty and healthy, at the same time(wink).

One more thing that I found common in the dishes of this cuisine is “Tempering” or “vaghar”. Tempering is mostly done with curry leaves, coriander leaves and mustard seeds. This enhances the flavor and the beauty of the dish.

As this is part-1 of Gujrati cuisine, we will discuss about the snacks that are commonly served under the category of Gujrati cuisine. Their snacks mostly consist of besan (Chickpea flour), bajra, moongdal, tomato, jaggery, sugar, etc.

1.     Khandvi

This is a light sweet snack which is mostly served with chaach (buttermilk). It is lightly sweetened chickpea flour (besan) roll which is tempered with curry leaves, mustard seeds, ginger and chilies. Kandvi is mainly stuffed with grated coconut, pomegranate and coriander leaves. It can make your evenings light and sweet!

Key Ingredients: Besan, Curd, turmeric powder, coconut and ginger and chili paste.

2.     Khakra

It’s a type of papad or cracker which can be enjoyed any time of the day and it’s really healthy as it is made up of wheat, chickpea, jowar or bajra flour and cooked in a low flame (without the use of oil). One can also bake it in oven, the result will be same. This light and low calorie snack can be enjoyed with peanut chutney, tomato chutney, chaas (buttermilk) or tea. It is perfect for your tea break!

Key ingredients:  wheat flour, chickpea flour, low fat milk and cumin seeds.

3.     Muthia

This snack mainly falls in the category of croquettes. The preparations of this snack are of two types – fried and steamed. Muthiyas are tempered with sesame seeds, mustard seeds and fresh coriander leaves. Tempering helps in enhancing the taste of this simple yet amazing dish. So, one can choose whether they want to have it in a healthy way i.e. steamed or the greasy way i.e. fried. This snack is pretty interesting as it shoots varieties of flavor, all at once.  There are many faces of muthiyas like methi-muthia, palak-muthia, lauki-mithia, moolimuthia and so on. You can add veggies of your choice to make it even more interesting!

Key ingredients:  besan, wheat flour (atta),vegetables and sugar.

4.     Handvo

Here comes the most interesting recipe of this cuisine. It’s a spicy cake which includes lentils, rice, vegetables and spices. As it is baked so, definitely the calorie count is low and top of that just have a look on the ingredients or should I say “healthy” ingredients.  So, next time you categorize cakes under dessert, keep spicy Handvo in your mind.

Just like all other Gujju dishes, this too is tempered with curry leaves, coriander, mustard and cumin seeds. After all, this is the forte of Gujarati cuisine that one cannot dare to miss; otherwise they will miss their originality!

Key ingredients: Rice, lentils, bottle gourd, Curd and baking soda.

5.     Lilva Kachori

First of all let me tell you what is “Lilva”, in English, it is known as pigeon peas and in Hindi it is called as Tuver and” Kachori” is a kind of fried dumpling. In this the “Lilva” is combined with cumin seeds, asafetida (heeng), ginger-garlic paste, sugar and lime juice. The shape given to this kachori is round and pleated and carved in a beautiful shape. This kachori can be enjoyed during tea time or can be a good option for breakfast also. Morning or evening, this kachori will surely make your day beautiful.

Key ingredients: Pigeon peas, ginger/garlic paste, all purpose flour and lime juice.

Drooling?! Make these simple and healthy snacks at home and you will surely love them. if you want me to post recipes for the same then comment below.

You can also find Khandvi, khakra and fafda at Bikanervala or any other sweet shop.

Happy Burping!!!