The great thing about being a foodie is the deep joy about trying and loving diverse foods! I am constantly on the prowl for new dishes and familiar tastes from the past. If you are from Mumbai, it is simply impossible to overlook the rich Gujarati cuisine. The Gujju thali is one of my favorite treats with the endless varieties of rotis, bhakris, and snacks. My only condition is to get them to give me the savory dal/kadhi, not the sweet ones…which I cannot get behind, no matter how much i try. Come winter though, and the Undhiyu becomes ubiquitous. I get ecstatic just seeing the fresh tuar, lilva, kand, and papdis in the markets. I can hang around those markets endlessly salivating. Everyone talks about the labor involved in making the Undhiyu and the complex tastes, etc. Everytime I visit home in December, my brother makes it a point to get Undhiyu from some place in Charni Road (don’t ask me where, I have no idea!). But this time, for various reasons, things got busy and the Undhiyu did not arrive. And I am back in NYC not eaten my annual share of this winter delight. So, I decided to take the plunge and make it myself! Made a trip to the Patel Brothers and boy do these people know to source stuff! There was the fresh papdi, fresh green tuvar (pigeon peas), the beautiful kand (purple yam), elephant foot yam, and everything else. So, I proceeded to get everything and headed back home to plan for this mega cooking day!
Of course, there is something called the ‘Undhiyu mix’ always available in the frozen section of the store. But, I am not a fan of those ready packs. For one, I feel the veggies from the frozen section get completely mushy and do not stand up and proclaim their individuality. For anything that has multiple components, I want the taste of each of the ingredients to shine through. For this reason as you will see below, I have not used a pressure cooker (which I don’t possess anymore by the way…another post for another day). I know people use the Instant Pot to make Undhiyu, Avial, Shukto but I simply don’t and hence possibly, this one and the others take me a lot of time to cook vegetables of similar texture separately and in batches and then bring them together in a big pot.
And so, it began….
I had made the decision to not add green garlic to my undhiyu…I have no explanation for it, just decided to not go that route. Other than that, I followed the process. Neha from nehascookbook was my internet guru in this endeavor 🙂 Undhiyu is a true labor of love, but totally worth it when you sit down to eat and bite into the multiple textures of the various vegetables brought together by the unique green masala! I went the full mile and make puris to go with it 🙂 It was my maiden attempt at making this and while I have eaten this multiple times to know how it should taste, I wanted to get someone who would know…so invited a couple of friends, one of who has lived in Ahmedabad for a few years and is a foodie himself! Keerthik provided his stamp of approval so my day was made! Beginner’s luck I think…but I will take it! Undhiyu was served with puris and store-bought Shreekhand! Go big or go home as they say in America I guess :-/)
Make an effort and cook this and see I promise you, the rewards are BIG!
UNDHIYU: THE GREEN MAGIC
Ingredients
- 1.5 cup fresh Methi (fenugreek leaves)
- 1/4 cup Besan
- 3/4 cup Juwar flour
- 1/4 tsp Turmeric
- 1 tsp Red Chili Powder
- 1.5 tbsp Coriander-Cumin powder
- 1 tbsp fresh Green chili-Ginger paste
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 1.5 tbsp fresh Lemon Juice
- Salt to taste
- 1/2 cup Fresh grated Coconut
- 1/4 cup Skinless Peanuts
- 1/4 cup White Sesame seeds
- 1 cup of fresh washed Cilantro leaves with stems
- 3 Green chilies
- 2 tbsp fresh Ginger-Green chili paste
- 3/4 tbsp Red chili powder
- 1/2 tbsp Tumeric
- 1 tsp Garam Masala
- 2.5 tbsp fresh Lemon Juice
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 4 Baby Potatoes
- 4 Baby Eggplants
- Handful Green Tuvar
- Handful Papdi
- 1 cup cubed Kand
- 3/4 cup cubed Elephant foot yam
- 1 small Sweet potato peeled and cubed
- Handful Guvar
- 1 cup Green peas
- 1 tbsp Jeera
- 1 tbsp Ajwain
- 1 tsp Hing
- 1.5 tsp Eno
Instructions
For the Methi Muthia:
a. To a big mixing bowl, add 1.5 cups of washed and finely chopped methi leaves.
b. Add 1/4 cup besan and 3/4 cup juwar flour and mix well with a spoon.
c. Add 1 tbsp green chili-ginger paste, 1/4 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp red chili powder, 1.5 tbsp coriander cumin powder, 1 tsp sugar,1.5 tbsp lemon juice, 1.5 tsp Eno, and salt to taste. Mix everything well.
d. Add water little by little and knead to a soft dough.
e. Keep aside for 10 minutes.
f. Then pinch small portions and shape into small bite-sized cylinders.
g. Deep fry the Muthias on medium-high heat till they are golden brown and crisp.
h. Keep them aside uncovered and allow to cool.Make the green Undhiyu Masala:
a. Add the 1/2 cup freshly grated coconut, 1/4 cup peanuts, 1/4 cup sesame seeds, 3 green chilies, 2 tbsp fresh green chili-ginger paste, and 1 cup fresh washed finely chopped cilantro leaves with stems to a blender jar.
b. Pulse it a few times and make a coarse mixture. Add to a big mixing bowl.
c. To the blended mixture, add 3/4 tbsp red chili powder, 1/2 tbsp turmeric, 1 tsp garam masala, 2.5 tbsp fresh lemon juice, 2 tbsp olive oil, and salt to taste.
d. Mix everything well and keep aside.Make the Undhiyu:
a. Wash and peel the baby potatoes. Make two slits in the form an X. Drop them in a bowl of water. Then using a small flat spoon, gently stuff the potatoes with the green masala.
b. Add the potatoes to a steamer and steam till they get soft but not overcooked.
c. Wash and cut off the stems from the baby eggplants. Make two slits on the top in the form of an X. Drop them in a bowl of water. Then using a small flat spoon, gently stuff them with the green masala.
d. Remove the tuvar from the shell and drop it in a pot of boiling water for a 3 minutes and drain them to a plate.
e. Cut the ends of the papdi and guvar and break them into halves (1.5" pieces). Drop them in a pot of boiling water for about 4-5 minutes, drain, add them to the plate of green tuvar. Add 1 cup of green peas to this as well. Then add a generous helping of the green masala to these vegetables and coat them well. Keep aside.
f. Wash, peel, and cube the sweet potato, kand, and the elephant foot yam.
g. Heat oil in a wok and fry the sweet potatoes, kand, and yam. Do this till they are only slightly brown, but not too crispy. Drain them on to a large plate and add the blanched tuvar to them as well. Generously coat them with the green masala keep aside.
h. In a large wok/non-stick pot, add 3 tbsp of oil. arrange the eggplants around the bottom of the pot and cover and cook for 3 minutes on medium high heat. Uncover, turn the eggplants around and cook for another 2 minutes. Gently take them out of the pot and place them on a plate.
i. In the same pot, heat 8 tbsp of oil. Add 1 tbsp of jeera and 1 tbsp of ajwain, and 1 tsp of hing. Once they pop, reduce the heat to low, and arrange the stuffed boiled potatoes around the bottom of the pot. Add 3-4 muthias and sprinkle some green masala on this layer.
j. Next, spread half of the kand/yam layer. Add 3-4 muthias and sprinkle some green masala on this layer.
k. Next, spread the papdi/guvar/green peas/tuvar evenly. Add 3-4 muthias and sprinkle some green masala on this layer.
l. Next spread the other half of the kand/yam mixture. Add 3-4 muthias and sprinkle some green masala on this layer.
m. Gently place the stuffed eggplants on top. Add 8-10 muthias and sprinkle all the left over green masala on this layer.
n. Pour 3/4 cup of boiling water along the sides of the pot, and drizzle 1/4 cup of boiling water along the top layer.
o. Cover the pot with a tight lid and allow everything to meld together for 15 minutes till everything is heated through and soaks in all the masala.Serve piping hot with freshly fried puris and shreekhand! Prepare to take a long nap, trust me you are going to need it!!
