Undhiyu

Undhiyu is a traditional Gujarati dish - a curry made out of a lot of vegetables, which is highly nutritious and yummy too. It is sweet and spicy in taste. I LOVE undhiyu, but the better half does not like it one bit. That's sad, but I do cook it whenever he's not around, even though I have to do all that just for myself - cooking undhiyu is an elaborate process, but the end result is totally worth the effort. For me, not making undhiyu at least once in the winter months is sacrilege, with all the peas and fresh vegetables available in plenty now. I have found that different families cook undhiyu in different ways. The recipe that I use was taught to me by my mother who, in turn, learnt it from a Gujarati friend of hers.

Ingredients (for 2 to 3 people)

For the hara masala:

8-10 cloves of garlic
1 inch piece of ginger
2-3 green chillies
A small bunch of coriander leaves
Some dessicated fresh coconut

Peel the garlic and ginger. Chop the coriander leaves. Mix everything and grind to a paste without adding water.

For the vegetables:

2 potatoes
1 medium-sized brinjal
Some elephant yam
200 gms tuvar
200 gms green peas
200 gms beans (avarakkai)
Some carrot
1/2 raw banana

Peel the potatoes, carrot, raw banana and elephant yam. Shell the tuvar and peas. Remove the strings from the beans. Cut all the vegetables into slightly large pieces.

For the muthia:

A little besan
Salt to taste
Red chilli powder to taste
Sugar to taste
Hing to taste
Oil for deep frying
Methi leaves

Wash and chop the methi leaves finely. Drain all the excess water from them, as any retention of water leads to the muthia becoming very bitter in taste. In a large bowl, mix the besan, chopped methi leaves, salt, sugar, hing and red chilli powder to taste. Add a little water and mix to a paste. The consistency of the paste should be neither too watery nor too thick. Heat oil in a kadhai and when hot, put in bites of the methi paste. Deep fry them till brown. Drain the muthia on a tissue paper, so that the excess oil comes off.

For seasoning:

Oil
Dhana-jeera powder (powder of dried coriander seeds and jeera - cumin seeds)
Mustard seeds
A little ajwain
Salt to taste
Hing to taste
Sugar to taste
Lemon juice to taste
A little til

Method:.

1. Heat a little oil in a pressure cooker and add the mustard seeds. Allow them to splutter.
2. Add til and ajwain. Add hing to taste after they get a little brown.
3. Add the hara masala and mix well. Do not overcook the masala, as it leads to the smell of the curry going off.
4. Add the chopped vegetables, salt and sugar to taste, dhana jeera powder to taste. Add red chilli powder if required. Mix well. Add the required amount of water.
5. Close the cooker and pressure cook with the weight on for about 15 minutes.
6. After the steam escapes, add the lemon juice to taste and the muthia. Mix well and cook on a low flame for a bit, till everything mixes properly.

Notes:

1. If you want the curry to be healthier, you can avoid putting in the muthia.
2. You can also make more hara masala and stuff the vegetables with it. That is how authentic Gujarati-style undhiyu is made. I normally do not stuff the vegetables due to lack of time. While undhiyu with stuffed vegetables tastes awesome, it tastes equally good if made without stuffed vegetables.