UNDHIYU
Of late I have been hearing and reading a lot about Undhiyu . Undhiyu tops the list of the lip smacking dishes in the Winter Vegetarian Thalis of star hotels. I was flabbergasted at the list of ingredients that go into the making of this delicious Gujarati dish.
Since I had used only half of the winter vegetables to make Yezhu Kari Koottu on Tiruvaadirai, I took courage and decided to try out this dish using the remaining half of the vegetables. Once I was ready with the ingredients and got the hang of it, cooking Undhiyu - which I thought was a very complicated job - became very easy. Precisely it involved only four steps !
1. Mixing roasted and ground nuts with green chutney to make the masala.
2. Stuffing and smearing the masala into and all over the vegetables.
3. Pressure cooking the vegetables with Muthias.
4. Finally relishing Undhiyu with more crispy Muthias !
That is it ! And now before moving on to the finer details of preparing Undhiyu, I have a small confession to make ! I have included the regional winter vegetables of Bengalooru - Avare Kaalu and Chapparada Avarekai - instead of the green Pigeon Peas and Surti Papdi traditionally used for preparing Undhiyu. I have peeled the banana, while traditionally the banana is used with the peel. Tamarind and red chillies have been used to suit the taste of my family members. Sugar has been totally avoided. But still the out come was sumptuous and tasted delicious !
INGREDIENTS TO MAKE MUTHIAS
1. Bengal gram flour ( Besan ) - 2 cups + Wheat flour - 1 cup ( Optional )
2. Fenugreek leaves ( Chopped ) - 1 bunch
3. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
4. Chilly powder - 1/4 tsp
5. Salt - 1/4 tsp
6. Turmeric powder - 1 pinch
7. Asafoetida - 1 pinch
8. Oil - For deep frying
TO PREPARE MUTHIAS
1. Mix all the dry ingredients together.
2. Add 2 tbsps of oil and gather the ingredients together.
3. Sprinkle water as required and knead into a stiff dough.
4. Pinch plum size dough balls and shape them into oval rolls.
5. Deep fry the Muthias till golden brown, drain and keep aside.
NUTS FOR ROASTING
1. Peanuts - 1 cup
2 . Sesame seeds - 1/2 cup
3. Fresh coconut gratings - 1 cup
TO PREPARE THE POWDER
1. Dry roast peanuts till they crack and keep aside.
2. Dry roast sesame seeds separately.
3. Blend the nuts together coarsely.
4. Add the fresh coconut gratings and blend once more.
INGREDIENTS FOR THE GREEN CHUTNEY
1. Fresh coriander leaves ( Chopped ) - 2 bunches
2. Garlic - 6 segments
3.Ginger - 1 big piece
4.Green chillies - 2
5. Red chillies - 2
6. Cinnamon - 1 piece
7. Cloves - a few
8. Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
9. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
10. Tamarind - a marble size lump ( I used sweet tamarind)
11. Salt - 2 tsps
Grind all the ingredients together into a smooth chutney.
TO MAKE THE MASALA
Mix the roasted and powdered nuts and the green chutney together. Now the masala is ready.
VEGETABLES FOR UNDHIYU
1. Small eggplants - 4
2. Potatoes ( More or less the same size as the eggplants ) - 4
3. Elephant yam - 1 piece
4. Raw banana - 1
5. Flat beans ( Chapparada Avarekai in Kannada) - a fistful
6. Field beans ( Avare Kaalu ) - 1 cup
TO PREPARE THE VEGETABLES FOR UNDHIYU
1. Slit the eggplants into four keeping the base intact.
2. Peel the potatoes and make four slits on each of them keeping one end intact.
3. Peel and chop the yam into medium size pieces.
4. Peel the banana and slice it into one inch thick pieces.
5. String the flat beans and cut each one into two pieces.
STUFFING AND SMEARING THE VEGETABLES WITH MASALA
1. Take the prepared masala in a spoon and stuff in between the slits of the eggplants.
2. Similarly stuff the potatoes with masala.
3. Deep fry the yam pieces and keep aside.
INGREDIENTS FOR SEASONING THE VEGETABLES
1. Oil - 3 tbsps
2. Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
3.Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
4. Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
5.Asafoetida - 1 pinch
TO COOK UNDHYIU
1. Heat 1 tbsp of oil and add the mustard seeds.
2. Add cumin seeds followed by asafoetida and turmeric powder.
3. Add the Field beans ( Kaalu ) and flat beans ( Chapparada Avarekai ) to the seasoning, and cook for five minutes adding a pinch of salt and 1/4 cup of water.
4. Remove the beans along with the seasoning and water into a flat bottomed vessel that will fit into the pressure cooker.
5. Saute the sliced banana in the same kadai adding little of the masalaa and spread them out on the beans.
6. Add one table spoon of oil into the kadai and saute the potatoes for two to three minutes so that they are well coated with the oil.
7. Place the potatoes over the banana slices.
8. Again add 1 tbsp of oil and add the stuffed eggplants, and saute for three minutes.
9. Remove and arrange them between the potatoes.
10. Arrange the fried yam on top and spread out all the remaining masala over the vegetables.
11. Throw in a few Muthias on top and pressure cook up to three whistles and switch off flame.
12. Open the lid after the pressure subsides.
13. Check if the potatoes and eggplants are done.
14. If the vegetables are still not done, cook (steam )for another ten minutes or as required without the weight.
Scoop out a chunk of Undhiyu using a flat ladle on to a serving plate and garnish with a table spoon of soaked and plumped up raisins, and coriander leaves. Place a few more crunchy Muthias on the side and enjoy the hot and tasty Undhiyu.
Comments
Thanks for sharing with all of us.
Peace :)