Thursday

Sai-Bhaji...my way!

The first time i tasted sai-bhaji was in school. We used to have a monthly event in where each grade 6-10th would be assigned a month..where they would get food from home and sell it in school for generating money to be used for the hostel run by our convents for children in their boarding school. The purchase was an accident and to be honest..the bhaji was pretty bad. I was pretty pissed on losing my Rs.5 to an inedible dish..but oh! well..i threw it out. i was off this bhaji for a while. When someone would say sai-bhaji..i would gag..seriously!! it shook me to the core ;D...but now as i am an adult who is obsessed with food..i decided to give it a go few years back from a recipe in Deccan Chronicle. The bhaji was delicious and i have to say it does feature quite regularly at my place.
Now...i just follow the guide-lines of the bhaji..but add in couple of ingredients i have at home..instead of shopping for it. Jeeves is hardly at home..and i think i am refusing to go to the grocery stores..as the freshly baked bread keeps calling my name..so i do make do with what i have at home...and the bhaji received the same treatment.

Here is the bhaji my way...as Ina Garten would say 'with the volume turned up'..just kidding :)



Ingredients:

Baby Spinach - 1 10 oz bag
Lima Beans - 1 cup
Asparagus - 1 bunch (dispose the extremely woody part)
Green beans - 1 cup
Peas - 1 cup
Brinjal - 1 cup
Onions - 1
Tomatoes - 2 diced
Chana Dal - 1/2 cup (soak for an hour before cooking)
Tamarind - small lemon (need not soak it prior to making the bhaji)
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp.
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp.
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp.
Garlic - 3 cloves
Ginger - 1 inch
Oil - 2 tsp.
Salt - as needed

Method:

1. Grind the ginger and garlic to a paste. (i use a mortar-pestle)

2. In a pressure cooker..add the oil...then the cumin seeds..then fry the ground ginger-garlic paste...add the onions and fry for a few minutes.

2. Add the rest of the veggies..tamarind,salt, chilli powder,turmeric and saute for a few more minutes...the add the chana dal..2-3 cups of water and pressure cook this for 12-15 mts.

3. When the pressure cooker cools down...open it and mix the bhaji well so that the whole thing comes together. Adjust for salt and serve it with rice..rotis or bread.

The original sai-bhaji in the recipe called for Spinach..Khatta palak (can use gongura),Brinjal,Carrots,Potatoes,Gavar-beans as the veggies....

29 comments:

ranji said...

wow!!this looks really good...my first time here..u have a lovely blog..:)

Madhavi said...

Hi..Very nice recipe, looks great. Thanxxx for sharing!!!

http://vegetarianmedley.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

nice one..looks delicious and yumm..

Uma said...

Wow, this looks so scrumptious. Thanks for sharing this recipe.

Sreelu said...

Rajitha, lima beans and asparagus my 2 favorite veggies I see nothin going wrong with this dish. got to try it

TBC said...

I heard of this dish for the very first time only a couple of months back- while blog hopping.

Hubby isn't around a lot these days, huh? Same here...nobody to fight with right now.:-(

I like Ina G. a lot. But I have to turn on my captions everytime I watch her show 'coz she talks very softly. The background music drowns out whatever she's saying and that makes it seem like she's just muttering a lot under her breath.

Red Chillies said...

This bhaji is totally new to me and am hearing about this the first time. I liked the creamy orange texture this curry has and adding asparagus is a cool twist!

Namratha said...

Interesting recipe R, love the look of it!

Unknown said...

I have had it just once from a sindhi friend's lunch box...but that was a long time ago, and I thought it was a green coloured dish...anyway i could be gettign confused with something else...

Good to see you blogging :)

J said...

Yes, your way is completely different from mine. :) It did seem Americanised to me :)

J said...

Yes, your way is completely different from mine. :) It did seem Americanised to me :)

FH said...

I like volume turned up too but half way may be!:D
Great dish R, healthy and tasty. Good job!:)

EC said...

Delicious.......loved the colour

Sig said...

Sai-bhaji, I am seeing this second time this week... Never heard of it before, but I am loving the concept... :)

Have a great weekend girlie.. It is really sunny here today, hope it lasts...

sra said...

Nice choice of veggies, am intrigued about the taste, have eaten sai bhaji just once.

Srivalli said...

lovely lovely!...thats a funny incident...guess by those we miss out a lot..:))

Bong Mom said...

Just saw a saiBhaji at CurryBazaar, you guys are on a "sai" diet or what ?
Have not had it before, this one looks so pretty rich yellow and with all that dal and veggies it must be a complete meal

Richa said...

true, that is one versatile bhaji!
btw, did u decide on any hand blender?

Cynthia said...

I like any dish with the volume turned up :) Looks so creamy and I love the colour.

Raaga said...

I must try this... with whatever I have left in the fridge. :-)

Uma said...

looks delicious. lovely pic.

Priya said...

That bhaji looks really comforting Rajitha, I am coming over for lunch now! Never heard of this dish before...

Laavanya said...

Rajitha!! It's so great to see you blogging again... :) That bhaji sounds delicious... would be a perfect dish to clen out the refrigerator huh? :)

Hetal said...

hmm..this reminds me of my friend,she always used to mention this bhaji,nice recipe.

FH said...

Hi Rajitha, had a busy weekend, just catching up!:)

Love Saibhaji, in fact made Jyotsna's Saibhaji on Saturday! Looks yummy, one more to try!:))

TBC said...

Call karoongi, re.:D
H got back after a looong trip on Fri. We were out during the weekend.

BTW, wot happened to u in between? my calls, e-mails...where were u?????

Sagari said...

nice recipe

Nupur said...

My memory of Sai Bhaji is a lady demonstrating it on an afternoon cooking show. Somehow it seemed to contain a million ingredients and looked like a big ol' mess.
Your version looks way more appetizing :)
Thanks for the knitting comment! So what projects are you working on now? :) Maybe I will shoot you a knitting-related e-mail one of these days to chat about interesting projects etc. :D

Swati Raman Garg said...

never heard of this one... but like that color and can try with what i have in my fridge...