Time for lunch....Bhindi Potatoes, Sindhi estyle..

Cooking is my passion and my favorite pass time….My book on ‘Joys of Sindhi Cooking’ is almost complete, Next year, I will be going to China to get it published. In this book I have compiled all my mom’s recipes and I hope to get good reviews when it is published. I am keeping my fingers crossed. Here is the page from my book….. Seyal Bhindi Patata Ingredients: ½ kg ladies finger (slit it lengthwise) 2 potatoes (cut into rings) 2 tomatoes (chopped finely) 2 tsp coriander powder 1 tsp turmeric powder Coriander leaves Fenugreek leaves 10 cloves of garlic Chillies Salt Oil Method: 1. Pound into a paste the mixture of chilli, coriander leaves, fenugreek leaves, garlic, coriander powder and salt. 2. Keep it aside. 3. Heat oil and fry the pounded paste. 4. Add the chopped tomatoes and turmeric powder. 5. Stir and fry it well 6. Mash the tomatoes and add 1 cup of water 7. When it starts to boil, add potatoes and ladies finger 8. Cover and cook on slow fire till the potatoes are tender. 9. Do not dry the gravy completely.

Kheema Cutlets.

I buy kheema from market and decide to make a snack. I want to make something different. I am expecting guest and they want to try something new. Should I make Shami kababs? Now everybody makes Shami kababs, and that is so trite. I like to be creative in my cooking. My guests always expect me to. I always make every dish, just once. It is my inability to re-produce the same dish. (however, a painter cannot repeat the same strokes, can they? and I treat cooking an art ) That is why I cannot repeat the same taste. My brother says, enjoy this dish and don’t ask for a repeat, she will never reproduce it. (and he is right) I think that’s the reason I don’t work in a restaurant, nor have opened one, because everything has to be measured and cooked to produce same taste. (How do they do that?) I have tried many times but I still cannot reproduce same taste. I decide to find some innovative recipe from a book. I have so many recipee books on my bookshelf. But it is always the same. I feast my eyes at all the recipes and admire the glossy pictures, sometimes drooling over them, but I am always short of one or two ingredient and then my mood is fused. After going through endless recipe books, I am still undecided. The Indian recipes are same, with little variation here and there, and now-a-days I don’t like too much masalas. In Chinese book there are hardly any recipes for kheema. Damn it. I decide to make one of my own style. Dekha jaye ga! My methods are simple and easy. (I don’t like to spend too much time in the kitchen. I just grind together onion, garlic, ginger, chillies. Mix them into the kheema. Then add soya souce, chopped basil leaves, corn floor, some soaked bread, rosemary leaves, parsley. I mix it well and bind it into firm patties and steam it. After steaming, I flatten it; dip it in egg batter and shallow fry. I serve it with salad and French fries. I stand in a corner and watch my guest. They have sliced the patties and are about to eat it. I turn my head; covering my ears, look at them from the corner of my eyes, as they slowly munch on the morsel, juice filling their mouth and a grateful belch. They are asking me for a recipe!