If I find such an unsurpassed pleasure in eating food, then I cannot begin to tell you about the unique fervor that overwhelms me when I go in search of a new place, dish or recipe. With this week being the week of Sankranti, windy and chilly days, my heart yearned for ‘Undhiyu’, the most iconic mixed vegetable dish of Gujarat or more specifically, Surat. A cult dish indicating the coming of cold, which is made in Gujarat only in winters as this dish contains vegetables, which are available only in that season. Vegetables like ‘Muthiya’ made from green baby eggplant, purple yam, beans, unripe banana, and ‘fenugreek’ leaves. It is a green colored oily mixed vegetable with a distinct flavor of coriander, chilli and gram flour.
So, I decided I would walk the streets of Mumbai’s oldest Maharashtrian and Gujarati region in search of some authentic ‘Surti Undhiyu’, and what better place than Bhuleshwar and Mumbadevi. Both these neighboring areas are named after ancient temples of the original island of Bombay. The areas, both congested and populated, are full of shops, temples, food, traffic jams, people and cows.
There is a CP tank and a traffic circle marking the northern boundary of Bhuleshwar. CP Tank or Kawasji Patel Tank is a former water tank that used to supply water to the surrounding temple area but is now defunct. It is now a congested traffic junction with narrow winding lanes leading to Chor Bazar, Nal Bazar, Kalbadevi and the larger complexes of Heera Bagh, Krishna Bagh, Morar Bagh and Madhav Bagh, which are home to Jain, Lohana and Bania traders. Designed for members. Community In the belly of this devastation is an antique shop named Hiralal Kashidas Bhajiyawala. Hiralal Kasidas Shah came to Bombay from Surat a hundred years ago. With a thriving business selling ‘Kand’ (purple yam) ‘Bhajiya’ in Surat, he spied an opportunity and set up a shop in Mumbai in 1936. Today, this third generation eatery carries on its grandfather’s legacy of serving authentic Surati food. Especially Undhiyu.
As I mentioned earlier, a traditional undhiyu makes use of winter vegetables, specifically the ‘suri papdi’, also known as broad bean or fava bean. But among all the flat-pod green beans available in the market, an undhiyu only uses a fresh tender pod with three soft little beans. This flattened bean has a soft velvety texture, cooks quickly, and has a tangy flavor.
Along with surti papdi, Hiralal Kashidas cooks ‘Ratalu’ or ‘Kand’, sweet potato, potato and small brinjal with finely chopped garlic, garlic greens, cumin-coriander powder, salt and oil in his 100 year old recipe We do. , All vegetables arrive fresh from Surat every morning on Flying Rani, a superfast express train that runs between Mumbai Central and Surat every day and reaches Mumbai at 09.45 AM.
Traditionally, undhiyu is cooked in an earthen pot and begins with making muthia, which are deep-fried dumplings made of fenugreek leaves and gram flour. Then, the root vegetables are stuffed with coriander coconut masala, dried coconut and a mixture of spices, then in the ‘ajwain’ tempering, all the vegetables are layered according to their cooking time, which allows for the fastest cooking time. There is material. peak.
While Surti Undhiyu is green and full of garlic and coconut, Ahmedabad’s Undhiyu is red and spicy, Palanpuri Undhiyu is cooked in mustard oil, and Kathiawadi Undhiyu has an emphasis on muthia, which, however, in Valsad, makes an “umbudiyu”. Is. With the same recipe.
I settled near Hiralal Kasidas amidst the noise of cars, cattle and crying. What comes out is a steamy oily green mixed vegetable dish that is hard to resist. Along with Hiralal Kasidas’ iconic ‘Kand Bhajiya’, ‘Ponkh Vada’, Mini Batata Vada, Shrikhand and Puri.
In the heat and sweat of Mumbai, I sit and satisfy my winter cravings.
Kunal Vijaykar is a food writer based in Mumbai. He tweets @kunalvijayakar and can be followed on Instagram @kunalvijayakar. What is the name of his youtube channel? The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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