Skip to main content

A lunch is a lunch is a breakfast

Before we go to the recipe, an aside on Bombay Bais. A bai is a magical domestic help. She comes for a hour every day and does the dishes & laundry and cleans the house. And if you want (I do!), your bai would also cook your food. The arrangements vary, but in my case my bai shows up once in the morning, makes me breakfast, packs my lunch and usually leaves me something for dinner in the fridge. I know, I know - I have a food blog and I love to cook - but not every day, and not three times a day.

Wondering why we are discussing this? For this explains how I ended up eating my lunch for breakfast today. My bai has an easy time on weekends for I cook myself half the time. But today, I told her to make me arbi (those gnarly colacassia roots) for lunch. I don't know what the original plan for breakfast was, but it was something boring like fruit or toast. Half an hour later, I peeked in and saw this magical arbi fry cooking on the stove. Who wants fruit after that. So here's my breakfast : arbi fry and parantha.



To make Arbi fry, wash the colacassia pieces. Put them in the pressure cooker just as they are (unpeeled and whole) and parboil. I've noticed that 2-3 whistles in the cooker usually does it. Take care not to overcook at this stage. Let cool, then peel and cut into pieces.

Heat oil in a pan. Add turmeric powder, salt and ajwain. Let sizzle for a few seconds, then add arbi pieces. Let it cook unstirred on a very low heat. You need the underside to get crisp so resist the temptation to stir it too soon. After a few minutes, turn the pieces over and cook the other side.

While it finishes cooking, make the parantha. Or at least, I think that's what you do. For what I got was this plate nicely arranged already. What a nice way to start the weekend!

Comments

delhibelle said…
what a yummy looking sabzi ! Thanks for sharing:)
Srivalli said…
Ok simran I must say you are lucky!..:)..nice looking parathas too...I love arbi..but never added ajwain to it!...we normally add that to bajjis..so maybe since this is also fried in oil..it will taste great!
Anonymous said…
Sri - I agree. I dont know what I would do without my cook. And yes, I always add ajwain to arbi, its such a lovely combination.
Pooja V said…
Having domestic help is such a bliss, I guess will hv to do without one till I get back. Great sabzi.
Medhaa said…
The subzi looks so simple and yet tasty, I miss my bai here.

You have a great blog here.
ranji said…
delicious combo of arbi and rotis...the arbi fry looks perfect and yumm..
Unknown said…
I think this is why I am still in India. Every time I think of moving abroad, the thought of doing my own laundry scares me :)
Hetal said…
Nice recipe...
Anonymous said…
its bit hard to get ajwan here, I should try without it.

Reemas,
PrivateMarriage.com

Popular posts from this blog

Mystery Fruit

This only happened a few times every year, just when the rainy season kicked in. A street hawker will come by, straw basket on head. He will yell "kaul chapni" and I will run out to buy a bundle of these. Stuck together like flowers, they looked like a bouquet. Every hole contains a little fruit. You break out the package, peel the tiny fruit that pops out and eat it. Done slowly, it can take you an hour to eat an head. Or did, when I was about 12 years old. That was the last time I saw this fruit. I've never seen it again, didn't even know what it was called or where it came from. Three weeks back, Vikram Doctor wrote about a store in Khar that sells Sindhi foods. He described this fruit and I knew it came from my vivid childhood memories. And finally, I knew we were talking about lotus fruit. Now talk about coincidences. Last weekend, I was passing by a lane in Bandra and for the first time in many, many years I saw the straw basket filled with my mytery fru

Of Brun and Bun Maska

There is more to Bombay's breads than the pao that goes into pao bhaji and vada pao. There's Brun. and there's bun. We will get there. First, you have to get to know the city's Parsis. And Iranis, who are also Zoroastrians, but came to city a little later, in the late 19th or early 20th century. And when they came, they brought with them these little cafes that dot the city. I am no expert on Irani chai cafes. And I can't tell you whether Yazdani Bakery will provide you the best experience or Kyani's. But I can tell you a few things you need to ignore when you get there. Appearances don't matter; so ignore the fact that the marble/glass top tables and the wooden chairs look a bit dilapidated. Also ignore the rundown look the place sports. Instead, get yourself settled. And order a bun muska. This one's familiar to you as a first cousin of the soft hamburger bun. It's similar, but just a tad bit sweeter. Maska, of course, is the generous dollop o

Kadhi Chawal

I just can't think of what to write today. That's what my absolute favorite meal does to me, I just want to stop talking and dig right in. So I won't ramble and go straight on the recipe for kadhi. First, make the pakoras that would go in the kadhi. Slice an onion lengthwise. Make a batter with 1/2 cup chickpea flour (besan), salt, red chilli powder and water. Dip onions in this batter and deep fry until crisp. Keep aside. Now blend 1 cup yogurt and 1/3 cup besan into a paste. Add 3-4 cups water to make a very thin blend. Heat a tbsp of oil in a pan. Add a tsp each of mustard seeds, cumin seeds, ajwain (carom seeds) and methre (fenugreek seeds). Let splutter for a few seconds. Now add a large onion, cut lengthwise into thin slices and cook until browned lightly. Pour in the yogurt/besan mix and add 1 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp red chilli powder. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and let simmer for at least half an hour. You have to stir this occasio