Gujarat -- Mini Thali

Blogging Marathon# 39 - Indian States: Day 8
State: Gujarat
Dish: Mini Gujarati Thali

Gujarat is a state in the North-Western coast of India. It is known locally as Jewel of the West. Gujarat is the home of many many freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhai Patel, successful entreprenuers like Dhirubhai Ambani (Reliance Industries), Azim Premji (Wipro Limited) and Jamsetji Tata. Gujarat played an important role in the economic history of India.

Cuisine: Gujarat is primarily a vegetarian cuisine due to the influence of Jain vegetarianism and traditional Hinduism. When i think of Gujarat, I think of the wide variety of dishes they have. There are so many snack items, so many breads, so many of everything. Gujaratis travel with bags full of snacks wherever they go and most of them are probably homemade. Adding a little sugar or jaggery to some of the dishes is common in Gujarat, the sweet flavor is believed to neutralize the slightly bland taste of the vegetables. Sweets (desserts) are extremely popular too in Gujarat.

Staple Food: Wheat, Rice, Lentils

Specialties: There are hundreds of Gujarati specialties, here are a few: Handvo, Muthia, Patra, Undhiyu, Khandvi, Dhokla, Kachori so on and so on.

Today's Dish(es): I wanted to try more than one dish from this amazing cuisine and with the time I had, I made a mini thali with simple and everyday Gujarati dishes. I have some good Gujarati friends and was lucky enough to enjoy their delicious home cooked dishes. Most of the dishes look so simple to make, but they are tricky and need some practice to make them perfect like Khandvi, Dhokla, Handvo etc.

For my thali, here's what I made:

• Simple Gujarati Bhindi nu shaak (Okra Curry)
• Sev Tamatar nu Shaak (Tomato Curry)
• Gujarati Aloo nu shaak (Potato curry)
• Gujarati Osaman Dal
• Lauki Muthiya
• Jeera Rice
  

  

  Gujarati Bhindi nu Shaak: I added spices that my Gujarati friends used to use in their dry curry recipes to make this simple curry.

  

Sev Tamatar nu Shaak: Recipe courtesy Rajani @ mykitchentrials.

• Add the sev just before serving.

Gujarati Osaman Dal: This is a very flavorful dish which is sweet, tangy and crunchy.

Recipe adapted from DK's Chefinyou.

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 39.