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.
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.
Lauki Muthiya: Recipe is here.
Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 39.
Nivedhanams Sowmya
love them all!!! want to grab it from the screen... sighhhhhh
The Pumpkin Farm
you girls who prepare complete thali meal are simply amazing and you pavani with a todd at home, cant believe . also like your choice of dishes to go in the meal
Sandhya Ramakrishnan
Looks awesome Pavani! Love all the subzi's...I also like the Gujarati flavors a lot 🙂
Usha Rao
That is a wonderful mini thali. The spices used in the shaak are so simple and available in every Indian kitcthen.
vaishali sabnani
Pavani you rock dear..lovely Gujju Thali..sev tameta nu shaak is very popular in our house, I love the bhinda nu shaak...in fact all the dishes look so so inviting..Kudos on that effort.Gujarat rocks!!
Sapana Behl
What a wonderful thali that is ! Loved all recipes.....
Priya Suresh
Wow Gujarati thali, that batata shaak makes me hungry, wonderful subzis there, wish i could make a thali like u guys.
Veena Theagarajan
love all of them could u pass me some? what a treat
Vani
Amazing thali! Great job with the posting Pavani..I haven't been commenting much (here or anywhere else these days) but have been checking your posts. Keep 'em coming!
Jayanthi Padmanabhan
this is no mini thali. this is THE thali.. looks fabulous. love every item on it.. I ma going to try each one of them.. bookmarked
Gayathri's Cook Spot
Wow! This thali looks fantastic. Loving all the thalis being featured for Gujarath...
Varadas Kitchen
What a lovely platter. That is a pretty elaborate meal. Awesome!
Harini-Jaya Rupanagudi
Wow! What a lovely spread, Pavani.
Nalini's Kitchen
Wonderful looking spread,looks so tempting.Nicely captured..
Kalyani
Lovely spread ! And an entire thali wht toddler on tow ! U rock gal ;-))
Srivalli
What a lovely display pavani..in love with your gujju thali...wish I had tasted everything you made!
Archana Potdar
Wow Pavani what a spread! I love it by the way by ground coriander do you mean the seeds or leaves?
Global Tastes & Travels Inc.
If you call this a mini-thali, would would you do for a full thali 🙂
Global Tastes & Travels Inc.
If you call this a mini-thali, would would you do for a full thali 🙂
Pavani N
Thank you Vani. Hope everything is going well with you and the kids.