All about Sindhi & their cuisine

We received a tremendous response for the post 15 Delicious Sindhi Recipes by Nikita Chawla. Thank you! Presenting part two of the post, we bring you some more recipes along with interesting information to help you know your Sindhi friends better! Here are 10 must-try Sindhi food you ought to try if you like Sindhi cuisine.

Keema Pav

A comfort food, Keema is absolutely a treat to taste buds. Made with minced meat, tomato-onion gravy and the finest spices, Keema is a spicy delight. It is savoured with Pav. Alternatively, it could be had along with BhugaChawal or rotis. KeemaPav is a popular street dish in Mumbai.

Pstt: Try KeemejoBhallo (meatballs) which are mind-blowing! *Umm Yum!*

2. Mitho Lolo

A sweet Sindhi bread, mithololo is made with dollops of ghee and sugar syrup mixed in freshly kneaded wheat flour garnished with grounded cardamom. Lolo’s are made during important Sindhi festivities such as Thadri (or ‘Thado’) and Teejri. It’s crispy, tasty and quite filling. It tastes best with boondidahi seasoned with sev. *Heavenly*

3. Pragri & Gheeyar

Prepared especially during Holi, the two seasonal customary delicacies, Pragri and Gheeyar are totally mesmerizing! Pragries are deep-fried crunchy layered sweet puffs with mawa filling. The Pragree is seasoned with saffron, almonds and pistachios. Made with fermented maida in circular motions in a hot oil, Gheeyar is similar to Jalabi. The fried Gheeyar is then dipped into a sugar syrup which is a mixture of sugar, cardamom powder and saffron. It is then seasoned with rose pettals, almonds and silver varq.

4. Tosho

Simple ingredients and a delicious dessert, Tosho is an irresistible Sindhi sweet. This delightful dish is prepared by knitting dough with flour, ghee and milk which are further shaped into rolls, fried and dipped into the sugar syrup. To make the Tosho richer in taste, you could stuff the roll with mawa (khoya).

Kulfi Falooda

Moong Dal Halwa

Keema Pao

5. Singarji Mithai

Imagine a burfi that’s so soft, that it melts in your mouth! *Swanky*This sweet dish is the retort to our sweet tooth!The dish is beautifully prepared by mixing unsalted sev with mava, milk, sugar and generous amount of nuts. This mithai is very popular during important festivities and occasions.

6. Attayja Ladoo

Yet another simple yet rich Sindhi sweet, AttayjaLadoo is rich in taste and has a crunchy granular texture. They are made using wheat flour, ghee, sugar and cardamom powder. Crushed almonds and cashewnuts are then added to theroasted golden brown aata mixture. The mixture is further moulded into rounded ladoos.

7. Attay jo Seero

This wholesome easy to make sweet is similar to Punjabi AtteykaHalwa. This yumiliciousSeero is made up of ghee, sugar, aata (wheat flour) and cardamom powder. Roasted almonds and cashews are used for garnishing. The Seero is usually offered as ‘prasad’ in temples and gurudwaras. This goes well with channapuri or even Sathpura.

8. Moong Dal Halwa

This classic Sindhi special winter dessert is rich, high on taste and is thoroughly mesmerising. Moong dal Halwa is prepared using split green gram, ghee, milk, cardamom and garnished with generous amount of dry fruits. The preparation of this halwa is very elaborate and tiresome but totally worth it! This halwa is prepared during festivals, weddings and special occasions. The halwa tastes bliss when served hot! Oh wait, you could have this garamhalwa with thandi vanilla ice-cream! *Sigh*

9. Khoyo

This rich traditional Sindhi dessert is a winter favourite. The dish is prepared by mixing khus-khus in dollops of ghee, milk, sugar, cardamom and lots of dry fruits (almonds, pistachios, cashews, walnuts and dry dates). The preparation procedure is good long 8 to 10 hours but the end result is completely worth it. It tastes best when served hot.*Can I have some already?*

10. Kulfi Falooda

A celebrated Sindhi dessert, KulfiFalooda is a sinful delight in every bite. The dessert comprises of sweet vermicelli, kulfi, ice-cream, sharbat and crushed ice garnished with almonds and pistachios. *Keep a check on Fitbit!*

If it’s crafted with best-seasoned spices, aromatic yet flavourful, embracing wholesome veggies and is delightfully appetizing, then it’s definitely got to be Sindhi cuisine! *Slurp*

Have you tried any of these dishes yet? What’s your favourite Sindhi dish? Let us know in the comments below!

We Sindhi’s: Know us better

If you’re curious about the Sindhi community and want to know us better, here’s something for you. We Sindhi’s follow Hinduism and our Ishta-Devta or Godhead is Jhulelal who is believed to be the avatar of Lord Varuna.
Pstt: We visit Gurudwara’s too!

Family: We Sindhi’s are known to be a business class community known for our lavish lifestyle, delightfully rich cuisine, being fashion-forward and living in an extended joint-family! *Hum Saath Saath Hain feels*

Lord Jhulelal (Image Courtesy: http://www.hindudevotionalblog.com/)

It’s a blessing if you’re born a girl into a Sindhi family. You are considered Nyani (choti Mata Rani) and you are treated with lots of love and respect. Your family makes sure that the best of everything is given to you! In any function or occasion, the ‘prasad’ after being offered to God is first served to Nyani’s before it gets distributed to others. It is often believed by Sindhis, if the daughters of the house are happy then prosperity knocks the door of the family. *Girl Power*

Our accents and pronunciations are not very stereotypical of the way it has been portrayed in silver screen. Whilst many have a very stereotypical opinion on Sindhi’s for our accents, for being a miser, on our flashy attire, use of ‘aani’ and ‘chariya’ very often as projected in many Bollywood movies. *Judwaa! Shaandaar!*

We are always fashion-forward. Whether it is Mata ki Chowki, Shaadi ya Sagai, we totally know how to rock what’s in vogue. Can’t deny saying, we’re fashionistas. *SWAG Alert!*
Pstt: We love diamonds! *bling*

We are modern yet desi at heart. Young or old we don’t shy away when it comes to being religious.

Sindhi Weddings:

Our weddings are no less than regal festivities. The lavish décor, the over-the-top ambience, the customary rituals, the unlimited cocktails, the designer couture, the lavish spread of food and some very good music! *DJ wale babu mera gana to chala* Ok enough said!

Our major wedding rituals include, ring ceremony followed by sangeet (oh and cocktails), Ganesh Sthapna (Pooja) followed by Kadhi Chawal and mehendi. The ladke wale have Dikha ceremony. The last day of the wedding festivities includes the Phera’s followed by the reception. Oh, wait, after parties? We rock them too! *Like Totally!*

We have an amazing collection of lively Sindhi Laadas (folk songs). ‘Dama Dum Mast Kalandar’ is our favourite celebration track! Alternatively, heard of ‘Lal Jhulelal’? This track is equally popular!

Festivals: Our most important festivals include Holi, Maha-Shivratri, Thadri, Teejri, Navratri, Diwali, Cheti-Chand and Chaliho.
The most celebrated and important festival of Sindhi’s is the Cheti-Chand which happens to be Lord Jhulelal’s birthday and is also marks the beginning of Sindhi New Year. Year on year, even today Sindhi’s offer prayers during the 40 day Chaliho which is a ThanksGiving festival to our Ishta-Dev. *Aayo Lal Sabhi Chaho Jhulelal*

Thadri is a festival that follows after Rakshabandhan wherein we consume cold food to honour Goddess. We don’t burn the fire and cook mithiloli’s, dal paathophulko and koki’s a day in advance and consume the same on Thadri. Apart from lola’s and koki’s we have chaats and sandwiches.

Teejri, our version of Karva Chauth, is a festival where women fast for the well-being of their husbands and young girls fast to get a good groom. It’s a very pleasing sight to watch the ladies of the house dressing up in shades of red and pinks, applying mehendi, offering prayers and waiting hours for the moon to show up. *DDLJ feels*