Gujarati Thali

Every now and then we all get a feeling of having a full blown Gujju Thali - however due to time constraints and missing indigrients we end up making a partial (not even) Gujju Thali. One of these days I would love to make a full Gujarati Thali as they serve in Ahemdabad (my hometown).

For those of you who are unaware of the contents of Gujarati Thali - it usually consists of two vegetable curries, kadi, dal, chawal (rice), papad, achar, shikhand, phulka roti, puri, pakoras or muthia, ras malai (or any other sweet such as jalebi, gulab jamun, etc), mint and tamarind chutney and Yogurt (usually sweet). Man... am I drooling now.... Yes this does sound a lot but it is served in small portions... Here is a snapshot from indiamike.com:

Compare the original to mine - like I said it's not even partial. To make a full blown thali is so much time consuming and half the time we are not even able to finish everything that we make. It's only worth it when you are in Gujarati and eating it at a fine restaurant.

Anyways... back to my thali... I just made two sabizi - Aloo nu shak and chana chatpati and served it with garma garam (hot) puris....

Aloo nu Shak:

Indigrients:

1. Three boiled potatos - peeled and cut in cubes.
2. One Onion paste
3. One tomato paste
4. 1/4 tbsp rai (mustard seeds) and 1/4 tbsp zeera (cumin seeds)
5. Laal masala - mirch, dhaniya, haldi, and salt per taste
6. 1/2 tbsp adrak lassan (ginger-garlic paste)
7. 5 curry leaves
8. Oil as needed

Process:

1. Heat oil in a pan and throw in rai, zeera and curry leaves - as they start to pop, put in the onion paste.
2. As the onion turn slightly brown, add in tomato paste and let it sit for a minute.
3. Stir in between and when oil starts to separate out from the paste add in all the masalas (laal mirch, dhaniya, haldi, salt and adrak lassan).
4. Let the spice cook itself and make sure to stir in between.
5. When the oil starts to separate out from the paste, add in the cubed potatos and cover the pan.
6. Lower the flame and let it cook for 6-7 minutes. Add in water if you want some additional gravy.
7. Serve it with hot puris.

Chana Chatpati:

Indigrients:

1. One cup boiled black chana, make sure to soak in water overnight before boiling
2. 1/4 tbsp rai (mustard seeds) and 1/4 tbsp zeera (cumin seeds)
3. 4 or 5 curry leaves
4. Haldi (tumeric powder) and salt per taste
5. 3 tsp oil
6. 5 tbsp Imli ki chutney (tamrind sauce - easily available in Indian stores)

Process:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add in rai, zeera and curry leaves.
2. As the seeds and curry leaves start to splutter, add in the boiled black chana, salt and haldi
3. Stir it so that all indigrients mixes up well.
4. Add in imli ki chutney and let it cook for about a minute or two.
5. Serve it with hot puris.
6. NOTE: you can also add it some boiled cubed cut potatos for taste.

This is an all time favorite dish at home from young to old generation. I am sure you will like it too... just try it....