Sattvik Surti Undhiyu

There is a verse in the Bhagwat Geeta Chpt 17, that talks about sattvik food:

äyuù-sattva-balärogya
-sukha-préti-vivardhanäù

rasyäù snigdhäù sthirä hådyä

ähäräù sättvika-priyäù

which translates as:

Duration of life, existence, strength, freedom from disease,
happiness, satisfaction are increased through

Juicy, fatty, enduring, hearty

foods (dear to one seeking) wellbeing and maintenance.

Sattvika is the quality of goodness, righteousneous, pleasantness, balance. Though this is only half the truth about the qualities of good food, its enough to understand that the purpose of food is to maintain our bodies and nourish it. The categorization of certain ingredients as healthy or unhealthy is perhaps a very western idea. I know for one that when we eat traditional food cooked at home with fresh ingredients, everything that is tasty and mouthwatering is always healthy. One such favorite of mine is the Gujarati Undhiyu.

I am really fond of Undhiyo but till a certain time, I had always made it with garlic and chillies the way it is served in restaurants. If you actually study the history and ingredients and preparation techniques of this wonderful dish, you realize there is allready so much flavor without garlic and chillies that it can be easily ommited. And if you follow the traditional idea of the recipe, wherein fresh and whole veggies/ingredients are used, very little or perhaps no extra tamo gunna is required to enable digestion. Now, since I have been preparing it more often this season, I decided to make it a little more sattvik by avoiding the strong flavored pungents.

This takes a little more effort to put together, while it may seem like a lot of work its much simpler than cooking up a complete thali and more often (dependent on the way its prepared) this one dish can provide a wonderful variety of tastes, textures and the other attributes we look for in a complete meal. Heres how I make a slightly more sattvik version of Undhiyo without chillies, asefotida, garlic or too much red chilli powder (I did use a little where a little heat was needed but it can also be replaced with blackpepper). I make this in two ways:

A slightly wet version where muthias are steamed tastes great with soft rotis or rice.

A slightly more drier version where muthias are fried is great to have with Shrikhand and Puri.

Here's what you need:

Veggies

2 Cups Papdi (stringed and chopped into 3/4th inch size pieces)

1/4 Cup Sweet Potato (peeled and cubed into 3/4th inch pieces)

1/4 Cup White Potato (peeled and cubed into 3/4th inch pieces)

1/4 Cup Green Banana (peeled and cubed into 3/4th inch pieces)

1/4 Cup Eggplant (peeled and cubed into 3/4th inch pieces)

Soak all of above (except papdi) in water untill ready to cook. Drain water before cooking.

2 Tbsp shelled green peas

Extra water to make a wet gravy

Masala

1/4th cup Coconut powder

2 Tbsp dry roasted sesame seeds

2 Tbsp dry roasted peanuts

1/4 cup chopped corriander leaves

1 inch piece of ginger

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp blackpepper 

1/2 tsp grated jaggery (gud) optional

And sendha namak

Water as needed to make a paste

Muthias

2 Tbsp Coconut Powder

2 Tbsp Wholewheat flour (Aatta)

4-5 Tbsp Gramflour

1/2 tsp grated jaggery (gud)

1/2 tsp grated ginger

1/4 tsp red chilli powder

1 Cup chopped fresh methi leaves.

A few drops of lemon juice

Sendha namak and AJ spice mix

Water as needed to knead the muthias

3-4 Tbsp oil

1 tsp ajwain seeds

And heres what you do:

Mix all ingredients for the muthias except water. Mix thoroughly before adding water. To make deep fried muthias, I use less water. For steamed muthias, use more water, knead and shape with heavily oiled hands into 3/4 inch balls or logs which can be cut after steaming (place directly in steamer plate or keep balls aside for deep frying).

Take all the masala ingredients with water and blend to a paste.

Now heat 1 to 2 Tbsp of oil in a nonstick pan and add 1/2 tsp of ajwain seeds, followed by the steamed muthias and stir fry them. Remove them, keep aside and stirfry eggplants in the same pan n oil (add 1/2 tsp oil if its dried up, remove them when they look slightly cooked, just when they are begining to soften. In the same pan, add a tsp or more of oil and stirfry the papdi till tender but not too soft, the color should change slightly but still look green.

To another deep heavy bottom pan, add 1 & half Tbsp oil (add more if needed). Add the potatoes, mix to coat, add sweet potatoes and raw banana. Mix to coat and keep stirring to avoid sticking. When you see them starting to color, add the masala paste and mix to coat well. For the wet version immidietly add enough water to make a soup in which the veggies wil boil. Add the green peas also now. For the dry version, cover with a water filled plate on top and cook on a very slow flame only till banana & the root veggies have slightly softened. 

Then quickly add the stirfried veggies and muthias. Mix to coat and let it cook covered for some time, maybe 2-5 minutes only so the flavors get a chance to blend. Do not open the pan quickly or until ready to serve. All the veggies and the masala will soak up a lot of water, especially the roots, so for the wet version, feel free to add more water and allow it to boil before adding the stirfried veggies and muthias.

Serve steaming hot!

And now heres why we do what we do:

Some Seeds, Some Leaves, Some Fruits, some Roots and Shoots, a little bit of pulse and grain flour made into dumplings fried or steamed, all cooked in a generous amount of vegetable oil. That is all you need for a good Undhiyo. Basically, every fresh part of a plant, thats edible. I don't find toor lilva beans here so I use green peas instead. The roots need more time to cook so they are cooked separately from the other quick cooking veggies simultaneously. Thats the secret to keeping the texture of all veggies soft yet perfect for biting and not mushy. Its important not to add too much water to this dish. A slightly dryish texture is what makes it a winter specialty and when cooked right, you certainly don't need chillies and garam masala to fire up your pitta for digesting this one.

I added a small bit of gud to the masala which you can avoid when serving with shrikhand. But the gud to the muthiyas is not optional. Though coconut works well to create sweetness, a little gud works a long way to balance the astrigency, bitterness and pungency of other ingredients and the final product is quite balanced in flavor, not sweet. A little sweet is nourishing and also pacifies Vata. Salt is added to the masala paste only and not directly to the veggies, but you can add a pinch to papdi while stirfrying it (if needed).

Also notice we did not add any lemon or amchoor to the masala so in a way, the sour taste is missing but with such complex flavors, it won't be missed. You can increase the ajwain seeds which add a lot of flavor though not required.

Oil may seem more but try not to compromise on the oil. The oil not only helps cook the veggies to a right texture, they also help with the satiety. With so much of a variety of plant material in one dish, eating in limit is going to only make it easier for your digestive system and oil helps you reach that level of satiety more quickly. The variety of all plant parts cooked togeather in one dish will only make the digestive system stronger and despite the ingredients, its a quick to digest dish which is flavorful yet you simply can not overeat so its very healthy.