Thursday, December 22, 2011

Shim Bharta

Winter has finally settled itself in India for this year in full swing. Apart from forcing people to pull woollen clothes out of the closet and get bundled up, winter also brings along a varied range of seasonal vegetables, such as cauliflower, peas, cabbage, carrots, hyacinth beans, radish and the list goes on.

"Shim" known as Hyacinth beans in English is one such seasonal vegetable. My mother used to make some wonderful dishes with shim, but I always liked the preparation made with its seeds better. The seeds of hyacinth beans are not so easily available in Bangalore. In my two years stay here, I have managed to get it in a supermarket only once. Last year I was so darned busy with my job that I forgot to look for shim seeds in the market, but I won't do the same this year. I will make sure to include some more shim recipes in my blog. Just watch out.




Ingredients:                                        Cooking time: 30 minutes max.


ü  1 cup shim or hyacinth beans, mashed (boil the beans for 15-20 minutes till they become pulpy enough for mash)

ü  1 medium sized potato, mashed (again boil the potato same as shim till they turn soft enough in consistency to make a mash)

ü  8-9 lentil bodis

ü  1/2 tsp nigella seeds

ü  1 tsp turmeric powder

ü  1 1/2 tbsp poppy paste

ü  1 1/2 tbsp yellow mustard seeds paste

ü  2 tsp sugar or as per your taste

ü  Salt to taste

ü  4-5 green chillies (slit in the middle)

ü  White oil for cooking


Method:


1) In a bowl, mix both the mashed potato and shim.


2) Now heat oil in a pan. Fry the lentil bodis till they turn brown in color. Take them off the flame and keep aside.


3) Into the same pan, add nigella seeds & green chillies and when they start crackling, add the mixture of mashed potato and shim. Add salt and turmeric powder. Roast them on medium heat, stirring continuously else the mixture might burn at the bottom.


4)  When the mixture turns dry, add poppy paste and mustard paste. Stir around continuously. In case the mixture turns very dry, you may add 2 tbsp of water to keep the moist in. 


5) Stir cook for 5-10 minutes till all the ingredients blend with each other and exudes a nice aroma. 


6) Finally fold in the fried lentil bodis with the shim bharta.


7) Serve hot with rice or roti.  


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