By Aarti Patel, mother of three who treasures the value of easy, healthy, tasty recipes!
Ondhwa is typical savoury Gujarati dish, which in my household is often made as a lunchtime meal towards the end of the week when I want to clear out the fridge and use up vegetables or leftover rice or khadhi (yoghurt and gram flour soup).The following recipe is a firm family favourite.
Ingredients:
4 cups of ondhwa flour
2 cups of course semolina
2 tbsps. of oil
400g of sour yoghurt (if it’s not you can always add lemon juice to the mixture) or leftover khadhi
2 or 3 grated carrots
1 very small cabbage, finely chopped
2 onions, finely chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped
2 or 3 finely chopped green chillies
4 or 5 cloves of garlic
2 teaspoons of chopped ginger
1 teaspoon of ENO (from the pharmacy)
1 teaspoon of sugar
½ teaspoon of turmeric
salt and lemon juice to taste
sesame seeds
Directions:
For Tempering
3 tbsp. of oil
2 dry whole red chillies
limdi (curry leaf) optional
2 tbsp. of mustard seeds
Method
Step 1
Turn on the fan-assisted oven to 180 degree. Grease two Pyrex glass dishes – I use two different sizes – (22 by 30cm and another smaller one that is 20 by 20cm)
Step 2
In a large bowl mix the ondhwa flour and semolina with some oil (I use rapeseed as it is high in Omega 3, 6 and 9) and yoghurt.*
Step 3
Add the vegetables, sugar, salt, lemon juice and spices.
Step 4
Add kettle-boiled water to make the mixture the same consistency as cake batter.
Step 5
Add the teaspoon of ENO and stir in one direction (no idea why) and transfer to the greased dishes (I like the layer to be no more than 1½ to 2 cm thick).
Step 6
Sprinkle generously with sesame seeds and the tempering (see above) and cover with foil.
Step 7
Bake in the oven for 30 mins and then remove the foil and brown for another 30 mins. (The family likes it crispy on the sides and top).
Step 8
Take out of the oven and check that it is cooked through by piercing with a knife or skewer – it should come out clean.
Step 9
Let it cool on a rack and cut the ondhwa in squares.
We eat ondhwa with cheese and Indian pickles and I know some are partial to ketchup–and of course a nice cup of chai!
*The traditional method is then to add some kettle-boiled hot water, cover the bowl and let the mixture ferment overnight. However, I skip the fermentation process as ondhwa causes ‘acidity’ for some family members – and the ondhwa tastes just as good!
