Shengole
Shengole are hand-rolled, loop-shaped fresh pasta cooked in a thin soup, which is sometimes flavoured with buttermilk. The components of the dough vary – some people like to make the dish using only horsegram (kulith) flour, but the more common version contains sorghum flour, gram flour and wholewheat flour.
For the shengole
¾ cup sorghum (jowar) flour
¾ cup wholewheat flour (atta)
2 tbsp gram flour (besan)
¾ cup water (more or less as required)
1 tsp garlic paste 1 green chilli, pounded to a paste
½ tsp carom seeds (ajwain seeds)
2 tbsp fresh coriander, finely chopped
2 tbsp oil Salt, to taste ½ tsp red chilli powder
¼ tsp turmeric powder
For the soup
2 tbsp oil 1 tsp mustard seeds
¼ tsp asafoetida powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
7–8 curry leaves
½ tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp roasted cumin seed powder
1 cup thin buttermilk (optional)
2½ cups water (add ½ cup more if not using buttermilk)
Salt, to taste
1 tsp sugar
Juice of ½ lime (only if you’re not using buttermilk)
2 tbsp fresh coriander, finely chopped
Recipe
To make the dough for the pasta, place all the ingredients except the water in a mixing bowl and whisk to mix thoroughly. Add a little water (a few tablespoons) at a time to make a firm dough. Cover and leave to rest for 10–15 minutes.
When the dough has rested, pinch off small portions of the dough and roll them into thick noodles about ¾ centimetre in diameter. Cut each noodle into 2-inch strips. Fold each length of dough into a loop by pinching the two ends together. Keep a small, unshaped ball of dough to use as a soup thickener later. Cover the loops and leave to rest while you make the soup.
Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot. Add the mustard seeds, asafoetida, turmeric powder and curry leaves. Add the red chilli powder, cumin powder and the water, and mix well. Add the salt and sugar and bring to a boil.
Dissolve the reserved dough in the buttermilk (or water) and add to the pot. Stir continuously to avoid lumps and simmer for 2–3 minutes. Add the loops to the soup and cook covered for 8–10 minutes or until the pasta is cooked through. Add the lime juice (if not using buttermilk) and the coriander leaves, and take off the heat.
Serve hot.
Misal
A book on Marathi cuisine can hardly be complete without a recipe for misal, now can it? The word “misal” means mix, and so this dish is the sum of various parts. Commercial eateries have popularised the pao as a primary accompaniment, but a Marathi manoos will eat misal on its own or with thick yogurt. Essentially a street snack, misal cannot really be counted as a traditional home-style dish, although it has now entered home kitchens for its one-pot appeal.
A commercial misal contains very little usal (curried sprouts), a potato bhaaji, a generous helping of chiwda and farsaan and copious amounts of the tarri (spiced broth), each of these prepared separately. This recipe is my unapologetic shortcut and yes, it is as delicious as what you’d find on a street in Mumbai!
For the usal
1½ cups sprouted moth beans (matki)
1 large onion, peeled
¼ cup dried coconut, grated
1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped
2 medium-sized potatoes, cubed
1 large tomato, finely chopped
1 tbsp coriander stem, finely chopped 3 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
8–10 curry leaves
¼ tsp asafoetida powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
1½ tbsp kaanda–lasun masala (p. 60)
½ tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
2 tsp coriander seed powder
1½ tsp jaggery
Salt to taste
Recipe
Prick the peeled onion on a fork and roast it on a naked flame until it is charred black. When it is cool enough to handle, chop the onion roughly and place in a blender jar along with the grated coconut. Grind to a coarse paste. Set aside.
Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot. Add the mustard seeds, curry leaves, asafoetida and turmeric powder, and tip in the coriander stem and chopped onion. Sauté until the onion turns translucent. Tip in the coconut and onion paste and cook over a medium flame until the paste turns pinkish brown and fat begins to separate from the sides.
Add the potatoes and cook for 2–3 minutes. Then, add the tomatoes and cook until they soften. Add the kaanda–lasun masala, red chilli powder, coriander seed powder and salt. Cook until the raw smell of the spices disappears. Add the sprouts and about 4 cups of water. Stir well and cover to cook for 25–30 minutes or until the sprouts are tender and the curry is homogenous.
Excerpted with permission from Pangat, a Feast: Food and Lore from Marathi Kitchens, Saee Koranne-Khandekar, Hachette India.
