Ritik Roshan's Recipe for Crispy Fried Arbi at Home

During Pitru Paksha, Sattvic food is prepared in all homes, excluding the use of onion and garlic. In such conditions, it can be difficult to prepare diverse dishes every day. If you also want to cook a vegetable without onion and garlic during Shradhha days that is aromatic and does not take much time, you can try the cumin arbi recipe.

The specialty of this dish lies not only in its taste but also in its preparation method. First, the arbi is lightly boiled so that its skin can be easily removed and it does not break down. Then, the flavor is enhanced by cumin, fenugreek, and some simple spices. The most important technique is that dry spices are added at the very end, which allows them to adhere well to the arbi, making each piece rich in spice flavor. Next, a guide to quickly preparing cumin arbi during Pitru Paksha is presented.

Ingredients for Cumin Arbi

To prepare cumin arbi, the following steps must be followed:

1. First, thoroughly wash the arbi. It is advisable to use longer specimens, as long arbi looks better in cumin arbi.
2. Place the arbi in a multi-cooker and add enough water to completely cover the vegetables. Close the lid and turn on the stove for one siren, then turn off the gas.
3. Allow the multi-cooker to cool down naturally. Do not try to peel the hot arbi to avoid burns. When the arbi has completely cooled, its skin will come off easily.
4. Cut the peeled arbi lengthwise. If the arbi is very large, it can be divided into 3-4 pieces. Try to keep the pieces from being too small, as long pieces are preferred in this recipe.
5. Heat mustard oil in a pan. After heating, turn off the gas and let the oil cool slightly.
6. Add cumin, lightly crushed coriander, fenugreek, and asafoetida to the oil. It is important not to add the spices to overly hot oil, otherwise, they may burn and give the dish a bitter taste. Then turn the gas back on and lightly fry the spices over medium heat.
7. Add the cut arbi to the pan along with salt. Instead of frying the arbi over high heat, bake it slowly over medium heat.
8. After about 2-3 minutes, the arbi will begin to acquire a light golden color. This is the ideal stage, and there is no need to fry it for too long.
9. Now add the chopped ginger, green pepper, and turmeric, and mix well. Fry for a while to remove the raw taste of ginger and release the aroma of the green pepper.
10. Red pepper is not required in this recipe; the mild spiciness will be provided by the green pepper.
11. When the arbi is well baked, add coriander powder, black pepper, and chili flakes over medium heat. Mix these spices well with the arbi and fry for about 1 minute.
12. This is the most important technique in this recipe: adding dry spices at the end, rather than at the beginning, allows them to adhere evenly to the arbi coated with a thin layer of oil. This makes each piece of arbi infused with spices, significantly improving the taste.
13. Just before turning off the gas, add amchur powder, black salt, and a little roasted cumin. If you have mint powder at home, you can add it too. Mix all ingredients thoroughly, and your aromatic, tangy cumin arbi is ready.

Thanks to the absence of onion, garlic, and a large amount of spices, this recipe is quick to prepare. Pre-boiling and subsequent baking with spices allow this dish to be prepared promptly. If you want to make a simple yet tasty dry dish without onion and garlic during Pitru Paksha, cumin arbi can be an excellent choice.

If you are tired of ordinary turaai dishes, try preparing it in the Maharashtrian style. This turaai bhaji, prepared using green chili, garlic, and roasted peanuts, has a unique taste. It can be served with roti, chapati, paratha, or dal-chawal.

The addition of peanuts and garlic radically changes the taste of turaai. Although many people may not like the taste of burdock, pumpkin, and turaai, especially considering that turaai always turns out bland and simple, the Maharashtrian cooking method might surprise you.

In Maharashtra, turaai is cooked in a special way called Dodkachi Bhaji. To prepare Dodkachi Bhaji, turaai, green chili, garlic, and roasted peanuts are used. These ingredients give even a simple vegetable an excellent taste and a light crunchy texture. Notably, this dish does not require a large amount of spices. It is served with roti, chapati, paratha, or dal-chawal.

To begin, thoroughly wash the turaai and remove the skin. Then, cut it into small pieces and set aside. The green chili and garlic also need to be cut into large pieces. The roasted peanuts should be crushed into coarse crumbs; it is important not to turn them into a fine powder, as the coarse crumbs retain crunch and flavor in the dish.

Heat oil in a pan, then add rai seeds and jeera, allowing them to sizzle. Next, add the chopped green chili and garlic and fry on medium heat until the strong aroma of garlic appears. After that, add the chopped turaai to the pan and mix well with the green chili and garlic. Cook the turaai for several minutes on medium heat. Since turaai contains a lot of moisture, it releases it during cooking, so no extra water needs to be added initially.

Cover the pan and let the turaai cook for some time, stirring occasionally so that the vegetables do not stick to the bottom. When the turaai becomes soft and most of the liquid evaporates, add the crushed roasted peanuts. Mix the peanuts thoroughly with the turaai and cook for another 2-3 minutes. During this time, the peanut flavor completely permeates the turaai, improving the texture of the dish. Garnish the finished vegetable with finely chopped green onion and turn off the gas.

The finished Maharashtrian turaai is prepared as a delicious snack, which is recommended to be served hot with roti, chapati, or paratha. It also pairs excellently with dal-chawal. If you are tired of eating the same type of turaai, you can try this Maharashtrian recipe.

We often throw away vegetable peels, considering them useless, but they can be used to make a very tasty dish. Chef Sanjeev Kapoor has presented a simple recipe for spicy zucchini peel chutney, which can be served with bread, rice, or snacks.

This recipe allows you to use zucchini peels, transforming them into an aromatic and tangy chutney that cooks very quickly. The following ingredients are needed for preparation: one large zucchini, two tablespoons of coconut oil, three-quarters of a cup of grated fresh coconut, a quarter cup of green coriander, one inch of ginger, 2-3 cloves of garlic, salt to taste, one teaspoon of washed lentils, one teaspoon of chickpea flour, half a teaspoon of mustard seeds, a quarter teaspoon of asafoetida, 8-10 curry leaves, and 2 dried red chilies.

First, the zucchini is thoroughly washed and cleaned. The zucchini peel is separated, rinsed with water, and then set aside. The zucchini itself can be used to prepare another dish.

Next, one tablespoon of coconut oil is heated in a pan, and the zucchini peel is fried over medium heat for about 5-6 minutes. When the peel becomes slightly crispy, the heat is turned off, and it is allowed to cool slightly.

After this, the fresh coconut, green coriander, ginger, garlic, fried zucchini peel, salt, and one cup of water are added to a food processor. All ingredients are ground until a fine chutney is obtained and transferred to a bowl.

To prepare the tempura, the remaining tablespoon of coconut oil is heated in a separate pan. Lentils and chickpea flour are added to it and fried until lightly golden brown. Then, mustard seeds are added. As soon as the mustard seeds begin to sizzle, asafoetida, curry leaves, and dried red chilies are mixed in, frying for only a few seconds.

The finished tempura is poured over the chutney and mixed thoroughly. This results in a delicious zucchini peel chutney that can be served with bread, rice, or any snack.