Friday, August 15, 2008

Yummy Guvar (Cluster beans) Sabzi!

This guvar ki sabzi brings out many memories! Memories of all the people who mean a lot to me. I dont see them often, and may not seem some at all, but I grew up with them and they took good care of me. These were construction laborers my dad had hired when he started his construction business way before I was born. There were five couples and their kids. They would live in small huts close to the construction site and move from job to job. Finally, we build them permanent houses close to our home. These people were like our extended families. They shared their joys and sorrows with us, took real good care of me and my sisters and loved us unconditionally and still do. These people have touched my heart in more than one way. Their food used to be very simple. One sabzi with lots and lots of mirchi (red or green chilli) in it and rice and may be a spicy chutney. Mirchi seemed to be the main ingredient in their food :). All of their food was made on mitti ke chulhe (wood burning stove made out of mud)making it even more yummier.I do not remember a whole lot of recipes, but do remember the Guvar ki Sabzi (Guvar is cluster beans) as I used to eat this often. Its a very simple recipe, but add the flavor of the chulha (stove), the wood, lots of green chilli and some love and it turns out amazing :)!

For this recipe you need
Guvar - Cluster beans(I use mostly frozen as fresh is not available most times)
Garlic (I use lots of it - you can use per your taste)
Tomatoes - (one should be sufficient)
Green chilli (per taste)
Oil
Pinch of turmeric
Salt to taste

Chop the chilli and garlic and fry them in oil, add turmeric. Add cut tomatoes to this and cook till tender. Add the cut guvar to this, add salt and cook till done. Thats it, its simple and tasty! Eat with roti and dal (my recipe for dal follows soon).



This recipe goes to Lucy of Nourish Me, who is hosting the September edition of My Legume Love Affair, an event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook

7 comments:

Divs said...

Jyo...loved the ode you gave to your extended family in this post. Its amazing na how our lives are touched by so many people along the way and sometimes these people who meant so much to us then are left behind just in our memories as we move on.

Divs said...

btw - i am adding you to my list of blogs I frequent often. Can you pls do the same on your blog too?

Anonymous said...

I will try this one for sure - Adity !!!

Anonymous said...

U can even cook the cluster beans in a pressure cooker(three whistles only). This will reduce the cooking time considerably and tastes awesome - Adity

Sindhu said...

Jyothi, thanks for going through my blog and your comments. Glad to have found a "new mom" finally :) I looked for pregnant moms, news moms and it was not easy.

I've heard my friends say exactly what you did - about laundry, cleaning etc. being the last priority after the baby is born.

I'm adding you to my blogroll.. going to go through all your recipes. And considering how terrible a cook I am, I am glad to have found you!

Susan said...

It is special and rare to be loved unconditionally. Thanks for sharing some good memories, as well as this very spicy (love it) bean dish. Those tiny little mirchi sure do scream with heat. : )

Anonymous said...

thanks, a very good recipe