Sindhi Food

A royal breakfast preferred by Sindhis ought to be The Dal Pakwan, the crisp fried Maida flatbreads, served with simple Chana dal, garnished with chutney and chopped onion. Apart from this,Bori (Kutti or crushed koki tempered with hot oil, and sweetened with sugar), Sindhi Koki, a wholewheat flour flatbread, kneaded with onion, chillies, dried pomegranate seeds, cumin and a generous amount of oil, double cooked on griddle ,or Lolo (sweet flatbread) Dodo (Flatbread with millet flour, jowar, bajra etc), stuffed parathas with Curd are most popular.
Juar (jowar) or Bhaat (crackedr wheat) porridge, are favorites of elders of the family. And bread dunked in chickpea curry called Chola dhabhala or the two lentils cooked together called Dal moong are still the most sought after breakfasts in many Sindhi families.
Sindhis love simple Dal chaawal, subzi -roti combo.They have some popular style of cooking like Daagh (curry with browned onions), Seyal (cooking food with onions or ginger garlic as base, with little or no water), Tamatey mein (In tomato gravy), saye masaley mein(with Green base, that of coriander leaves and fresh garlic) and Dhaas vegetables (Stuffed vegetables like Okra, Apple gourds, Capsicum etc).Though seasonal vegetables, and plenty of lentils /pulses, are included in daily cooking, but when fresh vegetables are unavailable, Sindhis tend to make use of Besan, and hence Chilra (Gramflour savory pancakes), Chilra kadhi, Aani ji bhaji (Besan dumplings in Onion tomato base) are immensely popular. And not to forget a Sindhi specialty called Sindhi Kadhi , which is a tangy tamarind and gram flour based curry, flavored with some spices and Vaghar like cluster beans, okra, drumsticks etc.This is again generally made for guests and is served with hot plain boiled white rice and sweet boondi. Amritsari wadis cooked along with potatoes, is one spicy curry you cannot afford to miss, and so is Sindhi Saibahji, the yummiest concoction of spinach with fenugreek leaves, sorrel leaves, beans, potatoes,carrot,eggplant,okra, chana dal etc.
Sindhi Sanna Pakoda (Double fried Gram flour fritters) are famous as most crispy snacks, while Alu tikki, Batan papdi(A Sindhi Chaat), Mirchi Pakora, Bhein Tikki, Spinach Pakoda , are other guilty pleasures. Sindhi Papad has a unique taste, not too spicy nor bland...just perfect. And so are the pickles...the regular oil based as well as Mustard seeds and water based pickles called as Paarianh waari Khatairn have many loyal followers. Yet another typical Sindhi style pickle is Kadhookas (grated ), pickle made from raw shredded mangoes, seasoned with,salt, turmeric, red chillies, nigella seeds,cloves of garlic, mixed and lumps of these mixture are tied in small white muslin cloth gathadis (like dumplings), pickled and enjoyed later. It’s called Gathadi aka Bheendi.