Joy is an emotion to be felt, but if it could take form, be held and given a tight hug, it would be Keechun Diaries.
This quirky and thoughtfully designed recipe book along wth documenting heirloom recipes, captures the joy of cooking and feeding loved ones. It overflows with cheer, warmth, love, and laughter. It shares tales from Meena Auntie’s kitchen, stories that make you want to get up, cook and bring some of that love onto your plate.
Flipping through its beautifully doodled and illustrated pages, I imagined myself occupying one of the chairs in Meenabu’s kitchen, foloing the tuver pods and listening to her joyous narrations revolving around food!
Recipe books can be intimidating, but this one puts you at ease; novice and experienced cooks would love the relaxed style of the written recipes, including their family names.
Thank you, Ami and Barkha for bringing this book to life and sharing your mum’s joy of cooking with us. Your efforts will inspire many to document their family recipes and kindle the love for cooking!
I have bookmarked quite a few recipes from this book, one being the Khandvi which is prepared in a unique way, corn nu shaak, patuda no lot, peanut ladoo…. Since I have been curating and sharing Khichu recipes through Instagram, thought of beginning with recreating Meena auntie’s Patuda no lot. Upon my request, Ami has been kind enough to share her memories around the Patuda no lot Meena auntie made.
Ami shares,
“Evening meals were always a delight at home…Mum would plan much in advance and ensure each evening there would be something nice somedays to suit to my Baa’s liking and somedays to us girls…
Patuda no lot was one meal that we all loved. My maternal family used to make this recipe and with my mum’s arrival to my Dad’s family this recipe won their hearts too. Steaming flours with a spicy mix is a very Gujju thing, the most popular being keechu/ papdi no lot which is steamed rice flour and I have heard about bajra no lot being steamed in a similar manner…but patuda no lot which is a blend of rice and dal flour cooked in buttermilk is what I would call a level up. Flavourful and soothing this recipe can be served warm/hot as well as cold and my favourite is to eat it along with sweet and sour lemon pickle.
I never got to cook this recipe with Mum but am glad we documented it for Keechun Diaries. Dad always said my Nani made the best Patuda no lot and that eventually Mum mastered it. Each time she made it she impressed me with the consistent flavour that she was able to achieve every-time…
For me this recipe is a warm hug…a warm welcome hug that one gets when they come back home after a trip…”
Since the word Patudo is new to me, I tried finding the meaning of it in Gujarati Shabdkosh only to find Patudi – described as dhokla made by cooking besan flour in buttermilk. Patudo made with a rather granular flour mix sounds like its first cousin, and a rather delicious one with the special garlicy tadka this particular recipe calls for!!
Make it!
Patuda no Lot
Ingredients
- 1 cup Dal-Chokha flour (I made using 1/2 cup Toor Dal, 1/2 Chana Dal, 1 cup broken small grained aromatic rice)
- 1/4 cup wheat flour/atta
- 3 cups buttermilk, sour
- 1/2 teaspoon ajmo/carom seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon haldi/turmeric powder
- 1/4 teaspoon hing/asafoetida
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon rai/mustard seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon methi seeds/fenugreek seeds
- 3 tablespoons minced ginger+green chillies
- 1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
- 1/4 cup coriander leaves, finely chopped
- 5-6 tablespoons oil (peanut oil preferred)
- salt to taste
Instructions
To make Dal-Chokha flour wipe and dry-grind toor dal, chana dal and rice to idli rawa consistency. The flour needs to be coarsely ground. You can also use store-bought Handvo flour.
In a bowl mix the dal-chokha and wheat flours and add salt and ajmo. Give it a good mix. Now add 2 tablespoons oil and mix well so that it holds itself.
In a pan take 2 teaspoons oil and add methi seeds and hing to crackle and then add buttermilk. Add some salt, haldi, minced ginger+chillies+garlic and stir to mix well. Keep the flame on medium and bring buttermilk to a boil.
Once it boils, remove 1/2 cup buttermilk.
Then add the flour mix, spread and add... using a rolling pin or back of a wooden spoon make holes so that the buttermilk rises to the top. Cover and steam. Remember to keep the flame on a medium.
Check after 5 minutes. The buttermilk would have thickened. Mix well, add 1/2 cup buttermilk and mix again. If needed add some warm water to make it soft.
Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a tadka pan, add the mustard seeds, til and chopped garlic. Once it crackles, add to the steaming flour.
Heat a tawa, place the pan of steaming flour over the hot tawa and continue to cook it over a very gentle flame. After 10-15 minutes prick to see if cooked. If the knife come out clean it's cooked.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with sweet-sour lemon pickle.
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