The true indicator of winter in any Gujarati house is the materialisation of a semi-dry inexperienced vegetable on the thali (plate). Undhiyu, a Gujarati speciality, is a medley of seasonal greens and nostalgia-linked flavours.
Its well being quotient is excessive, and the array of greens is to credit score — every infusing the dish with an authenticity of its personal. Val (inexperienced beans), recent inexperienced peas, uncooked banana, small eggplants, potatoes, kand (purple yam), lillo lassan (inexperienced garlic), freshly grated coconut, ginger and coriander come along with sugar and a beneficiant serving to of oil lending the ultimate touches.
And winters in Ahmedabad mandate you head to those eateries to your fill of undhiyu.
1. Swati Snacks
In a world the place interpretations of cult classics are celebrated, undhiyu defies the norm with its unchanging rigidity. Nobody does custom higher than Swati Snacks, is what Pune-based meals curator Madhura found on her latest journey to Gujarat. “It [Swati Snacks] is one of the best for undhiyu,” she says, whereas additionally encouraging folks to discover different menu gadgets.
“You possibly can style staple Gujarati dishes like panki (rice pancake), patra vadi (a dumpling constructed from colocasia leaves), kadhi fafda (a gram-flour primarily based soup served with gram-flour ribbons) right here,” she provides.
When you browse the menu, right here’s a chew of historical past. Swati Snacks had humble beginnings in 1963 in Tardeo, Mumbai, when a single mom Minakshi Jhaveri started experimenting with residence cooking. Very quickly, her Gujarati renditions amassed an enormous quantity of affection and scaled right into a culinary legacy, which India is aware of as its beloved Swati Snacks. The multi-crore enterprise has loved an prosperous clientele that features the likes of legendary painter M F Husain and tabla maestro Zakir Hussain.
2. Underneath the Neem Timber
“Why do you’re keen on undhiyu?”
The easy query is all it takes to unlock a compendium of recollections in chef Smit Sagar’s thoughts. “Yearly on Bestu Varas (Gujarati New 12 months), we make the chappan bhog (a sacred platter of 56 meals gadgets) for Lord Krishna. I at all times assist my mom make undhiyu for this.” There’s a sure emotional depth that cooking with one’s family members evokes. Smit agrees. “It’s due to its holistic method; there’s a sense of positivity to it.”
But when there’s one factor he loves greater than the cooking, it’s the relishing that comes after. “The undhiyu, eaten with the complete household, tastes heavenly.” Whereas insisting that home made undhiyu pales all others compared, Smit says he enjoys feasting on the dish at ‘Underneath the Neem Timber’.
3. Gordhan Thal
The eatery has ensconced itself within the metropolis’s social material with its thali priced at Rs 350 that includes Gujarati specialities, together with the lip-smacking undhiyu. The accompaniments are as pleasant. From the corn basket, spring roll, and dhokla (savoury sponge dish) to the potato curry and kadhi, blogger Atulmaharaj is a fan.
Sharing a spotlight, he says, “The Gujarati Thali at Gordhan Thal has a rotating menu so that you’ll have one thing new day by day. There are greater than 20 gadgets on the menu, together with starters, mains, and desserts.”
4. Rajwadu Restaurant
I can personally attest that Rajwadu, a theme-based restaurant reflecting the approach to life of Indian villages is a sensory expertise. My go to in 2019, left me amazed at how conventional Indian and Gujarati cultures have been introduced alive not simply by means of the meals however by means of puppetry, Gujarat folks dance, folks artwork and music.
However, I’ve to confess, the protagonist of the night was the large thali — a culinary canvas of Gujarati delicacies from starters to essential course to desserts, with chutneys and seasonings emboldening the flavours. Seasonal produce has a sway over the gadgets that make it to the Rajwadu menu, including to its flare.
5. Kamla
In Ahmedabad’s Bodakdev locality lies the Kamla restaurant that journey blogger Sam Mendelsohn found. He couldn’t cease singing praises of the home-style thali (priced at Rs 175).
He writes, “The menu modifications per meal; test their Instagram tales for the day’s menu. It’s 80 p.c Gujarati, however typically they swap it up. Typically it’s pretty primary (numerous preparations of dal, potato sabzi, kadhi). Nonetheless, most of the meals have been extra distinctive, with native seasonal bean dishes and totally different muthia nu shaak (vegetable made out of fenugreek dumplings). I even received a pre-season undhiyu as soon as (they referred to as it ‘nearly undhiyu’, with out each single vegetable in season but).”
6. Shreeji Caterers
Distributors of Gujarati snacks and farsan (savoury snacks), Shreeji Caterers is thought for his or her undhiyu. Revealing slightly in regards to the historical past of the dish, culinary guide Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal shares that the dish derives its identify from the phrase undhu (Gujarati for ‘the other way up’). “Farmers within the rural belt round Surat, the place undhiyu is claimed to have originated, have for many years stuffed earthen pots with recent winter produce and buried them underground, lighting a hearth on prime so the dish cooks below a hearth as an alternative of atop it.”
In the present day, a number of variations of undhiyu exist, with every area placing its personal spin on the dish. Whereas Ahmedabad likes to make hers spicier with beneficiant helpings of oil, Surat loves retaining the garlicky flavour whereas Kathiyawad likes so as to add muthiyas (steamed or fried snacks made with gram flour).
7. Vishalla
Take pleasure in undhiyu whereas additionally partaking in a country expertise. Vishalla was created in 1978 by an architect Surendra Patel who wished to alter the best way we see Gujarati meals. His thought was to make the consuming experiential by means of mud flooring, bamboo partitions, picket tables, leaf plates, and bowls.
If you end up executed along with your meal, you may digest it throughout a stroll across the museum ‘Vechaar’ — conceptualised by Patel and an anthropologist Jyontindra Jain. The museum options outdated utensils.
Edited by Pranita Bhat
Sources
‘Ahmedabad Meals Information’: by Sam Mendelsohn, Printed on 6 August 2024.
‘Gordhan Thal Ahmedabad – Consuming genuine Gujarati Thali – Evaluate‘: by Atulmaharaj, Printed on 11 January 2022.
‘In Gujarat, winter brings undhiyu events to the yard’: by Teja Lele, Printed on 9 January 2024.
