The lip smacking Undiyo

The undiyo season is here. Since I absolutely love this gujarati dish, I was reminiscing about the first time ever that I tasted the Undiyo. My mind just took wings. I remembered my great uncle who was the collector of Surat and thats how my father and uncle spent time in Surat and learnt Gujarati and developed a taste for the gujarati food. My dad had lots of gujju friends and when I was a kid we visited Ahmedabad in december.... just during the undiyo season. We were invited for an undiyo party. There was this huge pit in which there was an earthen pot in which the undiyo was simmering. The guest were all sitting around this pit and helping themselves to Undiyo. As a kid i didn't much take to it. I think it's an acquired taste. Over the years though... not only have I developed a taste for it but have also learnt to cook it! Learning to cook it was a necessity as the undiyo sold in the shop was so oily that I would have guilt pangs after just tasting it.
My mom's friend was a good cook. She was a walking cook-book. All you needed to do was ask.." How do you make.......?" and the recipe would come pouring out her mouth. Thats where I got my undiyo recipes...which over the years I have fine tuned.... added to.... subtracted from... and which I am posting today..... Here goes:- Recipe for 12 servings
1/2Kg Surti papdi
1/2Kg papdi
1/2Kg papdi(only the beans to be taken from this one)... it's called danyachi papdi.
1/4Kg bringals (egg plants-small)
1/4Kg yam (the purple variety)
1/4Kg sweet potato
1/4Kg potatoes
3 bananas (ripe)
1 bunch fresh garlic
2 1/2" ginger
15-16 cloves garlic
10 green chillies
Method: Grind to a paste the fresh garlic/garlic/ginger/green chillies. Add to this turmeric, Dhania jeera powder, salt and sugar. Make 3 parts of this paste.
In a big pan, pour oil. Be generous :) you need about 5 big ladles of oil. When hot add ajwain seeds to it for tempering... you could also add a half spoon of sesame seeds too.... and then add turmeric powder for tempering. After this add surti papdi/papdi and the beans. Add one third of the green paste to this. Cover the vessel and cook till half done. Dont add any water. Then add the layer of the roots i.e the yam/potatoes/sweet potatoes.... to this add methi muthias.... this is a short cut I use. I get the packet from the shop....so these are hard and need to be cooked.... then add another 1/3rd of the paste..... when this layer is cooked.... then add the green bananas and add some grated fresh coconut and chopped fresh corriander to it. Add the last bit of the green paste. Add salt if required. Your undiyo is ready to be served.
Enjoy your meal (thats what my microwave says everytime it pings!!!) Bon-appetit!!