Sajana Chhuin Rai
drumsticks and potato in a pale, pungent ground-mustard gravy with no onion or garlic
Allergens in Sajana Chhuin Rai: mustard.
Ingredients
Quantities for 4.
- 4, cut into 8cm lengths Drumstick
- 2 medium, quartered lengthways Potato
- 2 tbsp Mustard Seeds
- 4 Green Chilli2 for the paste, 2 slit for the pot
- 3 tbsp Mustard Oil
- 1 tsp Panch Phoron
- 2, broken Dried Red Chilli
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric
- 1/2 tsp Cumin Powderoptional
- 1/2 tsp Sugartakes the edge off the mustard
- 400ml Water
- to taste Salt
Cookware
stovetop, kadhai, blender
Checked against the ingredient list for ten allergens: milk, egg, fish, crustaceans, tree nuts, peanuts, sesame, mustard, soy and gluten. Brands vary, so read the label on anything new to you.
Before you start
- Soak the mustard seeds in warm water for 20 minutes before grinding. Dry seeds grind bitter.
- Peel the drumsticks lightly with a knife, taking off only the stringy outer skin, and cut them into finger lengths.
- Grind the soaked mustard with 2 green chillies, a pinch of salt and 4 tbsp water into a smooth paste, using short pulses.
Method
- Heat the mustard oil in a kadhai until it smokes faintly, then bring it down to medium.
- Crackle the panch-phoron and broken red chillies for about 20 seconds, until the fenugreek in the mix darkens a shade.Fenugreek goes from fragrant to acrid in seconds. The moment you smell it, move on.
- Add the potato, turmeric and 1/2 tsp salt and fry for 4 minutes until the cut edges take on gold patches.
- Add the drumstick pieces and toss for 2 minutes so they pick up the oil.
- Pour in the water, cover and simmer for 12 minutes, until a spoon scrapes the drumstick flesh out cleanly and the potato yields to a fork.
- Turn the heat right down until the surface is barely moving, then stir in the ground mustard paste, the sugar and the cumin powder.Never let the pot boil once the mustard is in. A hard boil makes it harsh and bitter within a minute.
- Hold at a bare simmer for 4 minutes; the gravy thickens slightly and loses its raw, nose-tingling smell.
- Drop in the two slit green chillies and simmer 2 minutes more.
- Take off the heat, stir through 1 tsp of raw mustard oil, and let it sit 5 minutes before serving with rice.The raw oil at the end is what makes this taste Odia rather than merely mustardy.
Storage
Keeps 2 days refrigerated. Reheat gently on low with a splash of water and stop as soon as it is warm. Reboiling turns the mustard bitter.
Nutrition Medium estimate
One serving of Sajana Chhuin Rai (192 g) is about 191 calories, or 100 calories per 100 g.
Low protein: 3 g a serving, 7% of the calories
| Per serving192 g | Per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 191 kcal | 100 kcal |
| Protein | 3.3 g | 2 g |
| Carbohydrate | 18.8 g | 10 g |
| of which sugars | 1.7 g | 1 g |
| Fibre | 2.9 g | 2 g |
| Fat | 12.2 g | 6 g |
| of which saturated | 1.3 g | 1 g |
| of which unsaturated | 9.8 g | 5 g |
Ingredients given to taste count as zero, so the real figures run a little higher. Nearest database match used for panch phoron. Estimated from raw ingredients using USDA FoodData Central.
More like this: Healthy Indian recipes · Vegan Indian recipes · Vegetarian Indian recipes · Gluten-free Indian recipes · Dairy-free Indian recipes · No onion no garlic recipes · Odia recipes
Times, yields, allergens and nutrition are guidance. Use your own judgement on doneness and on storing. More in About.