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Sindhi cuisine is delightful, and those who have had a taste of it will know that there is a great deal of flavour and spice in this cuisine. This does not mean that all food in Sindhi cuisine is spicy, as there are plenty of sweet dishes in it to. Traditionally, Sindhi cuisine is known for spice, taste and sweetness too.

Sindhi cuisine is a result of many influences - Baluchistan touches the border of Sindh and so does Punjab – so there is bound to be an immigration of ideas! It goes without saying that pre-partition played an immense role in making Sindhi cuisine what it is today. As Sindh was once part of India, Indian foods have had a large influence is shaping Sindhi cuisine. The spicy and aromatic features of Sindhi and Indian meals are similar. Sindhi cuisine refers to the cuisine of the Sindhis from Sindh, Pakistan and Sindhi people living in India. The daily food in most Sindhi households consists of phulka and rice accompanied by two dishes, one with gravy and one dry preparation. On festivals, there is enough of everything available to eat and drink. Some of the dishes that are popular in Sindhi cuisine are sai bhaji, dal pakwan, vegetable curries and papad. 

A taste of Sindhi cuisine

Combinations of dishes are also important in Sindhi cuisine. Over the years the best ones have lasted and are repeatedly presented together. Examples of these kinds of dishes include Sai bhaji Pulao along with which come a number of side dishes. Dishes such as fried potatoes or fried bhindi, dahi, etc. commonly accompany this dish.

  •Dodo is a bajra roti with spices mixed with it, and is cooked unleavened. Usually, it is cooked on a skillet and consumed best with garlic-based mint chutney.

  •Seyal Pallo is cooked in a base made of onions and tomatoes. It is consumed best with chapati. However, there are only few people who can cook this dish the way it should be cooked. Since the fish used in this dish is rich in oil, you need to be careful about how much oil you add when cooking it. Otherwise, the gravy becomes too oily.

  •Seyal Dabroti Bread or chapati is cooked in a base mixture of garlic, coriander and tomatoes. It is a breakfast item. It can also be cooked in onions and tomato as well, which would be the more traditional way to cook it in Sindhi cuisine.

  •Lolo is wheat dough that has a little salt added in it. It has a small amount of sugar syrup added into the flour that has to be kneaded with butter or ghee. The mass is then cooked on a skillet slowly. Lolos when cooked would be around a quarter of an inch in thickness.

  •A grand and typical Sindhi breakfast would be dal pakwan. This is quite a heavy dish to digest as the pakwan is deep fried.

  •Sindhis tend to use a considerable amount of onions and tomatoes. These vegetables form the base of nearly all traditional Sindhi dishes.

  •Sindhi kadhi is made up of besan and tamarind. However, there are a lot of vegetables added to it: brinjal, pumpkin, beans, yam (suran), ladies finger and potatoes. This is served with plain rice and sweet boondi.

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MasterChef Sanjeev Kapoor

Chef Sanjeev Kapoor is the most celebrated face of Indian cuisine. He is Chef extraordinaire, runs a successful TV Channel FoodFood, hosted Khana Khazana cookery show on television for more than 17 years, author of 150+ best selling cookbooks, restaurateur and winner of several culinary awards. He is living his dream of making Indian cuisine the number one in the world and empowering women through power of cooking to become self sufficient. His recipe portal www.sanjeevkapoor.com is a complete cookery manual with a compendium of more than 10,000 tried & tested recipes, videos, articles, tips & trivia and a wealth of information on the art and craft of cooking in both English and Hindi.