Last month I took a break from blogging and am back with another edition blogging marathon, # 70. Though I am back, I am going through a phase where I do not want to cook, click and edit anything for the blog. I hope I come out of this phase very soon. This week my theme is thalis from different Indian states. I shall share thalis from three different states for the next three days. The first in the series is Gujarati thali.
I put together a simple Gujarati thali with everyday food. Gujarati food is sweet, salty and spicy at the same time. Sugar or a form of sweet is added to curries and dal. Since we don't like sweet in curries and dals, I didn't add sweet and kept it savory.
In this Gujarati thali I have a snack (farsan), kathod, vegetable (shaak/sabzi), semi gravy curry (shaak), kadhi and a sweet; sooji dhokla, moong mag, bhenda nu shaak, tametu batata nu shaak, kadhi and sukhdi respectively. A salad, dal, rotli and yogurt are missing in this thali. Though I had planned on serving simple salad, store bought roti and placing a bowl of yogurt in the thali, I forgot to so in a hurry to take to take the picture before dusk. However, though I missed some of the basic components of an thali, the platter still looks full. And moreover, though I made small portions, this food lasted me 2 days 🙂
Dal is a staple food in India. The basic recipe is similar all over India with few variations. I had initially planned on making Gujarati dal which has peanuts in it, along with moong mag. I already had too many side dishes and this food was good for 2 days. In the last minute modified the menu and made only moong mag. Cooking dal with whole dal (lentils) is knew to me and picked mag over dal. Moong is prepared every Wednesday in most of the Gujarati households and I thought it would be good variation to simple dal.
On the Thali
Sooji Dhokla - Steamed savory semolina cake
Moong Mag - Curry with whole moong
Bhenda nu Shaak - Okra/bhendi curry or okra stir fry
Tametu Batata nu Shaak - Tomato potato curry
Gujarati Kadhi - Buttermilk gram flour curry
Sukhdi - Wheat flour jaggery squares or fudge
I hope you like the this simple menu and can checkout other Gujarati recipes I already have on the blog.
This day in 2013: Chicken Balls
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#70
Pavani says
That is a full meal Usha. I hear you when you say even small quantities last long -- in my house too, which is why I try to push them to the back of the fridge and they will appear magically when I don't have anything else cooked 🙂 Gujarati thali looks simply delicious.
Harini-Jaya R says
Very colorful and yummy thali.
gayathriraani says
That is a nice Gujarati spread. All the dishes look so yum. Very well presented, Usha..
Nalini says
Gujarati Thali looks awesome with simple and comforting dishes..
Kalyani says
I love most forms of Gujarati food ! This platter rocks 🙂 how do
U click stainless steel serveware without a reflection being seen, Usha ? Do share ur tips offline 🙂 thanks !
Priya Suresh says
Omg, such a beautiful thali, simple nutritious and extremely healthy thali definitely, all those dishes are seriously very tempting. Now am tempted to make some thali.
Vaishali Sabnani says
Beautiful Thali..I like your brand new thali which is glittering:))..it is only you who can click such beautiful pics..and the thali is very very inviting..Minus the sugar Gujju food is really delicious.
cookingwithsapana says
Gujarati food is so simple yet flavorful. All the dishes looks amazing in the thali. Looking forward to seeing your other thalis.
Ritu Tangri says
I do not make Gujurati food except dhokla as my family doesn't like sugar in savory dishes, but next time even I'll try to make Gujarati food minus sugar :). The food in the thali looks simple yet colorful.
Suma Gandlur says
That is one colorful thaali with delicious food.