Dadhri|Forgotten Sindhi Snack

D^adhri, a healthy snack loaded with nostalgia!
I grew up in Ulhasnagar, a place where many Sindhis still follow their traditions, where the old rituals are still valued, where you can hear the locals speaking in Sindhi language, the families eating Sindhi food on daily basis and Sindhi festivals being celebrated traditionally. It is a place where you can still find the forgotten food like Kuneh Ja beeh, Lor^h, Beeh Ja pakora/Tikki, Suhanjhro, Pali etc.

As a child growing up in a typical middle class Sindhi family, I remember consuming only seasonal vegetables, fruits/food and nothing fancy/exotic/imported. It was not a fad but a norm in those days.
You can read more about my rants on how the certain things in the modern world annoy me, and about my food memories from the past, here!

Winter blessings!

I wait for winters to cook my favorite food as some of my favorite vegetables/greens are available for a brief period from December- January.
The winter delicacies like Turnips, Drumstick flowers, Fresh green garlic, Cholia saag, Lor^h are available only for a brief period.
Another lesser known, seasonal delicacy that I always crave for is D^adhri  (डधिड़ी)!

My memories of enjoying a plate full of hot boiled D^adhri garnished with spices on a cold winter evening, after returning from school/college, often invoke cravings for these seasonal pods every winter but from past two decades I couldn’t find these in the local markets. Neither could find it during my innumerable trips to Ulhasnagar.

Suddenly two days ago, Chef Jyoti Vishnani, of Sindh Da Swaad fame told me that she spotted D^adhri in Ulhasnagar and if she should get some for me! I couldn’t believe my luck! But well, ” Agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaaho to puri Qaynat usey tumse milane ki koshish mein lag jaati hai.”
My good luck and the generous friend made it happen and the D^adhri reached me, against all odds:-)
Thank you Jyoti, thank you, dil se!!

D^adhri, as far as I know, was a term used for specific tiny green pods, that were boiled whole and consumed as snacks. I was not aware of the botanical/regional names of these pods. When I discussed it with my extremely knowledgeable friend, a respected blogger, nutrition consultant, recipe developer, healthy, sustainable food promoter, with Master’s degree in Botany, Sangeeta Khanna, she suggested that it could be Khesari (Lathyrus sativus L) a controversial dal that was banned for years.
Now when I finally had the D^adhri, I showed her the pics of the same and she confirmed that it is indeed Khesari!Thank you, Sangeeta Khanna 🙂

Many Sindhis told me that they call boiled Peas pods as D^adhri, and not necessarily only the Khesari. Friends from Sindh tell me that the Khesari is also known as Phari (plural= P  haryoon)!

There is hardly a recipe for D^adhri. Just pick the fresh looking pods, discarding dried, wilted or rotten pods. Rinse with water a couple of times. Either boil in an open pan, with enough salt, some turmeric and water for 20-25 minutes or cook in a pressure cooker (15 minutes on low flame after 1 whistle or cook on medium heat for 4 whistles of the cooker).

Drain and garnish with some black salt, coriander powder, red chilli powder and amchoor. Some also add little of tamarind juice.

As kids we were asked to hold each boiled pod towards the light source. The boiled pods would be fairly transparent and if you see any suspicious bits in the pods (worms, insect or rotten peas) discard it. I seriously don’t remember if we were actually able to figure out the bad stuff but we would religiously hold each pod against the light, pretending to scrutinise each, like a CID officer but eventually popping each pod in the mouth 😉

Actually to eat D^adhri one has to hold the pod in between the teeth, pull out the skin of the pod, thereby releasing the flavorful ‘peas’ in the mouth.

Have shared a Reel about cooking D^adhri on Instagram.

Update: Sharing the video here: