Undhiyu

How to prepare Undhiyu (Undhiya or Undhiyo) Recipe| सुरती उंधियो | How To Make Gujarati Undhiyu | Surti Oondhiyu 

Undhiyu is a very popular, vegetables  packed Gujarati winter delicacy. It is a tantalizing mix of Fenugreek (Methi) dumplings, root vegetables like baby potatoes, sweet potatoes, Suran (yum), violet / purple yum (Ratalo), Arbi / Arvi (Colocasia) and different varieties of fresh green beans like green pigeon peas (tuvar peas), hyacinth beans (Val papdi) fava beans (surti papdi), green peas (mutter) and green chickpeas (hara Chana), which are flavored with an aromatic blend of seasonal herbs i.e. coriander leaves, Fenugreek leaves, spring garlic and spring onions.

Undhiyu gets its name from the Gujarati word ‘undhu’, which means ‘upside down’. This recipe is cooked in earthen pots buried underground from above. Sounds very interesting, isn't it .. You will obtain an awesome unique flavor and aroma when it is cooked in an earthen pot. Another interesting thing about this recipe is that water is not added in a traditional recipe, but cooking oil is added in good quantity and it is cooked with moisture, which is released from vegetables during the cooking process. However, I am partaking in my versions of Undhiyu recipe which is cooked on gas stove by using sauce pans and pressure cookers. 

♨RECIPE DETAILS 

• Serving: 7-8
• Prep Time 180 min
• Cook Time 35 min
• Cuisine: Indian (Gujarati)
• Category: Vegetarian 
• Course: Main Course
• Difficulty: Medium but requires your dedication, good efforts, and good time. Lengthy preparation.

♨INGREDIENTS REQUIRED FOR UNDHIYU 

♨Vegetables needed for Undhiyu:

• 2 raw bananas 
• 100 g baby brinjals 
• 100 g baby potatoes 
• 100 g sweet potato
• 100 g Violet / Purple Yam (Ratalu)
• 100 g Suran (Yam)
• 100 g Arbi (Colocasia)
• 100 g tuvar beans (pigeon peas)
• 100 g surti papdi (broad bean) 
• 100 g green peas
• 100 g green chick peas (Hara Chana)
• 100 g Val papdi (hyacinth/valor beans)

♨Other ingredients for Undhiyu 

• 4tbsp cooking oil
• Cooking oil for deep frying vegetables 
• 1tbsp ghee.

♨For Green Masala

• 3 Handful Cilantro leaves
• 1tbsp spring onion leaves
• 1tbsp fresh spring garlic
• 2 Handful peanuts (roasted or fried)
• 120-150 g grated coconut 
• 4tbsp sesame seeds
• 3 tbsp lemon juice 
• 5-6 green chillies
• 2tsp ginger paste
• 3tsp Red chili powder 
• 3-4 tbsp sugar  or Jaggery or as per taste
• Salt to taste

♨For Methi Muthia

Refer this recipe: Muthia Recipe

• 5 tbsp gram flour (Besan)
• 3tbsp wheat flour 
• 1tsp Ajwain (carom seeds / Owa)
• 2tsp red chilly powder
• 1tsp turmeric powder
• Salt to taste
• 1tbsp sugar
• 1tsp cooking soda 
• 1tbsp ginger, green chili paste
• 1tbsp sesame seeds
• 1tbsp Lemon juice
• 1 handful fenugreek leaves
• 1 tbsp coriander leaves
• 100 gms Jaggery 

♨STEP BY STEP METHOD OF MAKING UNDHIYU 

♨STEP 1; PREPARE METHI MUTHIA

Refer this recipe: Methi Muthia Recipe

♨STEP 2 MISE EN PLACE - VEGETABLES CHOPPING 

♦Take root vegetables one by one - wash, peel and evenly chop all the root vegetables and bananas. (Cutting raw yam and colocasia may irritate your skin, so please apply some oil while cleaning the yam).

♦ Slit the brinjals from the tail end, give a cross slit without breaking them into halves. (Follow this cutting process only when Masala stuffing is ready)...

♦Shelling and chopping green beans - trim the beans ends, tear out the fiber that runs along the spine of the bean. Chop the beans in 3" pieces. Take out the shells of board beans, pigeon peas and chickpeas. Keep it aside until called for.

♦Blanch the green leafy vegetables and grate the coconut.

♨ STEP 3: PREPARE GREEN MASALA PASTE

♦ Take a mixer grinder jar and make a green masala paste by adding the following ingredients: coriander leaves, green chillies, 1tbsp grated coconut, peanuts, sesame seeds, sugar, salt, and lemon juice. Keep it aside until required.

♨ STEP 4: BLANCH AND FRY ROOT VEGETABLES.

♦ Blanch all root vegetables except potatoes The purpose of pursuing this process is to avoid and control itching problem with tongue and throat after eating yam and Colocasia.

♦ Deep fry all vegetables except sweet potatoes.

♨STEP 5 : PRESSURE COOK GREEN BEANS

♦ Pressure cook all green beans by adding 150ml water, 1tsp cooking oil, salt, sugar and turmeric powder allow 3-4 whistles. Keep it aside until asked for.

♨ STEP 6: STUFF BRINJALS WITH GREEN MASALA 

♦ Slit the brinjals from the tail end, give a cross slit without breaking them and fill in the above stuffing (prepared in step 3)

♨ STEP 7: FINAL COOKING PROCESS 

♦ Heat 4 tbsp cooking oil or sesame oil then add the stuffed brinjals and saute it for 4- 5 minutes on slow to medium fire.

♦ Add fried vegetables, pressure cooked green beans, fried methi muthia, leftover green masala, grated coconut, jaggery, salt to taste, mix gently, cover and cook on low flame till spices are blended well and all the vegetables are almost done.  Finally, add dollop of ghee.

♦ Serve hot with puri or chapatti.