Saturday, June 11, 2005

Jhunka Bakhra


Jhunka Bakhra
Originally uploaded by gopoo.
The other day,I skipped home breakfast and after a while was feeling ravenously hungry.I got an urge to try something different and decided to order one plate 'jhunka bakhra'.This is a staple maharashtrian breakfast and the common man's unmissable morning nourishment.So much so that during the Shiva Sena regime,the government sponsored jb joints all over mumbai and probably even subsidised it to gain votes through the stomach.
Now what is it? Bakhra is millet.It is a form of wheat eaten extensively in the rural areas.It is available in the form of bakhra flour and making bakhras is like making chapatis.
And what is Jhunka? It is a combination of the following and prepared as given below:
Take chana dal,wet for 4 hours,remove most of the water and make into fine paste in a mixer.Take green mirchi separately,add adrak,garlic,and make a paste.Prepare a tadka of asfoetida and mustard and some curryleaves.Add the dal paste and allow the whole thing to cook on a small fire for about 20 minutes.Add salt,red mirchi powder and haldi for taste.
Voila! You have an ethnic breakfast ready.
Bon Appetit!

10 comments:

rums said...

hmmm that made my mouth water. whenever i crave for jhunka bakhra here in delhi i head to delhi haat's maharastra food stall.

gs said...

i had it for breakfast this morning! and i enjoyed it very much.topped it up with a large glass of lassi.it is almost 4 hours since then and there is no craving even for any snacks.this jhunka was dry.whereas the one i had earlier had a semisolid jhunka.rums,could you tell me how the jhunka is in the delhi stall

rums said...

it's quite nice but not as tasty as the b'bay one. it is too hot now, when it cools a little why don't you come down to delhi and i can take you to all my favourite places?

lulu said...

it's really hot in manhattan also and can you believe that the a/c broke down at work today :(
the juhka bakhra sounds yummy but i can't think of anything hot right now. i'll have to try this in september when it starts getting cooler!

gs said...

thanks rums very much for the invite.actually,i will be in delhi on 12th and 13th july.it used to be one of my favourite hunting grounds when i worked for zuari agrochemicals as my bossmen were delhibased.after the black buck incident i feel bad even to use the word hunt! my heart cries out for these poor helpless creatures becoming vitims of human capriciousness.

rums said...

great! i'll email my numbers to you and we can paint the city in some fine colours. hopefully by then we'll have some rains and the dust would have settled down. for the past couple of weeks we are surrounded by a dust haze here and it's extremely uncomfortable!
as for the black buck incident, what is even sadder is that the rich and powerful can get away with anything and they have absolutely no respect for our heritage, they have no understanding of intergenerational equity, that one has a responsibility to protect and nurture stuff for the future generations!

lulu said...

wow! that's so cool that you both are meeting up. i'm sure you will have plenty to chat about. just don't trash debo too much :)

rums said...

we still have a soft corner for old debo do we? ;)

gs said...

lulu,who on earth is debo? and rums it will be a great idea to hip-hop in delhi.i am going to keep one day for this fun.chaat masaala joints,hot jalebis and samosas,rumali roti and the best of sabzis,basmati rice and kulfis galore!i think that sounds quite yummy.
hopefully my friend nop will be behind bars by then.and his son sak too.and his wife st for having killed 8000 birds all in one day of frentic bird shooting.if that is true and maneka says so,they deserve to go to hell.

lulu said...

hi dad,
don't you remember my friend debojyoti chatterjee from the economic times? i can just see the light turning on! ok no more in the public domain. you can chat with rumy in person!!

hi rums,
yes, yes, i do ;)