Food talk
 Sahjan special

The delicately astringent sahjan ka salan is sure to floor connoisseurs, writes Pushpesh Pant

Sahjan ki phali are nothing else but drumsticks — not the chicken variety but the stuff that one comes across in sambhar. One also recalls encountering the succulent sahjan paired with fish and potatoes in a Bengali host’s table but what led us on to the sahjan ka salan was two young kids nine-ten years old from Chhattisgarh. They knocked at our door one day and very politely sought permission if they could climb the tree in the compound of our house in Delhi to pluck some to carry home. To justify the request, the elder one added, "Vegetables are so expensive here in this city. We used to love these at back home and mom would be so happy."

Their parents were engaged on construction work on the campus and lived in a makeshift jhuggi behind the shopping complex. By way of thanks the younger one rattled off a recipe, "You don’t need much, just a potato, little oil, salt and chillies buss!" We decided to try it out and soon did. The phali tasted great but the gravy watery, colourless and unappetising left much to be desired. We kept tinkering with the recipe till the salan evolved in the kitchen. The kids have long since moved out elsewhere with their immigrant parents but we miss them every time we pluck a handful from that tree.

You don’t have to have a tree in the neighbourhood to try this dish out. Most subziwalas stock it. The phali (seeds in the pod) have, according to ayurveda, many beneficial properties. It is anti-spasmodic, diuretic and much else. We need no excuses. The flavour — delicately astringent — has floored us.

Sahjan  ka  Salan

Ingredients

Sahjan ki phali (tender ones) 400 gm

Potatoes (medium sized) two

Bay leaf one

A stick of cinnamon 1 inch long

Green cardamoms 2-3

Cloves two

Onion large (sliced very fine) one

Ginger paste 1 tsp

Garlic paste 1 tsp

Dhania (coriander) powder 2 tsp

Zeera (cumin) powder 1 tsp

haldi (turmeric) powder ½ tsp

Red chilli powder ½ tsp

Oil 2 tbsp

Salt to taste

Method
Wash and cut the sahjan ki phali in about three inch long pieces. Peel, wash and quarter the potatoes. Heat oil in a pan and put the bay leaf, cloves and cardamom, along with cinnamon in it. When the whole spices begin to change colour, add the onions and stir-fry for a minute. Then put in the ginger garlic pastes and continue frying for 15 seconds more.

Now add the powdered spices dissolved in `BC cup of water to avoid scalding. Stir-fry till the moisture evaporates. Add potatoes and the phali continue stir-frying for a couple of minutes then add a cup of hot water bring to boil reduce heat to medium and cook covered till the potatoes are done. The salan should have a thick gravy with sauce-like consistency.

We strongly recommend that tomatoes and garam masala should be eschewed as these interfere with the delicate flavour of the phali. Sahjan yields its marrow generously as you gently suck the mini-tubes or press these betwixt fingers before scooping them with a phulka or mixed with a spoonful of steaming rice.





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