Vegetarian sate can
provide a refreshing alternative to paneer and mushroom-babycorn-based
starters and finger foods at cocktail parties
Almost half a century
back, we were introduced to sate. Our bhasha Indonesia teacher
Soetomo treated us to chicken sate with peanut sauce at his Sujan
Singh Park home and that was love at first bite. Years later, on a
field trip to Malaysia, all we could afford for dinner was half a
dozen skewers of sate with a can of beer and became addicted to the
stuff. Sate are akin to, yet deliciously different from, Rajasthani soole
or delicate char-grilled boti-tikka in Lucknow. The skewers are
oversized toothpick lookalike and the meat is succulent, if not
melt-in-the-mouth. In the Malay world, sate is prepared with beef as
well. We encountered this long lost friend in a heat-and-eat avatar in
a food mart recently and were set thinking — why not a vegetarian
sate? After some misses, a hit was scored. Good old arbi makes
a perfect substitute for the meats. With peanut butter easily
available, making the exotic sauce isn’t a problem either.
Vegetarian sate can provide a refreshing alternative to paneer and
mushroom-baby corn based starters and finger foods at cocktail
parties. This is the year when millennial celebrations commemorating
Rajendra Chola’s despatch of an armada to South East Asia and
commissioning of the magnificent Brihadeeshwar temple are underway.
Homemade shakahari sate seems a good way to rejoice and savour
literally a shared heritage. Sate verily is the tip of the iceberg
that contains within a mind-boggling array of monuments, myths,
performing art forms and religious beliefs.
Shakahari sate
Ingredient
Arbi 250 gm
Peanut butter 3 tbsp
Garlic cloves (crushed) two
Sweet and sour chilli sauce 1tbsp
Light soya sauce 1tbsp
Oil 1tsp
Salt to taste
Method Prepare the sauce by blending
all ingredients in a bowl. Parboil the arbi. Peel when cool.
Cut into diagonal pieces about two-and-a-half inches long. Flatten
between moist palms ensuring that these don’t break. Line a
non-stick pan with a thin film of oil and heat. Pan-grill the arbi
sate about a minute on each side. `A0Remove and sprinkle over with
salt. Pierce carefully through a moist, preferably wooden, skewer.
Hold for a very brief while over open flame. Enjoy with peanut sauce.
Almost half a century
back, we were introduced to sate. Our bhasha Indonesia teacher
Soetomo treated us to chicken sate with peanut sauce at his Sujan
Singh Park home and that was love at first bite. Years later, on a
field trip to Malaysia, all we could afford for dinner was half a
dozen skewers of sate with a can of beer and became addicted to the
stuff. Sate are akin to, yet deliciously different from, Rajasthani soole
or delicate char-grilled boti-tikka in Lucknow. The skewers are
oversized toothpick lookalike and the meat is succulent, if not
melt-in-the-mouth. In the Malay world, sate is prepared with beef as
well. We encountered this long lost friend in a heat-and-eat avatar in
a food mart recently and were set thinking — why not a vegetarian
sate? After some misses, a hit was scored. Good old arbi makes
a perfect substitute for the meats. With peanut butter easily
available, making the exotic sauce isn’t a problem either.
Vegetarian sate can provide a refreshing alternative to paneer and
mushroom-baby corn based starters and finger foods at cocktail
parties. This is the year when millennial celebrations commemorating
Rajendra Chola’s despatch of an armada to South East Asia and
commissioning of the magnificent Brihadeeshwar temple are underway.
Homemade shakahari sate seems a good way to rejoice and savour
literally a shared heritage. Sate verily is the tip of the iceberg
that contains within a mind-boggling array of monuments, myths,
performing art forms and religious beliefs.
Ingredient