Jain Recipes: Kele Appe, Pav Bhaji, Mango Sevaiya Custard

Jain cuisine is about simplicity, purity, seasonal eating, with dishes prepared in ways that preserve the natural flavours and the nutritional value of ingredients.

Traditional Jain cuisine is strictly vegetarian and excludes ingredients like onions and garlic.

It is often described as satvic because onions and garlic are considered tamasic or fiery for the system. In its strictest form, Jain cooking also avoids potatoes and other root vegetables, as harvesting roots destroys the entire plant.

Jainism follows the principle of ahimsa or non-violence with great rigour and shows respect for all forms of life, including plants.

Therefore, Jain meals are typically prepared using grains likes wheat and rice, lentils, pulses, beans, oilseeds, and fruits and vegetables that ripen naturally on plants or trees or fall to the ground once fully ripe.

Their food practices also require no eating after sunset as this reflects the Jain belief in mindfulness and care to prevent harm to even the smallest living organisms.

Mumbai-based Meghna Kamdar blogs on mainly Gujarati food at Meghna's Food Magic, and has umpteen Jain recipes on file.

Adrika Anand presents three of her Jain recipes -- a Jain Pav Bhaji, a green banana and sabudana Appe and Mango Sevaiya Custard.

Kacche Kele Aur Sabudana Appes

Serves: 3-5

Ingredients

For the appe:

• 3 kacche kele or raw bananas, boiled, peeled, grated
• 1 cup soaked sabudana or tapioca pearls
• 4 tbsp toasted, crushed peanuts
• ½ cup chopped fresh green dhania or coriander leaves or cilantro
• 2-3 fresh green chillies
• 1 tsp jeera or cumin seeds
• Salt to taste, about 1 tsp
• Juice of 1 lime
• 150 gm paneer, mashed with a fork
• Ghee, for cooking the appe

For the chutney:

• 2 tbsp roasted peanuts
• 200 gm green dhania or fresh coriander leaves or cilantro
• Few green chillies
• Salt to taste, about 1 tsp
• Juice of half a lime
• 2-3 ice cubes
• 2 tbsp yoghurt, optional

Method

To make the chutney:

• In a blender jar, grind the roasted peanuts, green coriander, green chillies, salt, lime juice, ice cubes.
  And the yoghurt.
  Blend till smooth and refrigerate till the appes are done.

For the appe:

• Boil 3 raw bananas in a pressure cooker over medium heat for 2-3 whistles.
  Cool, skin and finely grate.
  Now add in the drained sabudana, peanuts, coriander leaves, green chillies, jeera, salt, lime juice, paneer.
  With your hands mix well.
  Shape the mixture into small 1½-inch diameter balls.
• Heat up the appe pan over medium heat and grease each cavity with a little ghee and place the prepared sabudana balls in it.
  Cover.
  Let the appe cook on each side till golden.
  Take off heat and serve with the green chutney.

Jain Pav Bhaji

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2-3 raw bananas, boiled, skinned, mashed
• 1 small cauliflower, partially boiled, mashed
• 1 cup green peas, partially boiled, mashed
• Fresh red chilly paste, alternatively dry red chillies can be used
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp jeera or cumin seeds
• Pinch hing or asafoetida powder
• 1 medium Shimla mirch or green capsicum, finely chopped
• Salt to taste, about 2 tsp
• ½ tsp haldi or turmeric powder
• 1 ½ tsp brown dhania or coriander powder
• 1 ½ tsp Kashmiri red chilly powder
• 5 medium tomatoes, pureed
• 1 tsp Pav Bhaji masala
• Water

For the tadka:

• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp jeera or cumin seeds
• ½ tsp Pav Bhaji masala
• Handful fresh green dhania or coriander laves or cilantro, finely chopped
• Lemon juice, for serving
• Butter, for serving

Method

• Heat 1 tbsp butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
  Add the oil, jeera,hing, capsicum.
  Add the boiled green peas, salt, haldi, brown coriander powder, Kashmiri red chilly powder.
  Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
  Gently mash the vegetables.
  Now add the red chilly paste, pureed tomatoes.
  Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
  Add the Pav Bhaji masala, green coriander and mash.
  Now add the cauliflower.
  Mash everything well and gradually add water and mix.
  Again cover and keep cooking.

Tadka for pav bhaji:

• Heat the butter over medium heat in a small frying pan or tadka pan and add the jeera, Pav Bhaji masala.
  Mix and pour this tadka over the Pav Bhaji.
• Take off heat and serve hot garnished with a squeeze a lemon, butter green dhania along with pav.

Mango Sevaiya Custard

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp ghee
• ¼ cup sevaiya or vermicelli
• 1 litre milk
• 3-4 tsp elaichi or cardamom powder
• 4 tbsp condensed milk or else instead 4 tbsp sugar/jaggery powder or few soaked mashed dates
• 1 ½ tbsp custard powder whisked with a little warm milk
• 1 cup mango pulp
• 2 mangoes, chopped mangoes
• Chopped pistachios

Method

• Heat the ghee in a saucepan or a kadhai over low heat and add the sevaiya or vermicelli.
  Fry until it changes colour and turns pink.
  Add the milk and cook until the milk reduces, about 5-7 minutes.
  Keep stirring continuously.
  Add the cardamom powder, condensed milk, custard powder mixture.
• Stir continuously over medium heat until the milk rises twice.
  Take off heat when milk turns thicker and pour into a large bowl and refrigerate for about an hour.
  Take out of the fridge and add the mango pulp and mix.
  Then add the chopped mangoes, pistachios.
• Refrigerate again for 3-4 hours and then serve.

• REDIFF FOOD