Mumbai. Different things are eaten all over the country during winter, every place has its own traditional food, which is especially liked during winter. One such dish is very much liked in Mumbai also, but the special thing is that this dish is not from Maharashtra but from the adjacent state Gujarat.
This dish is Undhiyu, a traditional and extremely popular mixed vegetable dish from Gujarat, and is especially loved during the winter months and festivals like Uttarayan. A total of ten vegetables are added to it, it has a complex blend of sweet, spicy and sour flavours, and there is generally very little use of smoke. In Mumbai, very few people are proficient in making it, hence people buy it from shops and eat it.
This dish has a deep connection with cold
This cuisine is naturally nutritious, including a wide range of seasonal root vegetables and green vegetables rich in vitamins, minerals and fibre. The use of hot spices and green garlic is also considered helpful in increasing immunity during the cold months. Although Surat style is considered to be the most famous, but like every dish, it also has many varieties. Its different forms are seen in other areas. For example, the Kathiawadi style is spicier and is often served with millet rotla. This is the same Gujarati dish shown in the serial Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, whose name even makes people watching TV water on hearing its name from Jethalal.
Made from root vegetables
This slow-cooked dish is a rich blend of seasonal root vegetables like purple sweet potatoes, sweet potatoes, baby potatoes, raw bananas and baby brinjals, green beans, surti papdi and methi muthiya. These ingredients are cooked with an aromatic paste of coconut, green chillies, garlic, ginger and coriander, creating a unique combination of sweet, spicy and sour flavours. Undhiyu is a festive dish, essentially eaten during the kite flying festival of Uttarayan, but can be enjoyed throughout the cold season. Usually it is served hot with puris or thepla. In Mumbai, you can buy it from a shop called Mahavir Sweets, its price is ₹ 600 per kg.
