5 WAYS GREEN GARLIC IS USED IN TRADITIONAL INDIAN RECIPES

Green garlic or lilu lasan or hara lasun is in season! This beautiful ingredient is known by different names across diverse communities in India and used to prepare a lot of yum dishes. I have tried my hand at making a few preprartions from different cuisines. Here is a look at some of them:

1. THECHA
This is the easiest way of using green garlic. Roughly chop up the green garlic and pound it with masala peanuts and green chillies using a pestle and mortar to a coarse texture. Then, quickly flash fry the mixture in peanut oil. Now enjoy it with steaming hot plate of daal-rice.
2. ‎GARHWALI HARE LEHSUN KA NAMAK
This recipe was showed by Rushina Munshaw-Ghildiyal on her insta handle. Inspired by her recipe I decides to arrive at a flavourful salt using green garlic. A better taste and texture is obtained using stone pestle & mortar instead of blender to bring together green garlic, green chillies and salt. Also add black salt/ kala namak instead of regular one to amp up the flavour.

3. ‎LASANIYA BAJRI NA ROTLA ane DAHIM RINGAN NU BHARTHU.
The nip in the air is an excuse to relish bajra (pearl millet) with lots of green garlic. This Gujarati rotla (chapati/flat bread) is made by combining bajra flour, lilu lasan (gree garlic), green chillies & makhana (white butter). Do not use a rolling pin but make these on hand for a different experience. Enjoy these with bharthu (bharta) made with sekela ringan (roasted brinjal), garlic, curd, onion and green chillies.
4. ‎VAGHARELO ROTLA
This Kathiawadi cuisine speciality is a very flavourful way of dealing with left over rotla(bajra/pearl millet flat bread.)
The traditional recipe calls for crushing the rotlas to a coarse mix and giving an elaborate vaghar (tadka/tempering). But I have only used dollops of desi ghee (clarified butter) and lilu lasan (green garlic) for the vaghar. It's one hearty dish and is best enjoyed with chilled curds.

5. SAI THOOM JUAR JO DODO
I followed Chef Saransh Goila's recipe to make and relish this very classic Sindhi cuisine bread made with juar (jowar/sorghum) flour. The key flavouring ingredient was sai thoom (green garlic as it is known in Sindhi language) and the garnish was dollops of white butter. Curd and homemade Sindhi bhindi (mango pickle) are perfect accompaniments with this hearty bread.

If this ingredient is used to prepare any delicacies in your community's cuisine do let me know about it in the comments section.

Till then, HAPPY EATING...