Santula is the Odia home cook's answer to a light, nourishing vegetable dish. It is cooked for children, for the elderly and for anyone recovering from illness, and it fits right into a summer meal. Some families make it without any tempering at all, simply boiling the vegetables and adding salt and ghee.
The flavour is mild and clean: mixed vegetables simmered until soft, then dressed in a tempering of mustard oil, panch phoron, garlic and green chilli. A splash of milk at the end, in the 'dudha santula' style, makes it gently creamy. It is not meant to be rich or fiery; the vegetables should taste of themselves.
At a glance
| Region | Odisha |
|---|---|
| Cuisine | Odia |
| Diet | Vegetarian |
| Course | Side dish |
| Prep time | 15 minutes |
| Cook time | 20 minutes |
| Total time | 35 minutes |
| Serves | 4 |
| Spice level | Mild |
| Difficulty | Easy |
| Gluten-free | Yes |
| Key ingredients | raw papaya / potato / brinjal / pumpkin / milk |
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw papaya, peeled and cubed
- 1 medium potato, cubed
- 1 small brinjal, cubed
- 1 cup pumpkin, cubed
- 1/2 cup french beans, cut into 3 cm pieces
- 1 raw banana, peeled and cubed
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 tbsp mustard oil
- 1/2 tsp panch phoron
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 green chillies, slit
- 1 dry red chilli
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 tsp ghee
- Salt to taste
Method
- Put all the vegetables in a pan with turmeric, salt and 1 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer on medium-low for 10-12 minutes until tender.
- Lightly mash a few pieces of pumpkin and potato against the side of the pan to thicken the stew, leaving most of the vegetables whole.
- Heat the mustard oil in a small pan until it smokes, then lower the heat. Add panch phoron and dry red chilli and let them crackle.
- Add the crushed garlic and green chillies and fry until the garlic is light golden, about 1 minute.
- Pour the tempering into the vegetables and simmer for 2 minutes.
- Lower the heat, stir in the milk and simmer gently for 2-3 minutes without boiling hard. Finish with ghee and serve warm.
Tips
- Keep the milk off a rolling boil so it does not split with the vegetables' acidity.
- Use whatever seasonal vegetables are at hand – ridge gourd, ash gourd and drumstick are all common.
- For a sick-day version, skip the tempering and just add ghee and a pinch of black pepper.
Serve with
Plain rice and a little dal, or with pakhala in summer.