Pani Santula

Pani Santula or boiled veggies in a soupy base is one of the healthiest side dish that one can have with rotis. Most people in Odisha consider it as a must-have component of their dinner as it contains a heavy does of fiber and nutrients while being light on the stomach. It uses minimum spicing and one can also make it without adding any onion or garlic.

While I have used quite a few veggies as stocked in my fridge, one can also add more or skip a few as per convenience. Some veggies like cauliflower, carrot, drumstick add a lot of flavor to this dish. Read on for my version -

Preparation Time - 15 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 cup red pumpkin
• 1/2 cup raw papaya
• 1/2 cup raw banana
• 1/2 cup yam (mati alu)
• 1/2 cup taro (saru)
• 2-3 pointed gourd (potolo)
• 1 small eggplant
• 1 cup chopped yard long beans (jhudunga/barbati)
• 1/3 cup beans
• 1 medium potato
• 1-2 tomatoes
• 1 large onion (roughly chopped)
• 3-4 crushed garlic flakes
• 1 tsp pancha phutana
• 2-3 dry red chili
• 1/2-1 tsp roasted cumin-chilli powder (jeera lanka gunda)
• salt to taste
• turmeric (optional...but I have used it)
• 2 tsp oil/ghee for tempering

Cooking - Boil 2 cups water along with a little turmeric and salt to taste.

Add the pumpkin, papaya, raw banana, yam, taro and potato. After 3-4 mins, add the remaining veggies except tomato. Cover and boil till they are cooked but not mushy.

Heat the oil/ghee in a pan. Add the broken chili and pancha phutana followed by the onion and garlic.

Once the onion turns translucent, add the chopped tomato. Allow the tomato to turn soft before pouring the tempering over the boiled veggies. Sprinkle cumin-chili powder and boil on high for 20-30 seconds.

Remove from flame and serve immediately with hot rotis.