The Executive Chef of Suryagarh Jaisalmer shares a healthy and delicious recipe for a unique Aloe Vera sabzi.
What’s a plant that’s good for you from head to toe, inside and out? Well if the headline’s any kind of a giveaway, you know it’s aloe vera.
Aloe Vera, commonly known as Gwarpatha in India, is a cactus-like plant with immense benefits. It’s part of everything — from your grandmother’s home remedies to the trendiest foods right now. From cosmetic to medicinal properties, you’re covered.
Other health benefits of aloe vera generally include warding off infections, curing ulcers, preventing constipation, and even helping with bacterial infections inside the stomach. Add to that the fact that it helps reduce cholesterol, regulate blood sugar, soothe joint inflammation and you know this is one overachiever of a plant.
For Executive Chef Megh Singh Rathore, it was about making a special and unique kind of dish. He says, “We are using aloe vera in the form of a juice, sabzi and even sweet. It’s also used as an ointment at times. So I tried making an aloe vera ki sabzi out of it, and I must say it is a mouth-watering and healthy recipe.
It’s worth noting that picking the right type of aloe vera is crucial. Not all are edible, and some are even bitter in taste. An easy way to identify the sweet variety of aloe vera is by its dark and bright colour with fewer thorns. The plant is most commonly consumed as a juice, but also often in curries and dry sabzis. In the case of the latter, it can also sometimes be paired with methi for the ultimate amount of antioxidants.
For this particular sabzi, definitely use the sweet variety, and do taste it before you use it! Enjoy.
Ingredients
- 0.5 kg aloe vera
- 50 ml mustard oil
- 5 gm cumin seed
- 5 gm mustard seed
- 100 gm raisins
- 20 gm garlic
- 8 gm red chilly powder
- Red chilly whole
- 3 gm turmeric powder
- 10 gm coriander powder
- Salt, to taste
- 5 gm raw mango powder
- 2 gm mustard seeds powder
- 10 gm jaggery
- Asafoetida
Method
- Wash the leaves and remove the thorny sides. Slit lengthwise and make thin strips, almost ribbon-like. It helps absorb more flavours.
- Pressure cook the leaves with a little water, till one whistle.
- Mix some coriander powder, turmeric powder, amchur, salt, and a little jaggery in a little water, pour it into hot mustard oil and bhuno till it looks glazed. Keep aside.
- In another pan, heat a little oil, add asafoetida, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, broken dry red chillies and let them crackle. Add the boiled aloe strips and toss well till it absorbs the spices. Now add this mix to the bhuna masala, and toss it together.
- Add raisins, chopped green chillies, and coriander leaves. Toss and mix.
- Finally, sprinkle a little mustard seed powder and mix. Let this sabzi rest for 2-3 hours before serving. It tastes great the next day, it’s sour, sweet, and spicy all at once!
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