Who doesn’t love sandwiches?

Sandwiches are all time favorites of mine; I am sure you must have tried varieties of sandwiches but have you ever tried Ratalu sandwich?

It’s a farali (fasting) food option. Whenever I visit India, I eat it even though I am not fasting.

Did you know? Ratalu is also known as Purple Yam, Kand, Violet Yam, Ube  – but of course in different languages.

Isn’t it such a beauty? I love rough and tough characteristics, to me, it is very rustic.

For this recipe, it is vital to peel the Ratalu.

Did you know? For peeling Ratalu, knife is the best tool and not the peeler. Be careful it is very sticky and slimy.

Tip: Slice the Ratalu in 1/2 cm thickness.

Little inside our world, besides Ratalu Sandwich.

Those are the magic hands which prepare this delicious food and allow me to share the goodness with you.

My 2016-2017 visit to India was for my youngest sibling’s wedding. Hence the itinerary was very eventful and indeed was a colorful occasion. Firstly my sole focus was to get the outfits done, and little did I knew it turned out to be very time consuming and next thing was jewelry and shoes. Oh! Don’t get me started. Drop me a comment below if you want to see some of the outfits detail, and I will surely do a blog post on it.

A little sneak peeks especially for you:

And there was a surprise too. A cousin’s wedding thrown to the same itinerary, and you can imagine a girl gotta have a non-repeat outfit. We will get into it in much detail on some other day.

Let’s just get back to our vegetarian, gluten-free purple yam sandwich:

I devoured the sandwiches, and it got me thinking to blog it. Maha Shivratri’s food haul allowed me to photoshoot the recipe.

I love my Ratalu sandwiches a bit on the spicy side. It’s yum that way!

Who knew? Ratalu are so versatile, one can make diced ratalu dry sabji, halwa, fried chips and to my surprise an ice cream too. Let me know if you want us to bring any of those recipes to you.

Alert! Raw peanuts in the recipe. I suppose you can replace with any other nut and I am keen on how pistachio would taste. Hahaha you know my love for pistachios, right?

I love to shoot family and mom’s recipe secrets while she is in action.

Gadgets required:

• Steamer, our’s is a common one used for Khaman, Dhokla, Idli, Khichi (papdi no lott) and off course for Ratalu Sandwich. Traditionally they are of aluminum, a few years back mom have upgraded to this fabulous steamer.
• Knife
• Chopping board
• Grater
• Mixing bowl or a dish

Ingredients for the layer:

• 800 – 1000 gms round Ratalu. It makes 8-10 Ratalu sandwiches.
• 1-2 tbsp oil for the steamer

Ingredients for the stuffing:

• 50 gms of freshly grated Coconut meat. Use peeled Coconut.
• 1 cup chopped Cilantro
• 50-70 gms crushed raw Peanuts
• 2 tbsp Green Chili and Ginger Paste, adjust to the taste
• Three tsp dry Coriander and Cumin seeds powder (known as Dhania jeera)
• One tsp Sugar
• One tbsp Oil
• Salt to taste

Did you know? Sindhav mithu or Sendha Namak (Rock Salt) can be consumed during fasts.

To Garnish:

• Lime

I had to sit with my mom to get the proportions for the blog, and her instant reply was how to provide you the precise measures as she cooks with a feel. You can always remake the stuffing. Haha, that was the cute response, which I almost hear for the family recipes. I sometimes wonder she learned them by heart, not sure!

Growing up, me and my sister hardly cooked. Ten years ago when she and I moved out, we were left to do a phone call to mom to know the recipe for our favorite comfort food. Mom pen down some of her gems in a book. Let me know if you want a snippet of recipes written in the Gujarati language.

Personally I think that makes her day, she explains the recipe in detail over a call. It amazes my dad; and makes him wonder how many times a year we need to call for the same recipes. Oh! Daddy you won’t get that. How many of you do that?

Steamer Prep:

• Heat the Steamer with water on a stove top.
• Oil the platter to avoid the Ratalu to stick on the plate.

Stuffing recipe:

• Mix ingredients in a dish or a mixing bowl. Adjust the spices and salt to taste.

Mom’s Tip: Mixing lime juice with the stuffing doesn’t cook the Ratalu properly. Infact, use lime to garnish. Who knew?

Sandwich Prep:

• Stuff the Ratalu slices with the filling; be generous with the meaty goodness. Follow the same steps for rest of the slices.
• Layer the stuffed sandwiches in the steamer.
• Coat the Ratalu tops with oil for the second set of the sandwich layer.
• Steam it for 12-15 mins. Do a knife test to check if Ratalu is steamed well to be edible. Sandwiches are ready to eat when the knife can penetrate in and out smoothly.

Serve it hot or cold; they will be just as yummy as they look in the pictures. Garnish it with some lime on it.

If you are the fan of Ratalu or Purple Yam like me, find more recipes below:

• Ratalupuri: bhajia, pakoras or fritters

More on Gluten-free recipes below:

• Vagharelo Rotlo
• Sabudana Khichdi

Sharing the love from mom’s kitchen. We would love to hear from you on your experience from the recipe or just a quick hello. Thank you for reading!

xo,

Nidhi and Mom