RECIPE FOR NADRU MONJE

                                   NADRU MONJE

The Bundle Of Lotus Stem On The Yamuna Banks,Delhi

BISMILLAH

This is the first snack that I tasted from Srinagar.I can never forget  

the day I was handed over the entire packet of Nadru Monje. I was munching them and relishing the taste of this famous road side snack of Srinagar.

 

The Young Boy Selling The Nadru

I searched the website to find out the origins of this snack,I came to know that this snack is distributed near all the Sufi shrines in Srinagar. The devotees offer their prayers and salutations at the Holy Shrines and on their way back to homes, they buy this snack and enjoy it.

There is another version to it. It is also said that NADRU, as it is called by all Kashmiris-whether Hindus or Islamic. It is the LOTUS STEM. Absolutely right- THE STATE FLOWER of JAMMU AND KASHMIR is LOTUS. This is one of the reasons why I picked up with this particular snack to start off my blog on Kashmiri Islamic food.It is said that the sufi saints or peers wanted their devotees to take something while returning back from the holy places. They believed in SIMPLICITY IN EVERYTHING and there should not be any kind of exhibition or show casing of something. They prepared this snack and started distributing to their devotees with lots of love and happiness.

There are three kinds of recipes to prepare this awesome yet simple snack.The first one is the most simplest way to prepare it as it is found in the streets of the Srinagar. This particular photograph was clicked at Khanyar Market and I would like to thank some of my friends who helped me a lot to understand the snack as it is understood in Srinagar.

THE FIRST RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

1) Nadru- 1/2 kg

2) Gram Flour or Besan- 1/2 kg

3) Salt to taste

4) Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder- 1 tablespoon ( or more in case one wants the Nadru Monje to be spicy)

5) Orange food colour

6) Oil to fry

7)Water-1/2 a glass

METHOD

• Peel off the epidermal layer of the nadru or the lotus stem(I was taught by Ammijaan how to scrape off this layer also and thsi would be shared in the separate Post on cleaning and chopping the vegetables in the kashmiri manner).
• Cut the nadru in 4 inches long pieces.
• Wash them thoroughly under the running water so that the mud and other soil particles are completely removed from it.
• Cut the tuber into long pieces along the length wise as shown in the adjacent photograph.
• Add gram flour powder, salt, kashmiri red chilli powder and orange food colour.
• Mix them thoroughly with hands so that the moisture present in the nadrus are well mixed with the rest of the ingredients.
• In case the moisture is less, then add some water and mix well in such a manner that all the    ingredients blend with each other.
• In a deep wok, add oil and heat it nicely.
• Place the nadru pieces one by one in the wok.
• After some time , turn them around on the next side also.
• Deep fry the nadru pieces.
• Remove them from the oil.

This is the simple recipe of the NADRU MONJE prepared in the streets of Srinagar.

Other variations of this snack would be shared in the later posts under this blog only. So keep watching to read more on this snack....