My Food Story: Of guavas, pomegranate, ‘Chhana’ and a healthy joke on the taste buds

My grandmother used to make awesome stuffed guava when I was young. She used to often combine it with a side of soul warming kadhi and tangy green coriander chutney. As a child, I hated guavas and chhana. But little did I realise that she simply combined them, added a few spices, nuts and played a healthy joke on my taste buds. Time passed. I grew up but I didn’t outgrow the dish. I converted her recipe into a heart-warming appetiser, with a small healthy addition (chilli pomegranate chutney) of my own. Now, I play the same trick with my six-year-old son, and he feels grateful for this gourmet treat.

Bharwan Amrood Kadhi

Ingredients

For pomegranate chilli chutney:

Pomegranate – 1/2 cup

Chillies – 4

Ginger – 1 inch

Black salt – 1/4 tsp

Cumin powder – 1/4tsp

For Kadhi

Curd (Dahi) – 1 cup

Chickpea flour (Besan) – 1/3 cup

Salt

Turmeric (Haldi) – 1/2 tsp

Green coriander paste – 2 tbsp

Water – 2 cups

For tempering

Oil – 1 tbsp

Mustard (Sarson/Rai) seeds – 1/2 tsp

Asafoetida (Heeng) – 1/3tsp

Curry leaves – 10-15

For stuffed Guava:

Marination:

Four scooped ripe guava rings

Salt

Turmeric (Haldi) – 1/2 tsp

Red chili powder – 1/2tsp

Stuffing:

Chhana/Paneer – 1/3 cup (mashed well)

Mixed nuts – 1/8 cup

Raisins – 12-16

Salt

Turmeric (Haldi) – 1/4 tsp

Chilli powder – 1/8 tsp

Garam masala – 1/8 tsp

Clarified butter (Ghee): to cook the guava

Method

Blend all the ingredients for the chutney. Strain and reduce it. Keep aside. Make the kadhi mix by whistling the ingredients well, without any lumps and add it to the tempering. Cook it till it thickens a little less than a sauce. Strain and keep aside. Marinate the guava rings and rest them for 15 minutes. Prepare a stuffing by mixing all the ingredients and stuff them in the guava rings. Cook the stuffed guava on a hot tawa using ghee to get a nice brown char on the guava rings and the stuffing. For serving, take a soup plate, pour the stunning green kadhi, place the stuffed guava in the centre, add drops of the pomegranate chilli chutney on sides and garnish with some crispy curry leaves.

My Food Story is a collection of stories and recipes that celebrate India’s traditional plant-based ingredients sourced from local biodiversity. You can see these recipes on our interactive dashboard (https://www.cseindia.org/page/myfoodstory).

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Supriya Bajaj is a homemaker from West Bengal