ChandanBatawa Thalipeeth

Chuka, Chakwat, Chandan Batawa!! This is actually not a word game but names of some leafy vegetables available in India. Of course these are Marathi names for those vegetables. I tell my mom to get these whenever I visit India.

Here are some characteristics of these vegetables -

Chuka -

Also known as Ambat chuka. As the name suggest it is extremely sour leafy green vegetable. Round, thick leaves. Light green in color and very easy to cook. It is often cooked with taro leaves as it helps dissolve the oxalic acid crystals from taro leaves. Also it helps the texture of the prepared vegetable. It is also known as green sorrel.

Chakwat - (Sorry I dont have picture of these greens) Leaves are thick and dark green with purplish shades and are triangular shaped. Thick leaves hold lot of moisture so when you hold this bunch it feels heavy. It cooks fast and best way to make it is make a kadhi like bhaji with buttermilk.

Chandan batwa -

I just love this name, it literally means small sandalwood sachet. The leaves are thick and has powdery deposits. It has dentate leaves. This vegetable doesn't blend together after cooking so you have to use more daal or besan to stop that. It is usually made into nice daal with toor daal. Its called bathua in Hindi.

My mom always made sure we eat all the vegetables we get in the season. She tried to make it various ways so we eat it every time. Sometimes she used to make all greens mixed together. Our favorite preparation was daal like bhaji and we would finish almost everything with rice. I will share those other recipes some other time.

Today I am going to share the nice and rustic thalipeeth made with chandan batwa. It was a quick fix dinner over the weekend. Here is how I made it -

3 Cups Chopped Chandan Batwa
2 Cups Thalipeeth Bhajani
2 Cloves of Garlic
Small Piece of Ginger
2-3 green chilies (or per taste)
Pinch of Turmeric
Salt per taste
Water as needed

Preparation -

Wash and chop greens.

Grind cloves, ginger, and green chilies together.

Mix together vegetable, ginger-garlic-chili paste, salt and turmeric.

Make a dough using little water at a time. Dough should be bit softer than chapati dough.

Make 5 portions of the prepared dough.

Heat flat griddle on medium heat.

Pat one ball on the wet handkerchief or on a thick plastic to make small chapati. Make 4-5 holes in it.

Transfer it on the hot griddle upside down and remove the the cloth or plastic slowly.

Add few drops of oil through the holes made.

Cook both the sides. Make all five thalipeeths. Enjoy with chutney, koshimbeer, pickle while they are hot.

Tips -

• If you do not have thalipeeth bhajani, mix all the flours you have to get you about 2 cups.
• Wash the greens thoroughly before chopping.