Shravan is a month full of festivals. It generally falls in calendar months of july/ august / September according to tithi. We celebrate many important ones during this month. Most important ones are 'Nandhi satain' which comes after Nag Panchami.‘Vaddi Satain‘ comes after 7th day after Rakshabandhan. It is also called as saatam aatham or basoda. This is an important Sindhi festival. We celebrate this festival just before Janamashtami.
This day we pray to Goddess Jogmaya or Sheetla mata for good health and prosperity. Traditional flat breads from Sindhi cuisine like Mitho lolo, besan koki and chothe are cooked a day prior to thadri. Mitho lolo/gur jo lolo is the Sindhi mithi roti. This sweet flat bread is also called lola. It is one of the main recipes prepared for the festival. It is very similar to Punjabi tikde.
How to we observe Thadri?
We observe ‘Thado’.It means we consume cold food that day. As a mark of respect, we do not light the stove that day. Food is cooked a day earlier. Thaar maata Thaar is a popular folk song with this festival. Mothers sing this prayer for the safety of kids from deadly diseases like small pox and measles. We do a chanda on toddlers while singing the song. We first apply sindoor or vermillion on small lolos and put it a sieve on their head. Later sprinkle some raw milk on them.
What do we cook for Saatam aatham?
Apart from Sindhi lola with jaggery there are many special recipes which are eaten cold on the next day.They are sanna pakoda. No one can make double fried pakodas like Sindhis do. Chauthe,besani, Sindhi koki,dal parantha. We also make matho, dahi boondi, sev ki burfi, satpuras, nijji palak. We also eat Dahi bade. Other milk based sweets like peda, kheer etc are cooked. Traditional Sindhi recipes of masala and sweet flat bread are best made on a cast iron pan. The breads are rustic and spread looks delicious. You can make this when you travel too. It has natural sugar from jaggery which is also a good source of Iron and the goodness of Ghee for calcium. Also, good for toddlers to chew while teething in small amounts.
How to make Sindhi lola recipe? (You tube video recipe)
Equipment
- Stand mixer for kneading
- Cast iron tava/griddle
Ingredients to make Sindhi Lola
- Whole wheat flour/atta
- Jaggery/gur powdered/cut in small pieces or sugar
- Water
- Ghee/oil if vegan
- Cardamom powder/elaichi powder
Step by Step pictures of the mitho lolo recipe
- Mix flour, cardamom, salt and ghee until it starts coming together.
- Add jaggery water and knead into a semi soft dough
3. Start rolling the a portion of the dough in a thick flatbread.
4. Cook on a hot cast iron pan on a low flame. Once cooked evenly on both sides, take it off from the pan and apply ghee on the sweet roti.
Variations
If you are vegan, you may replace the ghee with oil. You can also make the Sindhi sweet roti with sugar syrup.
Storage
You can store lolo in an air tight jar for 4-6 days. However, eat as fresh as possible.
Related recipes
Sindhi flatbread-Mitho lolo recipe
Equipment
- Stand mixer for kneading
- tava/ griddle
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat flour/atta
- ¾ cup jaggery/gud powdered or ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup water
- 4 tablespoon ghee for the dough or oil if vegan
- 1 tablespoon cardamom/elaichi powder
- 1 tablespoon ghee to apply on top of cooked flatbread optional
Instructions
- Take water at room temperature in a bowl. Add jaggery/sugar and leave it aside for few hours/overnight
- Let the jaggery dissolve completely.This will take 2-3 hours.
- In a bowl,first mix wheat flour and 4 tablespoon desi ghee.
- Mix it until it starts coming together,add more ghee if required.
- Pour the jaggery syrup little by little and knead it to a semi-firm dough.
- Take a handful size dough and with a rolling pin roll it to a thick flatbread .
- Put it on hot griddle,Cook on lowest possible flame.
- Flip at regular intervals until brown patches appear on both sides.
- After removing from tawa,optionally apply a little more ghee over the lolo.
Notes
Nutrition
Conclusion: Mitho lolo is a delicacy which intricately weaves traditions and taste in a beautiful union.
Ramesh says
Easy to cook. All ingredients are already in home. GREAT taste