I am an Indian living in Melbourne. Finding good Indian food here is a struggle. But I cook, quite well and very often. So there isn’t much I miss eating that I don’t make for myself. I even tried to start a food account on Instagram. But I kept forgetting to post there and eventually forgot the password.
The one thing I don’t make for myself, that I miss eating is Sambarwadi, the Vidarbha kind, with the hard shell and flavorful filling.
I have loved Sambarwadi since I was a little girl. It was my favorite breakfast food. Hell! it was my favorite food. The last time I had it was probably 2 years ago at home, in Amravati. I had asked my parents to get it for me and they had.
I believe the BEST Sambarwadis are made and found in Amravati. I miss it so much!
My experience cooking, eating and feeding Sambarwadi
- Coriander is magic. I am surprised that it is not a popular deodorant or perfume smell.
- Sambar-wadi and Kothimbir wadi are apparently different. Kothimbir wadis have soft things and Sambar-wadis are like Samosas- hard shells with coriander filling inside. I like Sambar-wadis and I love kothambir wadis.
- My Sambar-wadi shell was not hard enough for Dadi’s liking and she keeps urging me to make them again. I may one day try to perfect my Sambar-wadis, but I would not do that with Dadi. My family members tend to be harsh teachers.
- Vidarbha and Nasik/Pune were the only 2 parts of the world I knew as a child. They seemed as different as potatoes and tomatoes from each other. Being in the Pune team includes laughing at Vidarbha Marathi and the Vidarbha team must call Pune Marathi snooty. Nasik is kothimbir wadi, Vidarbha Sambar-wadi.
I belong to both these teams. I was raised in Nasik, till I was 6 and the rest of life in Vidarbha pining over Pune, which I visited every summer. Then the last 10 years of my life, I spent in Pune. Now I am in Amravati. My marathi/marwadi is snooty, my chicken preferences Vidarbha and .
Via Dil has given me so much- like the capability to stay in a kitchen for more than 10 minutes, access to good hummus, knowledge of how much salt goes into things, etc. The most important of them is Anjali.
(Summary of the video:
Let me take you 7 years back. P is depressed and anxious. She has been diagnosed for the first time. She can’t make sense of it, neither can her friends. Add to it the tadka of not having seen and known long lasting friendships growing up.
Anjali and I, who were inseparable earlier, broke up. We went from bunking classes together, dancing on a football court in the rain and knowing which song the other sings while bathing to knowing each other only through social media updates.
A few weeks ago, I got a furious message from a drunk Anjali. She had seen my Via Dil video talking about the community I built through it. That broke the thin membrane holding 7 years of wrath. I didn’t hear the end of the violent anger till many hours later. She told me I had deprived her of my care and of caring for me. I tried to be scared of her but I could only muster happiness because I had discovered that she cared about me like I had about her.
Well, long story short, Via Dil gave me my best friend back.)
Reach out to a (non-toxic) estranged (by time/distance, not conscious efforts of distancing) beloved (without expectations of resiprocation), (if you can afford the energy for such things)
If you missed the sarcasm in the previous sentence: Do not think of this as some Disney story and text your toxic ex.
