I was first introduced to this dish after marriage when we would go to Indian restaurant/pubs with friends and family. My husband really likes this dish and can never get enough of it, so as per normal I tried to recreate the taste to what he likes. A little bit of trial and error, and tasting along the way and I have come up with this recipe and to be honest this is the first time that I have actually measured the ingredients so that I can write about it on this site. It is a great dish to serve at parties as a starter or a side dish to a main meal. It is a good show stopper as my friend put it, when I made it for her using cassava instead of paneer.

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I love spicy food that has a mouth watering tangy, savour flavour and there are many Indian fast foods which comes under such category. The best way to describe dabeli is it’s a kind of Indian style vegetarian burger made with potatoes. It is an Indian street food mostly eaten in the state of Gujarat and Maharashtra.

I have good memories of when I was living in India – sneaking out to eat them with my cousin and then being told off by the elders because they said we should never eat from street vendors – you’ll get ill. The way I see it street food is much more fresher than what you may get in a top hotel or restaurants as the vendors do not have anywhere to store extras so what ever they make has to be eaten on the same day, hence no need to worry – just enjoy

Even though a lot of street food is normally fried – my version of dabeli is different because it is healthier, no frying just dry roasting. The long list of items will make it look like a recipe which requires a lot of effort, but it is worth it for the taste explosion, and the various textures.

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When my son was weaning, one of my sister-in-laws told me that parsnips are a good food to introduce him to because they are a slightly sweet and nutty flavour.  My son loved them just boiled and mashed. Then just to introduce a bit of flavour and colour, I started adding red capsicums as they are sweet and slightly spicy, so the combination worked well, plus you do not need to add salt or pepper to the mash. Then one day my husband said why don’t you try and make this into a shaak (everyday Indian curry) just to see what it tastes like. It turned out to be an instant hit, the instance flavours of the vegetables and subtle spice mix makes it a good curry. Parsnips are now part of my regularly stocked vegetables like potatoes.

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I grew up with this dish, it used to be a wonderful alternative to the normal potato curry. I remember getting a fresh loaf of bread from the bakery to go with this, a simple warming meal.  You can adjust the spice to taste. Since last year I have been making a large batch of the paste and freezing it for single use later.  As a result this is a good recipe to put together whenever you are in a rush and fancy making something different to the norm.  Apart from bread you can also serve this dish with rice and naan (Indian pitta bread) also, which makes a complete meal.  I hope you enjoy it as much as my family and friends have for years …

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