Shepu Bhaji Recipe

I have inherited my liking and this recipe of Shepu Bhaji from my mom. This is one of the few dishes that all three of us, Kalpesh, Devansh and me like. I usually like recipes that are not labour-intensive but cleaning a bunch of shepu / dill is quite a pain. I must confess I only make this sabzi when my cook cleans and cuts this sabzi for me. Once the dill leaves are cut the rest of the shepu bhaji recipe is a breeze.

About Dill Leaves

Dill is rich in vitamins and minerals and provides us several health benefits like improving digestion, immunity, and bone health, to name a few. So even if it might take up some time to clean the dill leaves, I would say take the plunge and make this shepu bhaji. It tastes amazing with bhakri and dahi (curd). One more confession time, I don’t know how to make bhakri, my cook makes it. :) But yeah I like my shepu bhaji, just like I used to like how my mom made it when I was a kid.

The trick of getting your kids eat healthy food is eating healthy food with them. Devansh likes sabzis like shepu bhaji which are considered boring by a lot of us because I eat it with him. On the other hand he is not too enthusiastic about eating fruits because I find eating fruits boring; it seems like a chore somehow. Luckily, Devansh’s school has started asking the kids to get fruits in one tiffin, which they are made to have first thing in the morning. Time for me cultivate the habit of eating fruits. Meanwhile I hope you and your family like this Maharashtrian recipe of Shepu Bhaji; if you like trying out nutritious, vegetarian recipes you will love it. Pakka. :)

Shepu Bhaji (Dill Sabzi with Toor Dal)

Print Recipe

Try this Maharashtrian recipe of Shepu Bhaji if you are looking for a nutritious, vegetarian recipe that’s great for your kids and you.

Author Mukta Tikekar

Ingredients

• 1 bunch dill leaves cleaned and chopped fine
• Half cup toor dal split pigeon pea lentils/arhar dal
• 5-6 cloves of garlic
• 1/4 th tsp rai mustard seeds
• 1/4 th tsp hing asafoetida
• 1/4 th tsp haldi turmeric powder
• 1 dry red chili
• Approx. 1/4th tsp red chili powder
• Salt to taste
• Approx. 1 tbsp oil

Instructions

• Cook toor dal in cooker till it becomes a bit soft (one whistle on slow flame).
• Set aside 1-2 cloves of garlic and cut the remaining in thick slices.
• Heat a kadai and add half tbsp oil.
• Add mustard seeds when oil heats up, and when the seeds start crackling add hing and haldi.
• Add garlic slices and stir till the garlic turns lightest shade of golden brown, just enough till it gives out a cooked fragrance.
• Add chopped dill leaves and salt.
• Stir the dill once, and then cover the kadai and cook for about 7-8 minutes. (Sprinkle a little water if the dill starts to stick to kadai.)
• Add cooked dal and red chili powder, and mix well. (I usually add a little bit water as Devansh doesn’t like this sabzi dry.)
• Cook for a couple of minutes and then turn off heat.
• Heat a small tadka pan (kadhai), add half tbsp oil, pinch of rai, hing, haldi, and 1-2 cloves of garlic.
• Add a pinch of red chili powder and dry red chili. (You can add more red chili powder if you’re making the sabzi for grownups or for kids who can eat spicy food.)
• Pour the tadka on top of the cooked sabzi. (Cooking leafy vegetables for too long decreases their nutritional value. To take out the uncooked taste of shepu/dill and to enhance its flavor I add tadka after it’s cooked.)
• Serve hot with roti or bhakri. (I would recommend jowar bhakri.)