Ponk Saaru

Fresh tender sorghum in a thin spiced curry — fresh ponk (immature jowar seeds) simmered briefly in a thin, sweet-sour broth of tomato, jaggery, tamarind, and tempered mustard seeds, curry leaves, and green chilli. The ponk saaru is the lighter, liquid counterpart to the fried ponk vada; it is poured over rice as a seasonal speciality that appears on Surati lunch tables only through December and January when fresh ponk is available. The milky sorghum seeds soften into the thin broth and absorb the sweet-sour spice; eating ponk saaru with rice is one of the most specifically Surati seasonal pleasures and an activity that residents in other cities envy.