Undhiyu — Upside-Down Mixed Vegetable Clay Pot (ઉંધિયું)

Surat district, South Gujarat; undhiyu is the winter solstice (Uttarayan) festival dish of Gujarat, made on the day of the kite festival (14 January) when the winter vegetables are at their seasonal peak

Undhiyu (ઉંધિયું — from 'undhu', meaning upside-down) is a winter Gujarati festive dish: a collection of root vegetables and winter produce (surti papdi beans, raw banana, purple yam, sweet potato, potatoes, baby brinjal, raw turmeric, green garlic) stuffed with a fresh green coconut-herb paste (muthia, herbaceous dumplings made from methi leaves and gram flour) and cooked in an earthenware pot sealed with a lid and inverted (buried upside-down in hot embers or placed inverted in a tandoor) so that the condensation from the vegetables falls back onto the contents rather than evaporating. The modern method uses a heavy pot on the stovetop with a tight-fitting lid.

Served with plain puri, jaggery, and pickled green chilli. The combination of earthy root vegetables, the herby muthia, and the fresh turmeric-garlic notes creates a dish that is entirely seasonal and impossible to replicate at other times of year.