Thursday, November 15, 2012
Life’s Bhat a great cuppa!
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/lifes-bhat-a-great-cuppa/article4095348.ecehttp://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/lifes-bhat-a-great-cuppa/article4095348.ece
Little Rajasthan
- Sugar ’n’ spice: A sugarcane juice-stall near the Jain temple in Sowcarpet, Chennai. - SRAVANTHI CHALLAPALLI
- Murukku sandwich. - SRAVANTHI CHALLAPALLI
Synonymous with moneylenders, Sowcarpet is also a delectable slice of north India in Chennai.
Never start a food tour with badam milk, especially one as rich
as Kakada Ramprasad’s in Chennai’s Sowcarpet. It fills you up — and
unless you want to brazen it out, you can’t eat much else. Chilled,
sweet, and chunky, with bits of almond; perhaps you’d find that much badam only in a home-made version. No amount of walking is going to lighten your stomach after that.
Organised as part of the Madras Week, the Mint Food Trail took us to
chaotic Sowcarpet, one of Chennai’s oldest localities. Madras Week is an
eight-year-old annual event that celebrates the founding of Chennai
(formerly Madras), which turned 373 years old this year. Heritage walks,
lectures, photographic exhibitions, and competitions are all part of
the celebrations.
A big section of Sowcarpet’s residents are Rajasthanis and Gujaratis —
merchants and money-lenders who migrated to the city in the seventeenth
century to do business with the East India Company, which traded in
cloth. Mint Street was where the sahukars or sowcars
(money-lenders) settled down, and hence, the area’s name. Setting foot
in this area is like going through a time warp and stepping into a dusty
little town in North India. Women in traditional North Indian clothes
and jewellery lend colour to the grey and grimy landscape.
Kakada Ramprasad, a spacious, tiled outlet, stands out amidst narrow,
long streets chock-a-block with money-lending establishments, pawn
shops, stores selling steel regular and oversize utensils, groceries,
dry fruit, vegetables and more — all cheek by jowl with homes. The
eatery is a landmark in the area; say “Kakada” and the auto driver nods
and sets off without further ado.
The Jain Temple close by is another landmark. Our tour guide, Pratibha Jain, co-author of two cookbooks - Cooking at Home with Pedatha and Sukham Ayu — grew up on Kakada’s treats. She recommends the badam milk and the aloo tikki chaat (which comes topped with a cube of paneer).
Though I was not able to discern it from the single bite I took, a member of our group said the tikki
was fried in ghee, not oil. It was definitely tasty, all golden
crispness beneath a blanket of curd, chilli powder and mint chutney.
From there, it’s a very short walk to the sugarcane juice vendor at the
corner of Elephant Gate Street. He has just two jugs of juice, which are
drained as soon as they are refilled — those who tried it said it’s
very good. Then on to Ajab Mithai Ghar, where a traditional Gujarati
combination of jalebi, fafda and crumbled dhokla
was waiting for us. On Sundays and festive occasions, this is breakfast
in Gujarati homes, along with a pickled chilli. Ajab Mithai has branches
in Purasawalkam, Egmore’s Fountain Plaza (Ajnabi), Vadapalani, and
Ayanavaram. We pass a nondescript store selling sacks of pasta — old
Madras jostling with the new!
The pyaaz kachodi at Maya Chaats (General Muthaiah Street) are frying in an old iron kadai
when we get there. We wonder if it contains potato, but it definitely
has a touch of lime, which keeps it from being an entirely oily affair. Kesar-pista
may be the flavour to go for at Maharaja Kulfi next door, but what
catches my eye is an ice lolly called ‘Orange Dolly’. No, I didn’t try it; I just liked the name.
Turning left into Mint, I was drawn to a paan shop that was not
on our list - Gupta Pan House. Its tagline read ‘Spicily: We are
undertaking marriage and party orders’. I leave it to your imagination
to guess the intended meaning. Agarwal Chaat, the pani puri stall next door, is another institution.
Finally, Pratibha leads us to Murugan Sandwich, where we have modern Chennai’s own North-meets-South creation: the murukku
sandwich. Though it sounds bizarre, don’t dismiss it — at the very
least, it is ‘interesting’, and has many connoisseurs. Between two murukkus are arranged slices of tomato, onion and cucumber, mint chutney and grated cheese, all topped with sev. No bread involved.
Mint is perhaps the only place in Chennai where one can do a food trail,
says Pratibha. “In my experience, no one road has such variety in
Chennai where you can just keep walking and finding snacks.” In
Mylapore, for instance, there is Rayar’s or Karpagambal Mess, but they
have a variety of snacks, and are sit-down places. Purasawalkam has some
places, but not one such road, nor so many, she explains. So, whether
you’re a gastronome or just want to explore something offbeat, you know
where to go.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Idli Origin-Gujarati origin-Indonesia origin-Karnataka origin
Simple dish Idly has been in controversy regarding the origin.
Idly in literature
‘iddalige’, first mentioned in a Kannada work Vaddaradhane of Sivakotyacharya in 920 AD. The Sanskrit Manasollasa of 1130 AD has ‘iddarika’. Tamil apparently only first mentions ‘itali’ in the 17th century.
Gujarati origin
Gujarat have IDADA which is steamed dhokla made from same ingredients as Idly.Namely Urad dhaal and Rice which are fermented overnight and next day steamed.Gujarathis claim Idaly is a dish which came to south from Gujarat during 10/12th century AD.when lot of silk weavers from saurashtra came to south via Maharashtra.The dukkia is first mentioned in AD 1068 in Gujurathi Jain literature, and dhokla appears in AD 1520 in the Varanaka Samuchaya. Besan flour is fermented overnight with curd, and steamed in slabs which are then cut into pieces and dressed with fresh coriander leaves, fried mustard seeds and coconut shreds. A coarser version is khaman and both are popular breakfast and snack foods in Gujurat. But we have to note that Gujart was ruled by chalukyas and Rastrakutas for many centuries before that and Idada may be from iddalige. Since we dont find references to that before that.
Indonesia origin
Acharya notes:the use of rice grits along with urad dhal,the long fermentation of the mix, and the steaming of the batter to fluffiness. Only after 1250 AD are there references to what seem to be idlis as we know them. Achaya’s contention is that this absence from the historical record could mean that idlis are an imported concept — perhaps from Indonesia which has a long tradition of fermented products, like tempeh (fermented soy cakes), kecap (from where we get ketchup) or something called kedli, which Achaya says, is like an idli. This is plausible enough given the many links between Southeast Asia and South India, through rulers and traders. Acharyra also adds many legendary stories ,but there is no basis for them.
Heuan tsang says no steaming vessels south india in seventh century.But steaming vessels are not required for steaming dishes , steam can be produced using cloth over the vessel, still this method is used in south India.
Karnataka origin
Vaddaradhane by Shivakoti Acarya ( Rashtrakoota times)of the 10th century names Iddalige ( Idli ), Holige (Poli) and Savige ( Vermicelli). The 12th century encyclopedia Manasollaasa of Somashekhara Ballala III (Kalyani Chalukya) is a veritable treasure house of recipes and cooking styles. Lets not forget that these were empires with catholic tastes and wide trading hinterlands.
Friday, November 9, 2012
What's cooking in the Dak Bangla?
Mid-day, Mumbai, Updated: November 09, 2012 15:26 IST
Dak Bungalow (or Bangla) cuisine,
sadly, is a near-forgotten culinary treasure that survives among a few
remaining khansama families and Anglo Indian households. Rajika
Bhandari's The Raj on the Move retraces some of these flavours from
sooty kitchens served for the 'Sahib' and the 'Mem'One was a dish called 'Country Captain'. It is also a dish that has travelled the globe and has thus taken on many different forms: some globetrotters report consuming a dish called General Chicken at a Chinese restaurant, only to discover that it was indeed an unmistakable close cousin of the Indian Country Captain curry. In its very basic form, it is a curry or stew of chicken, enhanced with turmeric and chillies and bread, if any was available. Butter was not easily available, and in its place the cook was quite likely to offer the unsuspecting guests some red-currant jelly in a little bottle that has formerly contained pomade for the hair.
Caramel custard, or 'custel brun' as it was known among Indian servants, was to become another staple of the dak bungalow dining table because of the easy availability of eggs and milk. Like 'sudden death', it too acquired a nickname -- '365' -- because it was served almost everyday of the year, or so it appeared. Some English travellers banned the dessert at home because they were forced to have more than their fill of it while staying at dak bungalows and eating at railway stations.
But some inspired cooks went above and beyond, experimenting with known techniques and inventing a repertoire of dishes unique to the menu a traveller could expect at these bungalows. Famed khansamas such as Bernard of the Bilaspur Circuit House and Peter of the Krishnaghur Dak Bungalow, who learnt to prepare a hybrid Anglo-Indian cuisine, offered up memorable dishes that could almost border on sublime. One such dish and a star of Anglo-Indian cuisine was the delectable chicken cutlet that survives to this day and has taken on many variations, ranging from vegetarian to mutton and paneer cutlets.
When Lady D'Urban, the wife of Sir Benjamin, the former governor of Cape Colony, became gravely ill during her stay at the Cape of Good Hope in 1840 and was unable to consume the average meat dish, an ingenious Bengali cook from India accompanying the group came up with a 'delicate little chicken cutlet' that was at once easily digestible and delicious, so much so that the Lady consumed nothing else for the next several days.
Country Captain
Cold meats and curries are sometimes converted into this dish, the condiments for which are as follows: Two chittacks or four ounces of ghee, half a teaspoonful of ground chillies,one teaspoonful of salt, a quarter of a teaspoonful of ground turmeric, and twenty onions, cut up lengthways into fine slices.
Cut up in the usual way an ordinary curry chicken. Warm the ghee and fry the sliced onions, which when brown set aside; fry the ground turmeric and chillies, then throw in the chicken and salt, and continue to fry, stirring the whole until the chicken is tender. Serve it up, strewing over it the fried onions.
Source: The Indian Cookery Book, 1948
Dak Bungalow Murgh Roast
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 whole 3 1/2 lb chicken, cleaned (do not remove the skin)
1/2 teaspoon salt
Juice of one lemon
2-inch piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, smashed, peeled and chopped
2 green chillies, seeded and chopped
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 tablespoons yoghurt
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
3 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter)
Method:
Prick the chicken all over then rub with the salt and lemon juice well into the skin. Set it in a bowl and let it marinate for an hour.
Place the ginger, garlic, chillies, turmeric, yoghurt and garam masala in a food processor and process to a puree.
Pour this puree into a plastic bag and place the chicken in the bag as well. Fasten the bag securely and shake it until the chicken is well covered with the marinade. Refrigerate it for 4-5 hours, or even overnight.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C, gas mark 5).
Using either a wok or a saucepan large enough to take a whole chicken, melt the ghee over high heat.
Drain the chicken from its marinade, reserving any left over, and brown the bird on all sides in the wok. Use a pair of wooden spoons or tongs to turn it.
Do not pierce it with a fork. Now place the chicken in a baking pan and pour the ghee remaining in the wok over it.
Let it bake in the oven for 30 minutes, loosely covered with a piece of foil.
Half-way through the baking time, spoon any remaining marinade over the chicken, and then baste it with the juices and ghee in the bottom of the pan.
Serve hot or cold.
Baked Rose Custard: An Update of the Classic Caramel Custard
Serves 5
Ingredients:
1 pint milk
4 tablespoons sugar
3 whole, beaten eggs, plus 2 beaten yolks
1/2 teaspoon rose water
1 tablespoon flaked almonds
A few rose petals
A pinch of salt
Method:
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C, gas mark 2).
Blend the milk, sugar and salt together.
Beat in the eggs and egg yolks.
Add the rose water and mix well.
Pour into an oven-proof dish and bake for 1 hour.
Remove from the oven and sprinkle the top with almonds.
Decorate with a few rose petals.
Source: Jennifer Brennan, Curries and Bugles:
A Cookbook of the British Raj, 1990
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
They paid for kachauri, abuse came for free
The archaic gate of Banaras Hindu University looks down somewhat
unconcerned over the stretch in front. This old gate symbolises the
great divide between the two worlds; the intellectuals inside the high
boundary walls and the commoners present in the daily din of Banaras
outside.
Some so-called malls have sprouted sporadically from the haphazard
conglomeration of small shops and eateries that mark every road and lane
of this ancient city, which many think is the cultural hub of Hindu
India. On both sides of the road, western burgers and eastern
Pakauri-jalebi live side by side.
You may call it the peaceful co-existence of cultures. And the same is
true of BHU, settled calmly and uncomplainingly amid the squalor and
filth of the Varanasi lanes snaking round the great centre of wisdom and
knowledge, established by Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya. The image of
BHU surrounded by Varanasi is somewhat reminiscent of the ruling deity
of the city, Lord Shiva and the snakes round his neck. Shiva with his
eyes half closed lives on in an eternal trance and so is his city. But
despite its state of trance and choking traffic, numerous activities go
on side by side and the road from the Lanka gate leads, willy-nilly,
directly to Sankat Mochan, the famous abode of Lord Hanuman, made more
famous by the terrorist attack a few years ago. Nestled on the famous
Sankat Mochan campus, there is a small roadside eatery, popularly known
as Chachi’s ‘kachauri’ shop.
If you are looking for any signboard, then you cannot discover Chachi’s
shop. Just ask anybody. It is known to almost every Banarasi, male or
female. Chances are he/she would volunteer immediately to escort you
there. “Mouth publicity” as the most ancient means of advertisement, has
spread the reputation of Chachi far and wide. Human generations change
in a span of 20 to 25 years but when it comes to a campus, it takes only
two to three years. The anecdotes about Chachi and her kachauris have
formed a nostalgic chapter in the memories of BHU alumni for the past 50
years or so. But there is something peculiarly ‘Banarasi’ about her
reputation.
Whenever the shop was open — and it was almost always open — the slim
old lady of medium height and fair complexion could be seen doing some
chores, serving kachauris, abusing customers with all seriousness or
instructing her assistants who were mostly her own children or their
offspring. Every product is known by its producer.
Chachi was known for the kachauris she sold but she was known, more
primarily, for the classy and typical Banarasi abuses that she
distributed free of cost with the kachauris. People enjoyed the
kachauris but they enjoyed the abuses even more as these came from
Chachi. Full of slang, slanderous, vitriolic, vituperative and enriched
with the local Banarasi tongue, chachi’s tone was never afraid of
anybody. But there never was a real anger behind those words that might
have caused a war had someone else spoken like that.
BHU students, scholars and teachers used to visit Chachi’s shop as if to
get some relief from boring artificialities of the sophisticated
behaviour they were expected to put up inside the intellectual walls of
the university. Sometimes, Chachi was silent and serious but her
customers would not have it. They would intentionally do something to
irritate her. She often understood their mala fide intention to provoke
her. She would try not to break or budge but a typical Banarasi knew how
to play the game and ultimately, Chachi would lose her patience and her
tongue as well.
A silent Chachi would suddenly blast at a simple request for serving
kachauri fast. She would blast the heckling customer who, with a naughty
smile, would then heave a sigh of great satisfaction. He would hear her
vitriolic reaction with great pleasure. Perhaps she was the single
shop-owner in the civilised world who could afford to treat her
customers with such a stream of blunt abuses and still they would flock
around. You can get kachauris anywhere in Banaras but where else would
you get that prolific flow of ‘desi gaali’?
‘Gaali’ (abuse or swear words) is an essential part of the
typical Banarasi culture. A Banarasi feels indigestion if it is already a
day and he has not given vent to a few original abuses and slangs. gaaliAn exchange of gaali
is a must and sure sign of closeness between friends and relatives
There have been many who could show their ingenuity and originality in
the art of coining new ‘gaalis’ but none could excel Chachi. So she was most lovable in her own way.
Banarasi kachauris are prepared with spices mixed with urad dal and served with curry in a leaf-made dona.
You may add jalebi, if you want. There was no space inside or outside
the shop to sit. You have to eat the things standing by the street.
Whoever you are, you have to stand there like a commoner and wait for
your turn to come. In this, Chachi was a great leveller.
Many celebrities from different walks of life used to visit her shop to enjoy her original Banarasi gaali.
Rajan and Sajan Mishra, the famous music maestros, regularly haunt
Chachi’s shop and Manoj Tiwary, in one of his hit songs, promises his
heroine a treat at Chachi’s if she accepts his invitation to visit
Banaras. Chachi was never awed by any personality whoever he or she is.
When someone introduced a celebrity to her, her response would be
something like, ‘B…..wale hain to hain badkaa. Achha ta hum kaa Karin? Khaae ke baa ta khaa na ta jayen saar bhaad me.’ (Let
him be whatever he is. How does it concern me? If he wants to eat
something, let him eat and get lost.) Her outbursts which usually
started with ………but leave it aside.
Once Smriti Iraani of Saas Bahu fame came to the shop. Chachi
served her kachauris but did not say anything; did not abuse her. Smriti
asked Chachi to give her some ‘gaali’, Chachi smiled back with affection and said – ‘You are my daughter. I will not abuse you.’
One may think that she was either mad or it was her style. In fact,
neither Chachi was one of those rare samples among humans who are never
fake and who never bother to feign suavity to please anyone. She could
see through the facade of the so-called civilised manners. She bothered
for none and was not impressed ever with appearances and positions. She
was bluntly honest in her behaviour to everybody — and affectionate.
She never perhaps knew that she was an important and undeletable image
in the nostalgia of BHU alumni. Her memories are cherished by many in
India or abroad, for many of them had seen her benevolence, hidden
behind the mask of her vituperation. She, perhaps, was a living revolt
against the general cult of suavity.
Now Chachi is no more. On February 3 last, she passed away, leaving a
resounding silence behind. Kachauris are still being sold in her shop
with the same spices but the spice of life is lost.
(The writer is Assistant Professor, Department of English, Arya Mahila PG College, Varanasi. Her email is: aryakvt@gmail.com)
Keywords: Banaras Hindu University, college life
Saturday, November 3, 2012
LIP -SMACKING MENU FOR MID-DAY MEAL IN TAMIL NADU-
-
Noon meal gets spicy
Thirteen varieties of rice and four types of egg
‘masala’ will soon enrich the plates of students benefiting under the
nutritious noon-meal scheme of the State government, Chief Minister
Jayalalithaa
told the Assembly on Friday.
Making a
suo motu statement, she said the purpose was to break the monotony in
the menu under the scheme introduced by former Chief Minister M.G.
Ramchandran 30 years ago and to make them palatable.
The
government consulted well-known chefs and nutrition experts on this
issue and ‘channa biriyanai’ and pepper egg were served on an
experimental basis in a school in Saidapet and the Andhanallur panchayat
union school in Chief Minister’s Srirangam constituency.
The students liked it and the chefs demonstrated 13 varieties of rice and four types of egg ‘masala.’
The
Chief Minister said the new scheme would be introduced in one taluk in
every district and depending on the feedback, this would be extended to
other areas gradually.
There would be one set of menu for the first and third weeks of a month and another set for the second and fourth week.
The
students would be served vegetable ‘biriyani’
and pepper powder egg
on
first and third Mondays; ‘channa-pulav’
and tomato ‘masala’ on Tuesdays;
tomato rice and pepper egg on Wednesdays; rice, sambar and boiled egg
on Thursdays and curry leaf rice or green (keerai) rice, egg masala and
roasted potato on Fridays.
The menu of second and
fourth Mondays would be ‘sambar’ rice,
onion and tomato egg ‘masala’;
mealmaker and vegetable mixed rice
and pepper egg
on Tuesdays; tamarind
rice
and tomato egg ‘masala’
on Wednesdays; lemon rice,
tomato egg
‘masala’
and ‘sundal’
on Thursdays and
rice
, sambar,
boiled egg
and
roasted potato
on Fridays.
The Chief Minister said
the government would also provide a variety of dishes to the children
attached to ‘anganwadis’ in the State.
Special attention would be made
to the children, considering their requirements and digestive capacity.
The
children would get tomato rice
and boiled egg
on Mondays;
mixed rice
and ‘sundal
’ on Tuesdays;
vegetable ‘pulav’
and boiled egg
on
Wednesdays;
lemon rice
and boiled egg
on Thursdays; ‘dhal’ rice
and
boiled potato
on Fridays and mixed rice
on Saturdays and Sundays.
Ms.
Jayalalithaa said the new menu would increase the number of students
attending school and improve their nutritional requirement.
Keywords: noon-meal scheme, Jayalalithaa, noon meal menu, child nutrition
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