At home on a culinary trip

Get back to the basics and rediscover the fine art of slow cooking withso much time unexpectedly at our hands

Pushpesh Pant

It has been well said that nothing concentrates the mind as solitary confinement. Truth be told. We rant alone in our home prisons. But going out isn’t an option. This is the best time, we think, to rediscover the joy of cooking, and enjoying food in a leisurely manner we had all but forgotten.

With so much time unexpectedly on our hands, we can give the pressure cooker a well-deserved rest and can, at last, keep aside the noisy electric mixer-blender.

The grinding stone may not be easy to locate but we are sure the good old mortar and pestle can be found lying neglected on a cupboard shelf. Just try pounding fresh spices just before use and notice the difference these make. Coarsely pound pepper, red chilli flakes, even coriander and cumin release their enchanting aromas and once you get used to this process, it will be difficult to cling on to the factory-produced powders when you come after the quarantine. Crushing garlic cloves and small pieces of scraped ginger can be given the same ‘loving’ treatment. We can assure you that it will not take long to master different strokes for different folks i.e. dry spice seeds, garlic, onions, etc. From Maharashtrianthechato Keralaupakaris,this is the gadget that delivers the best results.

Slow down and cook

There has been much talk of slow cooking and zero waste cooking by our celebrity chefs who have ‘picked up this bug abroad’ (sorry, for the scary reference in the present context!)

How easily we have forgotten that our ancestors cooked everything slow frombati onuple (cowdung cakes) to meat ondum in a patilitightly sealed with dough paste and glowing embers put on top.They understood that this was the way food best retained its nutrients.

No one in the countryside could afford to waste anything. Vegetables were peeled with a sharp knife removing only a thin layer of outer skin and good use was made of stems, stalks, leaves and flowers. The cuisine of Bengal, Assam and Odisha has many delicacies that rely on scraps.Chorchori. No one is asking you yet to turn the garbage bin upside in search of edible stuff. Suffice to note that very little should go into it in the first place.

Boiling, steaming, stir-frying and pan-grilling should be used rather than deep frying. Go slow not only on fats but also refined sugar and salt for the next three weeks. This will cleanse your palate and make it sensitive to delightful forgotten flavours — sour and naturally sweet. Lime, tamarind, carrots and beetroots will begin to register their healthy presence.

Consider cooking ‘one dish meals’ giving new meaning to sharing potluck. ‘Handi’ cooking was popular in this country long before the casseroles were introduced by thefirangi. We understand that you can’t go out shopping for ethnic clay pots during thejanata curfew but any large vessel with a tight-fitting lid will do.Khichadi andbiryani/pulav are passé. Try your hand attehari,kaboolior better stillbisi bele hunna.

Make it family time

Involve all members of the family in the play — not task or chore — of preparing a meal. You don’t have to arm the tiny tot with the sharp knife but all else regardless of gender and age must join in. No time like this to bond with children who in normal times are way from home — at school or with peers after school — or glued to the smartphone. Recall and narrate food lore from your childhood, adolescence and youth. Forgotten festive delicacies and lost family recipes. Memories of food can span generations so easily! In the eighth decade of my life, I recall my70-years plus oldnanisitting on amorha,stirring a pot ofchharra alu or Kathiawarikarhi in Almora circa. Mid 1950s what hermother-in-law used to cook in the same kitchen at the turn of the 20th century!And, my son now touching 50 dismisses my gastronomic experiments with disdain judging these by the exacting standards my mother had imparted to him when he was an eight-year-old.

A healthy mind and joyous optimistic outlook are our body’s best defence. Remember all miraculous immunity boosting ingredients that are being prescribed by nutritionists and quacks with gay abandon have to be activated by triggers from the brain once these are imbibed. Don’t give up easily. Challenge the young ones to take off as top guns in the kitchen. Let them cook for the family what they are addicted to pasta and burgers with whatever is at hand. Jugad is one of the greatest contributions of India to the world. Now is the time to substitute, improvise and innovate.

Table top cooking, with an induction cooker at hand, can provide an opportunity to experiment with desi adaptations of fondue. Those artistically inclined can indulge in fanciful plating emulating abstract painters with assorted edible chutneys,pachadis andachars.

Discover each day

We on our part have decried to embark on a 21-day journey — ‘Discovery of Culinary India’. Cooking one dish from a region/ food zone a day to break the monotony bringing back to sweet not so silent thoughts of remembrances of things past — what we have eaten at different places. We are avoiding fowl, fish or flesh for no reason but as a matter of respect to extra caution some of our dear readers may be observing after the Wuhan disclosures regarding exotic meats. We have great pleasure in sharing some of these with our readers.

Small portion of steamed rice or a slice or two of the proverbial loaf of bread paired with any of these will provide a silver lining to any gloomy day darkened by a virus cloud.

Chharra aloo or (aloo-kachalu) and chhole chaat

Ingredients

Potatoes (boiled, peeled and diced, if using chharra aloo don’t peel) 1 cup

Sweet potato (roasted, peeled and sliced in discs) one

Chhole (boiled) 1 cup

Sweetcorn 1/2 cup

Roasted cumin powder 1/2 tsp

Black peppercorn powder 1/4 tsp

Red chilli flakes 1/2 tsp

Amachur powder 1/2tsp

Black rock salt 1/8 tsp

Meethi sonth chutney 1tbsp

Green chutney 1 tbsp

Curd (thick whisked well) 1 cup

Chana jor garam 2 tbsp

Assorted roasted millets 1/4 cup

Method

Place potatoes, sweet potatoes, chhole and sweetcorn in a bowl. Pour the curd/dahi on top. Sprinkle powdered spices and salt. Mix well. Garnish withchana jor garam and roasted millets. Add chutneys. You can use roasted paper pieces, leftovermatthi, potato chips for crunch.

Tomato kasundhi

Ingredients

Tomatoes (250g, washed quartered) 4 large

Mustard oil 1/4 cup

Vinegar 2 tbsp

Garlic cloves 6-8

Turmeric 1 tsp

Ginger (scraped, grated) 2 inch piece

Red chilli powder 1 tsp

Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp

Sugar 1 tsp (or as per taste)

Method

To prepare this chutney, grind all ingredients, except tomatoes, in vinegar to obtain a smooth paste. In a pan, heat oil to smoking point. Add the spice paste and stir on medium flame till the oil separates. Add tomatoes with salt. Cook for about five to seven minutes. Simmer over low flame for about an hour. Cool and serve.

Aloo dum

Ingredients

Baby potatoes (boiled, peeled, pricked all over with fork) 250g

Tomatoes (medium-sized) two

Bay leaf one

Cloves three

Cardamom one

Cinnamon stick 2 inch

Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp

Kashmiri red chilli powder 3/4 tsp

Coriander powder 1/2 tsp

Fennel seeds 1/2 tsp

Green chillies (deseeded sot) 1-2

Lemon juice 1 tsp

Sugar 1 tsp

Mustard oil 2tbsp

Method

In a pan, heat oil to smoking point. Add whole spices. When these change colour, add potatoes and stir fry till these turn golden. Add powdered spices, along with salt and sugar. Stir fry till well mixed with spices. Add tomatoes and cook till tomatoes are mushy. Drape potatoes with thick sauce-like gravy. Garnish with green chillies and coriander leaves. Sprinkle lemon juice, only if preferred.

Sindhi karhi

Ingredients

Besan 3-4 tbsp

Potatoes (medium-sized, peeled and quartered) two

Drum sticks (cut in 3 inch pieces) two

Cauliflower (small head, broken into large florets) one

Tomatoes (pureed) 3-4

Ginger paste 1tsp

Tamarind pulp 1tsp

Red chilli powder 1 tsp

Coriander powder 1 tsp

Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp

Whole red chillies two

Mustard seeds 1/4 tsp

Oil 1/4 cup

Salt to taste

A handful of beans (strung and cut into 2 inch pieces)

A large pinch of asafetida

A sprig of coriander leaves.

Method

Heat oil in a pan and put in the asafoetida, as it dissolves add spice seeds. When these begin to splutter, put in the ginger paste stir-fry for 30 seconds briskly and add thebesan. Stir fry till lightly browned and it releases its aroma. Add tomato puree and continue cooking on medium flame till tomatoes are cooked. Add powdered spices, along with salt. Now add two to three cups of water and bring to boil. Put in the vegetables, cover with a lid and cook till vegetables are done but are not mushy. Add water, if thinner consistency is preferred. Temper with mustard seeds and whole red chillies. Garnish with coriander leaves.