Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Thiruvananthapuram
Visakhapatnam
On with oondhiyos
|
A recent Gujarati-Marwari food fest at St. Mark's Hotel took MALA KUMAR down memory lane... to a small town in Gujarat where the bens got together to make large quantitiesofgreat oondiyo.
|
The mouth-watering fare at the food fest.
"WHAT ARE dhoklas?" asked a friend, to which my much-travelled friend replied: "Nothing kane, just our idli made yellow with arshana pudi, cut into diamonds, and topped with an ogarane of til."
Meeraben Pandya, who was listening, was aghast. "Of course not! Dhokla is a steamed dish, yes, but otherwise it is totally different from your idlee sumbaar."
Gujarati cuisine is as mild and sweet as the people of the State are. As a Tam Brahm, who grew up amongst Gujju kakis and kakas in Nagpur, I've always had a fondness for Gujarati food. There were days when I would trade my tiffin of dosai-molagai pudi with Manda's rotli aney saag or take a bowl of sambar to Leelaben's house and come back with a bowl of kadi.
"But this is just our more kuzhambu (majjige huli)," my grandma used to say, but Leelaben told her just how differently she made the kadi. "We take a small amount of channa dal flour (besan), mix it into a bowl of not-too-sour curds, heat it and garnish it with green chillies, jeera, and, of course, we add a little sugar." The Jains take greater trouble to make the same dish, since their religion does not allow them to use sour curds. In Pardi, a small Gujarati town, some hours away from Mumbai, our neighbours would have a grand time making oondhiyo. Too many cooks certainly did not spoil this broth, for the result was sheer heaven. At least 25 ingredients went into the making of this special dish. Each woman brought a part of the dish, and the assembly was done at one person's house. If Mamtaben brought raw banana and brinjal ("Shiva, Shiva! Cooking these two vegetables together!" exclaimed grandma with her curious Tam Brahm sensitivities), Radhaben would bring a bowl of neatly cubed yam and other root vegetables, Jasmaben would bring the muthia, and the mid-morning would see them all chattering happily in Gujarathi, with simultaneous and incomprehensible asides to me.
"Gujarat is known for its sweets," said J.P. Menon, General Manager, St. Mark's Hotel, which recently had a Gujarati-Marwari Food Fest. Srikhand, aam-ras, Surat ghari, pooran polis... The mention of Gujarati pooran polis, made with wheat flour and not maida, brought to mind images of plump folks consuming the puran polis accompanied by an equally fattening khandvi (strips of cooked besan made into rolls and garnished with til, hing, and dhania). The combination is only slightly less dangerous than the early morning breakfast that Mansukh bhai insisted on having — hot jalebis with fafda. A piece on Gujarati cuisine would be incomplete without a mention of the delightful array of pickles that are stocked in all self-respecting Gujju households. Katki-keri, the spicy mango mini-cubes, which are steeped in sun-melted sugar and salt, fresh lime with amla, lime with green chillies and mango ginger, sweet pickles, and murrabbas... aahh!
The dishes of Gujarat's neighbouring state, Rajasthan, are as hot as its pickles.
Influenced by the war-like lifestyle of its inhabitants and the availability of ingredients in this region, Marwari food is great for people on the move and can be eaten without re-heating. Scarcity of water and fresh-green vegetables have had their effect on cooking. In the desert belts of Jaisalmer, Barmer, and Bikaner, cooks use minimum water and prefer to use more milk, buttermilk, and clarified butter instead. Lentils and beans from indigenous plants such as sangri and ker, are commonly used in the cuisine. Gram flour is a major ingredient here and is used to make delicacies such as gatta ki sabzi, and pakodi, while powdered lentils are used for mangodi and papad. Naturally, one needs to use a lot of hing (asafoetida) to avoid gastric disasters that channa dal can cause! "We used more asafoetida during the ten-day fest than we did for all the cooking in the past six months!" revealed Chef Sudhakar Kamath of St. Mark's Hotel.
Bajra and corn are used all over the state for preparations of rabdi, khichdi, and rotis. Perhaps, the best-known Rajasthani food is the combination of dal, baati, and churma. Unlike the mild Gujarati dal, the Marwari dal is a fiery liquid, courtesy the heavy hand with the red chilli powder. The sweet churma ensures that people's eyes don't pop out each time they have the dal. Baati is a hard wheat preparation, solid as a Rajputana warrior. But, Rajasthani cuisine also has specialities such as mawa kachori from Jodhpur, malpuas from Pushkar, rasogullas from Bikaner, ghevar from Jaipur. So go out, have a fine Gujarati or Rajasthani meal, but come back to a South Indian home for a strong cup of filter coffee. If you must down your West Indian meal appropriately, try the chaas or the jaljeera, but never the coffee, which is instant.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Thiruvananthapuram
Visakhapatnam
|
