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Long forgotten recipes
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At a recently held GSB food festival, an assortment of traditional fare was laid out. PRATIMA ASHER found a revival of some very old, interesting recipes
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A FOOD expert recently remarked that over the last few years there has been a revival of interest in traditional Indian food. No wonder then that Kochi might soon turn out to be gourmet's delight as its numerous communities are slowly waking up to the value of the heritage that they have inherited in terms of food and the customs associated with it.
Already there has been revival of interest not only at the level of hotels but also at a popular and often authentic level, which is evident from the number of occasions that showcase this unique food culture.
One such instance was the recent food festival organised as part of the Gowda Saraswat Brahmin community meeting in the city, which was open to the public. While is aimed at catering to community members, and reintroduced them to delicacies long forgotten or untried, it was noteworthy that a large percentage of the crowd were people residing in places where these delicacies were still prepared. Though the traditions associated with them were often only vaguely recollected, the visitors were excellent judges of quality being used to preparing authentic varieties at home. As for instance Rajamma, a former bank employee compared the relative merits of the food at the festival with the delicious `ambat' made at home with gram dal, jaggery, bananas and coconut which owed its taste also to the `one red chilli' which formed part of the ingredients.
Southern and northern GSB food habits are different, observed Mr. R. Prakash who manned a small stall selling chips and pappads made of jackfruit and other vegetables. At another stall, Mr. Krishnanand stocked unusual `kondattams' made of banana stems, bitter gourd and melon. A variety of chips make popular snacks among members of the community with banana, kappa, potato and jackfruit chips being predominant.
Many families and individuals from Cherlai as well as small but locally well-known eateries had brought samples of special GSB delicacies. There were different types of dosas some made of vegetable leaves, the inevitable `patrawadas' made of colacasia leaves, the `hittus' or idlis steamed in leaves, and sweets such as `appams', `sugins' and halwas' as well as those where mango and jackfruit were the main flavours. There were some payasams with Mr. Jayanand mentioning the little known `Panchagadya' payasam, which was specially prepared during Ashtami Rohini. There were several varieties of pickles, instant coconut and spice powders which could be used in the `gassi' or curry. An acknowledgement to modern taste was made with a few ladies selling homemade jams and juices. Then there were `bhajis' as well as the `chavkara puri', which can be had with `toi' (dal) and pickles, which Kinimam's hotel at Cherlai bazaar has been preparing for almost fifty years.
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
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Kochi
Thiruvananthapuram
Visakhapatnam
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