You can tell by the aromas emanating from her kitchen in Mumbai’s Oshiwara that home chef Smita Deo knows her onions.
She’s one of those passionate individuals who get excited by the sight of fresh mangosteen or spicy Triphal chilies. Deo, wife of ad filmmaker and Delhi Belly director Abhinay Deo, fusses over her guests as she dishes out finger-licking mutton chops, Chickencha Pandhara Rassa and the famous Karwari fish curry: just a few of the recipes featured in her cookbook, Karwar to Kolhapur via Mumbai, that has hit the shelves.
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“The aroma of cooking is a reminder of the simple, eternal joys of life,” she says Deo. “Food was subliminally around me all the time. I was raised in a house where people loved to eat, cook, and appreciated flavours and aromas.”
It is not your typical cookbook with back-to-back recipes, but a documentation of Deo’s journey through the three cities that shaped her outlook and personality. It’s a cookbook with an autobiographical bent, as Deo has infused every page with personal experiences, peppered with mirth and wisdom.
In the bargain, she has helped revive the cultural identity and traditions that often get forgotten.
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Deo spent a good part of her childhood in Karnataka and Maharashtra: two states with so much in common but distinct local cuisines. The author does justice to both by highlighting their indigenous cooking styles, ingredients and flavours. She has incorporated seasonal vegetables and food that befit occasions and cultures. But some are just an extension of her personality.
Ode to her roots
Deo keeps the traditional recipes easy to replicate; aiming to adapt old techniques without losing the essence. “When I decided to write the book, I was confused about whether to write a regular recipe book or add a background story to each,” she says. “Finally, I decided that there’s no way I could pay an ode to my roots without narrating the story behind them.”
Authoring a regional cookbook included several challenges: she had to contact erstwhile neighbours and distant relatives to understand subtle differences in dishes with similar recipes, and find authentic ingredients in a big city.
Much in common
“For me writing and cooking are similar in process. You have to start with an idea and assemble all the ingredients,” says Deo. “Then have a little fun and improvise as you go along, while stirring the pot till the plot thickens, and the story emerges with many twists and turns to be finally consumed with a satisfying burp.”
Deo says everything, from her place of birth and marriage to all the interesting people she’s ever met, has found place in Karwar to Kolhapur via Mumbai . “I fondly acknowledge all the loving warmth I received in the process of writing this autobiographical cookbook,” she says, hoping readers will enjoy perusing and replicating the recipes as much as she did while putting it together.
The author is a freelance writer