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29 March

Happy Holi to All!

Its early morning and its Holi! Last night it rained somewhere hence the weather feels a little cold. Much respite from the hot and humid feel of last evening. Since we ourselves are not able to play Holi this time seems like nature is compensating it with a pleasant weather. This is the first year where no one of us even played with gulal (dry colors) let alone wet. But I still felt okay, because at least for once, we saved some water.

But when it is Holi one needs to make something special at home. We weren't expecting any guests this time, so thought of making something which was easy and could be made in a small batch. Since Gujiyas and other things were too much work, I decided on Malpuas.

When we think of malpua, the immediate thought is of those gorgeous fluffy thick pancakes with crispy golden edges and dripping with sugar syrup. Any Indian festival seems incomplete with these signature sweets. But to make any traditional sweet, a lot of effort needs to be put in. That has always been the reason why I didn't have a fascination in making any Indian sweets from scratch. To add to it is the fact that I am a savory loving person. Thus the effort to make sweets just doesn't make sense to me. but what if we could make our signature dishes with half the effort or even less? It is possible and it does taste amazing too. The recipe I am going to talk about today is one such recipe.

This recipe belongs to my mom. As a kid I used to love having sweets. Hence my mom had learnt making different kind of sweets and snacks which she used to serve mostly as evening snacks. Now she also didn't like to slog in the kitchen for hours hence she developed a lot of recipes which could be made in a jiffy and would still taste heavenly. The bread malpua is one such innovation of hers which I still remember till date.

Thus this diwali, when I really didn't want to eat some store bought sweets, I thought of giving it a try. After making it I can safely say its one of the most easiest sweets I have ever made in my life which tastes this good. It barely took me half an hour to put together this delicious sweets. And the first bite into one of the malpuas, sent me back though the time to those evenings in Kharagpur when mom would serve exactly the same kind of malpuas to me while I was slogging over my study books. It used to bring an immediate smile onto my face and momentarily I would be lost in the goodness of these sweets.

I really felt a lot of happiness preparing this dish, as it brought back a cartload of memories which are so dear to me. Give it a try, I am sure kids and adults both would love this. 

• Bread Slices - 3
• Ghee - 1/2 cup
• Sugar - 1 cup
• Water - 1 cup
• Fennel (Sauf) - 1/2 tsp
• Saffron - a pinch
• Malai (Fresh cream) - 2 tsp
• Milk - 1/2 cup
• Rose water - 1 tbsp

Garnish:

• Chopped nuts - 1 tsp
• Dry Rose petals - 1 tsp
• Saffron strands

Equipment:

• Frying pan
• Deep Pot

28 March

Happy Holika folks!

This year Holika or Holi would be a total miss, due to the pandemic situation. This would have been the 3rd year of celebration from the time we shifted to this society. But still it doesn't harm to at least cook a nice meal and enjoy it in the comfort of your home. We usually had a lovely Holika celebration every year in the society where all the ladies and gentlemen come together around the burning Holika and offer their prayers. The picture below is from the last year when Holika Dahan was celebrated. That was the last day before the whole world changed for us forever or at least for the next couple of years. In fact I had also skipped attending the community Holi last year, because already Pune had seen the first few cases of Covid. 

3. Make a paste of tomato, garlic, ginger and green chilli

4. Make a thick slurry of coriander powder, cumin powder, red chilli powder and turmeric powder

5. Deep Fry thinly sliced onion to make the beresta.

6. Soak a few saffron strands into warm milk.

Serving

Add a few kernels of pomegranate, some beresta and a few mint leaves. Serve hot with your choice of raita.

March 16

The other day I had gone to an old bookstore in F C Road. I keep visiting that place whenever I am in the area. It reminds me of the old book stores back from the IIT Campus where I was born and brought up. We only had a couple of book stores back then in the market. Mostly we used to visit those shops for buying school books or supplies. But one day I happened to rummage through the back shelves of one of the store and found a treasure trove of old comics books - Dennis the menace, Archie, Ritchie Rich and many more. The book shop uncle had disapproved of me getting interested in comics. He advised me to come and buy them when I was older. Goes without saying that I wasn't too pleased at that. But little did he know that my mom herself got me addicted to the world of comics. And the general love for reading developed as a hereditary trait, because my entire family from both sides are avid readers. So till date whenever I come across any bookstore I cant stop myself from spending some time in them. When I was at this store in F C Road, I spent time around the old books section. My eyes fell on the Enid Blyton books stacked in the kids section. 

I was always a sucker for good mystery stories ( I think its a trait inbuilt into the Bengali genes because they grow up reading some of the cult detective stories ever written by famous Bengali authors) and hence the Famous Five by Enid B was one of my favorite reads as a kid. Mom also loved reading them and would usually get those books from the IIT library we had. During this early period of my life, I always expected to find secret treasure chests or lost manuscripts or some shady character lurking around the corner hatching a devious plot whenever we went on holidays. Enid B's books also gave me an impression that children could show up on the doorstep of any farmhouse and easily obtain bacon, eggs and other supplies for a campfire meal. I thought all children craved ginger beer and constantly went on picnics. I think I took an instant attraction to farm life from those reads only.

Soon they were all sitting on the rocky ledge, which was still warm, watching the sun go down into the lake. It was the most beautiful evening, with the lake as blue as a cornflower and the sky flecked with rosy clouds. They held their hard-boiled eggs in one hand and a piece of bread and butter in the other, munching happily. There was a dish of salt for everyone to dip their eggs into. ― Enid Blyton, Five Go Off in a Caravan

When you read this kind of a description it honestly makes me think who can resist an urge of having a buttered bread and some boiled eggs? I for one get lured easily whenever there is any food description in any story. And as a kid the temptation was more fierce. 

Anyone who has ever read an Enid B book, will agree that she possessed the magical power to transform the most simple fares into something irresistibly mouth watering. And then of course, she wrote about some gorgeous food as well, and some that, its suspected, she had invented. 

Picture this, the Famous Five are sitting for dinner with Mrs. Andrews and there is a big meat-pie on the table, a cold ham, salad, potatoes in their jackets, and homemade pickles. After the first course, there are plums and thick cream, or jam tarts and cream.

The table at Mr Pink-Whistle’s tea party was filled with macaroons and golden syrup and the children of The Faraway Tree devoured blueberry tarts and jelly treats by the dozen.

In Upper Fourth at Malory Towers , she writes, "There were great chunks of new-made cream cheese, potted meat, ripe tomatoes grown in Mrs Lucy’s brother’s greenhouse, gingerbread cake fresh from the oven, shortbread, a great fruit cake with almonds crowding the top, biscuits of all kinds, and six jam sandwiches!" Now tell me honestly who on the earth can resist that? I cant and I just cant. Pictures of luscious strawberries and cream, tinned sardines, quivering blancmange, succulent pork pies and hard-boiled eggs crowded our dreams. In a way, Blyton was the food blogger of her times, she didn’t even need Instagram, just her descriptions.

During those days neither we had the internet nor the luxury of buying jazzy recipe books. It always made me feel that Enid B should have had a recipe section in her books so that we could at least know what went into those amazing dishes that she had mentioned in her stories. 

There was a contest going on in Instagram which asked to recreate one recipe inspired from the children's books. When I started thinking about it, it brought so many food memories including the stories of Enid B, that I wanted to make something which reminded me of that farm life - fresh and homemade. I decided to make a homemade jam with some mulberries I had in the pantry. I wanted to recreate the flavors that Enid B's characters might have enjoyed when they had those jam tarts or jam sandwiches.

I never really tried my hand in making jams before the lockdown last year. The first batch of Alphonso Mango Jam that I had made gave me so much happiness that I really took to this jam making process. Its really easy, quick and you can enjoy the seasonal flavors just the way you want. This mulberry jam is super easy to make and spiced it up by adding some hot Thai chilli pieces. The sweet and spicy jam was a hit at my home for sure. However, if you don't love a spicy jam, just omit the chilli and go ahead with the rest of the steps.

March 12

Visiting Thailand was like a dream come true for me. Before you conclude that I loved it because of the night life and party opportunities, let me tell you that's not what fascinated me. I am a far cry from any party animal you might ever know. What fascinated me was their simple yet delicious cuisine steeped in organic flavors, the deep rooted culture which they were absolutely proud of and the beautiful pristine beaches - it was so calm and deep I felt like zen. Krabi stole my heart. I was totally convinced that if someone gave me an opportunity to relocate to Krabi, I would say yes right away!

I cant stop gushing about the Thai cuisine. While it is true that I was introduced to Thai cuisine formally only after I came to Pune around a decade ago. But when I went to Thailand there were so many new preparations I got introduced to. We didn't fine dine there, because the street food looked so appetizing and offered such a vast range of possibilities that it felt justified to blow half of our trip budget on the food alone! And I am not kidding there. We probably were one of those rare tourists who spent less on merchandise from Thailand than on food. Whatever we saw we wanted to try out, that's the benefit of being a non-vegetarian and seafood lover I guess ( of course barring the few weird street foods that we came across. I wont mention them here as I might risk loosing your interest on todays blog!) . I remember the best food we had in Bangkok was under some random flyover. There was a night pop up restaurant area and everything was made fresh before us. We had enjoyed a warm bowl of tom yum and Thai fried rice. The taste and memory of that evening still lingers on. By the end of our trip I felt as if I needed to extend my stay just to be able to taste all the other delicacies that I missed out.

During my trip to Thailand, we had been on a guided city tour where our guide took us to this lovely Thai joint and over our food told us about the wonderful history of Pad Thai. Pad thai, or Phad Thai is a stir-fried rice noodle dish commonly served as a street food and at most restaurants in Thailand. 

Pad Thai is a dish synonymous with Thailand but still it seems like a dish which has heavy Chinese influence. Pad Thai is locally known as "Gway Teow Pad Thai". Gway Teow is a Chinese word for ‘rice noodles’, which hints at a Chinese lineage. Noodles, stir-fry, and, especially, noodle stir-fries are quintessentially Chinese. In fact, just about every ingredient found in pad Thai isn’t native to the people after whom the dish is named.

If we look at the history of this dish we come to know that during World War II (1930s), due to less production in the rice fields, Thailand suffered a shortage of rice which was compounded by the floods. Thus for preserving the stocks of this precious grain, the Thai government started to promote noodles instead. A campaign was launched to  unite the nation through their culture. The campaign included changing the country’s name, commissioning a new national anthem, and creating a national dish – Pad Thai. They created the dish ‘Pad Thai’ as the national dish, in a bid to protect the rice resources of the country and promote a sense of national unity. Pad Thai was promoted heavily across the country with a campaign slogan "noodle is your lunch". The Public Welfare Department even gave out recipes of the dish to restaurants and even gave free carts to people willing to sell Pad Thai in the streets. Now how fascinating is that! If ever India decided to have such a campaign to have a national dish, I would be a forerunner in the tasting line. No matter which food wins, the food connoisseurs are the real winners.

But pad Thai wasn’t just about unity; it was also about nutrition. The late 1930s were a particularly difficult time economically for the country, and rice noodles, which were both cheap and filling, provided a much-needed antidote. Coupled with regional vegetables, bean sprouts, and inexpensive protein, it was the perfect, nutritious meal.

Traditionally Pad Thai is made from rice noodles, stir-fried with eggs, tofu, tamarind paste, fish sauce, dried shrimps, garlic, palm sugar and red chilli pepper and frequently served with lime wedges, bamboo shoots, spring onions, raw banana flowers, and topped with a sprinkling of peanuts. But then you can always tweak it as per the available ingredients in your area.