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.

14 January

Happy Makar Sankranti and Pongal to all my readers.

It is an auspicious day today across India, where harvest festival is celebrated today. The harvest festival celebrated across India - Lohri in Punjab, Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Bhogali Bihu in Assam and Poush Parbon in Bengal are all harvest festival that marks the significant shift in season that happens around this time when the sun enters Capricorn (Makar in Hindi and Sanskrit) and starts on its Northward journey, a transition called Uttarayan in Sanskrit. 

Makar Sankranti has a host of signature delicacies from across the regions prepared exclusively to celebrate the auspicious festival. During Poush Sankranti or Poush Parbon in Bengal it is customary to prepare Pithe - Puli - Payesh. All the earthen molds come out of the pantry and the kitchen is heavy with the sweet smell of the famous Bengali Nolen Gud being incorporated in all of these traditional recipes by the mothers and grandmothers of the house. 

It wouldn't be really unfair to say, that the prime focus of the festival is food and it should be so, after all that is what Harvest festival should be about - celebration of good food from the beautiful produce of the land. As a kid there is one image that is vividly etched in my memory is that of my dida in front of the mud unun (hearth) on a very cold foggy morning molding the rice pancakes or pithas. We did have gas and all the modern facilities in the house during that time. But since that was a one off occasion when all the mashis ( aunts or grandma's daughters) with their families were present at my Grandparents home. And my Grandpa being an avid traditionalist and food lover had urged dida to setup the hearth in our big courtyard and make pithe in earthen molds. It was terribly chilly that day and foggy too. We kids were very small and huddled in our respective sweaters and shawls and tupis. While our dad's were fully armed with Monkey caps, thick sweaters and mojas. We all sat around dida, in a half circle, while our noses were red with cold. So when the hearth was lighted we kind of snuggled closer to it just to be a little warm. And to keep the elders warm - several rounds of fragrant ginger- cardamom chai made their rounds. Soon the smell of the steamed pithe (rice pancakes) started coming form the molds and the anticipation rose considerably. We kids have never experienced a pithe in such a traditional setup. The first steaming pithes were soon served to us and the impatience of having them made us pop those things right into our mouths only to realize how hot they were! But the moment we tasted the molted jaggery inside the rice coating, all the other senses numbed and it was sheer ecstasy. That was my most favorite Poush Parbon ever, and it was sadly never recreated because later on all of the families would never get vacation time at the same time.

I relocated to Mumbai and later to Pune due to work. And now I am a resident of this state. My association has been somewhat that of around 15 plus years now with the Marathi manus. So it is obvious that I had started to take fancy for many of the regional delicacies Marathis have. Like Puran Poli or Gul Poli (Jaggery flatbread) which they typically prepare at this time of the year and have it with sweet milk. Also the tradition here says to have Til and Gud together. That is considered as a auspicious combination during this festival and also they are two of the most winter-perfect foods that helps to keep the body warm and also increases the immunity at the same time . Til, gud ghya ni god god bola', is a common expression used to greet family and guests in Marathi households during Sankranti celebrations. The expression literally means "Have til and gur and talk sweetly".

Keeping up with the "trying new things" this year, I decided to make a few things from both my worlds and then tweak it a little. So instead of Gul poli, it was a Til Gud Paratha today where the chunks of jaggery kneaded with wheat flour , generously sprinkled with roasted sesame and fried on slow flame with ghee. It reminded me of all those time when mom used to make sugar parathas for me as a kid. Just that this is way more fragrant because I used nolen gud in this case. Check out the recipe below:

• Wheat Flour - 1 1/2 cup 
• Jaggery (Gud) - 1/2 cup, grated
• White Sesame (Til) - 2 tbsp
• Ghee - 3 tbsp + for frying
• Salt - 1 pinch

For Garnish

• Dry Roasted White Sesame - 1/2 tsp
• Ghee - 1 tsp

Equipment:

• Mixing Bowl
• Rolling Pin and worktop
• Skillet & Spatula
• Fork

Procedure 

1.  Warm a skillet and add the Sesame to it.  Roast it till it starts turning golden. Keep aside the roasted sesame in a bowl.

2. Take about 2 tbsp water in a pan and add the grated jaggery to it. Switch on the heat to low and let the jaggery melt into a liquid completely while stirring continuously. It will take around 2-3 minutes. Take off the heat and allow it to cool.

3. In a mixing bowl, add flour, salt and ghee. Mix well

4. Now in the same mixing bowl add the melted jaggery and knead into a firm dough using enough warm water. 

5. Divide the dough into 5-6 equal balls. 

6. Dust the work surface with additional flour and place the ball and flatten its top a bit. Dust it as required and with the help of a rolling pin roll it out into a circle.

7. Now dust the top of the circle with a little flour and start folding the circle from one side till you make a single long pipe like roll. Now start folding in the pipe from one side into a small disc just like swiss roll. [The process is similar to making laccha paratha]

8. Now sprinkle some roasted sesame on top and dust it with a little flow. Roll this out into a thick circle with the help of rolling pin. Add more sesame if desired while rolling it out. You can even add sesame on both the sides.

9. Now with a fork punch tiny holes into the circle. This will help in getting rid of the steam buildup in the center, and cooking it uniformly.

10. Heat a non stick pan and add some ghee. Once the ghee is little hot, place the paratha slowly onto it and let it cook on low flame. Cook both sides uniformly, adding more ghee if required till there are dark golden brown spots on both surface.

Garnish it with some more ghee and roasted sesame. Serve it immediately with achar or khatte meethe aloo ki subzi. 

Serving Suggestion : Since this is a Sweet Flatbread, serving it with anything tangy or spicy is recommended to cut the sweetness. I had it with a super spicy Red Chilli Achar. Or if you have a super sweet tooth then you can enjoy as is too!

PS: The Aloo ki Subzi recipe will come up in a few days. 

NOTE: This paratha tends to get a little hard due to the presence of Gud (jaggery) hence it is recommended to have it as soon as they are made.