India on My Platter by Sanjeev Kapoor, Saransh Goila Page A
Authors: Sanjeev Kapoor, Saransh Goila
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powder
1 cup assorted vegetables (broccoli, peppers, peas), blanched
100 ml vegetable stock
2 cups or 400 ml coconut milk
Salt to taste
2½ tbsp lemon juice
1 medium tomato, cubed
50 gm Parmesan cheese
Method
1. Bring salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook until it is tender. Drain and run it through cold water and keep it aside in a large serving bowl.
2. Heat the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds. As they splutter, add the curry leaves and sauté for a few seconds.
3. Lower the heat and add ginger, garlic and onions. Cook until soft and translucent and the garlic turns golden; stir occasionally. Stir in the chillies, turmeric powder and the assorted vegetables.
4. Raise the heat to high and stir for about 30 seconds to a minute. Add the stock and let it come to a boil. Now add coconut milk to this mixture. Do not over boil after adding coconut milk. It might split. Add salt to taste. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for about six to seven minutes, stirring occasionally so it does not stick.
5. Add spaghetti to this reduced sauce. Cook for another three minutes or till the time the sauce coats the spaghetti. Now, stir in the tomato. Finally, drizzle lots of lemon juice and Parmesan cheese and serve hot.
∼
Pranav suggested that after a ‘fusion’ meal, we go out and have some paan (betel leaves prepared and used as a stimulant). Not just any paan but a Volcano paan. The reason why it is called so is that the conical stuffed leaf is made to sit flat, like a volcano, with a single clove at the top, which is then lit up, to resemble a volcano. Paan is a digestive, eaten after a heavy Indian meal. However, this paan had more to do with showmanship, a visual and gustatory experience, wrapped into one.
D AY 36
10 September / Ahmedabad
Today, I visited the Mahila Swashray Kendra in Ahmedabad. Here, fresh Gujarati breakfast items were made on a daily basis, by 110 strong independent working women. I met Madhav, who was overseeing the operations; he seemed very passionate about empowering women and making them self sufficient who could also support their families. I learnt how food had broken all social barriers and was a medium through which so many women were able to be proud employees of a morally-rich business endeavour.
The business was started by Madhav’s uncle, Mr. Kalyan, and his two Jain friends, in 1985. I was then introduced to a few of the main lady chefs. They explained to me that Gujarati breakfast, usually consisted of khakra (thin crackers made from mat bean, wheat flour and oil), khasta kachori (flaky crisp pastry filled with a moong dal mixture and deep fried), chakri (wheel-shaped crunchy snack), bhakri (round flat unleavened bread), gatiya (crunchy and spicy deep-fried strands made from gram flour dough), fafra (wafer-like thin fried crispbreads), and sev. I was lucky enough to sample a few of these breakfast items. I really liked the bhakad vadi, a spicy snack made of gram flour and refined flour. It is usually fried and looks like pinwheel cookies. I also learnt that every household had their own version of the khakra, but the version here, at the Mahila Swashray Kendra, was very popular because of the dry chutney served on top of the khakra. The chutney is made of chickpeas and peanuts. The chutney was made with sautéed gram flour, yoghurt, green chillies and black salt. Madhav also explained that they were also thinking of baking these snacks, instead of frying, as a medium of cooking.
It was a delight to see so many women together in one place, preparing the food from scratch, weighing it, packing and storing. With such tempting food around me, I took permission from the head chef, a lady called Jasodha Behen, and set up a small station to make Raw Banana Pakoras (fritters) with Khakra Canapés, my own twist to this story.
R AW B ANANA P AKORAS WITH K HAKRA C ANAPES
(Raw banana fritter served on a bed of thin
1 cup assorted vegetables (broccoli, peppers, peas), blanched
100 ml vegetable stock
2 cups or 400 ml coconut milk
Salt to taste
2½ tbsp lemon juice
1 medium tomato, cubed
50 gm Parmesan cheese
Method
1. Bring salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook until it is tender. Drain and run it through cold water and keep it aside in a large serving bowl.
2. Heat the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds. As they splutter, add the curry leaves and sauté for a few seconds.
3. Lower the heat and add ginger, garlic and onions. Cook until soft and translucent and the garlic turns golden; stir occasionally. Stir in the chillies, turmeric powder and the assorted vegetables.
4. Raise the heat to high and stir for about 30 seconds to a minute. Add the stock and let it come to a boil. Now add coconut milk to this mixture. Do not over boil after adding coconut milk. It might split. Add salt to taste. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for about six to seven minutes, stirring occasionally so it does not stick.
5. Add spaghetti to this reduced sauce. Cook for another three minutes or till the time the sauce coats the spaghetti. Now, stir in the tomato. Finally, drizzle lots of lemon juice and Parmesan cheese and serve hot.
∼
Pranav suggested that after a ‘fusion’ meal, we go out and have some paan (betel leaves prepared and used as a stimulant). Not just any paan but a Volcano paan. The reason why it is called so is that the conical stuffed leaf is made to sit flat, like a volcano, with a single clove at the top, which is then lit up, to resemble a volcano. Paan is a digestive, eaten after a heavy Indian meal. However, this paan had more to do with showmanship, a visual and gustatory experience, wrapped into one.
D AY 36
10 September / Ahmedabad
Today, I visited the Mahila Swashray Kendra in Ahmedabad. Here, fresh Gujarati breakfast items were made on a daily basis, by 110 strong independent working women. I met Madhav, who was overseeing the operations; he seemed very passionate about empowering women and making them self sufficient who could also support their families. I learnt how food had broken all social barriers and was a medium through which so many women were able to be proud employees of a morally-rich business endeavour.
The business was started by Madhav’s uncle, Mr. Kalyan, and his two Jain friends, in 1985. I was then introduced to a few of the main lady chefs. They explained to me that Gujarati breakfast, usually consisted of khakra (thin crackers made from mat bean, wheat flour and oil), khasta kachori (flaky crisp pastry filled with a moong dal mixture and deep fried), chakri (wheel-shaped crunchy snack), bhakri (round flat unleavened bread), gatiya (crunchy and spicy deep-fried strands made from gram flour dough), fafra (wafer-like thin fried crispbreads), and sev. I was lucky enough to sample a few of these breakfast items. I really liked the bhakad vadi, a spicy snack made of gram flour and refined flour. It is usually fried and looks like pinwheel cookies. I also learnt that every household had their own version of the khakra, but the version here, at the Mahila Swashray Kendra, was very popular because of the dry chutney served on top of the khakra. The chutney is made of chickpeas and peanuts. The chutney was made with sautéed gram flour, yoghurt, green chillies and black salt. Madhav also explained that they were also thinking of baking these snacks, instead of frying, as a medium of cooking.
It was a delight to see so many women together in one place, preparing the food from scratch, weighing it, packing and storing. With such tempting food around me, I took permission from the head chef, a lady called Jasodha Behen, and set up a small station to make Raw Banana Pakoras (fritters) with Khakra Canapés, my own twist to this story.
R AW B ANANA P AKORAS WITH K HAKRA C ANAPES
(Raw banana fritter served on a bed of thin
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