MellowDrama

So the good people at The New Indian Express have invited me to write another column for them . This one is for students at  high school  and beyond. This is a motivational column. I likes this as I likes to jibber jabber with the young peoples. This love was found at Dainik Bhaskar during Quest and Yo! days. Some of the kids have recognised me in the market places and at other old offices and I have felt like a star. So here is wishing more motivation to the writer and the reader!!!!!!!!!! Plenty gloating done, go read the article here .

Yes, you read the headline of this article correctly. And I am not just talking about a vegetable garden. I am talking about a garden where lovely flowers bloom in abundance. Flowers have been used in culinary practices for a long, long time. The first recorded mention of the usage of flowers dates back to 140 BC. Various cultures and cuisines have been inspired by flowers and people have used them for various purposes while cooking. Some use flowers to garnish a dish while some use them as a main ingredient. Can you imagine a dish garnished with lovely lavender and blooming roses? Flower petals have been extensively used in salads from time immemorial. Candied violets and sugared roses have always lured even those who claim not to have a sweet tooth. Flowers have been used in desserts such as ice cream and custards and are also found in baked goodies. The range of flavour that flowers impart to various dishes is astounding. Violets, lavender or roses generally lend a sweet ...

Have you ever had to avoid hot potatoes? Or have you finally found your gravy train? If that answer is a yes, then you must be the cream of the crop and will soon become big cheese and if the answer is a no, then I suggest that you use your noodle, chew the fat and ensure that you don’t jump out of the frying pan into the fire. So have you been able to guess what we are going to talk about today? I am sure you must have done so by now. We are stepping into the world of idioms inspired from food. Food occupies a major portion of our lives and it is no surprise that there are so many idioms inspired by food. Let us begin with the sweet example of the cake and see what some of the idioms using cake mean. The first one that comes to mind is a fairly common one. Can you venture a guess? Yes it is to ‘you can’t have your cake and eat it too’. This refers to having the best of both the worlds. Interestingly the idiom is used with some variation in many languages all over the world. F...

Pulses are eaten in every part of the country. These are a major source of protein in our diet. But do we know anything else besides the fact that pulses are members of the legume family? Let us discover some facts about the world of pulses today. Try naming the pulses that you are familiar with. How many did you get? The word ‘pulse’ has its origin in the Latin word puls which in Greek means thick soup like porridge. Proof of cultivation of pulses has been found at the site of the Indus Valley Civilisation near the river Ravi in Punjab. Traces of these have also been found at the pyramids. Some dry pea seeds were discovered in a Swiss village which are believed to date back to the Stone Age. In general, the term pulses refers to crops that are harvested for their dry seeds. Have you guessed which part of the plant pulses are? Yes! You are right if your answer is seed. Now on to the basics- I mentioned that pulses belong to the legume family. Do you know what a legume is or w...

The ethnic group of people from the princely Marwar region of Rajasthan is called Marwari. Though the term is used to refer to all the people from Rajasthan or those having roots in Rajasthan, the term specifically refers to the bania or trading community of Rajasthan. You might wonder why instead of writing about food in my column I have shifted my attention towards anthropology. Worry not, this detour will only lead us to the destined land of tastes and slurrrps. As you might have figured  by now, today we are going to discuss Rajasthani cuisine, which has been spread far and wide by the travelling business community, the Marwaris. Dal baati churma is the most common name amongst the dishes ladled out of this desert region that you might already be aware of. Let us take a look at what else is on offer. The Marwari traders used to travel far and wide on the Ganga-Yamuna trade route for business. Not much of their food was influenced by their travels though the people ...

The great poet T S Eliot is known to have said, “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.” Though India is largely presumed to be a tea drinking nation, recent studies conducted by the International Coffee Organisation (ICO) in 2012 show that coffee consumption has steadily grown over the years. According to the ICO data, while in 2001 the country consumed about 1.02 million bags of coffee, in 2010 this number touched 1.71 million bags of 60 kg each and in 2011-12 the coffee consumption in our country went up by 3 per cent. India is the world’s sixth biggest exporter of coffee and the growth in coffee consumption in India is even more than the global rate. After all these mind boggling figures let us direct our attention towards the beginning of mankind’s affair with coffee. Legend has it that Kaldi, an Ethiopian goatherd, noticed the effect of the coffee beans on his goats who ‘danced’ from one shrub to the other after grazing on the cherry-red beans. History inform...

Tea time is observed with great reverence in my household. At fixed hours in the morning, noon and evening I have my tea, preferably in absolute peace and with my favourite sweets or snacks. Delve a little deeper into the history of tea and traditions associated with it, and I promise you will be thrilled to know the varying cultures of tea all over the world. In China they have loved tea since 2000 BCE. Initially this love was cultivated for the great medicinal values of the plant — its leaves were chewed on, and then later on, it was used for its refreshing qualities. Wikipedia informs us that in the early 9th century, Chinese author Lu Yu wrote The Classic of Tea, which mainly focuses on the cultivation and preparation of tea. For many centuries China was the only tea exporting country in the world but gradually India and Ceylon, now known as Sri Lanka, began to give it stiff competition as the soil and climate conditions in the two temperate countries met the requirements f...

Last time we talked about spices and their historical importance. We saw how spices were one of the main finds of the Age of Discovery. We also saw how two great men of that time were joined by destiny through an unseen thread woven along continents they sailed across looking for spices. Today, let us talk about herbs, which are a close cousin of spices. The array of herbs is as varied as that of spices, and both of them are added to enhance the flavour of the dish and induce medicinal properties. A basic difference between herbs and spices is that spices, as you know, are derived from the roots, bark, stem, seed or fruit of a plant; whereas herbs are the leaves of a plant which are used fresh or dried. Another contrast between herbs and spices lies in their flavour. Herbs are subtle whereas spices have a pronounced flavour. Fresh herbs are great for garnishing your dish whereas spices are hardly used in their fresh form. They are usually roasted and then used in cooking. Also...

What is aromatic, has various properties and is most commonly used in the powder form? The colours may vary and so could the amount used or the time of addition but spices are one of the most prominently used ingredient to add and sometimes hide certain flavours in dishes across  various cuisines. The mention of the word ‘spices’ might bring to mind the sweet fragrance of cardamom, fennel or the pungent taste of asafoetida or clove. If you go back in time you will be surprised to know that the use of spices was associated with magic, religion, preservation and even medicine earlier on. The story of spices is one fraught with adventure, exploration and the  discovery of new lands and their conquests. Through your history books you must have come to know about the spice trade and its importance in the evolution of cities like Alexandria. Spices found mention amongst the elite items on the list of any trader worth his name. This list generally included important and valu...

Last time we talked about the goodness in some of the produce that is amply available during the winters. The list of such healthy foods available during winters does not just end here. Let us take another round of the vegetable market and see what else is available and what goodness do they hold. Mustard: Though imprinted on our memories by the efforts of late Mr Yash Chopra, Mustard or sarson does more than providing beautiful background for film songs. Mustard leaves make for a wonderful vegetable in the months ranging from November to March. It is rich in phyto-nutrients which aid in prevention of many diseases. This leafy vegetable belongs to the Brassica family, the other members of which include cabbage and broccoli. The mustard leaves are rich source of anti oxidants boosting body’s immune system. It is also rich in Vitamins A, C, E and K aiding eyesight, healthy skin and mucous membrane. Mustard is low in fat and sodium content and is an excellent source of folic aci...

Winter is here. The thought of getting under layers and layers of woollens does not really make me happy. Also, winter brings with it bouts of cold and sneezing fits which leave me with a persistent headache. But what can make winter bearable is the food — the kind and the quantity — that one can eat during this season. A mere mention of rounds of hot ginger tea accompanied by delicious pakoras is enough to set my heart racing. Add a dollop of pudina or mint chutney and I could survive on pakoras alone for days and days together. Too much pakoras in my system now and I crave for something sweet, besides the tea, to restore the balance. A godsend answer to this craving is the Indian sweet called halwa. The wonderful Suji ka halwa When I was a kid, Mithun Chakraborty in the guise of a certain halwa-wallah brought joy to children in a Bollywood film. I did not get a chance to know him or the type of halwa but I have had my share of a variety of halwas that are sumptuo...

Have you seen a tandoor? It is a clay oven that is used to cook and bake food by generating fire within it. The food cooks in its own fat and juices as it is exposed to high temperatures inside the tandoor. This method of cooking, called the tandoori method, is often associated with Mughlai food or the food from the Mughal era. This also refers to dry foods especially meats cooked in a clay oven over a high heat. The chicken tikka, mutton tikka, kebab, tandoori murg, paneer tikka are some of the grilled delights that come out of a tandoor. The earliest tandoors were discovered alongside the remains of the Indus Valley civilisation. It is now a strongly held belief that the tandoor travelled with the migrating Aryan race. The Aryans, who originally belonged to India, would travel often in search of grazing lands. Some of their travels took them to the Caucasus Mountains and also brought them back after a couple of centuries and so the tandoor travelled from India around Asia and ...

Continuing on our food journey, let us today explore a destination that has given the taste of India to the world to sample. You must be familiar with the name of this city which is also an important place of pilgrimage for the Sikhs. It has held great significance in the annals of history owing to a massacre. Amritsar is known throughout the world for its rich culture and cuisine. Harmandir Sahib or the Golden Temple is the most prominent religious place for Sikhs and in 1919 the holy city saw many lose their lives at the Jallianwala Bagh. Today let us venture into the gullies of Amritsar and explore the foodie delights they have to offer. Amritsar lends its name to a fish preparation that is not only exquisite but also has had a big hand in putting the city’s name on the food map of the world. We are talking about the Amritsari fish. A simple dish of fish that is fried in a mix of very basic ingredients like besan and yoghurt has caught the imagination of chefs around the world...

Bengali sweets have often found a major following everywhere they go. K C Das canned rosogollas and finding a confectioner who doesn’t sell them even today will be a tough task. The tradition of exchanging sweets during the festival season is indeed a sweet tradition. It serves to remind us that not only is there an unfathomable joy in sharing but also that all that is actually worthwhile in our lives are the sweet moments of togetherness. For children, these times are made even more memorable by the uninhibited supply of sweets along with an unrestricted access to them. Diwali, to my mind, is one festival that the whole country celebrates with the spirit of unity. The various elements of Diwali — sweets (of course!), bursting crackers, donning your best clothes, rangoli — are much the same from the top of the country to the bottom. So let us look at the five sweets that add that extra special flavour and sweetness to this festival of lights. Gajar ka halwa: Doesn’t just the mere...

One festive season has just gone by. I am sure you brought out your brightest and nicest clothes. Some new ones must have been purchased for an important puja or your favourite day of festivity. It is awe inspiring how various festivals celebrated by people belonging to different religions and communities follow one another so closely, and we spend so much time in gaiety and revelry. One thing common to festivals, be they of any religion, is the tradition of exchanging sweets. Durga Puja, which just concluded, brought me closer to the wonderful world of Bengali sweets and that is what we are going to delve into today. Rosogollas, sandesh and mishti doi rule the roost, yet there is much more to the Bengali sweet. The lovely chom-chom, the aromatic kalakand, the shapely langcha… you name your preference and the Bengalis will present you with something that is apt for your sweet tooth. A wonderful thing about most Bengali sweets is that they make for a healthy choice. The main c...

A little obscure village on the left bank of river Hooghly, now known as Kolkata, became the city of Calcutta under the influence of its many rulers. The Portugese landed in the village Kalikatta in 1517. In 1580, Akbar, gave them a charter to settle here. Basically traders by profession, the Portugese would buy things like muslin, spices, cotton, rice, and other agricultural products here and then sell them off at high prices at various ports in the East. Initially the Portugese would stay in Kalikatta during the rainy season, trade and then head back to Goa where rains would be over . With time this practice gave way to permanent settlements and records say that by 1670s ‘there were at least 20,000 Portuguese and their descendants in Bengal’. Though the political influence of the Portugese diminished after the arrival of Dutch and finally the East India Trading Company yet even today it pervades the life in Bengal in many other ways. One of the ways in which the Portugese influence ...

In another month’s time I will complete one year of being in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal. Many dishes typical to Kolkata are identified as the main stay of the Bengali cuisine. Bengal of yesteryears included the present day state of West Bengal and Bangladesh, often referred to as East Bengal. This undivided Bengal had been ruled by Mughals who made Dhaka their central seat. Kolkata rose to prominence under the British raj. Besides being a major trade centre, Kolkata was also a major centre of education, science, culture and politics. Your History books will tell you how Lord Curzon partitioned the state of Bengal in the name of administrative reforms in the year 1905. The creation of East Bengal and West Bengal was a highly unfavourable move and Bengal had to be reunited in 1911. A second partition took place in 1947 when Pakistan was formed. East Bengal came to be known as East Pakistan and in 1971 was declared as an independent state of Bangladesh. Till date the Benga...

When KFC opened an outlet in Chandigarh, it must have dreamt of cash registers ringing almost instantly; after all,  Punjabis are known to relish their chicken. Unfortunately though, the outlet found it a wee bit hard to attract customers, owing to the very typical taste of American fast food. Eventually things — rather ingredients — had to be toned to suit the Punjabi palate and now if you go into the same branch located in the Sector 8 market, you will hardly find a place to sit. This is a case in point that in India we know our taste buds very well. A huge range of fast food coming from various countries has had to be adapted to suit us. Look at the innovative pizzas that are available right, left and centre. Pizza Hut recently came up with as many as 15 variants of the Italian dish where flavours were derived from regional preferences. The names of these offerings were as sumptuous as the dishes themselves. You got to pick between Chettinad Paneer, Nimbu Mirchi, Sev Pu...