Culinary Chronicles
By Yasmin Rahul Bakshi
Memory of a mammoth has its own pros and cons. As a result I have to experience both. Incidents and conversations held decades ago appear fresh!
Destiny! Each moment and every incident is destined to occur if fate has endorsed so. Narrating an unforgettable experience I had with a black Austin A-46 car as a child of around three years of age. Some episodes in life leave an indelible mark on the memory.
The boulevards of Dehradun during that era were free of traffic and noise. Roads, wide enough like play fields! Doon was the closest big town from Mussoorie where I was raised, hence for shopping it was obligatory to proceed there.
After buying some chocolate brownies from Ellora’s on Rajpur Road, I stood holding a grand aunt’s finger and glanced at the grand uncle across the road towards Astley Hall. Not aware of the repercussions, hurriedly I freed my hand and dashed towards the other end.
A screeching sound with a loud jerk made me stand still as I ran amidst the road. A fair, tall elderly gentleman walked out of his black car. His reflexes and attentiveness saved me from a major or may be a fatal accident. Till date, I reminisce about the calm and composed smile of the gentleman.
Years passed by until I visited Tiger’s home and noticed that same altruistic gentleman in a frame on the mantelpiece.
On inquiring, I learnt that he was the late Wing Commander Ranjit Bakshi. Oblivious of what destiny had in store, the noble soul who gave me another chance to survive would turn out to be my groom-to-be’s grandfather.
As fate would have it, in between the passing times at many occasions I had interactions with other members of Tiger’s family too without the slightest inclination that one day I would be one of them.
In 1985, Major General Ranbir Bakshi graced the Founder’s Day of the school I attended in Mussoorie. A few words from his oration still echo in my ears, “When a child is asked to answer a telephone call by the parents and tell the caller that the mother or father are not at home, is where the child learns to lie. It all begins at home.”
He happened to be Tiger’s grand uncle. An eminent resident of Dehradun with a polished, commanding demeanour and Victorian aesthetic. A man with a hat and cane. Some karmic connections indeed!
The elders of that generation are no more amongst us yet the saviour Austin is still parked in the garage at Tiger’s bungalow on Kalidas Road that comes out on the road on rare occasions.
Ingredients:
- Dark chocolate – 200 gms
- Butter – 180 gms
- Sugar – 250 gms (powdered)
- Flour – 100 gms
- Cocoa powder – 50 gms
- Eggs – 3
- Vanilla essence – 1 tsp
- Salt – 2 pinch
Method:
- Bring the eggs to room temperature if refrigerated. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
- Chop the dark chocolate and combine with butter. Melt them using a double boiler while stirring continuously until smooth.
- In a separate bowl whisk the sugar and the eggs for 5 minutes or until it gets thick and shiny.
- Gently stir the egg mixture and vanilla essence in the melted chocolate. Mix well.
- Sift the flour, salt and cocoa powder. Fold this into the above wet mixture with a spatula until no streaks of flour are seen.
- Do not overmix.
- Pour in a greased baking tin and bake for 30 minutes.
- Cool completely and then take it out from the tin.
- Cut into squares.
- Serve as it is or with vanilla ice-cream.
(Yasmin Rahul Bakshi is an accomplished senior consultant Chef and a food historian. A widely travelled Army wife from the Mussoorie hills with exposure to international cuisines & preserving recipes with the medium of food photography and digital content creation in the form of stories.)
