Culinary Chronicles
By Yasmin Rahul Bakshi
Bana, the highest and the most treacherous battle field defended by any nation – 1996. How the journey commenced from the snout to “Quaid-e-Azam”. Ice wall near vertical with the crampons surely dug in.
It was surprising and confusing to watch a man – an army personnel of the same age as Tiger or maybe more, touching his feet with moisture in his eyes. “Sahib, I owe you my second life,” he said.
Later I questioned Tiger about that, I was curious to know why that man was so full of indebtedness towards him.
It all happened when Tiger volunteered to secure a post at twenty-one thousand feet at Bana in the Siachen Glacier. A hazardous trek on snow walls of eighty kilometres from the base and twenty days away.
Snow around and bright sun above, Tiger and his section of men were defending the line of control when they heard the booming of guns from the artillery base gun position (Pakistan), followed by the whistling sound of death that was made by the high trajectory motor bombs. Within minutes the bomb fell and dug in at a distance of two metres. Fortunately the shell did not blast on impact but rested on the snow with an eerie silence, silently ticking like the hearts of nine men surrounding it.
Ideally all should have taken cover and run away as far as they could from the unexploded bomb but as destiny would have it, the Bana Top in all its glory has a space of approximately only ten by ten metres with overhangs, crevices and death on all sides.
Tiger took two steps behind and then leaped over the bomb. With utmost care and nerve shattering stability ejected the projectile in the ravines below. Thus aiding a rebirth of himself and his eight men.
The gentleman, the following day, visited our home with a bowl of “Kada Prasad” (halwa made with whole wheat flour) as a gesture of gratitude. He was one out of the team that survived the lethal attack then.
Ingredients:
- Whole wheat flour (Atta) – 1 cup
- Ghee – 1 cup
- Sugar – 1 cup
- Water – 3 cups
Method:
- Heat the ghee in a pan.
- Add in the wheat flour and sauté on low flame until golden brown and emits the aroma.
- On the other hand bring the water to boil in a separate pan.
- Add the boiling hot water to the roasted wheat flour.
- Add in the sugar. Keep stirring continuously.
- Cook until the halwa binds together and ghee starts surfacing.
- Serve hot.
(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.)
