Culinary Chronicles
By Yasmin Rahul Bakshi
Winters during childhood were spent in our ancestral home at Ambala while the rest of the seasons were in the hills.
My paternal grandfather – a disciplinarian, was extremely particular about what and how we were fed at his home. After reaching there within a day or two, both of us, my little brother and I were weighed. The same exercise was re-performed prior to our departure for Mussoorie.
Mandatorily the needle of the scale had to display more than what was measured a few months ago. Each gram was registered with the date and time.
This would bring eternal joy to “Dadaji”. He would be proud of the rich dairy and high protein diet that was provided to us. Milk, which I always detested, but relished the thick cream in almost every savoury dish.
Mom would add a heaped spoon of the same in al dente boiled vegetables with a mild seasoning of black pepper and salt. And! I would savour it to the core.
Peas in all forms were well accepted except for in a curry with potatoes – ‘Aloo Matar”. I sensed a kind of smell (not aroma for me) from this curry, no matter what masalas were used in to rustle it up.
My grandfather was quite fond of this dish and would want me to eat it. Sadly would have had to obey him. Then one fine day over the dining table he asked me to add a spoonful of “malai” (dairy cream) into my bowl of “aloo matar”. Once again sceptically adhered to his behest. Game changer! The flavour at once appealed to my palate. The texture, the savours transformed into a gastronomic delight.
Then as years passed by, the character of milk changed, fresh was replaced by homogenised packets in my home and “malai” became extinct making it a treasured ingredient.
Ingredients:
- Carrots – 100 gm
- French beans – 100 gms
- Cauliflower – 100 gm
- Potatoes – 100 gm
- Peas – 100 gm
- Turnips – 100 gms
- Salt – according to taste
- Black pepper powder – ½ tsp
- Dairy cream – 2 Tbsp (heaped)
- Ginger – 1 tsp
- Butter – 1 tsp
- Celery / parsley / chives – 1 Tbsp (chopped)
Method:
- Chop the carrots, french beans, cauliflower, potatoes and turnips into desired shape and size. Shell the peas.
- Boil all the vegetables until al dente.
- Julienne the ginger.
- Heat butter in a pan, add the ginger and saute for half a minute.
- Add the celery / parsley / chives. Mix.
- Now add the boiled vegetables and mix well.
- Add salt and black pepper powder. Cook for a minute.
- Serve hot with toast.
(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.)
