Mint Lounge: A savoury note to a sweet Diwali

My quote in today's newspaper and @livemintlounge where I talk about the balance of sweet n savory in our Maharashtriya Diwali Faral. 

Thanks @poojabd @prestaurants_ for reaching out to me. Thanks @avantikabhuyan for quoting me.

Read it here.

https://lifestyle.livemint.com/food/discover/a-savoury-note-to-a-sweet-diwali-111604670546924.html

Karnataki Mejwani कर्नाटकी मेजवानी in Loksatta 7 June2019

https://epaper.loksatta.com/m5/2188046/loksatta-mumbai/07-06-2019?fbclid=IwAR3JZ6k1VpbVHFaRnAGKR5x7MFnwb0OZ8SxTEQnaF51-WmHiM3MIBpTHiLA#page/48/1

After living in Karnataka for 7 years I had to talk about my food experiences. They are part of me as much as my own heritage. Read about it.

Koli cuisine: Adding tadka at fisher folk weddings

Splashed ! across publications. Where I talk to Press Trust of India (PTI) about the Koli weddings and traditions.  Where food especially fish is a big deal.

PTI is the the largest news agency in India. Here is the original link.

http://www.ptinews.com/news/9439986_Koli-cuisine--Adding--tadka--at-fisher-folk-weddings.html

You can also read on Outlook India, India Today, Medium, Business Standard etc.

Further Reading

Ghari

The Yellow Glow Of The Turmeric and my Halad Menu

My wedding posts: A Koli Weds A Parsi

The most important ritual for the Kolis is the Halad and so the meal following it.

How Khichdi Cooked Up A National Dish Buzz, Bombay Times Nov 4, 2017,

Read it here.

http://www.bombaytimes.com/lifestyle/food/how-khichdi-cooked-up-a-national-dish-buzz/articleshow/61487354.cms


The original recipe post is here on this blog.

Discovering Yom Kippur Tradition And A Beautiful Break-Fast Pastry In Mumbai

Puri, a filled pastry made in Mumbai’s Indian-Jewish community to break the fast after Yom Kippur. Pic by Shulie Madnick

Read more: Discovering Yom Kippur Tradition And A Beautiful Break-Fast Pastry In Mumbai

Note : The Jewish Daily Forward is the largest Jewish newspaper in the US out of NYC.

Shulie Madnick of Foodwanderings was born in Israel and lives in the US. Niv Mani of Panfusine introduced us on FB. I still remember our first discussion on Kadve Vaal and ever since we have been talking about food, places, family and other things. I was totally taken by surprise when I read on her blog that her father was born in Navgaon, neighbor to my village Thal.

The pull of her Indian roots so strong that she visited India last year and has been writing about her exploration of the food and culture of the Bene Israeli Jews in India.

For a person not born in this country, I am fascinated that she cooks Indian food that she learnt while growing up from her mother. When she is writing a piece like this she puts in so much passion that it rubs on you. I have enjoyed these conversations a lot when she almost worked like an investigative journalist. We both trying to figure out things that her mother said from her memories of India before she went to Israel. Its such an exciting journey to be part of.

Here is what my husband, AC says about this article:

Fascinating story of an Israel born Indian Bene Israeli woman married to an American and living in the US. Who visited our country to explore the food and culture of her parents traveling to places where this community first landed and then spread across. Much like us Parsi and assimilated.

http://forward.com/food/383655/discovering-yom-kippur-tradition-and-a-beautiful-break-fast-pastry-in-mumba/

Hope you enjoy the read as much as I enjoyed being part of Shulie's research.

Talking About The Exotic Koli Pickle: Bombay Times 17 March 2016

Buy it here.

http://www.annaparabrahma.com/Koli-Style/Amboshi-cha-Loncha-200gms---copy-id-1068421.html

Get crabby in your kitchen! Bombay Times Aug 13, 2015 edition

Koli-style Chimbori/Crabs in coconut masala

My recipe featured in Bombay Times Aug 13, 2015 print edition in an article titled 'Get crabby in your kitchen!' by Ismat Tahseen.

Here is the link for an online read.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/food/recipes/Get-crabby-in-your-kitchen/articleshow/48467427.cms 

Quoted in Man's World Magazine : Seafood Adventures

Kalyan Karmakar of  Finelychopped.net quotes me in his article on Seafood Adventures in the Man's World magazine.

I am talking about octopuses and deep sea fishing on Page 60, August 20015 edition. I am off to get my copy now!

A Recognition In Femina, page 66, Oct 2014 Issue

This is the cover of the Oct 2014 Issue in which the article 'Life beyond curry' by Kalyan Karmakar of Finelychopped is published. He does a regular feature called Belly crawl in Femina on all things food.

In this article he talks about how the Indian food representation in restaurants across the world and for that matter even in India is so singularly Punjabi.

He has wonderfully explained with references from his own Bengali cuisine how everything Indian is not a curry. Kalyan shares the stories of five bloggers who document their unique regional cuisines and traditions. He spans the Bengali, Parsee, Koli, Assamese and Tamil cuisines in this article highlighting the rich variation across the country.  Along with me are Sandeepa (Bong Mom's cook book) , Nandita (Saffron Trail), Perzen (Bawi Bride) and Gitika (Gitika's Pakghor). 

I got a copy for myself that's going to be treasured. I have been a reader of Femina since teenage and it feels awesome to see my name printed in it along with all the other lovely bloggers.

Aai's Bharli Vangi and Bombay Times

That placemat is from my Aai's collection. 

It is one of the mementos given by MJ Kaka to her.

It's been long since I last made Aai's Bharli Vangi. I have been home alone for 2 weeks now and how I hated to cook for myself. I lived on scraps of bread and veggies just stir fried or ate Usal just on its own. I didn't bother to even rustle up a crunchy salad. Then one day I decided to go all the way out and make the DaL- bhaat, Bharli vangi and Rice roti meal.

I laid out everything on the floor as its easy to take a top shot of the floor than of the table. I was so hungry after I was done with the shoot and after all the cooking that I just squatted on the floor and started eating. One morsel of the vanga/ aubergine and my eyes welled up. It was the taste of my Mom's hand. 

It had been raining that day and though this is the 3rd monsoon after I have returned to my city of birth, every monsoon brings back memories of my Aai walking me to school. Me clad in a raincoat ofcourse and Aai in the umbrella with her saree hooked up a bit to avoid messing in the dirty water on the road. Of returning home wet and she handing me out the towel. I'd dump the clothes in the bathroom meanwhile she would have made ginger tea and pulled out the tin of khari or fried hot kanda bhajji which she would have prepped up before I came back home.

Monsoons in Mumbai are so different from Bangalore. We have just 4 months of it and those four months are the most cherished. On twitter, a question was thrown up, if it was OK to eat Bombay duck in the monsoons. To which I replied, if it is available there was no harm in enjoying a good fry. Ofcourse the fishing in closed in the Monsoons. If it is available in the market it's a prized catch as someone has risked their life to go out into the ferocious sea. This conversation lead Ismat Tahseen to call me up and ask a few questions. Here is the article which was published in Bombay Times with me talking on regional variation of  the fries and my Bombil coconut curry. 

click on the image to read the full article

Aai would have been proud. Her daughter who did not like helping in the kitchen as a kid but grew up to a teenager who started taking interest in cooking, learning from her father, to having this passion for all things food! 

This post is in her memory on her day and time when she flew off to merge into the universe. Aai I miss you, it has been 20 years and as the years pass I miss you even more. 

L-R : Masoor DaL on steamed rice, Bharla Vanga and Rice roti

Ingredients

10- 12 nos. small brinjals/ aubergines/ vangi

2 large onions 

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1 teaspoon red chili powder or less 

1 teaspoon Goda masala/ curry powder

1 tablespoon jaggery/ raw sugar

1 teaspoon salt 

2 tablespoon oil

1 cup water

Make the stuffing

Grind onions to coarse consistency. Mix into it chili powder, cilantro, curry powder or Goda masala, salt and jaggery. Save.

Now remove the caps of the small aubergines wash and slit them once turn and slit them again to 3/4th way down to get a nice deep cross. Make sure they are all good inside. 

Next stuff them with the onion coriander masala stuffing.

Once you are ready with all the stuffed aubergines. Take a wok. Heat oil in it. Place the stuffed aubergines in it. Cover and cook for 5 mins. Remove the lid and turn them around just once all off them with a gentle hand. Now add the water. Cook for 10 mins with the lid on.

Shake the wok around that will give a turn around to the aubergines. DO NOT USE A SPATULA. Cooked aubergines are delicate and should never be turned around with a spatula, else you end up with a mess.

Once all water is dried up, put off the heat. Cover and keep until you are ready to serve.

These stuffed aubergines or Bharli Vangi are deliciously sweet and savory at the same time. Serve them with your favorite bread or eat just like that.

I am also posting this recipe for my friend Penny who requested it. She is soon to be blessed with an harvest of her homegrown aubergines so hope she gets to try this recipe.

Notes for Penny: You can skip the Goda masala and use lesser red chili powder as you can handle. The main flavor of this dish is from the cooked and partly caramelized onion paste used as stuffing. 

I hope all of you try this recipe and let me know how you enjoyed it.