Cherry Chutney

I am posting a recipe after a very long time. After AC its been a very stressful time just collating matters of the home and business, I haven't being doing anything in my own business. The Eshop is totally neglected. However I did host a couple for an #ExperienceWithMe session. Recently I also did a Bread Baking class.

No matter what I do the sorrow does not go away. There are days when I am numb and miss my husband. We were married for a short 2 years 10 months and have been together for a year before that. A total of two months short of 4yrs. We met at a time when I had already had an heart incident in Jan2012 and I had learned to value every minute I have on this earth. My outlook to life has changed completely since that time. So when we met and shared stories on the first day itself we found each other as different as chalk n cheese but we were sure that would balance us is a good way. After swinging between Yes-No-Yes AC finally called on 14Feb2015 and things were different for us. We decide to put ourselves thru the grind. So we started with visiting each other. Then I took him to my village Thal and my family home for a few days to see if we can spend more time together. It was difficult for us because of our age to change our thought processes but still a lot of important things we believed in were same. It was important for me that Arvi did not smoke and drank only to celebrate, may be once or twice in a year. We agreed to keep our own faith and he assured me he will never interfere in my practices infact I was already seeing him participate. He then took me on a week long holiday to Panchgani. He had a very nasty bout of vertigo once thankfully I was visiting him and I stayed till he recovered. It was so hard for both of us. As our decision to get married became final it started being tested by external poisonous factors mostly people and not circumstances. We had a very tough first year. The only way I could make things work for us was assuring him that we are in the marriage as a team come what may. We explored our thoughts on surrogacy, adoption etc. We talked to a lot of friends and our relatives and finally decided that we should not have kids. Through it all Arvi's health issues were becoming more and more complex as we discovered his heart was bearing the brunt of all the medication over the years. Our cardiologist was the same and he had clearly informed us about the challenges on hand for both of us. However we chose to live well inspite of it. We had our year planned out. Summers in my native Alibag, attending all the Parsi baug fests, Panchgani in the monsoons, December for our travels to a new place as it was our Anniversary month and Finally after new year visit to Udwada to thank Khodaiji for the life we have. The two big trips we did together were a struggle for Arvi I realised and last Dec he wanted to take me to his favorite Manali. In the last 2 years we became friends of the heart. Arvi made everything special for me, always the more mushy one. He always said you will miss me when I am not there. He always told me he would not be able to live without me. He also told me to live well. He had come to realise his heart was not going to let him live all his dreams. Inspite of that he promised to celebrate 25yrs of togetherness with me!

After I lost my husband my parental joint family dropped all the existing differences, love won over material matters and continue to hold me in their warm hug. I must have done something right all these years. There was a stray incident when someone I didn't know very well talked to me in a way I still haven't been able to understand. What made that person say the things she did? God gave me strength to bear that too. Only then we learn the importance of family and blood. I am grateful to both sides of my family, Koli and Parsi. Though less than a handful on the Parsi side they are very loving and supportive. Unfortunately they were not in town as they were all travelling when it happened.

I try to pack my day with lots of activities now. So when someone requests for a class I say yes. It fills my day with a lot of good energy. The recipe of Cherry chutney I am sharing here is what I made for one of the class sessions to go with bread that we baked. It is lightly sweet, spicy and delightful. Do try and let me know if you like it.

Ingredients

2 cups Kashmiri Misri Cherries, pitted

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon chili flakes

1/2 teaspoon salt

In a small saucepan put the half of the pitted cherries. The other half grind to coarse paste and add to the saucepan. Add a cup of water to just cover them. Cook till soft. Then add the sugar, salt and chili flakes. Simmer till you see the cherries look slightly glazed and the chutney is not runny. Let it cool completely. Chill it in the fridge and then serve. 

I served it with the breads during the class and after it I have been enjoying it with different crackers and savory biscuits like in the pictures.

Note : The plate and chutney pot are my Cooper family heirlooms and so is the crochet tablecloth.

Food Maula: Loksatta, 7Jun2019

Anjali Koli (Featured on Food Maula, Loksatta 7 Jun 2019) This is an online translation of the original published in Marathi.

https://epaper.loksatta.com/m5/2188046/loksatta-mumbai/07-06-2019?fbclid=IwAR25ZCkljojzCg7O3k18n9qq8ARFG9XU1SdKMyr6GB5TmKtg3PL7S7ibSDU#page/48/1

My blog is called 'Annaparabrahma'. In 2006 I started blogging. I grew up in a joint family but after we started working, everyone got scattered. So I started the blog to talk to my family. They wanted to know the recipes from me. It was not possible to tell it on the phone. So, I broadcasted on the blogosphere,first to my family and then other readers. I listed out Koli recipes. Then wrote about it and started posting. I used to do traditional Koli food, Maharashtrian food and cake baking. I have a blog, e-shop and a Facebook page too. I teach cooking and also participated in some food shows. I went to Bangalore for work in Wipro and fell in love with local food culture in the state of Karnataka.

While working in Bangalore, I used to blog at lunch break. It started as a hobby then became a career. I love traveling, so I spent a lot of time traveling in Karnataka in the seven years. I interacted with people in the small villages of Karnataka. At that time, I was exposed to the food culture there. I learnt a lot from my neighbors.

There is a Maharashtrian influence in the food culture of North Karnataka. The jowar-bajri bhakri, dal, and vegetables are similar except there is a difference in seasoning. At the beginning of winter as field beans are in season it is a fun time. The people of Bangalore are so crazy for these field beans that men and women in the household go shopping together for these. You will see carts piled up with avarekai everywhere. How to choose the best? is a secret. My neighbor shared it with me. Lot of field beans are grown in the Alibaug area of ​​Konkan, Maharashtra. Yet, I did not know that. The neighbor told that the beans must be rubbed between the palms. That releases the essential oils and releases an aroma. It is only if it smells fresh and lovely to you then you must buy. I was amused by this entire process and realized how stringent the Kannadigas were in this selection. The real interesting part lay ahead. There is a competitive environment that can be seen in the Season. Kannadigas buy and eat field beans and then throw them at the doorstep to tease the neighbor that they have enjoyed the field beans and the size of the heap decided who was scored more in Avarekai happiness. Avarekai is used is many recipes to make variety of dishes.

They are so crazy that there are Avarekai festivals held across the state. Two of these dishes are my favorite. One such recipe is called 'Avarekai Congress' it is a kind of chiwda, made by deep frying fresh beans. It contains only fried bead with salt, masala. A curry called 'Hittik Bele Sambar' made only in Kannadiga homes is delicious. It is made with onion and coconut ground masala. The fresh beans are soaked in hot water and peeled to separate the creamy field beans and then added to the curry.

Just like in Maharashtra a puranpoli meal or Shrikhand Puri meal is supposed to be a pretigious meal for a wedding, in Karnataka it is the Chiroti Badam milk meal that raises your status in society a few notches high. The Chiroti in Karnataka is a huge puri the size of a big bhatura. Yet it isn't hollow but crisp and crunchy thoroughly. It is served on banana leaf or a thali and guests crush the puri as the servers and hosts pour badam milk over the crush. There is also an 'Api Payasa' which is made with small puris that are torn into pieces then boiled in badam milk to get a slightly thickened kheer. Small puris are called Api in Konkani and payasa is kheer.

There is a village called Melkote near Bangalore. It is a town in the middle of Karnataka where Tamil culture is thriving even today. Ramanujacharya had lived there and done penance for 12 years. You find the only Sanskrit school in India, there. This town of Iyengar Brahmins is 

famed for its 'Puliyogre'. In fact, Puliyogare is found in all four directions of Karnataka. Yet if you ate it there, it tastes outstanding. Peanuts are used in this recipe. While a 5 star hotel may use cashew nuts it is traditional to use peanuts. A good puliyogare is made with tamarind and sesame oil.

One more favorite is sandige with popped rice. Curd rice, pickle and the popped rice sandige makes a heavenly combo.

In the last decade the street food culture has found an address in V. V. Puram. Lot of South Indian food items are available there. Different types of masala dosa, a famous type of Chilli Bhajji. This Bhajji batter is different from our bhajji batter, Rice, urad dal and a little bit of besan is used for it. Peeled fresh peanuts are served with onion, coriander and chillies. There aren't many chaats but one is very popular. Masala puri, made with crushed pani puri and topped with dried green peas which are soaked overnight and made into a sambar.

Due to dynamic weather in Karnataka, there are two types of almond milk cold and hot. It rains eight months and there are dry hot spells in between. So hot and cold almond milk suits perfectly. Soda, and fizzy drinks are not consumed much. Almond milk is a craze. There are grape and sweet lime gardens in some areas so naturally grapes and Sweet lime juice are wonderful. There is a sweet called 'Kardant' which is similar to Dink ladoo. It contains gum, a lot of dry fruits and coconut. Also, if you go to Karnataka, you must enjoy the ghee soaked Maisur paak.

Interviewer : Bhakti Parab

viva@expressindia.com

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.

Arvi Loved Hapoos!

Wherever we went Arvi always ate mango icecream! 

Last of the Hapoos icecream made by my sweetheart. Just like he was an expert at Vasanu making he considered himself expert at icecream making. His icecream machine was not working so I helped him make it in the mixer. Like all bawas he was crazy about Hapoos. Infact even as a child he would gift his poor friends boxes of hapoos so that they to could enjoy the golden fruit. Last mango season we were holidaying in my native place Alibag when my brother suggested we buy mangoes from Salav forest area if we were visiting Kashid. We did exactly that. We bought 9 dozens!

The car groaned under the weight. The driver cribbed while loading and unloading. My husband appeasing him with a generous tip and a share of the haul. 

After enjoying most of the fruit in the ripest juiciest form we made milkshakes, lassis and mango sheera and even a Hapoos icecream making faceoff 🤗

I made my Hapoos+condensed milk+cream version; his the reduced milk version. His verdict was mine turned out better. His excuse he lost patience while reducing the milk. His version laced with elchi - jaiphal.

Today finished the last of the icecream made by him. Shared it with Dad and told him, 'Arvi chya haat chi'. Shevat chi.

Papeti Ma Ghos

Yesterday AC completed 51! I have been pampering him on his Roz nu birthday and the Gregorian one. I did everything I could to bring cheer in-spite of being terribly ill myself. Before this memory is forgotten recording it here.

So on his  Roz nu birthday I made Kadabu, he loves puran poli and dar ni pori so Kadabu would pass his liking I knew. He did enjoy it.

While he enjoys the sweets what he really loves is Non veg especially mutton. I don't like handling mutton so it does not get made so often. So on his birthday I made papeti ma ghos. Papeti are baby potatoes in Parsi tender and sweet combined with mutton in a onion tomato gravy is a very homely dish.

The husband loved it. I thanked Suman my help for getting the choicest mutton because I don't understand head or tail of it.

Here is the recipe

Ingredients

250 gms mutton cleaned n washed

150 gms baby potatoes

1 onion

1 tomato

2 green chilies

1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste

1 teaspoon coriander powder

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon red chili powder

1 tablespoon oil

In a pressure cooker add the baby potatoes and mutton. Add all the spices and ginger garlic paste.  Top with water to just cover the potato and mutton. Pressure cook for three whistles. Let it cool. 

Grind onion and tomato and green chili to paste. Heat oil in a pan. Add the onion tomato paste and fry till dryish and browned. 

Meanwhile open the pressure cooker. Peel the boiled potatoes and add them to the onion tomato masala. Keep frying. Then add the mutton and the rest of the contents to the fried masala. Cook till you have a thickish gravy coating the mutton and baby potatoes. Mash couple of baby potatoes to give it some body. Sprinkle some fresh green chopped cilantro over it.

Serve warm with phulkas or thin rotlis.

This is a classic Parsi dish but it reminds me a lot of Bengali Alur dom but with mutton. What do you say my dear Bengalis?

Solapuri Shenga Chutney

After a long time I am sharing a recipe here.

I love Solapuri Shenga Chutney. This turned out so good and so many asked for the recipe outside the blog so here you go friends. Do try and tell me how you like it.

Portions : 1 cup

Ingredients 

1 cup peanuts/ Shengdane
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
5-6 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cumin seeds

Preparation 

Fry the peanuts in 2 tablespoons oil.

Dry roast cumin till brown and aromatic.

Peel the garlic.

Method 

In the chutney grinder jar add roasted cumin seeds, give it a whiz to powder in to fine dust. Then add the golden fried peanuts along with the oil, Kashmiri red chili powder, garlic, salt and grind to coarse consistency. Mix well. It should feel chunky to the hand and slightly oily and not dry like dust. If its too dry add oil a teaspoon at a time to get the consistency seen in the pic. 

Plating and Serving 

Serve as a condiment either in a jar or on a condiments platter. I put it in a tray along with oiled and microwaved papads to go with a khichadi and kadhi meal.

How was the taste?

Not very spicy but very satisfying as a taste changer or as in Marathi they say 'TonDi lavNa'.

Conclusion

A chutney in stock is always a game changer! You can sprinkle some on a buttered toast or a steaming hot upma. Mix with dahi to make a pachadi, add some cucumber and some more dahi and dress up that boring salad or have it as a dip with fritters.

You can also sprinkle this chutney on your simple vegetable stir fries or stuff brinjal and lady's fingers with it. There are so many possibilities. It truely brings out your creativity.

Make-up time conversations

Shashikant Mhatre, introduces himself to me as I move around at the studio in Filmistan. He is thrilled that I am going to present Koli cuisine. He tells me he is from Uran so my Alibag roots make him smile. He asks me many questions so I turn it around on him when we sit down for make up. I ask him how many years he has been making people look good on screen. He has been loyal to B. R. Chopra's for 44yrs. Being related to Pandhari Juker the legendary make up artist inspired him to give himself into this career. He has an award for the film Nikaah (1982) featuring Salma Agha, Raj Babbar and Deepak Parasher. If you think all the Pandav and Kaurav looked good then it was him doing magic in Mahabharat. He has worked with almost every star in Bollywood. I felt privileged today.

He worked on my face with his fingers, blending colours and drawing lines, then lightly rubbing the colors to tone my skin. I was watching his emotions as he signalled to look up then down and at mascara time to look straight at his hand held at eye level. Final touches almost magical with brushes. Dada you use your hands I stated my observation, I am an artist he said. My finger temperature and your skin temperature will give best results in blending tones. There is new technology in make-up but nothing beats working with the hand.

Tikli? He asked me. Yes I will wear it. He got me a big bindi. This will look nice on your broad forehead. With that he smiled to himself as if approving his finishing touches and sent me off to the sets.

This pic is of Shashikant Mhatre doing make up for Salma Agha on the sets of Nikaah that won him the award.

ArchaeoBroma, 5-6 May 2018

The first ever Conference on the Archaeology, Sociology, History and Ethnography of Food in India is slated for the 5th and 6th of May 2018 at the University of Mumbai (Kalina) thanks to the Instucen Trust and the Centre for Extra Mural Studies, University of Mumbai

A huge line up of some really great people and papers has been scheduled to bring out the history and culture within food.

Write in to archaeomaha@gmail.com for details

____________________________________________________________________

Can you feel my pulse? Yes, I am all excited to present at #ArchaeoBroma. Who would think that a passion for food and my heritage as a Koli would have brought me here?

I will be returning to my alma mater to speak on FOOD! This after studying Environmental Pollution Control Technology at the Mumbai University at the Kalina Campus. Funny that my scientific paper on 'Preliminary studies on the adsorptions behaviour of Chromium on fly ash' which was published in the prestigious Chemical Engineering World XXXII, ; 1: 81-82 did not get me such an opportunity.

When in school, I aspired to have a degree in Home Science but my Dad discouraged me saying it was meant for rich girls marrying into Business families. We were middle class and a girl of the future so I had to study Science, Medicine or Technology. So I did. 

Life comes full circle though. FOOD, CULTURE and TECHNOLOGY dominates my life as an entrepreneur. 

Mirchi & Mime

Finally the day arrived to check out what the hype was all about?

Veena told me to pick a place to meet somewhere on her route to the western highway from the eastern highway, Powai suits best in such a case and Mirchi & Mime is right next to JVLR. Though if you take the main entrance of Hiranandani it is difficult to find the place.

Veena and Shantavi were already there when I reached and exactly at 12.30pm they opened shop. We had booked a table so we got a choice and as food bloggers do we chose the one with good day light.

The manager came to tell give us instructions on how to order as this was a restaraunt run by special people so the name Mirchi & Mime. We were welcomed by a server by miming as the manager quickly instructed on how we should order from the menu and that we could call him if we found difficulty. The menu is specially designed and limited to keep it operation friendly for the staff. 

After scanning thru the menu we were thrilled to see some originality in the dishes and we decided to try out everything that stood out as unique. We were tired of the regular stuff. So we decided to just settle into our chairs and relish the experience. We chose or drinks first so we could leisure over the selection of the mains. Masala lemonade was really nice with a generous black salt and jal jeera masala. The berry pomegranate granita was lovely leaving a desirable astringent taste on the tongue. Peach and pink peppercorn tasted lovely but I could taste pink guava juice in it instead of peach. We agreed that the natural colored drinks appealed to us instead of the neon colored ones that are paraded in so called cool restaurants.

Before this meet up Veena had come to my home for a Koli yet veg cooking class however I was meeting her sister Shantavi for the first time. As we talked we found out our sensibilities were very similar not just in food but our outlook to life too. We talked about how we weighed honesty above everything. We are women very sure about ourselves and decisions we make. We have the capacity to stand up and face life and look in the eye of all that it throws at us.

The three of us were hungry so we chose Suran sarson pasanda a delicate tava fried tikki that is melt in the mouth. The second starter was Shakarkand ki chaat, nice chat masala spiced smoked sweet potatoes ladled with sweet dahi, green and mithi chutney and shreds of fried sweet potato, charchteristically stringy yet beautifully crunchy. 

Moving on to the mains excited by the promise of Paneer methi kofta in a roasted tomato kurma gravy was promptly ordered besides the Nilgiri green curry of makhana cooked with fresh veggies like matar, babycorn and carrot in a cilantro based gravy. Both were outstanding the roasted tomato gravy was smooth and sun-kissed. The paneer koftas just crumbled into the gravy with just a prod.

The curries were wiped off with hot tandoori rotis and Paratha choori which is bits of crisp paratha with generous amounts of black pepper and dash of chat masala. We munched on it.

After such beautiful food the grand finale with the desserts just made us sing! What we devoured, Srilankan jaggery pudding what is popular in its native land as Watalappan. Unanimously voted the best dish! 

Srilankan jaggery pudding Watalappan

A subtle sugarfree Sitaphal panacotta

 and a Bakewell coconut tart without the crust served with a scoop of icecream 

The food is outstanding. Ambience bright with lots of daylight and a happy busy vibe . Yet there is a silence in the service that makes eating there a pleasure. The server uses placards to explain the dish. Effeciently the dishes are served and cleared with every course. Attentive yet non interfering. By the time we are ready to leave we have got a hang of the Mime and though we did try hard to use signs language while ordering saying Thank you was easy!

We would like to rate the food outstanding and service smooth as it should be. You don't feel the hype of Mime in the service and that makes it a dignified restaurant that is run by special people with hearing and speech challenges. It is not a show of their disabilities at all and it should never be. Go there to eat because though a limited menu we loved every dish that we ate and I am sure you will too.

Update: While we enjoyed all the vegetarian food the Non veg food on the table next to ours looked stunning. They were having some kind of a tandoori chicken and a purdah biryani. My husband requested that I mention this, as he is keen to try the Non veg there after I described this to him.

This review is for Veena who pampered me and Shantavi on this day. Thank you for your generosity!

All pics clicked d by Veena

Powai

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.

Discovery: Marayoor Jaggery

This write up was first published on FB. It got appreciation from a lot of food lovers so bringing it here under a new label "Discovery"

Marayoor jaggery has always fascinated me. In South Indian temple paysams I wondered how they achieved the rich dark color? Why was it more sweeter than our Maharashtra's golden jaggery? Answers to all these I found out only last night on google. I bought a 1kg of these stone like balls only because a shop in Munnar mentioned on its front that they were selling Marayoor jaggery. My intuition told me that it must be special. All the research has me smitten. This jaggery has 97% sugar content. The sugarcane is grown in the Marayoor rainforest region. I think we drove thru this region  on our recent road trip through Kerala. The pH of the soil makes the wonderful molasses and ofcourse it is unbleached and may be organic. 

Last night I had pressure cooked Chana dal with the aim of making Parsi chana ni daar. So divided the dal into two portions and made the savory chana ni daar to go with our rotlis and made an impromptu payasam too. With Parsi dairy ghee drizzled on it. The meal was so satiating even though simple. The finicky bawa loved it too.

Besides the jaggery I was floored by the history of Marayoor which dates back to stone age and relics of the past. Hope to visit this region again.

The First Sankrant

The sugar bead jewelry made by Kavita Dhuri Kadu

Sankrant 2016 came fast. It was the first festival after my marriage in Dec 2015. My family brought me gifts of a black saree for Sankrant and the sugar bead jewelry as is the tradition in most communities in Maharashtra. This is not a Koli tradition but we accepted it in our family as my SIL Mangala Vahini wanted to do it for me as is her Maratha family's tradition. It was done for my Nephew and his wife Dipti too. Haldi kunku is traditionally for women but we included the men too. The sugar bead jewelry for both me and Dipti was made by our dear friend Kavita Dhuri Kadu. 

The tradition of a black saree is practiced in Maharashtra as on the day of Sankrant the sun starts its movement to the Northern hemisphere and marks the end of Winter solstice. It is the coldest day of winter.  It is believed that wearing black on the Sankrant ensures that the rest of the year is a bright one while it keeps the body warm. 

I had ordered this Bengali kantha work saree from 'Suryabartta' owned by Sayantani's  Mother but I was unable to wear it on the day as I had left it in Dad's place and funnily brought just the blouse to my sasural. So my bro Vijay had to rush to Dadar market to get another black saree for me which you see in the first pic.

That's Dipti my nephew's beautiful wife in all her Sankrant finery. 

 

Dipti & Sujal

The Parsi vegetarian dinner I had cooked up for the family on that day that year.

Such a memorable day it was!

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.