The monsoon season is when diets change dramatically, either for religious reasons or because of seasonal availability of foods,

Food for a rainy day

The monsoon season is when diets change dramatically, either for religious reasons or because of seasonal availability of foods,

Shrirang Khatavkar scours the market with a hawk's eye. “I'm sure this has to do with the erratic rains. Otherwise turmeric leaves are quite common during this season,” says the 40-year-old Thane resident, an avid cook and self-confessed foodie. He's looking for ingredients to cook the traditional dish paatole. “Not many people have the time to cook traditional recipes anymore but some foods are still a must-eat in this season,” he says. Khatavkar points out that even most hardcore non-vegetarian Maharashtrians eat only vegetarian meals in the July-August period of Shravan. “There's a sheer abundance of vegetables after the summer, some of which are only seen in the market during this season,” he says. “Allu wadi, which is now made all through the year, is essentially a Shravan delicacy, as is the Alluvacha phath-phatha.” Made from leaves of the colocasia, which grows around ponds, marshes and paddy fields with lots of rain water run-offs, Khatavkar insists that these dishes never taste as good as they do during Shravan. His wife, Meera, adds that raw mango pickle is a condiment they look forward to, especially because during Shravan, food is cooked without ginger and garlic. “At the end of the summer, the pickle is just about marinated. The bite in the pickle spices up the food, and I don't miss ginger and garlic as much,” she says. In another part of the city, Mehtab Syed, 32, and her mother-in-law Noor, 58, make arrangements for the sehri (the pre-dawn Ramzan meal). “Since we are a joint family and everyone has their own favourites, we try to make sure that everybody has at least something they like,” says the Mahim resident. “My children like mince cutlets. My husband and brother-in-law insist on different kinds of bhajiyas, which I keep telling them to avoid.” She adds that the most important food during the fast are dates. “Dates help restore the blood sugar which falls due to fasting. No wonder it is recommended in our holy texts,” says the home-science graduate from Nirmala Niketan. “Apart from sugar, they are a rich source of iron which can keep you going from sehri to iftar.” Mehtab likes to eat chopped dates, almonds, yogurt mixed with other fresh fruit. Much like the Khatavkars and Syeds, Jayaben Barot too adopts a different diet during this season. On one day during the monsoon, marked as Sheetala Saatam, the family is not allowed to light the kitchen fire. “So we're only allowed to eat cold leftovers,” says the 69-year-old Breach Candy resident. “My sons go out for hot chai and meals, but as far as the home is concerned, I am very strict about this rule.” Her mother-in-law had told her this was necessary so as to not incur the wrath of the Goddess Shitala. But Jayaben has a more pragmatic view of things. “In the monsoons, there is so much work around the house, and everyone feels like resting a bit. If tradition has created one window for women not to be stuck in the kitchen for a day, why not grab the opportunity?” Across the sub-continent, many regions change their diet regimen around monsoons. Religion, tradition and seasonal availability of foods may have dictated these diet regimen changes, but these come with their own health benefits, says Mercy Mathew, nutritionist and lecturer at Dadar's Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition. “During this season, metabolism is poor and digestion sluggish. The likelihood of acidity is higher with overeating. Avoiding foods like ginger and garlic, which tickle the taste buds and prompt us to eat more than we should, and eating cold food are all geared towards ensuring meals are small,” she says. Besides, during this season, our resistance to diseases is lower, adds Mathew. She's lived in Mumbai for over three decades but still swears by the traditional Kerala Marunnu Karkidaka kanji (medicinal gruel). “Agriculturists take a break due to the continuous downpour, and meals consist of traditional herbal rice gruel for rejuvenation,” she says. “As nature rejuvenates with the monsoon, it is telling us do the same.”

F Lounge.Bar.Diner in Parel is serving up some old favourites like puchkas, paapdis and rasmallai with unexpected twists,

Fashionable, yet familiar food hits the F­­-spot

F Lounge.Bar.Diner in Parel is serving up some old favourites like puchkas, paapdis and rasmallai with unexpected twists,

Indian food has been traditionally resistant to the kind of innovation required of fine dining. But what would you make of a meal which serves up puchkas, samosas and paapdis as Michelin-starred creations? Good ole' favourites such as these, but with a twist, form the basis of the concept behind the menu of the F Lounge.Bar.Diner. Ensconced between corporate offices on the third floor of the One India Bulls Centre, its location seems ideal for attracting white collar workers in search of an after-work drink, or a dinner ideal for wooing clients. But when we arrive, the dimly-lit bar, as well as the upstairs restaurant, isn't entertaining a single patron. The walls are covered with distracting projections of fashion models, and each table is well-lit with halogen lamps. “We don't want to offer something completely alien to our customers,” explains the corporate chef Rakesh Talwar, who has a large tattoo of a red devil complete with a chef's hat on the side of his neck. This would explain the inclusion of some Mumbai-favourites in their menu, albeit with a twist. One of their innovations is the puchkha appetiser. While it is served with the same spicy water you're accustomed to at your neighbourhood stall, these are stuffed with cracked seaweed, couscous and mango and served perched on a shot glass. The non-vegetarian version of this dish features prawns. The inclusion of couscous is a crunchy and pleasant surprise; and the mango chunks contract nicely with the spicy water that we gulp down in an instinctual single swallow from the shot glass. Another interesting twist is the amuse-bouche of paapdis topped with pine nuts and thick gravy, with a squiggle of orange cheese on the side. Other innovations include the pav bhaji vol-au-vent, chicken wings served with a peanut butter sauce, the aloo-chaat martini, and the goat cheese cigar, which is basically a cylindrical samosa. “We top one end of it with fennel and black sesame so that it looks like the burnt end of a cigar,” says Talwar, gesturing to the fried 'cigar', nestled in a glass of garlic mayonnaise. He is not new to serving up old favourites with a new twist. He remembers what he regards as his most daring innovation — a penne alfredo pasta with chicken tikka, which despite his boss' trepidation, earned him a standing ovation from a diner. The goat cheese cigar and the puchkas are the stand-out appetisers; and the main courses are a disappointment after the excitement of the appetisers. The kaali mirch murghi, maa ki daal and the allu flower sabzi are good, solid dishes that will fill your stomach. But they fall far below expectations in that they do not offer anything new or experimental. The desserts make up for whatever enthusiasm you might lose while ploughing through the main course — we try the coconut panna cotta with bubblegum jelly and paan ladoos on the side; and the mango rasmallai lasagna with rabdi, drenched in a blue alcohol. The panna cotta is delicious and fresh, and the bubblegum jelly is an unexpected harkening back to the flavour palette of a sugar-craving childhood. The mango rasmallai lasagna (called lasagna because the two ingredients are layered on top of each other) is squishy comfort food at its best. ?“There's a lot more value in Indian food than most chefs assume,?” asserts chef Talwar. “As long as you hold back on the heaviness — caused by excessive creaminess or oil — and make sure you roast each spice according to the heat level required, ?and not all together, ?the dishes served can be exceptional.” d_apoorva@dnaindia.net

The Konkani among spices Local ingredients like kokum, teppal and Sankeshwari chillies are what give Konkani food its unique flavours,

The Konkani among spices

Local ingredients like kokum, teppal and Sankeshwari chillies are what give Konkani food its unique flavours,

The kaju shahale arrives in a copper vessel, a colourful mix of orange and red with a sprinkling of green. “It's our signature dish,” the waiter informs me. I bite in and understand why: The crunch from the tender coconut is balanced by the softness of cashew. “This is a famous Goan preparation,” says Sudhir Jadhav, head chef at Kokum & Spice restaurant at Alibaug's Radisson Blu Resort & Spa. The creaminess of the dish, he says, comes from cooking it in coconut water. Shahale is meant to be sweet and sour, not spicy. “We use very few dry masalas — just chillies, haldi and jeera — so as to preserve the natural taste of the vegetables that go into the dish,” he says. Being a Goan myself, I'm intrigued about the origins of the dish, but Jadhav doesn't know about the history of kaju shahale. Instead, he's eager to discuss other bestselling Goan dishes, namely the fiery vindaloo and the chicken xacuti. The main course arrives. The first dish is the chicken jeere meere, a spicy dish that uses two main ingredients — cumin and black pepper. “This dish is from the Malwan region,” says executive chef at the Radisson, Devwrat Jategaonkar. “Its spiciness is largely because of the pepper and helped in no uncertain measure by the Guntur and Sankeshwari chillies.” Dishes at Kokum & Spice come from the coastal regions of Raigad, Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, Goa and Mangalore. Throughout this belt, chillies such as Guntur and Sankeshwari are commonly used. There are a number of fish preparations too on the menu, and despite the season, they serve a fresh catch every day. A platter of fish arrives, dosed liberally with freshly ground Konkani masalas: a shallow fried pomfret in Manglorean masala, the rava fried bombil bhajias, bangda fried with Karwari masala, and prawns fried in a batter of red chillies, ginger and garlic. What sets these dishes apart from other coastal fish preparations is that they do not use lemon. Instead, they use tirphala or teppal, a strong spice resembling Sichuan pepper. “It's a dry, whole spice that is soaked overnight. The water is then used in curries. The spice is never ground as it is too strong and grinding tirphala makes it bitter,” says chef Jadhav. A common ingredient is the humble fruit kokum. It is largely used as a souring agent in fish curries. But its best use is in the refreshing sol kadhi, a frothy pink drink blended with spices. “It's best to use fresh coconut. That gives the drink a creamy taste,” says chef Jategaonkar. “All you need besides that is ginger, jeera and green chilli for the punch.”

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Identifying the good carbs

Identifying the good carbs

If there’s one thing every seemingly health conscious person loves to hate these days, it is not fat, but carbohydrates, or ‘carbs’ as they are (not) lovingly called. There was a time when fats were the enemy and a low-fat diet was touted as the best way to stay healthy. Then along came Dr Atkins, who broke every rule in the book to announce that you could eat all the butter and bacon you want, but it was the bread that was the enemy, throwing people into a confusion as to what exactly to eat. Heart-attack-inducing, saturated fats, or type 2 diabetes-inducing carbohydrates? It was indeed a tough choice. The answer is simple and yet not so simple. Any blanket statement like ‘carbs are bad’ can only be erroneous. Grains, fruits and vegetables are not just carbs but they also provide other vital nutrients like fibre, minerals and vitamins. Rather than just dividing carbohydrates into two groups — simple and complex — it is far more useful to classify them on basis of their glycemic index (GI), which indicates how quickly a certain food increases blood sugar in comparison to pure glucose. Lower the GI, better the carb. Usually, coarser grains, lesser processed and high fibre, acid or fat content are some of the criteria that lead to a lower GI food. Check http://www.glycemicindex.com/ for searching the GI of most food items. Focussing on eating a balanced diet with good carbs could benefit not just diabetics, but most of our population. Five ways to make your diet rich in good carbs Start your morning with a bowl of oats upma or a high fibre cereal which specifies that it is made using whole grains Avoid the juice and eat the fruit. One glass of orange juice has at least 3-4 oranges and that is too much sugar (even without any added sugar) and hardly any fibre. If you love potatoes, mix them with other low carb or high fibre items like bottle gourd or bitter gourd or soya chunks, so collective glycemic index of the dish is brought down. Adding vinegars or lemon juice to potatoes and eating them like a cold salad makes them release their sugars slower than eating hot mashed potatoes. Buy authentic whole grain bread and use it for lunch-box sandwiches. Most commercially available ‘brown bread’ is just caramel colouring. If you find red rice unpalatable, choose from grains like broken wheat, pearl barley, quinoa, buckwheat, millets either whole or as flour to make burgers, pancakes, breads and rotis. Choose from a variety of dried beans every day, like rajma, sprouted moong salad, hummus, black-eyed peas soup for an excellent source of carbs plus protein and fibre. Nandita Iyer blogs at www.saffrontrail.com

Maharashtrian Brahmin cuisine is perhaps one of the healthiest around

Tempered but not fried

Despite their penchant for anything sweet, Maharashtrian Brahmin cuisine is perhaps one of the healthiest around. With negligible amounts of oil, no cream, butter or maida, the food is delicious, easy to make and nutritious. Anu Prabhakar explores the food’s health quotient

Lunch time on Sundays at Manasi Narendra’s Chembur house has a few characteristics that are its own. There is the unmistakable smell of hot oil and puris hanging in the room, fresh and appetising. The koshimbir makes its weekend appearance, accompanied by crisp alu vadi. There is also white rice topped with simple, no- frills yellow dal or varan bhaat, ready to be served as starters to a Maharashtrian Brahmin meal of aloo sabzi (a dry potato side dish), stuffed brinjal and shrikhand. On an auspicious day, a banana leaf adds a dash of green to the brown-black settings of Manasi’s kitchen. Sweet food! Maharashtrian Brahmins have a notoriously sweet tooth. If there wasn’t that matter of good health, they would have a sweet dish – even something like shrikhand would work – at lunchtime, everyday. Heavily influenced by the Konkan coast, coconut, sugar, jaggery and peanuts are indispensible ingredients of the food and hence, set it apart. Sample this: Panch pakwana (or ‘five sweets’) is an integral part of any Maharashtrian Brahmin festival. “The five sweets include chiroti, shrikhand, gulab jamun and kheer, which we like a lot,” explains Manasi. But as I sit cross legged on the floor for lunch, I realise that if anyone deserves to celebrate a festival that sounds like one big sugar rush, it is them. For on all other days, Maharashtrian Brahmin food is simple and nutritious: How often does one comes across Indian food where salads are an important component, without trying too hard? The salad, or koshimbir, which is either tomato-based, beetroot-based or made of shredded cucumbers, onions and curd, is given prime status in the thali partly because it is deceptively easy to make. “You can’t make koshimbir on a daily basis,” explains Narendra. “There is a special method to cut the cucumbers. For this, you have to use the sharp edges of a coconut scraper.” A traditional Maharashtrian Brahmin lunch usually includes puris, sabzi, curry, koshimbirs, alu vadi and varan bhaat. Alu vadi is a side dish made out of colocasia leaves arranged in a shape that resembles a hypnotic spiral. One bite of this fried dish, however, has the potential to leave you mesmerised for real – its crunchy exterior and soft insides made out of bengal gram flour, spices and coconut, make for a delicious combination. During the course of our luncheon, interesting facts about the Brahmin community and their food tumble out. For instance, the degree of sweetness in food varies from one Brahmin sect to another. Also, they are accomplished secret keepers. Many a Brahmin has successfully managed to take his family’s secret goda masala recipe to his grave. “We make our own masala at home. Luckily my mother-in-law gave me her recipe,” smiles Manasi. “If friends ask for the masala, we can make and give it to them but we can’t give out the recipe.” Pune-based former dietician Subha Mayekar adds to the list of coconut-based dishes. “We have narali bhaat, which is rice cooked with coconut and sugar or jaggery. Chutneys like coconut and green chutney are also an important part of our food.” Eating healthy At the Maharashtrian restaurant Diva Maharashtracha’s Mahim branch, I plunge into exquisite dishes like kala watana amti (black gram cooked in coconut, tamarind and jaggery based gravy), dalimbi usal (pulses cooked with onion, coconut and flavoured with goda masala) and pineapple amti (cubes of pineapple cooked in cashew nut gravy and tempered with cumin seeds and green chillies). The mingled taste of tamarind, jaggery, coconut and spices help the dishes strike a fine balance between being overly sweet and sour. “Jaggery is not unhealthy,” says Deepa Awchat, CEO and masterchef of Diva Maharashtracha, when I cast my doubt over the food’s health quotient, considering the unabashed use of the ingredient in almost all dishes. “The dishes do not have refined sugar and have only healthy ingredients,” she explains. Vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage, French beans, green leafy vegetables like spinach and raw fruits like tender papaya and pumpkin are rarely cooked in a lot of oil. “Tempering is done with only one or two tablespoons of oil. While cooking, these vegetables are covered with a flat lid and then, water is added on top of the lid to keep the food’s taste and nutritional value intact.” The vegetables release their own juices which, according to Awchat, are more than enough for cooking. “There is no butter, no dried fruits apart from peanuts, no maida and definitely no cream.” Instead of the customary chapatti, Maharashtrian Brahmins have the highly nutritious and high-on-fibre bhakri, made out of either rice flour or jowar (sorghum). Mayekar agrees that the food is extremely healthy, citing usal as an example, which is made out of sprouted beans — one of the best sources of protein. The sprouted beans are cooked in very little oil with onions, coconut paste or flakes (depending on the desired consistency), garam masala powder or goda masala, tamarind pulp and jaggery. “Besides, you have the koshimbir with is rich in vegetables.” But what about the potato sabzi? “Well, if one is not happy with potato subzi, they can substitute it with stuffed brinjal,” she points out.

How Indian recipes came to dominate the menu of Europe’s oldest vegetarian restaurant

Swiss bankers with a yen for tadka

How Indian recipes came to dominate the menu of Europe’s oldest vegetarian restaurant

At the turn of the 19th century, Ambrosius Hiltl’s all-vegetarian restaurant was frequented only by the peculiar, or the poor. Over the years, despite access to the finest meats, the Swiss turned to vegetarianism in a big way. “People are giving up meat not only for ethical reasons but also because vegetarian food is more eco-friendly,” says Zurich-resident Elisabeth Brem. Today, 114 years on, Hiltl Haus is one of the trendiest hotspots in Zurich. Located in the centre of the Bahnhofstrasse banking district, Hiltl is frequented by bankers as well as Indian travellers who want a home-away-from-home experience, including the likes of late Prime Minister Morarji Desai. Ambrosius, who was recommended a vegetarian diet for health reasons, teamed up with cook Martha Gneupel to cater to the handful of other ‘grass-eaters’ like himself. In 1926, Margrith Rubli joined the staff of Hiltl as a waitress, and later married Ambrosius’ older son Leonhard. She ran the restaurant for 50 years, collecting recipes along the way. “In 1951, my grandmother Margrith, the official Swiss delegate to World Vegetarian Congress in India, returned with a handful of Indian vegetarian recipes to introduce into our kitchen,” says Rolf, a fourth generation Hiltl and the current owner of the restaurant. She was unprepared for the problems that would follow. Getting hold of spices such as curry powders, coriander, turmeric, cumin and cardamom was tough enough, says Rolf. But in the Zurich of the 1950s, the real problem was persuading kitchen staff to cook Indian dishes. “Indian friends brought ingredients with them when they came visiting Switzerland. But for years, my grandmother had to cook Indian dishes in her private kitchen,” he says. Over the years, the number of Indian guests at the restaurant increased considerably. But the real turning point came when Hiltl was asked by Swissair to supply Indian food for its Indian guests. “Today, Indian dishes constitute nearly half of our offerings,” says Rolf. While the Swiss prefer the a-la-carte gourmet creations to go with their draft beer or Swiss wines, Indian tourists usually go for the 57CHF (about Rs 3400) eat-all-you-can buffet. From North Indian koftas and kormas to the thoran and thair-sadam from the South, from the traditional tur-dal to the contemporary couscous salad, the buffet has more than 200 dishes on offer. Besides the Indian fare, there’s also an assortment of salads, starters and main courses with Swiss, German, Arabic, Mexican, Thai and Chinese origins. “This is easily the best vegetarian buffet I have ever eaten — a global feast for the vegetarian foodie,” says Ghatkopar resident Haresh Savla, while tucking into the dinner buffet with his family on their annual European holiday.

Running away from butter, ghee and all things fattening is one of the first steps that people take in order to be fit. What if these items could benefit your body? Shikha Kumar meets Aloka Gambhir, blogger and follower of the primal lifestyle to understand the dynamics of this way of life

Living life the primal way

Running away from butter, ghee and all things fattening is one of the first steps that people take in order to be fit. What if these items could benefit your body? Shikha Kumar meets Aloka Gambhir, blogger and follower of the primal lifestyle to understand the dynamics of this way of life

I bite into the inviting brownie that Aloka Gambhir serves me, straight out of the oven. It does not taste like a conventional brownie; it's less sweet but equally gooey and the consistency is near-perfect. She tells me that the brownie is devoid of white flour. I wonder if that's possible. How can one bake without using flour? The secret ingredient is walnut flour. The brownie is baked using eggs, honey, chocolate and walnut flour. Aloka has been a Primal dieter since three years and shuns any kind of processed food. The philosophy behind her way of life is simple — live like our ancestors, who hunted for their food, and survived on raw fruits and vegetables. “Agriculture was invented in the last 10,000 years. Before that, humans thrived without the consumption of grains. That is the basis of a primal lifestyle,” she tells me. Primal lifestyle followers adopt quite a different approach to their diet. They believe that saturated fats are healthy and generously incorporate butter, ghee, cheese and other dairy products in their diet. They abstain from all kinds of processed foods like rice, chapattis, bread, vegetable oils and any other grains. Little attention is paid to calorie intake. The body, thus, generates energy through the fat consumed, as opposed to carbohydrates. Aloka was introduced to this lifestyle by her brother, who recommended it to her for her migraine attacks and hormonal problems. “Even then, I was particular about working out and what I ate. But I still suffered from those problems,” she says. The very thought of giving up grains seemed impossible to her. However, one month into the diet and she became a convert. “The effects were instant: I lost weight and my migraine was gone.” Following this lifestyle does not mean abstaining from your favourite foods, she tells me. She eats pav bhaji — something that is laden with butter — but substitutes the pav for bread that is made out of almond or coconut flour. “I make chocolate cookies too, using almond flour instead of maida,” she says. Aloka's husband is a restaurateur, which makes eating out inevitable. She solves the dodgy dilemma by filling up on starters. “Kebabs or tandoori chicken is always a good idea. It's very filling,” she says. For dessert, she swaps cake with ice creams or cheesecake. Exercise is also a part of the lifestyle. However, it's not hardcore gym workouts or running. Primal living calls for being active all through, whether it's through housework, standing rather than sitting whenever possible, or light exercises like sprinting, squats and lunges. The journey, however, has not been easy. The switch requires a huge mindset change, she says. “For decades, Indians have consumed chapattis and rice. To convince them that there is an alternative is very difficult.” People also hold certain misconceptions about food, like pure coconut oil is artery-clogging. It's actually much healthier than vegetable oil which undergoes so many processes, Aloka says. The lifestyle, however, has its pitfalls. Substitute ingredients like walnut and almond flour, often cost more, which may not make it affordable for everybody. “Also, incorporating the diet in Indian cuisine poses a challenge because of our heavy dependency on carbohydrates. You need to be innovative,” she says. The diet is not very suitable for vegetarians as that limits the options. Last year, Aloka took to blogging as she wanted to share the benefits of the lifestyle with others. “I didn't know anybody in India who followed this way of life; even now there isn't much awareness,” she says. On her blog www.primalgirlinbombay.blogspot.in, she writes about her experiences, posts her recipes and solves queries of curious readers. Her advice to people wanting to adopt this lifestyle is to read up in detail and be mentally convinced. “It is challenging to make the switch, but once done, the benefits are life-changing,” she says. Disclaimer: Switching to any drastic diet can be risky.

Traditional dietetic advice that health and morality are two sides of the same coin might sound banal today, but is sound advice especially in today’s world where there is a frenzy for fad diets and an eternal search for simple remedies for complex conditions

Virtuous Victuals

Traditional dietetic advice that health and morality are two sides of the same coin might sound banal today, but is sound advice especially in today’s world where there is a frenzy for fad diets and an eternal search for simple remedies for complex conditions, writes Steven Shapin, professor of the history of science at Harvard University

The maxim “you are what you eat” has defined dietary thinking for hundreds of years. The prevailing interpretation is simple: our bodies, like the foods that we eat, are chemical compositions. In order to live long and healthy lives, and to maximise our potential, we must consume the right chemicals — that is, foods with the right nutrients. Not so long ago, however, this saying was understood quite differently, indicating a profound shift in the way that we think about our diet and ourselves — a shift that has powerful implications for current health debates. In ancient Greek and Roman medicine, prevention was key. Regimen, commonly called dietetics, prescribed a lifestyle designed to keep people healthy. Indeed, while doctors did everything in their power to cure ailing patients, dietetics was considered the most important area of medical practice. With a sound diet, one would presumably never need a cure. Dietetics was a prescription for an ordered manner of living, guiding people not only on matters of food and drink, but on all governable aspects of their lives that affected well-being, including their places of residence, exercise, sleeping patterns, bowel movements, sexual activity, and an area neglected by medicine today: emotional control. In short, dietetics was a matter of virtue as well as of bodily health. The medical profession doled out advice about how one should eat in the same breath as instructions about how one should live — and about what sort of person one should be. Traditional dietetic advice now seems banal, with its almost exclusive focus on moderation. For example, dietetic counsel would recommend that patients eat neither too much nor too little; sleep when necessary, but not excessively; exercise, but not violently; and control anger and stress. The Temple of Apollo at Delphi bore the inscription, “Nothing in excess,” while Aristotelian philosophy held that the golden mean was the path to the good. Given the current frenzy of fad diets and the search for simple remedies for complex conditions, moderation in all things may seem like shabby medicine. But dietetics' conviction that health and morality are two sides of the same coin is a deep-rooted notion. After all, Christianity lists gluttony as one of the seven deadly sins, while temperance is one of the cardinal virtues. Both good and good for you, moderation became a commanding idea: by rooting medical advice in powerful systems of social values, dietetics shaped medical thought for centuries. Rejecting dietetic advice amounted to rejecting moral wisdom. This merging of medicine and morality now seems naively unscientific, thanks to “nutrition science,” which replaced traditional dietetics as a formal discipline in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Nutritional experts today are more likely to suggest monitoring cholesterol levels than they are to give such holistic and common-sense advice as moderation. Gluttony was once a sin; obesity is now a disease (or a “risk factor” for other diseases). Because science ostensibly advances by setting aside moral questions to address material cause-and-effect relationships, this shift could be perceived as progress. But the separation of the “good” from the “good for you” limits the influence of modern nutritional expertise on people's behavior, ultimately undermining the goal of improving public health. Historical change cannot be undone. But the ways in which modern societies handle excess, whether in people's diets or lifestyles, merit reflection. For example, one plausible explanation of the rise in obesity is the decline of the family meal — at which children might be urged to “eat more,” but also would likely be told when they had eaten “more than enough.” In today's eat-and-run culture, people increasingly tend to consume food free from fear of a disapproving gaze. Individuals eat alone, and societies get fat together. While there is no simple solution to today's dietary woes, we can take a collective decision to reconsider not just what we eat, but our approach to eating, and to recognize the inherent value in eating together. A shared meal might be good for you as well as good.

Waiter, there’s fruit in my curry

Waiter, there’s fruit in my curry

The idea of ‘coastal cuisine’ brings to mind images of seared fish, prawn curries and lobsters on a platter. But the strong vegetarian tradition in India has ensured that vegetables ­­— and even fruits — are incorporated into the cuisines that develop along India’s coast. We had the opportunity to try out some of these dishes during the Coastal Cuisine food festival at ITC Grand Central in Mumbai. While my non-vegetarian colleagues couldn’t resist the fish and prawns, I headed straight to the vegetarian counter. The most interesting dish was the mambazha pulisseri, a sweet and sour alphonso curry. While the use of raw fruits — such as banana and jackfruit — isn’t unheard of, curries made with ripe fruits are unique to coastal regions. “The sauce in the mambazha pulisseri is made with coconut, green chillies and cumin. Curd is then added to give it volume,” says chef Harish, who had flown in from Dakshin, the south Indian restaurant at ITC Chennai, to attend the festival. The resulting dish had a creamy texture, and the sweetness of the mango was balanced out by the spices. Another fruit-based curry on the menu was the Pineapple Mensakai, which has its origins in the Mangalore region in Karnataka. This sweet and spicy dish is a must at any traditional Kannadiga feast today. Most of these vegetarian fruit-based curries originated in coastal areas, but over the years, their popularity has increased in the interiors too, says Harish. He adds that he’s looking forward to experimenting with palm fruit. “I have heard that people in and around Pondicherry prepare dishes with this fruit. I will be heading there soon to study their local cuisine.”

Inimitable Nizami ada

Inimitable Nizami ada

If it’s the earthy goodness of coarse desi grains, meats and spices that entice your palate in a Mewari thali, Chef Sarfaraz Ahmed’s kebab platter tickles the pleasure molecules in your brain with its fine subtlety. His Dahi Ke Kebab crumbles and dissolves in your mouth almost before you can pin down the faint sourness of the yogurt in it that balances the green chilli and cardamom infusing its base of grated paneer, browned onions, fried kaju and finely chopped kishmish. When I recover from my oxytocin-spike, he tells me that for his ground meat Shikampuri Kebab too he uses yogurt tied in muslin cloth and hung to a shrikhand-like consistency, then condensed further by refrigeration.
Ada is the aptly named restaurant in Hyderabad’s Taj Falaknuma Palace where Chef Ahmed has been perfecting his art for the past 15 years. It’s an Urdu word that roughly translates to ‘style’. And cooking style is what differentiates his methods from those of the glib TV show hosts who have people oohing and aahing over sometimes rather frilly dishes.
Many of today’s chefs he feels simply lack the patience and attention to detail that were drilled into him by the old masters of Nizami cuisine in whose kitchens he spent his formative years — masters like Masuddin Tusi who once made the ITC Kakatiya famous for its Hyderabadi biryani.
Tusi is no more but the legacy continues in the biryanis made by his acolytes. Chef Ahmed’s Kachchi Biryani is one such worthy successor, fragrant and delicately flavoured with 12 whole spices in a potli (pouch) which is extracted after the cooking. Tender goat meat is marinated overnight with masala and raw papaya (which tenderises it further). The rice is parboiled with the potli to three different consistencies: a third of it is 40% done, another third is half done, and the last lot is cooked 60%. These are layered with the marinated but uncooked meat in a sealed pot and slow-cooked. The result is a dish that is juicy without any need for gravy, where the meat peels off the bone at a mere prod.
What Chef Ahmed loves to cook above all, however, are kebabs, because he can do it all himself. It’s the individual touch that gives a dish its character, not the recipe. And this is where the new chefs can go wrong. The bhuna chicken, for instance, has to be fried long enough for the flavours to come out.
But enough talk about cooking. Time to slice into Chef Ahmed’s Kubani Ka Kofta — apricots scented with badayan (star anise), stuffed into cottage cheese, baked and served with a tomato gravy. What can I say? It’s a dish with a Nizami ada for sure.

Laal Maas Mathania Recipe

Laal Maas Mathania Recipe

Laal Maas Mathania Recipe

Rasodas were the true masterchefs

Rasodas were the true masterchefs

The Maharana of Udaipur, Shriji Arvind Singhji Mewar, is a dedicated foodie who rolls up his sleeves and cooks up a storm himself from time to time. And it is in that spirit he tells me that all these celeb chefs we see on TV these days leave him cold. Today, you can get everything under the sun in a mall, he points out. But in the old days, the rasodas in his palace had to make do with what was available locally and seasonally. And in a desert region like Mewar, there wasn’t much to work with in the best of times. To create delicacies fit for a king from whatever little was available called for some real skills, which the rasodas developed out of sheer necessity. “Just restrict the ingredients available to a master chef on a TV show, and then see what he can do with them,” suggests the Maharana. That will have to wait. For now, we can see how the rasodas coped with scarcity. Take the Panchkuta, a dish made with five dried vegetables — in the desert, most things are dried and used through the off-season. Bauliya, ker, sangari, kumat and ber spiced with amchoor, coriander, turmeric and salt are sautéed in mustard oil seasoned with cumin seeds. The result is unique, wholesome and tasty enough for a second helping, I discovered at a Mewari dinner presented by Chef Surjan Singh Jolly of the Renaissance hotel in Powai, Mumbai. Chef Jolly had spent time with Shriji Arvind Singhji Mewar in his Udaipur palace as well as with the Bhils and Kathodias of that region who still follow traditional ways of hunting, gathering and cooking. What Chef Jolly was drawn to, in both the tribal hamlets and the royal kitchen, was the simplicity in their methods which preserved the nutrients as well as the natural taste of whatever they cooked. There was the Kathodia Ghara Kokada, chicken mashed with all its bones (to preserve the calcium in them) and cooked in a clay pot with crushed garlic, red chilli, salt and buttermilk. And the Khada Palak, which simply had baby spinach leaves sautéed in ghee with cumin, chilli and salt. Quick roasting kept the vegetables crunchy, while slow cooking of meat in clay pots or on stone brought out all the flavours without destroying the nutrients. The royal kitchens on their part refined these methods with the inventiveness of their master rasodas. They had to, because each royal household wanted to outdo the other at royal banquets. It was a matter of prestige, and the potentate would usually leave detailed instructions in the kitchen on what was expected. Udaipur’s present-day Maharana — “the last fossil rattling around,” as he puts it — developed his culinary passion in this sort of environment. But today, how many households even sit down at a dining table to have a meal together, he asks. It’s usually a takeaway or a restaurant for dinner, and the kids are obsessed with pasta. He is happy that his 16-year-old grand-daughter, who was home for a holiday from boarding school, spent most of her time in the kitchen. So is she going to be off pasta after this? “Unfortunately not,” says the Maharana of Udaipur indulgently.

Chane Chaat

The chana used in this harabhara chane chaat is not available through out of the year but when in season make sure to make this delicious chatpatta chaat recipe which is tangy and spicy.


Preparation Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 12 mins
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients
2 cups harbhara chana
a pinch of soda bi-carb
1/2 tsp finely chopped green chillies
1/2 cup finely chopped coriander (dhania)
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds ( rai / sarson)
1/4 tsp asafoetida (hing)
1/2 tsp black salt (sanchal)
1/4 tsp chilli powder
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt to taste

Method

• Wash the harabhara chana, add the soda bi- carb and boil them in enough water for 5 to 7 minutes.
• Remove from the flame, drain the water and add cold water and keep aside.
• Heat the oil in a broad non-stick pan, add the mustard seeds.
• When the seeds crackle add the asafetida, harbhara chana and cook on a medium flame for 1 to 2 minutes, while stirring occasionally.
• Add the salt, black salt, chillies, coriander, chilli powder and mix well and cook on a medium flame for more 2 to 3 minutes, while stirring occasionally.
• Just before serving add the lemon juice and mix well.
• Serve immediately.

Soft pedhas with a grainy texture

Soft pedhas with a grainy texture which are an all time favourite.

Preparation Time:  25 mins.
Cooking Time :  50 mins.
Makes 18 pedas.

Ingredients

1 ltr full fat milk
a few saffron (keshar) strands
1/2 cup sugar
2 pinches of citric acid (nimbu phool)
4 teaspoon milk
1 teaspoon leveled, corn-flour
1/4 teaspoon cardamom (elaichi) powder

For the garnish
a few chopped almonds
a few chopped pistachios

Method

•  Boil the milk in a heavy bottomed pan, stirring throughout, until it reduces to half.
•  Warm the saffron in a small vessel, add 2 teaspoons of milk and rub until the saffron dissolves. Add to the boiling milk.
•  Add the sugar and cook for a further 4 to 5 minutes.
•  Mix the citric acid in 3 teaspoons of water. Add this mixture very gradually to the boiling milk until it curdles slightly. This may require anything from half to the entire quantity of the citric acid mixture.
•  Mix the cornflour in the balance 2 teaspoons of milk and add to the boiling milk.
•  Continue stirring till the mixture becomes thick and resembles khoya.
•  Add the cardamom powder and mix well. Allow to cool.
•  Shape into 18 small balls.
•  Place in paper cups, decorate with chopped almonds and pistachios and serve.

mouthwatering recipes

Savouring delights

Aanchal Gurnani shifted to Mumbai from Pune a few years ago. She truly enjoys the open spaces in the city and considers the infrastructure to be incomparable to any other place in the country. A passionate cook, she loves trying out new recipes whenever she has spare time on hand. Her family, especially her husband, relishes her delightful delicacies. Here she shares two simple, yet mouthwatering recipes...

Beet Cutlet Ingredients: l 5 boiled potatoes l 2 boiled beet root l 1½ cup freshly grated coconut l 1/2 cup coriander l 2 green chillies l 2 slices of bread l 1 small bowl of semolina (suji) l Salt as per taste Method: l Mash the boiled potatoes and add two slices of bread to it. Add salt as per taste and mix it well. Then grate the beetroot and coconut as per above measurement. In a frying pan, put 1 tablespoon oil. When the oil gets hot add cut green chilles and beet root. Cook for five minutes. When it is dry add freshly grated coconut and coriander. Fry for two minutes and leave it to cool. Make balls of mashed potatoes and flatten to circle on your palm. Fill it with the beet and coconut filling made earlier. Then roll in semolina and deep fry in hot oil till golden brown. Serve with green mint and coriander chutney. Shahi Tukda: Ingredients: l Six slices of white bread l For sugar syrup: l 2 bowls sugar l 2 cups water l 3 -4 strands of saffron l For milk rabdi: l 1 litre milk l 1 small pack – Doodh masala l Dry fruit (cashews, pistachios and almonds) finely chopped for garnishing l 2-3 strands of saffron l 1 cup sugar Method: l In a heavy bottom vessel reduce the 1 litre milk to 1/4th. Put the strands of saffron. Keep stirring continuously while milk is reducing. Once the milk has reduced, put the doodh masala and sugar. Stir for few minutes and leave it to cool to normal temperature. Then refrigerate it. In another frying pan, put oil and deep fry the bread slices till they turn golden brown. In another vessel boil two cups of water with sugar and saffron. Boil till sugar melts and it becomes slightly thick. Once syrup is ready leave it to cool. Before serving, dip bread in the syrup and remove it immediately. Keep it for 5 minutes on a serving plate. Put the rabdi (milk mixture) on this bread. Garnish with finely chopped dry fruits and serve cold.

Treat yourself this monsoon Cuppa chai & spicy pakoda

Treat yourself this monsoon Cuppa chai & spicy pakoda

Four Points offers mouthwatering delicacies at its ongoing festival

When the rain gods smile on us, what could be better than sipping a hot cuppa adhrak chai and gorging on some crispy pakodas? Four Points by Sheraton in Navi Mumbai understands your tastes, and brings to you the Chai Pakoda Festival, where you can enjoy a platter of not just pakodas but other street treats like chaat and pav bhaji. “For many, the monsoon means enjoying hot cups of tea along with bhajiyas and chaat. However, these are usually served at roadside vendors that are extremely unhygienic, especially during this season considering the susceptibility of people to ailments. We wanted to create an ambience and better variety for people this monsoon,” said Arbind Singh, food and beverage manager, Four Points by Sheraton. The star hotel has created a beautiful ambience, with rain-themed pictures and paintings put up on the glass windows of their coffee shop, Wrapped. The venue is such that people can enjoy their ‘hygienic’ delicacies and also the rains. Choose from the all time favourite kanda and batata bhaji (prepared from onion and potato respectively), nutritious palak pakodas (prepared from spinach) or mirch pakodas (made from chillis) which is delightful for chilly evenings. And that’s not all! Treat yourself at the chaat counter — chatpata paani puri, crispy sev puri, tangy dahi puris; isn’t your mouth already watering? Soft butter-laden pavs served with spicy bhaji are simply awesome here. The star hotel has also designed a special menu that has all the festival items in it, including a variety of pakodas, chaat items and pav bhaji. And don’t miss the range of chai which includes every possible flavour from masala, ginger to lemon, elaichi, etc. The makeshift roadside tea stall set up at the coffee shop adds to the overall experience. The stall has a wide range of cookies, nankhatais and biscuits similar to the roadside vendor selling cutting chai and other goodies. You can enjoy you favourite flavour of tea while it is freshly prepared at the stall either in a mud tumbler or glass. So, what are you waiting for? Head to Four Points by Sheraton and enjoy some simmering hot tea with tasty pakodas.

‘ The Table gives so much attention to detail’

Wasabi By Morimoto at The Taj Mahal Palace Colaba
I wish there were more Japanese restaurants in town because I love the cuisine. The one place that stands out in Mumbai is Wasabi. The ingredients are all absolutely fresh and the place has very high culinary standards.

The Table Colaba
This place gives so much attention to detail. Everything looks good, the wood, the spaceship-like coffee machines and the lovely community tables. The food by Chef Alex, however, is the real star.

Vetro Nariman Point
It is a beautiful looking, classy Italian restaurant with great food, a good wine list and a wine cellar that allows you to taste a few wines before calling for a bottle.

Saayba Bandra
This is a brilliant, non-fussy place that offers heavenly food. To reconfirm that you’ve eaten well, your waiter will give you the biggest smile when you savour it, till its very end. If you plan to go there, leave the attitude at home and carry only your hunger and taste buds along.

China House at Grand Hyatt Kalina
This is a place where you can either get a table close to the kitchen and watch the chefs cook or park yourself in a quieter corner. The ambience is fantastic and the food will have you speaking Chinese fluently. It offers some of the best Chinese food in town.

Chai Pakoda festival begins in Vashi

The joy of sipping hot beverages and biting into lipsmacking delights during monsoon is something that everyone craves for. NIBANDH VINOD/ HT  

The ongoing monsoon food festival at Four Points, Navi Mumbai offers visitors a variety of scrumptious delights.
If you are yet to experience the feeling, then it is time you to visit Four Points by Sheraton Navi Mumbai, Vashi to get a taste of the Chai Pakoda festival that began at the Wrapped Lobby restaurant from July 6.
Experience the spectacular exhibition of monsoon delicacies prepared by specialty chefs and enjoy gastronomic delights such as pani puri, bhel puri, dahi puri, sev puri, samosa pav, wada pav and a variety of Bhajias all accompanied with tangy, spicy chutneys.
You can also savour the flavours and exuberant tastes of a wide range of parathas, pav bhaji and masala dosa.

If you are looking for some non-vegetarian dishes then you can ask for sandwiches, burgers and chicken Kolkata rolls.
Enjoy these scrumptious delights with a piping cup of masala chai and experience the feel of a roadside tea stall with the tea being brought to you in a ‘desi stand’ and served in a glass tumbler.
The festival that started on July 6 will continue till the end of the month, informed Arbind Singh, food and beverage manager.
The festival is open to visitors from 3pm to 8pm.

Four teams from four corners of India took the tiny Tata Nano on a cross-country road trip and came back with changed perspectives

T he Tata Nano Facebook page crossed the one million mark recently. To celebrate this milestone, the company ran a ‘social road trip’ called Nano Drive with MTV, where participants got the chance to team up with three strangers and take the car on a 3,000km spin. The four teams started out from four cities — Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and Guwahati — and drove across the length and breadth of the country for 20 days.
Arindam Mohanty, a 25year-old marketing professional, was part of team West. “Meeting different people and driving through the hinterland was the highlight of my trip,” he says. “We had a strict allowance and I was continuously tweeting about my trip. Can you believe local restaurants offered us meals because of my tweets?”
Mohanty drove more than 3,400km from Mumbai to Indore, stopping at Daman, Udaipur and Kota on the way.
Team South started their journey from Chennai and made their way to Hampi on a very scenic route through more than 15 towns. Simran Singh, 22, from Chandigarh, had reservations about the Nano’s endurance capacity. “We started off in Chennai and it was 40+ C! But we could drive with ease with the AC on full blast,” he says. Simran’s favourite stop was Pondicherry, where he spent time lazing on the beaches, enjoying the food and taking in the French architecture.

The foursome that drove through east India felt like explorers since these parts are sparsely populated and not very touristy. “Local people there are not used to seeing travellers, so it was quite exciting for us to approach them,” says Nikita Sawant, a 25-year-old photographer from Mumbai and part of team East. She drove her crew of three guys on National Highway 36 towards the Bangladesh border, among the trucker crowd, and got many stares and cheers.
“That is my most fun memory, a woman driving alongside these hulking men on the highway,” she says.
The victorious team North drove from Delhi to Haridwar and ended their trip with an aarti (prayers) on the banks of the Ganga. “We started on an auspicious note in Karol Bagh, near the Hanuman statue, and ended up with the Ganga puja. It almost felt like a yatra,” laughs Nikhil Kashyap. The 27-year-old marketing communication consultant enjoyed every little experience on the trip. “We learnt turban-tying in Patiala, gorged on momos in McLeodganj, rafted on the Beas in Kulu, trekked to Tosh and Parvati Valley near Kasaul and then did one of the 21 daily Ganga aartis. I couldn’t have asked for a richer experience,” he says.

You can follow the teams’ journeys in the final episode of Nano Drive on MTV on July 12 at 8 pm.

How you brew your tea makes all the difference.

How you brew your tea makes all the difference. 

Never add tea leaves to boiling water. Let the water cool down for a few seconds, and then add about 2 gms of tea leaves (for one cup).

Cover the container and let it steep for some time.
Some teas can be steeped for longer (4 minutes), while others need to be served instantly (1 minute).
Store tea leaves in aluminium or glass containers, because they tend to react with metal and turn acidic.

Spearmint tea

You can make this tea by placing a few sprigs of fresh spearmint in a glass and pouring boiling water over it. Spearmint is an excellent remedy for ailments such as headaches, fatigue and stress, as well as for respiratory and digestive problems. You can also use this syrup in other recipes like desserts and cocktails.
Ingredients:
2 cups water 1 cup sugar 1 packet fresh spearmint

Method:
In a 2 litre capacity saucepan, place sugar and water and bring to a rolling boil.
Ensure all the sugar is dissolved and take off flame. Add spearmint leaves, cover and leave to steep till completely cool or overnight.
Store covered for up to 3 weeks or chilled, up to six months.

THERE’S WINE IN MY TEA!

Lots is common between these two drinks — the soil, elevation, cultivator, the season all play a role in the flavours produced by both wine and tea. The two have many variations in price and processes within each category and type, and the tasting sessions of both are elaborate and meticulous. This monsoon, tea importers Chado Tea have launched a special exotic range of wineflavoured teas that are perfect for the cool weather. Some of the varieties include White Champagne Raspberry, Assam Jungle Cabarnet and Sicilian Vespers. Infusing the white and black teas with floral and fruity notes using safflowers, cinnamon and chrysanthemums, the range carries all the goodness in flavour of wine blended with the strong and robust flavours of tea.

The range will be available at Chado Tea, inside Bombay Store, Fort, from the third week of July. Currently, it is available on order on 3216 4466. PRICE: R960 for 100 gms

Where: Indigo Deli

TASTE OF: Sikkim The tea menu here features a sublime bouquet of flavours that can be had all day.
Sikkim First Flush contains floral infusions from The Valley of Flowers What’s brewing?

Sikkim First Flush (SFF) was a tea that was earlier preserved for royalty due to its unique flavour. It’s a beautiful black tea with floral infusions straight from the Valley of Flowers. If you like your cup of chamomile, you’ll surely fall in love with this one.
Green Tea with Madagascar Vanilla (GT) uses the green tea Matcha powder with the world’s best vanilla from Madagascar to create a smoky, scented tea.
Zen Garden (ZG) is a superlative white tea, perfect after meals. White teas are known to have the highest amount of antioxidants and are subtly flavoured. This one has lovely orange, lime and cinnamon notes. Throw in a cinnamon stick for extra measure. PRICE: R155 (SFF), R195 (GT) and R260 (ZG) per tea cup. CALL: 2643 8100 / 4366 6666

Two innovative chai recipes

Here are two innovative chai recipes and one chai-based dessert recipe by Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal, chief foodie, A Perfect Bite Cook Studio.
Flavoured tea can serve as a good post-dinner dessert option Rose-lavender pepper kehwa
Roses and lavender are valued for their digestive properties and the pepper works to improve digestion as well as keep colds and coughs at bay. Ideal for a post-dinner dessert tea option as there are no stimulants of caffeine in it.
Ingredients
2 tbsp / 30g sugar 1 tsp / 15g rosebud tea/dried rose petals or lavender
½ tsp / 6g white pepper, crushed coarsely
1 tbsp pistachio or cashew flakes (depending on the flower you are using)
Method
Combine roses/lavender and crushed pepper in a mortar and pestle and crush together.
Add the sugar and powder to a coarse powder.
Bring 2 cups of water to a boil and take off flame.
Add the flower sugar to it and mix well.
Allow to steep for 2 minutes and then savour hot.
Add pistachio flakes to the rose version and cashew to the lavender version to garnish.

Masala chai crème brûlée

Ingredients
4 large egg yolks 1/4 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 cup sugar 1 1/2 cups heavy cream 2 chai masala bouquet garni 1 (1-inch) chunk ginger 4 teaspoons demerara sugar
1 teaspoon chai masala
Method
Preheat the oven to 300F degrees.
Place 4 ramekins in a roasting pan and pour hot water in the pan to halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
Combine the sugar, vanilla and egg yolks, mixing well.
Place the cream and the bouquet garni in a saucepan and heat to the boiling point.
Take it off heat and let the flavour infuse in the cream for about 5-10 mins.
Pour the cream into the mixture in a slow and steady stream, whisking constantly. Strain the mixture. Pour 1/2 cup of the mixture into each ramekin. Cover with aluminum foil.
Bake until the custard is set, about 35 minutes. Alternatively, you can even steam it in a steamer.
Allow to cool and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
An hour before serving, combine the demarara sugar with chai masala and sprinkle a teaspoon of this mix on each custard.
Using a blowtorch melt the sugar with a flame until golden brown, or broil with bowls about an inch from the flame for 30 seconds.
Cool to room temperature before serving.

EGGLESS CAKES WORKSHOP

Learn how to professionally bake scrumptious eggless cakes such as black forest, date walnuts cake, mava cake and sacher torte. Today at Juhu. Call 2620 6232 for registrations.

BASIC INFUSED SIMPLE SYRUP

INGREDIENTS
1 cup granulated sugar 1 cup water
1/3 cup spices or 1/2 cup herbs

METHOD
Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan and simmer over medium heat, stirring until sugar is completely dissolved. Add spices or herbs and leave to steep. Allow mixture to cool, then decant into a clean container with a tight lid.
For a thicker
syrup, adjust the proportions (many mixologists prefer a 2:1 sugar-water ratio.) For a deeper, richer flavor, use brown sugar. This works well for syrups to be used in rum drinks and rich puddings, but not for vodkaor gin-based cocktails or dishes with lighter flavours as it is too strong and imparts a brownish tint.

Sugar, spice and all things nice

Homemade syrups can elevate your cuppa, dress your meat, enhance your dessert and ease that aching throat, making them the perfect antidote to those monsoon blues

T he monsoon is here, bringing with it the season of colds, coughs and sore throats. Whenever I have a sore throat, I fall back on one of my grandmother’s traditional remedies — rock sugar to ease the soreness and sanchar nu paani, hot water with a drop of ghee, a squeeze of lime and a pinch each of turmeric, pepper, sugar and rock salt, to fight the germs.
I love the aroma of the turmeric and the flavour of the spices, but my kids don’t fancy this concoction much. So, driving past Chowpatty on evening, I hit upon a solution.
Remember that rainbow array of bottles lining the golawalla’s ice lolly stalls that you surreptitiously patronised as a child? Those silky thick, sweet, flavoured liquids that your mother tried so hard to keep you away from?
Well, there’s nothing stopping you from topping that collection with one of your own — homemade, healthy syrups that can function as beverages and herbal remedies.
Simple (or sugar) syrup is, as the name implies, very simple to make and will quickly become an essential item around both the bar and kitchen in your home.
With a little time and creativity, you can also have fragrant sweet syrups that will bring incredible flavours and possibilities to your kitchen. Try infusing the syrups with aromatics such as fresh herbs (basil, rosemary, mint, lemongrass), wet and dry spices (vanilla, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, star anise) and citrus zest and/or juice.
As the rain pours outside, these syrups will help elevate your daily cuppa to wonderful new heights and zing up your daily cooking.
Regardless of what flavour you want to create, the requirements are pretty much the same — water and sugar in a 1:1 proportion, supplemented by whatever herbs or fruits you want i nfused. And this i s the most fabulous thing about syrups; not only are they simple to make, they are incredibly versatile.
Heat your water and sugar mixture, add your flavouring ingredients after the sugar has dissolved and bring to a boil. Take off the flame. Ensure the aromatics are completely submerged in the syrup and allow the mixture to steep for about half an hour (actually, I like to leave it overnight).

When completely cool, strain by pouring the syrup through a tightly woven mesh strainer and discard all solids.
Bottle your syrup and you can stash it in the refrigerator for several weeks.
You can prolong the shelf life of your syrups by adding a little vodka — 1 tbsp to 1 ounce, depending on the amount of syrup. I like to add complementary flavoured vodkas to match the syrups.
These concoctions are as simple to use as they are to make. They are ideal just mixed in hot water or as substitutes for sugar.
Just add hot water to a ginger lime infusion for cup of spicy comfort to soothe that cough. Or stir some ginger-pepper syrup into your daily cuppa tea or coffee. Or try a syrup infused with cinnamon and apple juice in a hot toddy. You can add infused syrups to any hot beverage to brighten up gloomy monsoon days — cinnamon syrup to coffee, for instance, and red chilli or cardamom to hot chocolate, herbal tea and hot toddies.
You can also customise your syrups to suit the weather all year round. In summer a spearmintor kaffir lime-flavoured syrup is ideal to add a funky twist to a mojito. Or try a green peppercorn syrup to spice up a watermelon caprioska.
Syrups are also lovely spooned over fresh fruit or warm fruit compotes. Drizzle spice-scented berry and fruit syrups over pancakes, waffles, muesli or porridge. Herb- and spice-infused syrups can also be used in sauces and gravies for salad dressings, marinades and to dress meats and fish.
And, of course, they’re perfect for desserts. Try mint-flavoured syrups over fruit salads and poached fruit desserts. Use just about anything to flavour or top ice-creams, granitas, sorbets and your own ice lollies. Drizzle spice-scented syrups over fresh-fromthe-oven desserts such as tarts, crumbles and cakes or stir into frostings and glazes.
I am particularly partial to lemoninfused glaze on a lemon blueberry cake, lavender syrup over rasgullas and orange-and-anise-infused syrup on gulab jamuns.
As for the kids, inspired by my grandmothers Sanchar nu Paani, I have concocted a turmeric-and-ginger-infused syrup to help ease those aching throats.