India on My Platter (25 page)

(Hung curd patties scented with sandalwood.)

Ingredients

Method

1.  Take the hung yoghurt in a bowl. Add crumbled cottage cheese, ginger-garlic paste, green chillies, red chilli powder, freshly ground spice powders, salt, dry fruits, chopped mint, saffron, cornflour and refined flour to it. Mix well.

2.  Keep it aside for 15 minutes.

3.  Make a small patty with the hung yoghurt mixture, almost the size of a cutlet. Now coat these patties with breadcrumbs.

4.  Heat the
ghee
in a pan and add grated sandalwood or the whole piece as it is. Simmer it for five minutes. Let it stand for 30 minutes. The
ghee
will absorb the beautiful aroma of sandalwood. Strain it.

5.  Now, shallow fry these kebabs in this sandalwood
ghee.

6.  Serve them hot with
sheermal
or any other Indian bread that you prefer.

∼

I came across the information that the
sheermal
made here, travelled as far as the United States, the UK, the Middle East, Japan, Pakistan and other countries. I had to make sure my kebabs matched up to the level of quality established here and the only judge was Umar. He tasted my kebab and said that he had never imagined that a vegetarian kebab could taste so good. He asked for another piece and I couldn’t help but smile. He asked me for the recipe and I had a mini heart attack! This was definitely my lucky day. It was dusk when I went to meet Pankaj Bhadouria, the first winner of the TV show
MasterChef India,
at her culinary academy in Hazrat Ganj.

D
AY
78

22 October / Lucknow

Today was the beginning of the Bakra Eid celebrations in Lucknow and I was excited to be a part of it here in the city itself. Let me start by talking about the Bakra Market. We saw floating markets in Kashmir, the organic markets in Punjab, and now a goat market in Lucknow. Like any good goat market, there were more goats here than people. This market had been set up for people who wanted to buy goats for Bakra Eid. Buying and sacrificing a goat is part and parcel of the festival. There were various breeds available and were priced depending on weight, height, and other parameters. The price started from Rs. 5000 and would go up to rupees three lakh. The fanciest goat I saw was surrounded by people bidding for it. It was dressed up and decorated. It was priced at Rs. 1.5 lakh because the goat was born with ‘Allah’ and ‘Mohammad’ written in Urdu on its ears! I have a feeling there was some tattooing involved, but no one cared what I thought. Thereafter, I made my way to the house of Nawab Masood Mir Abdullah, last of the Nawabi lineage of Awadh, who had invited me to celebrate Bakra Eid with him.

Nawab Abdullah was present in his house with his brother Nawab Jafar. They greeted me with the traditional
aadaab
and
khushamadeen.
I entered their house, which had an antique old world feel to it. I sat across from them, as they explained the reason behind the celebration of Bakra Eid. They spoke with the typical
Lakhnavi
accent, a mix of Hindi and Urdu. They were also dressed in
chikan
-embroidered
kurtas
for the occasion, with the customary
taquiyah
(an Urdu word for short-rounded skullcap) on their head. They spoke slowly while chewing on their
paan.
After I settled down and took in all this visual information, Nawab Jafar began the story of Bakra Eid.

‘Almost 5000 years ago, Janabe Ibrahim, who was a messenger of God, had a vision that he was sacrificing his son for Allah. Janabe Ibrahim blindfolded himself and lay his son down on a rock. As soon as put the knife to his son’s neck a voice from heaven said, “Ibrahim, I have accepted your sacrifice, there is a goat
(dumba)
behind the tree
(darakht).
Sacrifice that instead and we will let go of your son’s sacrifice." Since then this sacrifice was termed as Bakra Eid. Goat is sacrificed, cooked and then distributed.’ The entire goat is consumed in some way or the other, which was a daunting thought for a preferred vegetarian like me.

I forgot to mention the ornamental silver tagine-like centrepiece on the table. Called
peerha
or
paan ki gilori,
it had
paan
wrapped individually in silver cones. I was also offered a
khazdaan,
a decorated version of a spittoon. The
paan
spiked my appetite and I mustered up the courage to ask what we were going to eat. They told me all the food being prepared was in my honour and being cooked on a wood-fire. Before I was taken for my meal, I was told that dressing well for the meal was an essential part of eating. I also learnt that I had to understand and imbibe a few mannerisms before I ate in the company of the nawabs. I met with Nawab sahib’s wife, who gave me a whole new
chikan-
embroidered outfit to wear, complete with the
taquiyah.
They managed to get my size right and the lady, Begum Almas, had created that especially for me. Finally, I was ready to partake in the elaborate banquet that had been set up for me.

We went to a beautiful lawn outside, where I saw at least six of the dishes being prepared. On the menu were
pasanda
kebabs, Lucknow biryani, mutton
korma,
and
raan.
The
pasandas
were being grilled on an open fire and were being basted with
desi ghee. Pasandas
have been on the menu since Shah Jahan’s time; very creamy, soft and flavourful.
Pasanda
means to like, it also denotes a prime cut of the mutton leg. The biryani was being made on the other side of the lawns. Nawab
sahib
said that authentic biryanis could be only had from Hyderabad. The Lucknow biryani was actually a constructed
pulao,
with multiple layers of rice and
korma.
All the breads I had seen in the alleyways of Lucknow were now at the dinner table. With such delectable food being cooked in front of me, I definitely had to jump into action. I put on my chef’s hat and decided to make
Dal Sultani.
It is special because of the tempering of
paan.

D
AL
S
ULTANI

(Creamy lentils flavoured with betel leaf.)

Ingredients

Method

1.  Soak the
dal
for 20 minutes. Strain and add to a deep pan. Add a cup of water with salt, cumin seeds and chilli powder and bring it to a boil. Now let it simmer for 15-20 minutes, until it is cooked.

2.  In the meanwhile soak saffron in one tablespoon warm milk. Whisk yoghurt, cream and milk in a bowl together. Crush or blend cloves and cardamoms together.

3.  Once the
dal
is cooked, let it cool down. Now mash and pass it through a sieve or you can simply blend it to a fine paste.

4.  Heat the
ghee
in a pan. Once hot, add garlic to it. Once garlic is lightly golden, add green chillies and the mashed
dal.
Cook it at medium flame for two minutes. Add the yoghurt cream mix, half the mint, clove cardamom powder, and saffron milk. Whisk nicely. Let it cook on low flame for five minutes so that everything mixes together nicely.

5.  Burn the charcoal by placing it over a high flame (till red hot).

6.  Place the betel leaves on the top surface of the simmering
dal.
Switch off the burner.

7.  Place the hot burning coal on top of these betel leaves.

8.  Drizzle the hot coal with a few drops of
ghee.
Immediately cover the saucepan tightly with a lid and keep it aside for seven to eight minutes.

9.  Remove the charcoal with the help of a tong and discard the betel leaves.

10. Give it a final mix and serve hot, garnished with mint.

∼

With the cooking done, it was time to celebrate Eid. Nawab
sahib
and his family joined us in the celebrations. Just like every other part of India I have seen, the whole family came together to celebrate and eat. The evening was filled with food, poetry and conviviality. Definitely one of the best Eid celebrations of my life; this experience was up, close and personal.

D
AY
79

I left Lucknow and its graceful
andaaz
(style) to go towards the land of Hindu spiritualism, Varanasi.

D
AY
80

24 October / Varanasi

Holiest of the seven sacred Indian cities in India, Varanasi, also called Benares, is built on the banks of the river Ganga. Also called the religious capital of India, Varanasi is home to
sadhus
(holy men or ascetics), saints and devotees of Lord Shiva. Varanasi is most famous for its
ghats
(banks), and the temple ceremonies that revolve around the Ganga. A few of the ancient Indian poets and writers lived in this city and their works were greatly inspired by the life in Varanasi. The
ghats
are also a place where Hindus come to cremate their loved ones and then disperse the ashes in the holy river. So not only is this ancient city a place of worship and spirituality, it is also a place when life completes a full circle. Hindus believe that to liberate your soul, after death, it is important for your soul and body to become one with the Ganga. You have to be careful here though, emotions can be played with, and the cremation can become a business affair. Be careful when you visit, it is always best to know a local or travel with someone who knows the whereabouts.

On a lighter note, the best part of the day at the
ghats
is the grand
aarti
(a Hindu religious ritual of worship in which light from wicks soaked in
ghee
or camphor is offered to one or more deities). Thousands of people gather at the steps to attend it and the priests stand on an elevated platform to perform their prayer in the view of the crowds amid the electrifying sounds of bells and conch shells. Devotees let
diyas
and flowers float onto the river, carrying their prayers far out into the horizon. Offerings are made to the priest, in the form of coconut, milk, money, jewellery, and gold.

The ritual is worth attending just for the sights and sounds that can spiritually overwhelm your senses, all at once. I sat on a small boat, taking it all in, watching the evening
puja,
strangely moved by the human and divine synthesis unfolding in front of me. You can hire a boat from the
ghat,
to observe the sunset and the imminent celebrations.

I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and hired a boat to go on the Ganga. I decided that this day was important because I was going to cook, while floating atop the river. Many artists and poets have been inspired by this place and have created great pieces of art. I wanted to use the inspiration to create a dish worth the
ghats
of Varanasi. My producer, Anshul, first laughed off the idea. He then took up the challenge to execute the whole scene on a boat. There were two cameras, one on my boat and one on a boat floating next to me. It was a mini adventure, which turned out to be pretty successful. Even though the sunrise looks almost the same every day, this sunrise was special for all of us. We started shooting as the sun rose and the first light of the day blessed my cooking and my dish.

After absorbing the first few rays of the sun, I got down to cooking on my little boat. Even though my boat was stationary, the waves kept hitting my boat, making chopping slightly difficult. I was preparing
Kuliya Ki Chaat
(
Kuliya
means cups). Still very inspired from the previous night’s
puja
and watching all the
diyas
floating by, I wanted to shape the vegetables like tiny buckets resembling a
diya.
After cooking in the mountains, on a houseboat, on the highway, in a temple, at royal palaces, I think cooking while floating on the Ganga is a first.