Haat e Bajar e -- to the Market(The Roundup)

I am very happy with wonderful response that the Haat e Bajar e series got. My Dad is sure in seventh heaven that his pictures have been much appreciated. Thanks to all of You. Mucho Gracias to the few who took time to dig up pictures and archived posts of more colorful and vibrant local markets from different corners of India. If any of you have any more to share please drop me a line or leave a comment. I am particularly intrigued by the Allepey stores on water that Happy Cook had mentioned.

Read Part I & Part II of this series

Today will be a round up of the markets from my fellow bloggers and readers.


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We will start off with a lovely Guest Post and Pictures by Sra of When My Soup Came Alive. The local market she visited in Pune will come alive through her words and pics.

A few months ago, I was assigned to visit Pune for a day. It was a field visit, almost literally. Part of my job was to visit the wholesale market there. After a sumptuous meal the previous night, which consisted of endless platters of kababs and ended way past midnight, we were woken up early in the morning and taken to Gul Tekdi market yard.



As with most markets, it was bustling with activity even at that early hour of 7 a.m. Lorries full of produce, with brightly coloured tarpaulin on them, had already rolled in and were in various stages of unloading. Our hosts led us through to the office where our meeting was being held, but not before we took some time to look around the place. This is a typical Indian vegetable market, and for those who do not know what to expect, can be quite an assault on the senses at this scale. There is much dirt, many tomatoes squashed under the feet of those in a rush, hay, cabbage leaves, cauliflower stalks and other vegetable refuse strewn around. The elements act on all this to produce a pungent and acrid smell that can be quite unbearable.


Sometimes, you can smell the rain in the soil that clings to the roots and stalks of produce that just that morning has been wrested from the earth. For good measure, you can see cows feeding off mounds of this green debris, and where cows are, manure shall follow. Of course, the cows (and sheep and other animals) are not peculiar to markets, though. They are everywhere in our country. Many years ago a city bus driver, I seem to recall, sacrificed a few lives, maybe even his own, when he swerved sharply and fell into the river, trying to avoid hitting a member of the bovine breed that ambled onto the bridge, directly in his path. Like this. But I digress. The vegetables are spread in heaps on sacking, and merchants frown on customers picking and choosing good specimens. The wholesale customer from the neigbourhood markets spread across the city, or the buyers for the restaurants and hotels will not bother with that, but if it's you and I shopping there for a good deal, we will have to be content with only the financial advantage. Some sellers use the traditional balance, some use modern electronic weighing machines. Some dispense with the sacking for plastic crates.




Some vegetables do not get the courtesy of even a gunny bag on which they can be spread, they are piled on the ground, as you can see in this picture. The greens here include fenugreek (foreground), coriander at the far back, amaranth (green and magenta) and dill.



See the stacks of huge leaves in this picture . I think they are arbi (taro root/colocaesia) leaves, used to make the wonderful patra (patravade, patrode), a steamed and fried delicacy that consists of besan paste rolled up in these leaves, popular along the Konkan coast right up to Gujarat. I've only ever had it thrice, once inviting a rather serious glance when I asked for a third piece, and most recently, about eight months ago at a friend's place in Queens, bought from an Indian grocery in Jackson Heights, thawed and microwaved and eaten to heart's content.



You will also see people hauling loads on their heads, and vendors from around the city coming here with their carts, filling them up with a variety of vegetables which they will sell for a profit in other localities for the next few hours. In any Indian market, there will be much shrill and spirited bargaining. (next few images). In this particular Pune market, vegetables and fruit come in from a 100 km radius, and the early morning's din evens out to a more measured buzz by noon, when, I remember being told, the market is closed for the day.


Next is beautiful Pictures of Mysore Market from Asha of Foodies Hope



She says "When I was in India last year, I went to see the Mysore vegetable market as it holds many memories of childhood strolls there with my parents and that little bakery where I used to savory snacks and that little bookstore I used to run to buy story books". The Mysore Market sure looks clean and colorful, a place that I would have cherished similar memories of.


Pictures of her home town local grocery seller from Swagata, a reader who took time to send me these photos by mail. Do you see the bicycle laden with tender coconuts in the second pic ? I love that one.








Kalyan of Finely Chopped shares his Mumbai Fish Market stories. He writes "Then I chanced upon Pushpa (barely visible behind a cutomer in the picture) and her mother (in the dark sari in the picture below) at one corner of the market. As they say, when it comes to fish it is all about finding the right woman. And I did! Pushpa and her mom sell some of the best fish that we have bought." Read his post for a thorough guide to buying fish in Mumbai. Some of his are pics here







A beautiful Photo Essay of a vegetable market from Kolhapur home of Nupur of One Hot Stove.She says about a smiling old lady posing with a cauliflower, "That beautiful, bright and huge cauliflower certainly deserves to be shown off! Selling vegetables is hard work and a business with a very low profit margin and no retirement plan; this lady is still working when she looks like she deserves to retire and get some rest." The post has some great pictures, head over to see what it looks like to be in a local market in the west coast of India.

Haat e Bajar e -- to the Market (II)

The Smiling Vegetable Seller

As we moved places the character of the haat changed, some places they were more sunny and open air, at others they were very clean and neat but their very basic underlying characteristics remained same. They also gave way to more local bazars, vegetable sellers sitting at residential road corners with their vegetables was a common sight.

Flowers for Prayer share a spot with Vegetables for Mankind

My Baba now preferred them than going to the haat. He would get everything he wanted right around the street corner. These small vendors did not have a complex supply chain system. The farmers in the nearby villages and suburbs took the early morning local train and brought their produce to a nearby train station. The neighborhood vegetable sellers sourced the produce directly from these farmers and sold it to the customers.


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The Not too Happy Fruit Seller

With the IT boom pushing middle class Indians towards more prosperity, the retail industry in India slowly started changing. Organized retailing, though late has started encroaching the Indian market and more and more air conditioned super markets selling grocery and vegetables are sprouting in the metros. Interestingly Nilgiri's Super Markets are the oldest retail chain in India, going back as far as 1904.

The Fish Guy by the Road

I myself hadn't seen an air conditioned grocery market until I moved to B'lore in the late nineties. I was so taken by them that I would go to Nilgiris or Food World just to pick up some small stuff. Vegetables there were too expensive by my standard but I loved their ambiance as did many of my generation. For the freshest of veggies we would make once a week trip to the Madiwala Bajar on weekends which had the same character and earthiness as the haat of my childhood but only in Kannada.

The Push Cart Vegetable Vendor or the Thela

Convenience shopping in the form of Supermarkets must surely be a boon for a lot of the urban Indian population who want to shop in luxury and comfort. They might not be the best thing for the small farmers, the kirana stores(local grocers) and the fruit & vegetable seller at the corner though. With big names coming in to the retail grocery chains they are able to support a more elaborate supply chain management system which pushes the customers still further away from the producer.

Following are some pics of a wholesale bazaar that Sra of When My Soup Came Alive sent me. Most of the vegetables sold here come from a 100km radius, she says.

Birds Eye View of the Market

In spite of the big names of the retail chains, my Dad and most of his generation will still think twice before paying for a bunch of Asparagus at Reliance fresh. He prefers the vegetable seller round the corner as do 60% of the Indian population living in suburbs and villages.

What do you prefer ?

Further Read on Organized Retailing in India

Photos courtesy of my Dad from India. I guess these are his favorite sellers.

Haat e Bajar e -- to the Market (I)

The early morning ritual on most days were very similar for middle class Bengali Men in the late 70's and 80's. A cup of tea, a quick browse through crackling pages of the Statesman or the limp ones of AnandaBazar and then a stroll to the nearby bajar for the fresh vegetables and fish of the day. Since we were not in Bengal at that time, it was a little different in our home. If I rewind to a morning back long long back, I see my Baba or Kaku or my Grandpa walking us to the school bus stop and then strolling on to the haat, see I said haat and not bajar, with two cloth bags and a reusable plastic bag for fish.

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The haat, if defined in words, is a weekly marketplace where producers and vendors bring in their produce or products, either directly or through intermediaries to sell to the customers. But that is just words. That is fancy enough to describe Dilli Haat. But there was a much more intense social aspect to haat which can not be defined and you need to go to one of the smaller towns and scour around for a real haat to understand.

Garlic and Dry Red Chili

The haat in my home town was not a weekly thing, it was an every day semi permanent affair. Most of the fish, fresh fruit and vegetable vendors would wrap up and go home when the sun went higher up and the customers were few. The more permanent ones like the potato seller or the one with garlic and mounds of dry red chilis lingered on till the late afternoon. They would take a quick nap on a jute bag laid out on concrete, play a round of cards if the heat hung heavy and humid for sleep, chat and wait, wait for people to come by.

Dusty Potatoes

My Baba would occasionally take me to the haat, on weekends. I wouldn't say I enjoyed it a lot, it wasn't an open air haat and it was a bit dingy. Smells hung in cloisters. The sharp acidic smell of green lemon, the raw smell of squished tomatoes, smoky musty smell of dried turmeric and dry red chili mingled with the sweat and dust. It wasn't very clean either, with rotting leaves under the feet and squashed tomatoes on the pathway, you had to be careful about your step.

Brinjal Corner

Baba had his own choice set of sellers and he would proceed towards them, neglecting the cries of others, touting better cheaper produce. He had a relation set up with his potato seller and he wouldn't break the tie for such trifles.

Green Lemon

The haat was zonal, divided into zones according to the produce. The fresh vegetables were on the fringes, the fish sellers were all together, the dusty potatoes and onions were towards the center. It was hard competition since you were selling lemons as green and juicy as your rival sitting right there at your elbow. I still do not know how they survived and maintained a friendly relationship sitting close together and selling exactly similar products.

As we went around picking things, talking, discussing the days news with the sellers, the cloth bags would get fuller. Depending on the season, there would be tender drumsticks peeping out or fresh bunches of coriander. And then we would go home, not worrying about whether the vegetables had pesticide or their genes were modified by science but whether Ma would appreciate the days pick or scorn at our choices.

If you have a local Food Market, a bazaar or a haat near where you live, send me a pic or post on your own blog and leave a comment.


Pic Courtesy my Dad from the haat of my childhood hometown. All theses photos were taken by him

Incredible India ?

Saw this ad on You Tube. Absolutely had to share






And then there was this which I heard a month back. The Indians in this talk probably don't know about the India on the first Video

Rui Maacher Dumpukht -- Fish Dumpukht

Salmon Leather is the next big thing in Luxury design. Don't turn up your nose, for its exotic, expensive and making waves. It is supposed to be Eco-friendly, because it is the ultimate in waste reclamation. Salmon leather is made from a part of the fish which is usually discarded, so the raw material here is basically a waste product.(More here)

If this intrigues you and you want to be a part of the fishy fashion scene request your sample here at Nanai.

Today I did not cook salmon, but you can if you wish. Instead I made Rui Maach er Dum Pukht.

There are two things about this dish.

First, it is delicious. I have made this dish for 3 times now and unlike me , all the three times I stuck to the recipe and all 3 times it has turned out to be oh so delicious. Trust me, each morsel of this gravy mixed with rice is pure pleasure. The gravy is rich and yet not heavy. The flavor of the fried onions lends a sweetness that flits through your palate. The cashews lend a creaminess that you wouldn't think you could achieve with so little effort.

The recipe in itself is very simple and straightforward. I have so far used only Rui Maach, the sweet water Rohu that I get from my Bangladeshi fish seller. But I have a hunch that it will work well with salmon, only thing is with salmon I would spice it up and broil the fish pieces like I did here. I got this wonderful recipe from Kaberi's Kitchen and she herself has also done it only with Rohu so far.

Second, though the name says DumPukht this is NO Dum Pukht. DumPukht is a technique of slow oven cooking, that is cooking on very low flame, mostly in sealed containers, allowing the meats to cook, as much as possible, in their own juices and bone-marrow. As Kaberi herself says, the original recipe called for slow cooking but to avoid raw smell of fish she did it her way. I don't think fish needs a lot of slow cooking anyways and so of course I followed her way.


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Rui Macher Dumpukht

What You Need

6-7 steak pieces of sweet water fish like Rohu or Buffalo Carp

Onion ~ 1 cup chopped
Ginger ~ 1"piece
Green Chili ~ 4
Cashew ~ 1/3 cup. I used broken cashews



Bay Leaf ~ 2 small
Dry Red Chili ~ 2 whole

Yogurt ~ 1/2 cup
Kashmiri Mirch or Paprika ~ 1/4 -- 1/2 tsp
Turmeric

Garam Masala ~ 1/4 tsp
Salt ~ to taste
Sugar ~ 1/4-1/2 tsp


Prepping the Fish

Wash the steak pieces of fish, clean and remove scales if needed. Marinate the fish pieces with little turmeric and salt and keep aside for 15-20 mins. Heat Oil in a Kadhai and shallow fry the fish till they are light golden with little browning on both sides

Making the Gravy

Fry 1 cup of chopped red onion till soft and translucent.

Make a paste of
fried onion,
4 green chili,
1" ginger peeled and chopped,
1/3 cup of broken cashew

Heat While Oil

Add 2 whole Dry Red chili and 2 small(or 1 large) bay leaf

Add the paste. Add about 1/4 tsp of sugar and fry the paste till you see oil separating out from the masala.

In a bowl beat 1/2 cup of thick yogurt to a smooth consistency. Add 1/2 tsp of Kashmiri Mirch or Paprika and 1/4 tsp of Turmeric to it and mix well

Lower the heat and gradually add the yogurt to the pan. Do not add all yogurt at once . At low heat mix the yogurt with the masala paste and cook for a couple of minutes.

Add about 2/3 cup of water and let the gravy simmer. Once the gravy comes to a boil slide in the fish pieces. Cook for a 2-3 minutes till gravy reduces to desired thickness. Sprinkle 1/4 tsp of Garam Masala and gently mix. Cover and let it sit to integrate all the flavors.

Soy Mushroom Pulao

The Lovely Pulao

What kind of a cook are you ? Are you the perfect kind, the ones who have perfected their techniques and recipes such that each time they make a Matar Paneer or Baingan Bharta, the outcome is exactly same. That the result does not vary if the quantity changes from 5 to 50, it remains exactly same day in and day out.

Me, I like to say I am a romantic cook, that sounds better than whimsical. I cook as my mood dictates, as the sun shines or the rain falls, as the kids torment or play happily. I will put a pinch of this here, a whiff of that there. I will put in ingredients that the recipe might not call for and skip something listed. I will smell and sniff and taste and depending on whether I have a cold or not, the dish might turn out to be
a) as delicious as last week
b) delicious but different from last week
c) un palatable.
Ok, just kidding, I will salvage most of the un-palatable ones but such things will happen.

It is blogging that has kind of restrained me, tried to straitjacket me, forced me to follow the recipes that I have jotted down here and so these days my Palak Paneer will turn out like before but only if the laptop has power and is not being used by the older kid.


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Take last week for example. Sometime around mid last week there was Saraswati Puja( more here), the day we pay our obeisance to the Goddess of Learning. Learning anything, something being BIG in Bengali households, the Goddess Saraswati is paid due respect in every home on this day. I had plans for the same but mornings being very hectic around here, I postponed it to evening.

Though we are talking Halwa, this IS a Pulao

Come evening I realized that to do the Puja I need to offer Prasad, after all what is a Puja without some sweet prasad. In haste I set off to make a Sooji(Rawa) Halwa. Now guys, sooji halwa is not exactly the thing you need to learn at Cordon Bleu. It is supposed to be easy peasy and you should be able to sail through the process and create an aromatic halwa even with a toddler hoisted on your hip.

So that is exactly what I did. I picked up the toddler who was trying to climb up her Mom's legs, a child eager to learn techniques of "making sooji halwa" early on and with her perched on my ample hip, I proceeded to make the halwa. Before even I knew it, I could sense the halwa was going the wrong way. It wasn't roasted to pale brown, it had a freaking white color, the sugar was not enough and the milk was slowly making it into a lump.

It was a halwa that would have scarred the genteel Goddess. It was so bad that the rawa must have been ashamed to find itself in such a state.

I was having doubts 'bout offering it to the academic Lady of Learning. Who cares I thought ? I have learned all my life's lessons and there isn't much that Goddess Saraswati can help me learn more anyway. But then you never know. What if MIT offers me a scholarship for research on blogging tomorrow, I wouldn't refuse, would I ?

So we got rid of that halwa and got some sweets from the store and appeased the Goddess, hope she didn't mind and shall continue to enlighten me.

There I told you it IS NOT about the halwa, it IS the Pulao

But this post is not about halwa. It is about a Pulao, a pulao that has turned out well almost always. A easy One Pot Dish that saves me on many busy days, days when I have time to blog but alas no time to cook.

I have made it as the Soy Peas Pulao earlier, a version based on Tarla Dalal's Recipe. But this time I made some changes as is my nature and added mushroom and vegetables along with soy chunks. If you notice keenly, I have also changed the spices a little. This made the dish Soy Mushroom Pulao and it tasted so very good. I made it again this week and again I made some changes, I added asparagus, next week we shall see...

Soy Mushroom Pulao

What You Need


Uncooked Rice ~ 1 & 1/2 cup of Basmati Rice
Soya Chunks ~ 1/2 cup of Nutrela Soya Chunks
Peas and Carrots (fresh or frozen) ~ 3/4 cup
Mushroom -- 1 cup sliced button mushrooms

Onions ~ 1 cup chopped

For tempering

Cumin seeds (jeera) ~ 1 teaspoon
Cinnamon (dalchini) ~ 1" stick
Cloves (lavang) ~ 2
Bay leaf ~ 2
Cardamom (elaichi) ~ 2

For masala

Turmeric powder (haldi) ~ ¼ teaspoon

Garam masala ~ 1/2 teaspoon or fresh Nutmeg Powder 1/4 tsp
Coriander (dhania) powder ~ ½ tsp (You can use 1 tsp of this, but I kept it low)
Cumin (jeera) Powder ~ 1/2 tsp

Oil ~2 tbsp
Ghee ~ ½ - 1 tsp to smear the rice (optional)
salt to taste
Sugar -- 1/4 tsp

To be ground into a chilli-garlic paste

3 fat cloves garlic
3 whole red chillies
1" ginger peeled and chopped

How I Did It

Prep

Wash 1 & 1/2 cups of Basmati rice in several changes of water and spread it out to dry for 15-20 mins.

Make a smooth paste of
3 cloves of garlic,
3 Dry Red Chili( heat alert, use less if needed !!!),
1" peeled and chopped ginger
with little water

Soak 1/2 cup of soy chunks in hot salted water till the chunks swell and become soft. Once they are soft squeeze excess water out and keep aside

Start Cooking

Heat 2 tbsp of White Oil in a Kadhai or Saute Pan

Temper the oil with

2 Cardamom/Elaichi,
2 Clove/Laung,
1" stick of Cinnamon,
2 small Bay Leaf,
approx. 1 tsp of Cumin Seeds/Jeera

When the spices start dancing, add 1 cup of finely chopped red onion. Fry the onion till it turns a pinkish brown

Now add the chili-ginger-garlic paste and saute for couple more minutes till the wonderful garlic flavor hits you

Add 3/4 cup of chopped carrots and peas. I usually have a frozen mix of peas and carrots and use that. Saute for 2 minutes

Add 1 cup of sliced button mushrooms and follow with the soy chunks. Saute for next 2-4 minutes till there is no raw smell of the mushrooms and there is no more water released from the mushroom.

Now add
1/2 tsp of Cumin Powder
and 1/2 tsp of Corriander powder
and little turmeric.
With a sprinkle of water fry the masala till the masala coats the vegetables, mushroom and soy chunks. Note: Add more spices if you have more veggies and mushroom

Add the rice. Fry the rice till you get a beautiful aroma.

Now the rice needs to cook. For 1 & 1/2 cups of rice, I add about 2&1/2-3 cups of water. Add salt to taste. I also add about 1/4 tsp of grated fresh nutmeg. This lends a wonderful flavor. If you don't have Nutmeg add 1/2 tsp Garam Masala instead. Mix everything gently and let the rice cook .
Note: You might need little more water if the water has dried up and rice is not cooked.

When the rice is done, add 1/2 tsp of ghee to boost the flavor and 1/4 tsp of sugar and mix gently at low heat. Turn off the heat,cover and let it sit for 10 minutes and then serve with some cool raita.

Mung Bean Soup -- Moong Dal Ayurveda way

Mung Bean is BIG in Ayurveda. As I read through I see whole green mung(moong) dal referred to having magical and powerful effects. It seems to be as magical as the magical bean of Jack and the Bean Stalk.

"Mung bean soup pacifies all three doshas and is nutritious yet easy to digest. Mung Bean Soup recipe is used to clear even the most chronic, troublesome digestive issues and used to enhance overall health and vitality."

Really ??? You say to yourself. Those tiny shiny green beans and they want you to make a soup of it, a dal actually, and that dal is supposed to get rid of the toxins in your body ??? Whoa, and you fall right into it and before you know you have this big pot of green moong dal bubbling on the stove and you are having a bowl full of it everyday. It does not exactly detox if you follow it up with cut mirchi bhaji and samosas with your afternoon chai but what the...

Actually the green mung(moong) dal is pretty delicious. Made the Ayurvedic way without the onions and garlic, makes it not rich but very tasty. I deviated from the recipe a little and followed my Mom's way,added vegetables like cauliflower and carrots. I think greens like spinach would be a very good idea too.

The split and hulled moong dal, which is the yellow moong dal has equal magical properties and you can use that instead of whole green mung beans. The yellow moong dal cooks faster and is also easier to digest.

When you are making the mung bean soup and you want to follow the Ayurveda detox regime you need to determine which category you fall in. Depending on the dosha you have you have to use different spices. The recipe I have here is loosely based on Kapha Balancing Mung Bean Soup. I have used whole green mung and also the pressure cooker. You can use yellow moong and do it in a regular pot.


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Green Mung Bean Soup

Wash and soak 1 cup of whole green moong beans for couple of hours or overnight. You can skip the soaking if in a hurry.

Pressure cook the beans with double the water, little salt and 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder

Heat Ghee in a soup pot. I used Olive Oil about 3 tsp

Temper the oil with
1/2 tsp of Whole Cumin/Whole Jeera
1/2 tsp of Whole Fennel/Whole Saunf,
6-7 whole Fenugreek seeds/Whole Methi seeds
and a pinch of asafoetida/Hing.

If adding vegetables add them now and saute for a few minutes

Add the cooked mung beans

Add 1" ginger grated or pounded in a mortar and pestle

Add 1/2 tsp of fresh corriander powder and salt to taste. Mix well. Add about 2 cups of water and let the dal come to a boil. At this point you can blend the dal to make a puree, I do not.

Adjust for seasonings. Squeeze juice of a lime quarter and enjoy hot.

Alternately

Skip step 2 i.e. do not pressure cook the dal at the beginning. Instead start the whole process in a pressure cooker and pressure cook the dal after adding all the spices.

I am sending this off to MLLA -19 hosted by Simple Indian Food and the brainchild of Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook

Detoxifying Tea -- the Cleanse

Yesterday I had two uninterrupted hours to myself, bang in the middle of the day, a rare opportunity on a week day. I could have taken a much needed shower, cooked something more elaborate than serving up masoor dal, baked tilapia and aloo-gajar yet again or at least cooked something, anything. But did I do that ? No.

Instead I googled for "detox diet ayurveda 3 days". Don't ask me why. Maybe I overdid the Biryani that we got on Sunday and the body was sending toxic signals.At least I didn't ask for "detox diet in a packet". Ok hold on, let me google this. Guess what there IS a detox diet in a packet, what fun, packaged, processed and with all the chemicals.

But the ayurveda detox thingy is not easy. They don't do things fast, to do it the right way, you need 60 whole days, S-I-X-T-Y, who has that ? But they have a point, the body is like your child, no point hurrying it, it is best to go with the flow, to let things balance out gradually.

"A complete ayurvedic cleansing program includes 15 days of preparation and 45 days of actual cleansing. Ayurvedic healers recommend paying special attention to your diet during these two phases to avoid overtaxing your digestion and to enable purification to occur easily and completely. Maharishi Ayurveda does not recommend fasting or entirely liquid diets such as juices, because that may cause your digestive agni to become imbalanced."

Why Do You Need to Detox ?

According to Ayurveda, there are three different types of toxins that can impact the physiology: ama -- the waste product of incomplete digestion, amavisha -- the reactive form of ama i.e ama + other doshas and garvisha -- external toxins from the environment, exposure to chemicals etc..

Ayurveda recommends a program of internal cleansing at every change of seasons to clear the channels of the body of toxins that may have built up over the previous season. Detox is particularly recommended at the time when winter is phasing into spring.

The Detox Routine according to Ayurveda

The following is a general guideline of what to eat and to avoid during this phase.

To know more in details about the kind of fruits and vegetables that you can eat depending on your body type, check this Food Guidelines

Along with the diet you also need to follow a routine of sleep, exercise and massaging. And then there is the eating habit you need to follow, of never skipping a meal and eating slowly, chewing each morsel.

Basically "the Ayurveda Detox Diet is what your Mom has been telling you since you were six and you never listened until Google told you to".

But seriously what I like about the detox plan is the use of spices in cooking the vegetables.

"Ginger, turmeric, coriander, fennel and fenugreek help open up the channels of the body and support the flushing of toxins via the skin, urinary tract, colon and liver"

These were the main spices (along with Nigella seeds and mustard seeds) that were used in the everyday Bengali Food that my Ma made. She did not use garlic or onions much and neither does everyday home cooked Bangla meals call for that. Everyday Bengali food is light, subtly spiced, not much garlic, onion, red chili or cream and tends to retain the texture and taste of the vegetables. Ahh, if we could just add some fish to that detox diet, I could have sealed the deal

Main Reference: Ayurvedic Detox Diet -- Maharishi Ayurveda

Though I don't have the determination or resources to go on a sixty day detox diet right now and I need to use up the 20% discount coupons at the local restaurants, I decided to do my body some good by making and sipping the Detoxifying Tea throughout the day.

This is a very light and extremely easy to make tea. A big cup of this and small sips throughout the day will help you feel good about yourself and you will also get all the water. Just drinking this tea alone will do nothing to detox I am sure but here's to a better beginning.


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Detox Tea

Original Recipe

Bring to boil two quarts of water in the morning.

Add 1/4 t. whole cumin,
1/2 t. whole coriander,
1/2 t. whole fennel to the water and let steep for ten minutes with the lid on. I also added some fresh grated ginger and 3-4 Tulsi(Holy Basil) leaves.

Strain out the spices and pour the water into a thermos.

Sip throughout the day.

Disclaimer: I am not a Doctor. Biology was not even amongst my main 4 subjects in High School

Kundru Posto -- Tindora in Poppy Seeds Paste

I am a sucker for Posto. Even as a kid, I loved Posto more than anyone at home. Posto or the tiny beige seeds of Indian Poppy(Khus Khus), ground and seasoned with mustard oil, green chili and little coarse salt, the Kancha Posto bata was a favorite. The fresh smell of the wet ground posto, ground with little water on the shil-nora the black pock marked stone, was like the smell of the wet earth after the first rain. When this ground paste was mixed with a liberal sprinkle of golden yellow pungent mustard oil and slit fiery green chilis the simple paste became filled with a sharp new taste. With white rice it was heaven. The bare wet ground posto formed the base of several other dishes in Posto loving Bengal. The mornings my Ma doled out those fine beige poppy seeds to be soaked in water and later to be made into a paste by the daily house help, I would be ecstatic. I knew there would be alu posto, posto'r bara(poppy seed paste mixed with rice flour etc. and made into fritters) and always a little posto bata waiting for me at dinner. My Probashi and Ghoti family teased me for my love of Posto. They said, that I should be married off to a Bangal and then I could have as much Posto as I liked.Being away from Bengal for long, they didn't know that Posto or Poppy seeds was not a staple for the Bangal, in fact for people from East Bengal(now Bangladesh) Posto is not even deemed as important as it is to People from West Bengal. Posto was actually the food of the people of Rarh, the "land of red soil" on the westernmost corner of West Bengal. More so for the people of Bankura and Birbhum district in this area. This region has a very dry and hot climate and they believe posto has the effect of a coolant and protects them against the heat. In the days when there was no restriction in cultivating Indian poppy and farmers in this area grew poppy in abundance, the posto seeds became an integral part of their diet. A mid morning meal of posto and bhaat protected the farmers from the searing, dry heat as they worked in the open fields. As the price of the posto or Indian Poppy seeds has been rising, the poor in Bengal can hardly afford an ingredient which once formed a key part of their meal.

Now to the Kundru Posto or Tindora in Poppy Seeds Paste. 

Kundru or Tindora was not vegetable common in Bengal. I can barely recall any Kundru-is dish from my childhood. In fact Tindora is or was as far removed from the Bengali Food Culture as is Posto Bata from the Punjabis. I started cooking Tindora or Kundru only after coming to the US, sometimes you need to travel miles to recognize something that was once close to you.But even then I made it not too often. 

When I saw Sharmila's Kundru Sabzi, I loved the idea of tossing the vegetable with so many spices and then cooking it. And then I also loved how a friend made fried Tindora with some whole poppy seeds sprinkled on top. 

So why not make a Kundru Posto I thought and as a fusion why not toss the Kundru with some spices before cooking ? And that is how we made Kundru Posto or Tindora in Poppy seeds paste, an inter-region marriage of a vegetable and a condiment from two different regions of India. A bowlful of this vegetable followed with a bowl of dal is a satisfying meal by itself. But to get the full flavor and taste you need to eat it with white rice Read more...

Kundru Posto

Sadly I have no measurements and will update this recipe when I remember to take measures next time

Chop Kundru or Tindora vertically in 4 longitudinal slices. 

Chop Potato in long half-moon slices

In a bowl toss the chopped kundru/tindora with little cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder , dry mango powder(aam choor), little turmeric and salt. 

Heat Mustard Oil in a Kadhai. 

Add the Tindora and saute for 5-6 minutes until it is soft. Remove and keep aside.

Now temper the oil with Nigella Seeds/Kalonji and Dry Red Chili When the spices pop, add the potatoes and saute with a sprinkle of Turmeric powder .

Saute for a 4-5 minutes. Add the sauteed Tindora. Cover with a lid and saute intermittently till kundru softens. 

Add poppy seeds paste, salt and a little sugar, and mix well. Add a little water and cook till the tindora is cooked and the water has dried up. Adjust for salt and seasonings.

Other similar Posto dishes: Alu Posto Jhinge Chingri Posto

Trivia:In 1757 the last nawab of Bengal was dethroned by the British East India Company, who concentrated on maximizing the cultivation of opium in Bengal. The drug promised to generate huge profits, not only in the local market, but also in a far bigger one—China. The company’s greed was so great that at one point they forced farmers in much of Bengal to devote all their arable land to its cultivation. So it’s not surprising that the posto seeds produced in this enormous poppy-growing zone became such an important element in the local diet. (From this lovely article by Chitrita Banerjee)

Kundru Posto Not

Ok, so that 7 Day Challenge I was doing last week didn't work. I mean didn't work as in I fell off the wagon *THWACK* 3 days into it. Not my fault really, it was the hub.

He went and got goat meat on Day 4. Who does that, tell me ? If I am saying "lean meat" or "no meat" how does it point to this. But then again he did it for Baby A's nanny, who is going away on a vacation and so we wanted to have a special dinner for her before she left. On the aside, we also wanted her to cook that goat meat, 'coz she makes it real good. So long story short, I had goat meat with white rice on Day 4 which is a sacrilege if you are doing "7 Day of No Carb" and which thus declares the whole Challenge null and void.

But seriously we all need a lifestyle change. Boys in the age of 6 to 19 in this country, have an obesity problem and this year the data shows that though the obesity epidemic in the US had reached a plateau, boys in this age are an exception. Now why do you think it is ONLY boys in this age group are affected ? What about girls ? It is not that I want girls to go and eat junk and be obese but really what is the difference in their metabolism that is making the poor boys fatter ? I think teenage girls have a controlled weight more due to societal pressure than a healthier lifestyle and I really don't know which one is better.

One thing I have noticed though, other than the daily intake of unhealthy foods by kids here there is very little in terms of exercise in the schools, especially in the winter months. As a kid, our school had an hours recess and 2 huge playgrounds, not to mention the basketball court. Everyday after lunch we would play some game that required a lot of running and sweating.

In sharp contrast here in my daughter's school, the recess during the winter months is spent in the classroom doing sedentary work. There is little or no regular exercise at home either, now if you add McD to all this, what do you get -- OBESITY.

But all is not lost for the boys. The Y chromosome which appeared to be in "an evolutionary freefall" with just 70 or 80 genes left, is not receding. Even with the less number of genes that it has right now, Y chromosome is evolving at a faster and rapid pace. So Men do change, hmmmmmpf !!!!

I liked what one of the commenters said in this article "So, this means that female genes help us trace where we've been and male genes can tell us where we're heading to"

Now back to food. I had Kundru Posto in my draft today waiting to be posted . But I am not going to post it. Instead I will ask you to take a moment and spare a thought for Haiti. They need clean water, food and shelter. In short they need your help. If you want to make donations to charities involved in the earthquake relief effort at Haiti, you can select one from the list here.

To make donations to Haiti Earthquake Children's Fund go here

You can also donate for a shelterbox, more information at Jugalbandi.

The recipe, we will do that tomorrow. Oh and no pithe puli this Sankranti, maybe next time.

Dry Roasted Spicy Chickpea Salad -- Going local ?

Prelude

I am the kind of consumer who is pro organic because my primary concern is safety in food. Though due to cost and restricted availability I do not buy everything organic.

I did not rely much on "local food" because I do not have access to good locally grown produce. The nearby Farmers market that I go to have lovely produce, very good price but produce is never ever seasonal. If I compare their produce to this Harvest Dates for Jersey, it can only mean produce there is NOT local. Neither is the produce there certified organic. I am confused.

During summer the only local vegetables that I have seen in limited quantity(as sold in Wegmans or Whole Foods) is Yellow Squash, Zucchini, Tomatoes and Corn.

So if I want to eat Local I have a choice of very few vegetables and that too only during 5-6 months of the year. Not practical.

After I expressed my own doubts about Local Food on reading Indosungod's very informative post, I read the comments and felt I needed to know more and re-evaluate my decision . I then ventured into a little more research. Disclaimer: The following is information that I have gathered over the internet and then my interpretation.

Why we should buy Local

Local is really important as a deep investment into your local economy and developing a relationship with the person who produces your food. Local food is also fresher and more richer in nutrients. Proponents of Local Food say "Local" is the new "Organic". In an ideal world food would have been "Local and Organic". There would be no other kind and no discussion.

Is Local Sustainable ?

While dreams of our future food system may rely on the romantic image of local farmers, the reality is: this model(Local or Organic or both) can't do what we need it to do, that is, feed billions of people. From TreeHugger. But really is there an alternative, organic farming method that is sustainable ?

But Is Local always Safe and Organic ?

This largely depends on where you are and also on the trust relationship you have with the grower. If I don't know the farmer or am not sure if there is a vigilant body checking the farmer's activity, I cannot be sure of his method of growing food. The CSAs or the CoOps are more trustworthy.(Read Times Article)
The trust and the local farming practice also also depends on the country where you are. We tend to think of only the Western World when discussing such stuff.

Local Farming and Environment

It is not necessarily true that Local Food has a lower carbon footprint. More than transport, methods of growing impacts "food miles". It is likely to be more environmentally friendly for tomatoes to be grown in Spain and transported to the UK than for the same tomatoes to be grown in greenhouses in the UK requiring electricity to light and heat them.(Read more)

Local Farming and Third World Countries

If people in developed nations are convinced to eat only locally grown food what happens to the farmer in the third world country whose income is from exporting his produce. Afghanistan produces some of the world’s tastiest fruits and nuts. If these do not reach the world market how does that country better its economy ?
Also take an ordinary farmer in India. The prices of locally produced food is usually higher because they are not subsidized. Because of WTO's free trade policies it will be very hard for a poor farmer in India to compete his local grown produce with imported ones. So then is local food only a privilege of people in wealthier nations ?
I don't have much knowledge on this and really would love to know more about how local farming works in developing nations

How does Local fare in a Global Flat world

Local had always been how produce was grown when I was a kid. Food was seasonal and my Mother did without tomatoes and cauliflower in summer and didn't make mango chutney in winter. We waited for the fruit and vegetable of the season and accepted nature's way. Now with world going flat food is not only non-seasonal, it has also gone global. So even if you have moved countries and shifted loyalties you can still eat your jackfruit curry for lunch and suck on an alphonso mango after dinner. How do you put a stop to that craving and go local ?

Conclusion as a Consumer

"If the average meat eater gave up meat once a week that would be the equivalent of eating all of your food local."
—James McWilliams, author of Just Food: Where Locavores Get it Wrong and How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly. From The TakeAway.

Eat Organic and Local as and when you can but they truly might not be the answer to building a sustainable food system. For each of us eating local or organic may mean different thing and I think it is largely a personal choice.
I was reading a book by Bourdain and there he talked about a sushi place in New York, the most expensive restaurant where they fly in fish from Japan every single day. If patrons of this sushi place, the rich & the famous of NYC, drive a 3 hrs distance from the city to a farm to get their local produce because buying local makes them feel warm and fuzzy and "in with the crowd", I will think the idea is somewhere defeated.

References from

Wiki -- Local Food
Wiki -- Organic Food
Eating Better than Organic -- Times
TreeHugger
Food That Travels Well - NY Times

Now back to these lovely dry roasted chickpeas spiced with Indian spices. They are great as a snack and also makes for a very healthy and satisfying meal. That they look pretty is an added bonus.


Read more...

Inspired by Kalyn's Roasted Chickpeas with Moroccan Spice.

Dry Roasted Spicy Chickpea Salad

Wash canned chickpeas in several changes of water. I used a 29oz can of Goya Garbanzo

In a bowl toss garbanzo beans with
1 & 1/2 - 2 tsp Dry Mango Powder,
1/2 - 1 tsp Red Chili Powder,
1/2 - 1 tsp fresh Coriander powder(grind coriander seeds in your spice grinder),
little Kitchen King Masala(optional),
salt and
1 tsp Olive Oil

Heat oven to 350F

Put the chickpeas in a single layer on a tray and bake for 30-40 mins or so.

To eat as a salad, toss together the roasted chickpeas with some peeled and chopped cucumber,chopped red onions and finely chopped green chili. Drizzle 1 tsp olive oil and combine. Add salt and pepper if needed

This made for a very filling and also satisfying packed lunch for work. Though I suggest that it tastes better when had fresh off the oven and tossed as a salad.

Mr. Pinto ? Bean there Done That

A couple of days back I was driving to the mall with Big Sis S in the backseat. A lot of things were going through my mind including how best to avail of the discount at Bath & Body Works.

When S from the back squeals: "What is WOW"?

Me: "That's a gym."

S: "Why does it say Wow ?"

Preoccupied Me: "Dunno". Actually it is "Work Out World"

S: "I know. Wow as in WOW you are so fat, you will become thin if you join me !!!"

Me: "!!!"

I need a WOW factor in my life. I need catcalls, to fit into skinny jeans, to wear fitted tees. I have a mid age crisis, I think I am sixteen. No seriously who am I kidding, I don't want any of those, I just want to be fit enough to survive, sitting down cross-legged on the floor 560 times, bending down to pick up toys 250 times, going up&down 100 times, kneeling down to mop a spill 90 times like any other Mom does. For all else there is Photoshop.

To achieve that I have two options. I either take Google Ad's tip that keeps appearing on my sidebar like a bad dream or I take this month to eat well, well as in healthy, more vegetables, more fish, more fruits, less meat, no sugar, no processed food, no grains well. Since I did this 7 Day Challenge last year, I keep going back to it every month or so. Even a week of this restricted eating helps me feel better about myself.

Pssst, but seriously how does Google know that I need tips and maybe more to get a flat belly ?

Whenever I have such healthy eating agenda on mind I browse through Kalyn's blog. She has wonderful SBD friendly recipes and so does Sig. This Pinto Bean recipe that I have today is adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen's this recipe.

Now I had never been to Rubios and so had no clue what she was talking about. But then again I had never tried cooking pinto beans either. But all that talk about creamy, "not refried" beans hooked me on. I loosely adapted her recipe and now am a big fan of Rubios, wherever it is. A creamy chunky bowl of these beans will fill you up and satisfy your hunger as well as taste cravings.


Read more...

Creamy Pinto Bean

I have no measurements and you shouldn't really need any. Follow Kalyn's recipe to cook and mash the beans.

Soak Dried Pinto Beans in water overnight or for at least 12 hrs. Note: If not soaking, cooking time will be longer

Cook them in pressure cooker with salt, coarsely ground black pepper and little of finely minced garlic. I had to pressure cook mine twice about 10-15 mins each time. You need the beans to be really soft, falling apart kind so if it is not done after the first 15 minutes do it again in second stage.

With the back of a spatula or a potato masher vigorously mash the beans until they are almost mashed but about 25% of them are still chunky. You don't want to mash all of them. Note: You can make a big batch of this and freeze. When needed spice it up. I would suggest not to add garlic if you intend to freeze, it might become too garlicky

Now comes my own story of spicing up everything

Heat olive oil in a deep bottom pot

Add some sliced onions and minced garlic and fry till onion is soft and translucent.

Add Pav Bhaji masala and a little red chili powder. Add the cooked and mashed beans and mix well. Adjust for salt and seasoning. Add a little water and let the beans simmer and thicken. Stir in between till you feel the creaminess is perfect.

While serving garnish with roasted garlic pods and chopped coriander. You can squirt a little lime juice if you wish. That red sumac on top is just for the pictures, you don't really need it.

More healthy eats



Trivia:The pinto bean (Spanish: frijol pinto, literally "painted bean") is named for its mottled skin. It is the most common bean in the United States and northwestern Mexico.Rice and pinto beans served with cornbread or corn tortillas are often a staple meal for the poor where there is limited money for meat; the amino acids in this combination make it a complete protein source

Kolkata Egg Roll -- quick easy version

Vacation over for Big Sis S and kind of for us. Big Sis S proclaimed that it was her best vacation ever and why, 'coz she was allowed to stay up til midnight almost every day of last week. With a party almost every other day, a sleepover, a late night show of "The Princess and the Frog", dancing past midnight on New Year Eve and a birthday bash at her favorite jumping place, no doubt she had fun. It turns out Baby A likes a lot of hullabaloo and jumping. She was sleepy and yet dancing with the older kids on 31st.I had a very relaxed time too, watched "3 Idiots" and ate, ate and ate. Did I say I ate, a lot.

I seriously wanted to go on a diet of nothing but salads from Sunday but then D made these delicious egg rolls and I thought "the salad can wait to add woe to Monday morning blues, why spoil Sunday".

Egg Rolls are the most popular of all street foods in Kolkata. In fact "phuchka"(golgappa) and "egg roll" were the only street food that I was allowed to eat as an angsty teenager. "Phuchka" was more of a girlie kind of a thing and though some of my friends survived on a diet of "phuchka" and "tak water"(sour tamarind water), I wasn't one of them. When it came to egg roll it was another story. I can give anything for the authentic egg roll.

Even now when I go back home, the first thing I reach out for after the jet lag period is the egg roll at the street corner. That upsets my now mollycoddled tummy, I take entroquinols and after the dosage is done, again reach out for the egg roll.

All egg rolls or egg chicken rolls are not created equal and so do not spoil your senses by chomping on a egg roll at a tom-dick-harry place. If in Kolkata go out with a connoisseur to the right place. Hot Kati on the corner of Park Street was my personal favorite. Their rolls were oh so good. My Baba used to get egg roll from a place near home (some branch of Rahmania) which was also great. D's town has its own favorite egg roll stall and they swear by it.Every para(neighborhood) has their own famous egg roll counter and also their very own famous phuchkawala and you need to know the locals for that information.Update 01/07: Jhantu's Roll on the corner of NMC and Brabourne is another one that we would haunt often.

Here in the US, the Kati Roll Company in NYC makes great egg rolls. But everyone does not live in NYC so then what does one do ? You make your own of course. D makes great egg rolls, really really great. Not only me, everyone else who has had it, loves it. It is very close to the authentic one and his version is the quickest and easiest . He uses Kawan Malaysian paratha as the base and so no doubt he serves delicious rolls in less than 6 min flat.

Kolkata style egg roll is the perfect fast food in my imagination. Standing on the corner of a busy city street, biting into an egg roll, tearing the wrapper around, gulping a coke on the way back from work or college is something I would love to do maybe everyday. Ok, except the busy city part, that I don't like.

Get this recipe in my Book coming out soon. Check this blog for further updates. 

Follow this step by step recipe and you can make and enjoy yours too.


Read more...

Kolkata Style Egg Roll

Buy Malayasian Paratha. This is really IMPORTANT. The quality of the Paratha plays an important part in egg roll. If making your own paratha, make the dough with Maida(All Purpose Flour) and enough shortening so that the paratha is very soft and pliable, You can use tortilla or the regular parathas, but it WILL NOT taste the same. The Malaysian parathas are very soft and make perfect rolls

Heat a tawa or a griddle on the stove. Put the paratha and cook both sides. Remove and keep aside

Beat one egg + 1 tbsp whole milk + little salt

Smear the tawa/griddle/frying pan with little oil and pour the egg. Spread it out in a circle.

Once the egg is a little cooked on the edges, put the paratha on top

When the edges of the egg starts browning flip the paratha + egg.Give it a couple of seconds

Remove and assemble the filing. The filling goes only on the egg side.The standard filing for a Kolkata egg roll is thinly sliced red onions, thinly chopped green chili and thinly sliced cucumber. Squirt a little lime juice on them and put the filling on the center. Add tomato ketchup in a thin squiggly line along the center.

Roll, wrap it up in a foil or any paper, even newsprint and eat.


Check out other egg rolls around the blogs:

Sudeshna's Egg Roll

Mandira's Tortilla egg roll

Egg Roll Hangouts in Mumbai -- Kalyan likes fried onions in his roll


Trivia:The egg roll with chicken or other such stuffing is also known as kati roll. Kati roll is street-food originating from Kolkata, India. Its original form was a kati kabab enclosed in a paratha, but over the years many variants have evolved all of which now go under the generic name of Kati Roll.