Eat it bland, eat it pickled

Think of a farmer hoeing or weeding in the sun for hours. He is hungry and thirsty but does not want to stop for refreshment just as yet. He simply reaches for a handful of tiny, pale peach-coloured cucumber-like fruits, growing wild on the farm boundary. The flesh is bland with just a hint of sweetness, but its intense aroma, resembling that of ripe muskmelon, soothes him. The core is watery, sour and tangy—just what one needs to satisfy the cravings.

Gulp it down the cool way

Bite into anything in this richly forested taluk of Karnataka and be sure it would be organic. Chemical cultivation practices have not been introduced in Sirsi. What’s more, all the healthy traditional food practices of Malnad, disappearing fast elsewhere, are retained here in near-exact form.

Food for warmth

Bite into bitters

For those living close to nature, the monsoon is the season of contradictions. It is the season of crops growing and of hopes for food security in the following year, but it is also the season when foodgrains run short.

Taste of Burma in New York

I have a soft corner for Burma and its people. And this love stems from my love and adoration for Aung San Suu Kyi. I have been following the Burmese freedom fighter ever since I got to know of her in school as my father was and is an ardent supporter of Burma. And my insistence on referring to the place as “Burma” and not “Myanmar”, which is a new name given by the military junta, is my way of showing my abhorrence for the military rule and my support for Suu Kyi and all that she stands for.

Afghan ravioli with mint

In most Afghan households, winter is heralded by the strong aroma of fried mint leaves that lingers till late in the night. The smell is a sure give away of what a family has had for dinner—Aashak, a speciality dish of Kabul comprising dumplings and noodles.

A thousand utility leaf

We were staying in a small coastal town of Karwar in Karnataka, about seven kilometres from south of Goa. My two-year-old daughter was not able to acclimatise. I was giving her anti-allergics and antibiotics, but she kept catching cold. One day, my friend in Karwar, Megha Gaonkar, told me about the medicinal powers of a plant called saveer sambar soppu in Kannada. It means a thousand utility leaf. The leaves smelled like ajwain or carom seeds. But Gaonkar said it was some other plant. “Boil 10 to 12 leaves in about a glass of water till one third the amount is left. The decoction will act as a great cold and cough reliever,” she told me. It worked. My daughter recovered within five days.

Cool medicine

Thandai used to be a popular drink at Agyawanti’s maternal home. But when she came to village Chaina in Faridkot district of Punjab after marriage, she discovered that tea was the chosen drink. Then, last year she was asked to make thandai at a food festival in her village.

Cat coffee

The shiny, greenish-grey beans look no worse off for having passed through the Asian palm civet’s digestive system. “I can’t tell the difference between this coffee and my normal parchment coffee, but connoisseurs say it has a subtle nuttiness,” said septuagenarian coffee planter T S Ganesh, the only producer of this rare coffee in India. He calls it Kari Beck coffee, after the Kannada name for civet. “I can only say that it is very good coffee,” he added with a chuckle.

Dal-rice fusion

Back to 'Something's Cooking' Dal-rice fusion   by Richa Mittal   Phara, a recipe made from chana dal and rice, is generally prepared in eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. It is steam cooked and therefore very healthy. It is served with green and imli ki chutney. The recipe is a complete meal in itself as it has both proteins and carbohydrates. The accompaniments fill for vitamins and minerals.