Sattus & the perfect Rakhi Gift

As Raksha Bandhan approaches every year in the month of August, I receive the tastiest assortment of ‘Sattus’ from my dear friend Rajshree Maheshwari. The third day after Rakhi is in fact known as Sattu Waali Teej.

There are few persons who can reconcile honesty and diplomacy, and my friend Rajshree Maheshwari is one of them. Charming as well as honest, she truly has a way with words. If she is in your team for any project, you can rest assured that there will be no misunderstandings. She is a diligent worker and a perfect organizer. With her never-say-die attitude, she is fun to work with. We have had lots of good times at our club RYA Metro, putting plays and scripts together.  She is an awesome hostess and cook, and her Sattus are much awaited at my place.

A must-have in the months of Saavan, Sattus are easy to make and fun time for children at home. As a child, I remember decorating the Sattus with all kinds of colorful sweet things, even Cadbury gems.

Sattus - Photo by Ritu Goyal

So here is the recipe by Rajshree – have fun making them and eating them this Raksha Bandhan.

SATTUS
Bengal gram (husked) – approx ½ kg
Powdered sugar – 450 gms
Pistachio & Almonds – ½ cup, slivered thinly
Cardamom powder – a pinch or two
Saffron – a few strands, rubbed with fingers to a fine powder
Ghee 150 – 200 gms, as needed
1) Dry roast the gram on a low flame until golden brown and grind into a very fine powder. Weigh it now and ensure that it is 500 gms.
2) Mix the gram powder and sugar and pass through a fine sieve. You can grind the coarse mixture, then pass all of it through the sieve.
3) Add the slivered nuts, powdered cardamom and saffron and mix well.
4) Melt the ghee and pour into the gram mixture slowly. The ghee should be just melted, but not hot. Add enough ghee to bind the mixture for making lemon-sized balls with your palms. Flatten the balls as in the picture. The delicious sattus are ready.
Cool and store in an air-tight container. They remain fresh for weeks.

Rajshree always sends me an assortment of sattus, some made with bengal gram, some with rice and others with wheat.
Make wheat sattus in the same way substituting bengal gram with wheat.
For sattus with rice, wash and dry the rice the previous day. Proceed with the recipe the next morning, substituting bengal gram with rice.

What is even more interesting is that these sattus are very similar to the Andhra dish Minapasuuni which is made with flour from roasted black gram. We have featured this in our book “Cooking at Home with Pedatha.” At a special request from a dear friend, we created a gift hamper with our books and these gram laddus. A special way to celebrate Rakhi with an Andhra tweak.

Pritya's hamper - photo by Ishrath

POSTED BY PRATIBHA

Enjoying Phuket

I am still in the overwhelming phase of having just returned from a lovely trip to Phuket. We stayed at the JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa – Thailand. The hotel website’s description is accurate: “…an oasis, commanding 17 kms of Phuket’s untouched, unspoiled Mai Khao Beach. The low, sweeping design of the resort with its rock walls, broad reflection ponds, water features and ornate roofing has an imperial presence. It’s like a mythic palace of relaxation.”

The Marriott Cafe - temptations galore!

Sumptous unimaginable buffet spreads was a sure highlight. Fruit and vegetable shots, colourful juices and mocktails, exotic Thai fruits, a not-to-be-missed range of dried fruits, counters for pastas, waffles – the list was deliciously long and amazingly tasty.

Colourful and tasty spread of fruits, nuts and salads!

I enjoyed meeting Mr Richard John, the F&B Director of The Marriott. His vision coupled with his simplicity and humility makes him a much-liked leader. We had an interesting conversation about food fashions and trends. I must make a special mention of the chefs and the hotel staff who were always attentive and alert. Their professional competency makes The Marriott an ideal location for special events or holidays.

Excellent food presentation!

I also chanced to meet Sameer Gupta, the chef who has cooked at the White House for US President Bill Clinton & the James Beard Foundation, New York. He is quoted on google thus: “The world is my workplace, where I teach how to cook the Indian cuisine.” Despite his busy schedule which involved supervision of the food at the wedding, we managed to grab half-an-hour exchanging our love for traditional Indian food. I really enjoyed meeting him and listening to the fabulous and quick culinary tips that he kept sharing.

Posted by Pratibha Jain

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My uncle Jayendra & his exotic Erica nut concoction

Hi Jinki…his happy and affectionate voice booms as he greets me with a naughty twinkle in his eye. That’s my 80-year-young uncle, my father’s elder brother. Those who know my uncle, Jayendra Patel, will agree with a grin that here is a man who has rarely met anyone without cracking a joke within the first five minutes of the meeting.  If I were to describe him in two words, they would be ‘warm’ and ‘hearty’.

A builder by profession, he is the son of late Shri N.T Patel who started his construction company called N.T Patel & Co. way back in 1928. After completing his engineering degree at The Indiana Institute of Technology, Fort Wayne, USA, Jayendra uncle returned to India to join his father and elder brother in the task of taking the company forward.  He has built quite a few prestigious buildings in and around Chennai, the sprawling Catholic centre building in Armenian street, the majestic University of Madras on the beach road, Venkateswara University near Tirupati to name a few.  He is very passionate about car racing and rallying and has been treasurer and active member of the Motor Sports Club of India for most part of his life along with being a member of the Lions club and builders association of Chennai. But I believe that he finds his greatest joy, his absolute comfort zone in cooking. Right from driving to the vegetable market, to selecting the best fruits and vegetables, to washing, chopping and cooking, Jayendra uncle is at his perfect and creative best. The Rava Dosas & Wheat Dosas that are lifted off his skillet are the most delicious ones I’ve ever tasted.

My sharpest memories associated with him are of the “open house” dinners at his home every single Sunday.  Anyone could walk in from 7.30 pm to 10.00 pm and there would always be so much laughter, so many voices speaking at the same time, cousins and friends of all ages catching up with each other in the midst of the most aromatic whiffs of a delicious meal being cooked by him. He’d be in and out of the kitchen with a helper or two following his instructions…and anyone who wished to help or just simply saunter in to taste his magic was always welcome. His fridge would be well stocked with ice and soft drinks for all the kids and tea teatotalers and an endless array of snacks would flow out of the kitchen, seemingly, with no effort at all. Of the myriad times that I may have partaken in these fabulous evenings, initially as a child, later as a young girl and up to just a few years back with my own husband and kids, I cannot remember once when he looked strained or needed help with the service, or the clearance…everything just kept happening amidst all the fun and regaling.

Oh for those good old days of carefree childhood, of untainted love and affection, of a different kind of happiness born from innocence!

Always happy to share his jokes and recipes, here is one of my favourites from his warm and friendly kitchen. Thank you for sharing this very special, much coveted recipe, Jayendra kaka.

JNP’s SPECIAL SUPARI
Preparation time: 1 hour

Rasiklal or Crane supari – 1 kg
Roasted Erica nuts – ½ kg (This is known as sekeli supari in Gujarati and is available in the good old Bombay General Stores in Chennai. It is easier to find in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Mumbai.)
Cloves – 6-7
Mace – ½ flower
Green cardamom – ¼ kg
Liquorice sticks – ¼ kg, powdered
Fennel seeds, small, thin variety (also known as Lucknowi Saunf) – ¼ kg, dry roasted
Sweetened fennel seeds – ¼ kg
Dried dates, chopped into bite-size bits – 100 gms

1) Remove all the white pumpkin seeds from the Rasiklal supari. Grind the supari to a coarse powder. You can use the pumpkin seeds separately as a mouth freshener if you like. This is a time consuming process, so if you are lucky enough to be residing in a city which has a rasiklal or champaklal & co. outlet, then you can order a kg of the supari sans the pumpkin seeds. Jayendra uncle goes to Rasiklal & Co. or Champaklal & Co. on Govindappa Naikan Street in Chennai.
2) Break up the roasted Erica nuts into small pieces using a nut cracker & grind into a coarse powder. If you do not possess a nut cracker or are not accustomed to using one, then pound the nuts into small bits using a pestle & mortar.
3) Powder the cloves and mace. Powder the cardamoms along with their skins.
4) Now thoroughly mix all the powdered ingredients and the other ingredients together in a large bowl. Fill into an airtight bottle or box and store.
Chew on a pinch of Jayendra uncle’s unique supari after meals and enjoy the wonderful flavours of this exotic concoction.

Jayendra uncle is a free spirited individual, who has always lived life on his own terms, taking responsibility for his actions and moving on, no matter what. Just as any other human being, he has made his mistakes too, has seen his highs and lows, has faced loss and sorrow, probably been hurt and caused hurt too….but nothing ever takes away the goodness of his heart, the cheer on his lips, the twinkle in his eyes and most importantly, his passion for LIFE.

Its your 80th birthday today Jayendra kaka. I wish you lots of happiness and good health, much peace, many many years of happy cooking and hope to have your affection and blessings always. Cheers :)

Posted by Jigyasa Giri.
Photo courtesy: Amita Patel

Pedatha’s story at Harmony India

‘Empowering India’s senior citizens’, ‘Celebrating age’ are the bylines by which Harmony India defines what it does. Here, senior citizens are called ‘silvers’. So when we wrote this story about our beloved Pedatha, besides posting it on our blog, we also wanted it to be featured in the Harmony magazine or on the Harmony website. We called and they agreed instantly and graciously!
Click
here to read it on their site.

PEDATHA, THE ETERNAL BRIDE

Often we find that our minds have definite images of places, people, events. When I think of my neighbour Mrs Kalra, I instantly remember the day she came to our home in a blue silk kurta. Uma Didi, my mentor, in my memory is always carrying voluminous literature in her hands. And Pedatha, to Jigyasa and myself, a bride in love…

Yes, that’s our sharpest and dearest memory of beloved Pedatha, the protagonist of our book Cooking at Home with Pedatha. How strange are the ways of life that within a span of seconds, a person becomes a mere memory. It is hard to believe that she is no more a phone call away, although her phone number still remains on our mobile handsets.

Before sharing the ‘bride’ memory, let me tell you about her. Pedatha means eldest aunt in Telugu. Her name was Subhadra Krishna Rau Parigi and she was the eldest daughter of former President of India, Bharat Ratna Dr V V Giri. My friend and partner Jigyasa is married to her nephew, Giri. That is how I first met her, over five years ago. Who would have ever imagined in that first meeting that the coming years in our lives were going to totally revolve around her? That her face would decorate the cover of the book that we were destined to write together?

It was in September 2005 that Srivatsa, our photographer, sent us the second set of photographs of Pedatha. What a lovely collection… Pedatha laughing, smiling, talking, each photograph capturing yet another mood! Prabodh (my brother and the design inspiration behind the book) was very excited. “Wow, now the book is going to look fabulous,” he said as he arranged the photographs on his table at different angles. “But why does she look so different? The previous photographs were shot only a year ago. Actually, she looks younger in these!”

Jigyasa and I did not know how to begin explaining Pedatha’s expression, the secret behind her wistful look. We journeyed back in time to our innumerable meetings with Pedatha, to the first time we ate her brinjal rice (known as vaangi baath in Telugu), right up to that afternoon’s photo-session with her that stamped the memory of her in our minds as an immortal bride.

To Pedatha, cooking was not an automatic task; it was her passion. When she was in the kitchen churning out her favourite recipes, she was at her happiest. It is difficult to count how many daughters, nieces, nephews and friends before us had become her fans because of her vaangi baath.

Her warmth beckoned us again and again, and we found ourselves often at Pedatha’s home whenever we were in Bengaluru. She always welcomed us, scolding us for not eating enough or urging us to add another teaspoon of ghee to the spicy podi rice on our plates. In a nutshell, we became her ardent students and she an untiring teacher who enjoyed and welcomed our frequent questions and detailed interest in every recipe. This was the beginning of our personal collection of Pedatha’s recipes, which then, as destiny would have it, moved on to become a book.

The book has many pages with photographs of Pedatha. The affection, enthusiasm and simplicity in her face simply give the book its life breath. She speaks to her children, her dear readers in every page of the book. These pictures were shot without any planning on one of those innumerable days when we were visiting her in Bengaluru and just wanted to be photographed with her.

Eventually, the manuscript was ready but the cover eluded us. Her photographs that looked good and natural in the inside pages somehow did not seem right for the cover. Jigyasa was sure that the cover photo should feature her in a silk sari and her favourite pearls, as she appeared at family weddings, looking her absolute best. The idea made sense, so we briefed her over the phone and scheduled a photoshoot for the following week. However, when we reached her home in Bengaluru with Srivatsa, we became speechless looking at her. We were shocked to see how tired she looked! Of course, she was 82 years old, but we had met her just a month ago when she looked fine.

“What is the matter Pedatha? Are you unwell?” I asked as she embraced us one by one. Her body felt so frail, so weak. “Yes, I seem to tire easily these days. Look at me today, still in my nightgown! I find it so tiresome to change again and again,” she said with a smile. With a heavy heart, Jigyasa apologised for troubling her with our visit, to which she rebuked her saying, “How can you ever cause me any trouble? Your mere presence makes my day bright.” Steering us towards the dining table, she added, “I feel delighted to be on such a high pedestal but I will never understand why you both consider my simple home cooking worthy of a book! I hope that you enjoy the fruits of your hard work many times over.”

How often she had expressed this thought to us! Such was her genuine humility. As much as she knew that she had extraordinary culinary skills, she could not believe that her recipes could inspire us to write a book, keeping her as the central axis.

“Pedatha, which sari would you like to wear?” Jigyasa asked as we sifted through her wardrobe. “Anything of your choice,” she answered, sounding tired. Jigyasa looked at me, her expression conveying, ‘To hell with the photograph! Not worth the trouble if it meant disturbing her’. “Let it be Pedatha, you need to rest,” we said. “Wearing a sari can be so cumbersome. We have your previous photos and we will surely find something there.” She smiled so affectionately, “But I am going to rest as you both do all the work! After all, did you not say that you were going to dress me up?”

Jigyasa adjusts Pedatha's ear studs

With loving indulgence, Jigyasa draped the sari around her. Instantly she looked 10 years younger. At every step we took her consent, asking her, “Pedatha, would you like some face powder for the camera’s benefit? Can we apply some kajal in your eyes?” She simply answered, “As you wish Amma, I trust your judgment. I am happy to let you decide.”

She looked so lovely, so ethereal that we could not but help asking her, albeit with some hesitation, “Would you like a small bindi on your forehead? Would you mind if we put some jasmine in your hair?” She again nodded sweetly. At our look of amazement, she laughed and answered, “My husband may have passed away, but deep within me, I am always in love. He is right here, in my heart.”

Jigyasa doing up Pedatha's hair

She always dressed so simply that a little face powder and kohl accentuated her features and took away so many years from her face. A hint of lipstick and one could see why her husband called her ‘cupid-lipped’! What is it about people her age that a little dressing-up make them look like the heroines of yesteryears? With jasmine in her hair and pearls around her neck, she left us speechless. When Srivatsa asked her, “Pedatha, if Peddanana were to see you today, what would he do?”, she answered instantly with the confidence of a 16 year-old in love, “He would marry me all over again”.

The hours passed with laughter and memories, and Srivatsa’s constant chatter as he clicked away. That was Pedatha’s magic. The camera just loved her. Throughout the photo session she looked radiant and fresh, chatting happily, praising her doting son and daughter-in-law and reminiscing about bygone days. All her tiredness had vanished and we were transported to another world. As dusk set in and Srivatsa started packing up, Jigyasa said, “Pedatha, let us help you freshen up and get changed for the night before we leave.” Pedatha laughed and stopped her. “No, now all of you leave, I will undress by myself.” She hugged us, kissed us many times, showered blessings infinite and waved us good bye.

We remained quiet as we walked down her lane and said goodbye to Srivatsa, each one silently absorbing the day’s happenings. I asked, “Why did she refuse our help? Her daughter-in-law is in Mumbai. Will her maid be able to help her the way we would?” Jigyasa reflected and replied, “I understand this emotion Pratibha. She will want to sit by herself in front of the mirror for a little while before changing.” Jigyasa being a dancer understands Shringara Rasa better than me.

I remembered something else. “Jigyasa, do you recall? Pedatha kept admiring and telling you that she wished Giri was with you. There was romance in the air around her!” “She said that to you too,” Jigyasa answered, sending us both into giggles. Never before had we seen Pedatha in such a romantic mood. Today, as we had dressed her, she had once again become the 16 year-young bride.

Just then, the mobile phone rang. As Jigyasa spoke, her eyes became moist. “No Pedatha, you don’t realise how beautiful you are, from within and without,” I heard Jigyasa telling her. “Yes, she is with me. In fact, we were talking about you… no, no… it is our good fortune that you love us so much. Thank you Pedatha, I love you too.”

She turned to me, relating what Pedatha just told her. “She says that she has never felt happier. Just now, when she was looking into the mirror, she felt as if her husband was gazing at her. How many times she said that she loves us as if we were her own!” To us, this was the sweetest fruit of the past two years of hard work.

Well, that day’s photograph decorated the cover of the book. The book was nominated for an award for ‘Best Cookbook Cover in the World, 2006’. We realise that when you do something with unconditional love, it pays off. Her face on the cover, those smiling eyes about which we have received so many compliments, holds such precious memories for us.

"Cooking at Home with Pedatha" - photo by Ishrath

A couple of months before she passed away, we were chatting with her on the phone and reading out an email we had received praising her gaze on the cover and Pedatha said, “Amloo [darling], I don’t consider myself pretty, but I like that cover very much too! I cannot understand why!”

“But we do,” I said. “You were in love that day.”

“Oh yes, little one”, she said, and laughing, sent us a dozen kisses over the phone.

It was Pedatha’s birthday on 2 May. This story is an affectionate homage to her.

By Pratibha & Jigyasa

PARIS, ELISE & FENNEL SALAD

Paris was splendid, and what made it extra special was our friend Elise. We are back home with a heart full of lovely memories – and every moment of those memories is linked with her.

Elise often travels to India but this was our first visit to her home country and she took on the role of guide and big sister. She made sure that we visited her favourite cafes and cherished spots in Paris, regaling us with events and news that kept the laughter on. Relaxed under her wing we had a fabulously local experience of Paris which we could not have found as tourists. (Click on the arrow in the centre of the photo below to see a slideshow.)

more about "Paris 2010", posted with vodpod

As you can see on her absolutely gorgeous website, Elise Collet Soravito is an artist extraordinaire who paints with her heart and soul. We first met her at Beijing in April 2007 at the Gourmand awards event. Her 1st book ‘Elise Et Ses Delices’ – a cookbook featuring Desserts written in French won her the “Best Cookbook Illustrations in the World”, and on the same stage, our book ‘Cooking at Home with Pedatha’ won the award of “Best Vegetarian Cookbook in the World”. In that heady moment, as we hugged and congratulated each other, we also found a friendship of a lifetime.

Here is a lovely salad with fenuile which is a leafy vegetable of the fennel family that Elise tossed up with absolute ease for us one evening. Having eaten fennel only in its seed form, we were excited at this fresh avatar of fennel – even more alluring!

A simple salad of sliced fennel with a dash of salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon juice. Toss with fresh chopped parsley and coriander leaves and enjoy immediately.

Spending 5-6 full days with someone should reveal some flaws, a little impatience at least, but Elise remained the perfect host till she waved us bye. To us she was affection personified.

“Thank you for everything Elise: for Anthony’s apartment, for the lovely breakfast laughters, for the eateries in Paris, for the open bus tour, for the cathedral, for your cafe, for that lovely dinner at your place, and for that quaint village we visited – the list is endless. You are such a true and smiling friend, full of zest and warmth, may you always be just like this. Never ever be tempted to change.”

Posted by Jigyasa & Pratibha

PEDATHA – a tribute by Sandhya

Today is two years since Pedatha passed away. But her memory is as fresh as a morning rose in the hearts of those who knew her and loved her. We post this tribute by Sandhya, a.k.a Sandy, the better half of Pranav Jain whose favourite birthday gift is a meal from Pedatha’s book. She writes:

I had wanted to write for Pedatha from a long time and thought that today was the best day to pay my offerings to her soul. May her soul rest in peace and may there be light and peace where she travels…

Who was Pedatha, a question I haven’t stopped wondering about! An angel perhaps, or a guiding star who was destined to crown the lives of Jigyasa and Pratibha, the two women who loved her and recognized her immense qualities. It was in the lap of true, unconditional love between these three that the wonder of “Cooking at Home with Pedatha” was born.

Today, Pedatha is physically not amongst us, but her subtle presence is felt in many a home where in the busy schedules of our daily lives, we turn the pages of her book and stumble upon a suggestion that makes cooking more pleasurable, a hint that adds flavour and aroma to a vegetable, or a miraculous tip to preserve the chutneys and podis for longer periods…and  thus her magic beckons us again and again.

the mortal and the immortal

Often I have felt that it is not just her food that satisfied the palate, but that there was something else that nurtured the soul. Her motherly instinct, her love, her gentle serenity, the manner in which she smiled and called out “Amloo” (darling) – all these not just nurtured us, but healed us at an inner level without our own awareness.

Her content smile, illuminated by her sparkling pearl like teeth, the wisdom in her bright gaze which did not miss much – I remember all these so clearly. I remember vividly the day I met Pedatha – her serene presence brought tears to my eyes and my being resonated with compassion. But more than anything, I remember how reassured I felt around her. I felt as if she was assuring me and many like me – women who are against odds trying to prove their worth and make an identity for themselves, that the clock of Time may take years before it decides to strike, but it will. Her presence filled me with patience and perseverance, but much more, with faith. A faith that does not question the bends and curves in the path, but wills us to do our bit with love. It was perhaps this wise understanding within her that bore fruit in her own life at the age of 83 when the world came to recognize her for who she was – an embodiment of love!

I miss you today, my dearest Pedatha. You are truly a tiara in my life and in the life of those who cook as you teach through that beautiful green book. Your memory is a glow in my heart. You make me proud that I am a woman. You give meaning to my life with your message of love and nurturing. I can easily say that you are someone who truly lived her life by following her heart.”

BY SANDHYA JAIN

Photo courtesy: Duchess Club, Chennai (at the launch of “Cooking at Home with Pedatha)

Gourmand award for Sukham Ayu

Time to celebrate.  We have just returned from Paris where the Paris cookbook fair was held along with the Gourmand awards 2009. Our cookbook “Sukham Ayu” has stood second in the category of best health & nutrition cookbook in the world by the Gourmand awards organization. To be second to none other than most popular French chef, Alain Ducasse’s book is very thrilling.
Sukham Ayu in Gourmand yearbook

Gourmand Yearbook 2010

The Gourmand Year book 2010 is as always, a fabulous publication – special and beautifully designed. The foreword by Edouard Cointreau, President of Gourmand, is very important and insightful. He speaks of the power shift from publishers to authors, and how self-publishing is a powerful option.
Sukham Ayu awarded

Gourmand Yearbook & Sukham Ayu

We enjoy reading the views about the winner books – here is what was written about our cookbook Sukham Ayu: “Whose food we eat, their song we sing, Year after year, Jigyasa Giri & Pratibha Jain are creating a marvellous collection of cookbooks.” Wow…that feels good and makes us want to hurry with our forthcoming projects :) .
The Gourmand awards event was held on February 11 at theatre Salle 400, at LE CENT QUATRE in Paris.  It was biting cold and sleeting in Paris. The beautiful theatre where the awards were held was buzzing with publishers and authors from across the globe. 136 countires participated in the awards competition this year!
As always, Edouard Cointreau announced the awards sharing his knowledge about cookbooks in a crisp manner. His passion for cookbooks is reflected in the easy manner in which he knows the subject. There were many categories for the awards and this year saw many entries for Charity Cookbooks.  The best cookbook was awarded to a fabulous Swiss publication titled “God’s Cookbook” by Arcadian Lifestyle Publishing.
India won honours with “The Moti Mahal Cookbook” winning in the category of Best Easy Recipe Cookbook as well as “Sangria – A recipe for love” winning in the category of Best Food Literature in the World. The latter is an Indian publication (Undercover Eutopia) authored by Manuela Requena from Australia. To see the press release by Gourmand, click here.
We are very excited that Sukham Ayu, researched by us at KARE (Kerala ayurvedic rejuvination estb), spearheaded by Dr. Prakash Kalmadi has been recognised thus. Three Cheers!

A delicious Upma from the blog world

Indira of Mahanandi – a blogger who has inspired so many people to cook, to blog, and continues to do so with her penchant for perfection. Her passion for what she does is evident in every post at her site. Beautiful pics, clean layout, detailed index and awesome recipes – a visual treat indeed.

A search for an Upma recipe took me once again to her site. The recipe looked simply delicious, rather, simple and delicious. My mother had got me some freshly made bajra flour from Rajasthan last week. A quick call to my daughter who was on her way home got me the sprouts from Nilgiris. She was amused at my excitement and sauted the onions while I did the the rotis. Within no time, the Bajra roti Upma was ready. Manas took a quick picture and here it is. Thank you dearest Indira, you rock!

Here is the link to this recipe; I added some julienned carrots and powdered fennel since both were at the kitchen counter while I was cooking :) .

Posted by Pratibha

Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2009

We are happy to announce that our cookbook “Sukham Ayu” has won at the country level (India) at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2009 in two categories: 1) Best Vegetarian Cookbook 2) Best Health & Nutrition cookbook. The “Best in the World” will be announced at the Cookbook Awards Event in Paris on Feb 11, 2010. In 2007 April, we travelled to Beijing for “Cooking at Home with Pedatha” and brought home the award for the “Best Vegetarian Cookbook in the World”.

The Gourmand site states that this year, there are 136 countries participating in the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. These awards help to “reward and honour those who cook with words…and help readers find the best out of the 26,000 food and wine books produced every year.”

Sukham Ayu is based on research done at an Ayurvedic rejuvenation establishment in Mulshi, Pune. The centre is called KARE (Kerala Ayurvedic Rejuvenation establishment and it has been visualized and started by a dedicated and dynamic allopath-turned-Ayurvedic practitioner, Dr Prakash Kalmadi.


Sukham Ayu is a cookbook which features simple, everyday recipes using Ayurvedic principles. Along with short chapters on Ayurveda, the book has been beautifully designed by Envission Communication & Kavitha Shivan. Photographs are by our dear friend Srivatsa Shandilya.

This is the email that came into our inbox on December 4, 2009:
_________________________

CONGRATULATIONS
GOURMAND WORLD COOKBOOK AWARDS 2009

YOU ARE THE WINNER
YOU QUALIFY FOR THE NEXT “GOURMAND BEST IN THE WORLD” COMPETITION

WITH: Sukham Ayu (Cooking at Home with Ayurvedic Insights)
Jigyasa Giri, Pratibha Jain; Researched at Kare; Photos: Srivatsa Shandilya
ISBN 978 8190299312, 144 Pages, 495 R
(Pritya)

In the category: Best Vegetarian Book
In the category: Best Health and Nutrition Book

You can win again in the next step.
The winner in each country will compete against winners in the same category in other countries for The Best in the World. The results will be announced on Thursday February 11, 2010 at theatre Le 104 at the Paris Cookbook Fair.
In December 2009 we are sending the personal notifications. Details of the Paris Cookbook Fair are available on the www.cookbookfair.com site.

Edouard Cointreau, President
Gourmand World Cookbook Awards
Pintor Rosales, 50, 28008 Madrid-Spain
www.cookbookfair.com
_________________________