whose food we eat, their song we sing

The world of blogs is amazing…sharing information, humour, writings, news…and fundraising as well. Jai and Bee of Jugalbandi have chosen the colour Yellow as their fundraiser for Blogger Briana brownlow. Their site mentions that “Yellow is the happiest colour in the spectrum. It signifies hope and enlightenment. Through the work of the LiveStrong Foundation, it has also come to signify the fight against cancer.”

Many bloggers have come forward to spread this message of help and hope. Inspired, we have also put up 2 copies of our cookbook. Click here if you want to know more.

To convey the message of optimism, faith and positive thinking to Briana, my daughter, Manasvi’s words about my mother come to mind. She says that Nani (maternal grandmother, pronounced as ‘Naanee’) represents determination and strength because of how she has recovered from major illnesses. Manasvi says, “What I wish to learn from Nani is to have the inner strength to recover and get back to routine life as if nothing had ever happened.” Manasvi’s Nani is definitely a person to emulate in moments when one needs to have faith. She believes it is all a matter of shedding one’s karmas as lightly as one can.

On this note, today’s post is about Nani, Shrimati Anoop Jain.

MANASVI WRITES:

My first memory of Nani, as far back as it will take me is that of her cooking & cleaning. She could never stand a mess. I remember following her around with a small cloth over my shoulder trying to imitate her. I have very few memories of being a child, but the ones I have are filled with images of Nani, my maternal grandmother. I know I spent most of my childhood at Nani’s place because my own house was always a hub of activity, being part of a large joint family.

I remember Nani pouring into religious texts for long hours. Today, as an adult I realize that she was and is keenly interested in religious debate and finds her answers in age old books of wisdom which are so much thicker than my reference books in journalism! In fact, my Nana who is a writer and speaker makes sure that Nani reads his articles and attends his lectures, because in his own words, Nani is his most ardent and constructive critic.

I am Nani’s eldest grandchild and that I say very proudly because I get to boss around my younger cousins which I love doing. The one after me is 6 years younger and being the pampered one that I was, I remember not liking the little baby who got everyone’s attention. I also remember going up to Nani and asking her “Nani, I will always be your favourite grandchild, won’t I?” I recall her warm hug as she allayed my fears with a simple and straight one-word response - “Obviously”.

As I grew up, my trips to Nani’s house have never reduced. She has always made sure that a bowl of cool, pomegranate, my favourite fruit, is ready for me in the refrigerator along with something yummy to eat. If she and my aunt (her daughter-in law) cook something that I like, and honestly, both of them are such awesome cooks, they will make sure that I go there to eat or send it home for me.

Now when I call her from Birmingham, her loving voice calls my name ‘Manas’ and that lights up my whole day. When I first made my decision to come here to study, Nani was a little hesitant about sending me. She was worried about how I would manage alone because till I came here, I was never alone. I was always a hop, skip and jump from my place to a friend’s or Nani’s. I have never been alone. And she was worried about my food, how I would cook alone, and manage studies and the house. But after I sat her down and spoke to her, she agreed, albeit, half-heartedly. I know she’d give an arm to have me back home although she is truly happy for me now.

When Ma came to visit me recently, Nani and my dad sent a whole suitcase full of things (mostly eatables) for me. Nani actually sent me a large packet of coarse Almond powder which she had ground herself! I know what an effort that must have been! I enjoy using it in my cooking and I know I don’t have to scrounge.

This lot is going to last me for a long time to come! And she had sternly instructed Ma on what to make for me while in UK. I think Ma cooked a lot more for me than she would normally have, so as to appease Nani. Ma knew and understood that for Nani, more than her daughter travelling to UK, the important thing was that her Manas would be taken care of for those few days.

Nani and Nana still worry a lot about me, especially about whether I eat right. I keep telling her that I cook, not just for me but also for friends whom I invite over to my place.

I even sent Nani the above pics as a proof to show her how many rotis I made when Ma had come and we had invited my friends over for meals. But I guess I will always remain Nani’s little Manas and she will always worry about me. For isn’t it in the nature of love to worry? Nani and I write long letters to each other. Despite all the emails I receive, I cant believe how much more exciting it is to see Nani’s hand written letters.

I’d love to be a little child just this once so I can proclaim, “My Nani is the bestest”.

Here is a recipe I learnt from Nani, written with Ma’s help:

NANI’S AATE KA SHEERA

Wheat flour - 1 cup

Almonds – ¼ cup

Sugar - 1 cup

Ghee (clarified butter) - ½ cup

Water - 2 cups

1) Soak the almonds in warm water for a couple of hours. Peel and grind into a coarse mixture.

2) In a wok, heat the ghee and add the flour. Lower the flame and with a broad spatula, stir the flour continuously so that it is evenly roasted.

3) After 5 minutes, add the powdered almonds.

4) Continue to roast for approx. 3-5 minutes or until the flour mixture turns deep brown.

5) In the meanwhile, boil the water in a vessel. Now, add the boiling water to the flour mixture slowly. Increase the flame and stir gently in one direction to avoid forming any lumps.

6) Within 2-3 minutes, the water would have been absorbed completely. Lower the flame and add the sugar and continue to stir for a couple of minutes.

My Nani’s delicious ‘aate ka sheera’ is ready. In the pic. below, I made it for breakfast along with another dish I love, Tempered Flattened Rice (Pohe).

Special tips:

1) Nani likes to grind the almonds in the Anjali chilli cutter since they get powdered evenly and don’t become pasty.

2) Since Nani knows that I don’t have much cooking time because of my course, she dries the ground almonds by spreading on a kitchen towel on the terrace under the bright afternoon sun. Dried in this manner, I can keep the mixture for months in the refrigerator. Sometimes when I miss home made almond flavoured milk, I add 2 teaspoons of this mixture to a cup of hot milk with sugar. It tastes yumm :).

3) Ma always makes the roasted flour mixture (with the ghee and ground almonds), packs it into smaller containers and sends it to me. I store them in the refrigerator.

Whenever I want to eat the halwa, I just remove the required quantity of the roasted mixture from the fridge, do steps 5 & 6, and and within minutes, the sheera is on my plate.

A couple of months ago, for a friend’s birthday, I promised to bake a cake. However, I remembered my promise 20 minutes before all of us were to spring the surprise at her doorstep. I made this same sheera, decorated with nuts and reached her doorstep with my sheera-cake. Since then, this has featured as a cake at many birthdays. Nani really had a hearty laugh when I wrote to her about it.

POSTED BY MANASVI & PRATIBHA

To begin with, a mention of the people in this post:
- Shanta Ben, an 85-year-old lady who lives with her family in UK
- Her son Mr. Nitin Mehta and his wife Pratibha Ben
- Their daughters Janaki & Jyoti Mehta

Jyoti Mehta says, “My mum’s food is famous among my friends. The good thing is that mum enjoys feeding them as much as they enjoy being fed! I am a Vegan and mum has been hugely supportive in this choice. She has found ingenious ways to Veganise many Indian dishes. She uses Tofu instead of Paneer and has actually managed to improvise on recipes like ‘ Kadhi’ by replacing yogurt with coconut milk! Now, even my Grandma uses Soya milk in tea thus giving me a chance to rediscover Indian Chai (just don’t watch how much sugar she puts in)!”

This is the pic. of Shanta Ben, the Grandma mentioned above. Let us quickly share how we met this lady, the proud mother of Nitin Mehta. Mr. Mehta has made a name for himself in the United Kingdom with his intense work in the field of Vegetarianism. He is quite popular and has made many friends who frequently visit them. They stay in a lovely house at East Croydon, UK. The first thing that catches your eye as you enter his driveway is an old white Amabassador car which they shipped from India to UK . It is like a magnificent welcome to their cozy home.
Mr. Nitin Mehta started an organization called The Young Indian Vegetarians of UK. They are a group of people committed to the cause of vegetarianism and a healthy way of life. Their website is comprehensive, featuring many writings (LINK) by Mehtaji and even a newsletter dating back to August 1983, encouraging comments by many popular organizations.

The Young Indian Vegetarians of UK (Nitin Mehta in the black and white shirt) with Jigyasa, Pratibha & Dr. Kalmadi
On April 18th this year, Mr. Mehta invited us to his home where we were to address this group about our book “Cooking at Home with Pedatha” since it had won the Gourmand award of ‘Best Vegetarian Cookbook in the world, 2006’. But before the talk, we were to dine with his family.
As we entered his home with Dr. Prakash Kalmadi (whose Ayurvedic insights form the basis of our next book), we were ushered into the dining room where the first thing that our eyes fell on was a delicious spread of pickles on the dining table. Jigyasa was instantly excited since it was an all Gujarati spread. The next attention grabber was Shanta Ben who stood there with such a warm smile! It was like meeting Pedatha all over again.

An array of Gujarati pickles
We sat down for dinner, a lovely meal made by Mr. Mehta’s wife, Pratibha Ben. Dhoklas, Gujarati dal, soft rotis, sweet dish – what a regional fare to discover in a foreign land! The pickles were amazing and we found ourselves asking the ladies for the recipes.
As Jyoti says, “Being a family of Gujaratis who came to Britain via East Africa, mum has absorbed the flavours and ideas of Kenyan food and incorporated it into our diet. I love ‘Mandazi’, ‘Iriyo’, ‘Bharaji’ and dad’s Sunday is incomplete without ‘Muhogo’ (cassava). In fact, some of my friends say that ‘Muhogo’ is a dietary symbol of all that I am! We add ‘Imli’ (tamarind) chutney on the Muhogo to Indianise it and now we add ketchup to make it a British dish as well!”
Shanta Ben took a while to realize that we were serious about wanting the recipes in detail, but once in the groove, she excitedly reeled them off. Those were fun moments as Shanta Ben reeled of the recipes the traditional way and Pratibha Ben kept adding her inputs on how to them user friendly and contemporary.

Shanta Ben with Pratibha Ben
Shanta Ben is popular among friends for her pickles and sweets, and she is often invited to make her yummy pickles to her friends’ homes. Grand daughter Janaki says, “My grandmother’s best preparation is ‘Adadiya’, a sweet dish with plenty of Ghee prepared during Diwali!”
The guests began to arrive soon after, so we got just 3 recipes which we would love to share out here. Shanta Ben experienced such joy at sharing the recipes that she was beaming even hours later. She may not understand English in depth as she would her mother tongue, but she was attentive through out our talk. Perhaps we had struck the language of love as we spoke about our book and the importance of striking a chord with our elders. She stayed awake till we left, blessing us many times. Simple joys that make a difference!
The idea is not just to document traditional recipes, but to enjoy moments of sharing and caring, to convey to our elders that they are special because they are such a storehouse of knowledge and love.
We must say that back home, for many of us, home meals have become so cosmopolitan and contemporary, that we can hardly call them meals of the region we belong to. But at the Mehta home that evening, we had to remind ourselves that we were indeed in UK and not in the heart of Gujarat!
As Janaki says, “Even though I like Pizza and Pasta, as most youngsters do, my mum and grandma made sure I developed a taste for our traditional food - daal, bhaat, shaak, rotli (Chapatti, vegetables, lentils and Rice). My favourite dish prepared by my mum is ‘ Chana Bhatura’. I like the Gujarati speciality ‘ Thepla’–the life saver at picnics and holidays where you cannot get vegetarian food! Her home made ‘Mathia’ made during Diwali is also very good.”

These pickles are tasty accompaniments to an Indian meal

1) RAIWALA MARCHA (chilli pickle with a twang of mustard flavour)
Wash and pat dry 15-20 thick green chillies. Remove the stalks and slit each chilli length-wise. Remove the seeds unless you enjoy the spice.
Add 1 tablespoon Split Mustard (Rai Naa Koraya), a pinch of turmeric, a pinch of asafetida, salt to taste and 2 teaspoons oil to the chillies.
Squeeze juice of half a lemon to the above and shake well.
Let the pickle mature for a day; can be refrigerated and kept for a week or two.

2) TINDODA NO ATHANU (Gherkins pickle; Tindoda is also Tindola/Tondli in Hindi, dondakaya in Telugu)
Salt, lemon juice, turmeric, Chilli powder
asafoetida
Raw oil
They lose their crispiness
Wash and pat dry 15-20 Tindodas. Cut them into thin strips (approx. 8 per veggie).
Add 1 teaspoon chilli powder, ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder, a pinch of asafetida, salt to taste and 2 teaspoons oil.
Add 3 teaspoon Achaar Masala (also known as Sambhar, this is not the south Indian sambhar made with lentils), readily available in Indian stores.
Squeeze juice of half a lemon to the above and shake well.
Can be eaten instantly; stays good for weeks in the refrigerator.

3) METHI NO ACHAAR (Fenugreek seeds pickle)
Wash and pat dry 3-4 raw mangoes. Chop, add ¼ cup of salt and leave overnight.
Next day, drain off the excess water and let the mangoes dry for an hour. Don’t dry them much longer as they will lose the crunch.
Now, wash and soak 2 cups of fenugreek seeds for a couple of hours.
Strain and dry on a cloth for 1-2 hours.
Sprinkle ¼ teaspoon of asafoetida powder and shake it up
Heat 1 cup of hot oil. Pour ½ cup of hot oil on the fenugreek.
Add 2 teaspoons chilli powder, ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder and salt to taste.
Add the chopped mangoes to the fenugreek pickle.
Add the remaining oil and shake well.
Let the pickle mature for another day.
Stays good for 3-4 months in the refrigerator.
POSTED by Pratibha & Jigyasa

“We had a cold and wet snow storm last week which wrecked havoc all over this mountain. The electricity went out to over 40,000 homes for over 3 days. (GOD BLESS WOOD STOVES and the power of a woman’s survival instincts!) It was quite an adventure! I was heating up snow, water and milk on top of the stove for hot drinks and water for my 4-legged monsters, used a pair of metal tongs to heat up sandwiches over the fire in the stove, I even scrambled eggs on top of the stove. All food supplies in the refrigerator and freezer eventually went bad and to the garbage dump.

But I was able to READ 3 complete novels, went sledding into my pasture and came up with quite a delicious but primitive type of fruit cobbler: Oats, brown sugar, peaches (canned and drained partially), cinnamon, nutmeg all mixed together and placed into a stainless steel bowl, then covered with tin-foil, and placed directly on top of the fire in the stove. 30 minutes later, I drizzled some maple syrup on top and delighted in my sweet creation.”

These are words from an email from Randi Levin whom we first met on The Great Wall of China in April 2007. On The Great Wall where everything else seems smaller than life, it takes a person like Randi Levin to make an impact on the mind, but much more, on the heart.

Jigyasa captures Randi Levin (on the right) with Pratibha - friendships at The Great Wall

Free spirited and gregarious, this is a woman who lives in the high range of Colorado, all by herself, with her pets (old white and orange kitty, Snowy Blanca, a Newfoundland/Setter mix/pound puppy, a pony, and…and…) for company, ending emails abruptly with, “Off to feed him, I just heard his WHINY for breakfast”. The snow and hail storms are her eternal fascinations…she does not mind the power cuts…she is nature’s child. “The thunder wasn’t too bad; it turned to snow within a 1/2 hour. 3 more inches last night and it looked so very pretty this morning!” she wrote to us on April17th last year.

At Randi’s pasture - snow after a spring storm & a view of mountain sunshine

Her website begins with: “There is one extraordinary ingredient that goes into everything I cook and bake. Please, do not forget this ingredient for it is important to all recipes. When I am cooking or baking, I add extra spoonfuls of love to all my recipes. Love added to all things good makes them just a little bit better.” This is what makes her an ideal protagonist for this week’s tribute recipe on our blog.

That lovely elk against the rainbow almost looks like a statue to my eyes. The yellow leaves are aspen leaves in the fall sitting on a bunch of grass and Shata Daisy leaves - email from Randi on June 2007.

Children, animals and nature are her three fascinations, and just like every other culinary lover, a good recipe. True to the spirit of the place where she lives, she brought out two books of recipes for the mountain dwellers.

Baking at High Altitude: The Muffin Lady’s Old Fashioned Recipes
Sharing Mountain Recipes: The Muffin Lady’s Everyday Favorites

Her Baking at High Altitude won many awards: Best First Cookbook in the World, Gourmand & First Place Cookbooks, EVVY Award, CIPA

The 2 books feature hundreds of original Recipes ranging from cookies and cakes to strudels and much more! Breakfast dishes to Dinner treats with colour photos. There are snippets of altitudinal wisdom prevalent through out the books; including special dietary adjustments, ingredient substitutions and equivalents.

When we sent her the link of our blog, she instantly replied: “Your site has made me smile through this current turmoil, it is gorgeous and the photos, though viewed before, literally just sent me some hugs of warmth, and for that I THANK YOU!!!!

I wish I could have met Pedatha, as she was and is a very special woman. I just know that she has met my Grandmom and that the 2 of them have enjoyed looking down upon, and watching over us together on numerous occasions. We are very lucky Grandchildren indeed!!!”

For a TRIBUTE RECIPE, Randi shares with us the Blue berry Muffins by her Great Grandmother.

RANDI WRITES:
Thank goodness for Grandmothers! Full of smiles, hugs and love, they are as sweet as can be. The wisdom they generously share with those they love and many they have yet to meet is precious and priceless. I find myself quite fortunate to have learned numerous lessons for days to come from my Grandmother while spending cherished moments in her tiny kitchen in a Philadelphia apartment building. I would watch as she would mix ingredients, adding an extra pinch of this and dash of that, while producing some of the most delicious treats a little girl could ever imagine, better yet taste. Oh my, the delights I felt each time she pulled a pan of fresh baked treats out of her oven will be treasured throughout my days. More often than not, I would attempt to grab a treat immediately, but was always warned to wait until they cooled just a bit or I might burn my fingers. Although her advice was just and worthy, I find it amazing how today, decades later, I still cannot resist the temptation of delicately baked hot treats, right out of the oven. Do I burn my fingers, occasionally, but the savor is worth the ting of pain.

My Mom’s name was Marlene, but everyone called her Mickey. Grandmom’s name was Gertrude, but all called her Gert. And my Great Grandmother’s name I was never told, as she was rarely spoken of. I can’t recall my Dad ever speaking of her, and my Grandmom only referred to her as Mother or YOUR Great Grandmother. I do know that she was born in Poland and came to the US in the later 1800’s and that she must have been a fabulous cook/baker, for many still enjoy her recipes today, over 100 years later. My apologies that I cannot be more helpful, my memory runs long, but for info never shared, it is empty!

To my surprise, Grandmom left a gift to me when she passed onto to greener pastures. I specifically remember the FedEx man ringing my doorbell one snowy afternoon, and handing me a heavy, but small package, with my grandmother’s return address. Confused, as she had been gone for a couple weeks, I immediately opened the package, while the FedEx truck slipped away. Inside was her treasured metal box of recipes saved and savored for decades. This same box is where she often pulled recipes to prepare for me when I was a child. I was in heaven, as I immediately sat on the floor and pulled out amber index cards and newspaper clippings of recipes from the 30’s and 40’s. Inside this box, (which as a child I always thought was magical) I found treasured recipes for coffee cakes, pies, cookies and much more.

Although I immediately recognized my grandmother’s handwriting on various cards, there were some that appeared older with a handwriting I did not recognize, so I called my Aunt. After reciting a few recipe titles to her, she began laughing, as these were HER grandmother’s recipes, of which I was commanded to copy and forward to her.

The muffin recipe that follows is one of my Great Grandmother’s. Please enjoy it as many have for more than a century to date!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
½ cup (1 stick) margarine
1½ cups sugar, or sugar substitute
1 tablespoon vanilla
4¼ cups flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons milk
1½ cups fresh or frozen blueberries

1. Thoroughly mix together the margarine, sugar, vanilla, milk, flour and baking powder.
2. Add the blueberries last gently, at slow speed, mix berries thoroughly into the batter.
3. Grease 8 sections of a large muffin tin, or 12 regular size muffin sections.
4. Fill each muffin section to top with batter.

Topping: Combine: 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon

5. Sprinkle the cinnamon mixture on top of each muffin.
6. Bake 20-35 minutes (depending on muffin section size) or until they are golden and feel firm on top or until inserted knife or toothpick comes out clean.
Variation: * Raspberries or diced peaches can be used in place of berries*

My excitement at finding this treasure of recipes was beyond me, I was having so much fun imaging the times and foods from way back when, for some of these recipes are over 100 years old. I felt like the luckiest gal on earth, for right before me, was a simple metal box, that turned magical as the lid opened. You see, that magical metal box, is not just filled with an exceptional array of flavors, it is overflowing with the love of Grandmothers’!
RANDI

Posted by PRATIBHA & JIGYASA