Seasonal Eating – Monsoon’s foraged vegetables of Maharashtra

Thanks to the charmed food geek life I lead, I’m surrounded by friends and colleagues who are happy to fuel my curiosities. Recently I was fortunate enough to get my hands on some indigenous pre-monsoon wild vegetables from the Sahyadris, thanks to the folks at Triple OOO farms. It led to a wonderful day of documenting the ingredients and cooking with them.

According to traditional Indian dietetics, we eat what is in season. The cereal-pulse aspect of the Indian diet stays fairly uniform around the country. Year-round, we eat a diet in which lentils and cereals provide the bulk of meals, their repetitive monotony is made exciting by with vegetables that provide taste, texture and flavour variants to daily meals, varying according to season. With the advent of the Monsoons our diet changes.

Circumvent the carrot, cauliflower, beans offerings of the supermarket and forage through your local subzi markets. You will discover an amazing variety of seasonal vegetables. Methi is one green that is available year-round. Gourds, cucumbers, squashes also abound. As do (thanks to their hardiness) tubers like yam or suran, tapioca and bulbs like onions and garlic. And then there are the greens that come into season during the monsoons. Some for just a few days, others for the entire season. These are eaten to keep digestion sound and health optimal. As I write, the last of the Phodsi, Takla, Shevlya, are being consumed and the first of the Moras Bhaji, spiky Teasel Gourd and Colocassia are coming in.

But for some of us who can go beyond the city, there is an even larger monsoon bounty waiting to be discovered. Right here in Maharashtra, just a little over 2 hours from Mumbai, lie the Sahyadris, where the local tribals subsist on a diet rich in foraged wild foods that come into season in the monsoons. Some of these such as the Takla, Phodshi and Shevlya even make it to Mumbai Markets from Arey and surrounding forest areas. In fact if you follow some of our local food experts like Saee and Soumitra, and chefs like Zach you might have seen a lot of conversations around these lately.   

Foraging is a hot trend these days, thanks to Chefs like Rene Redzepi at Noma. Closer home, Chef Prateek Sadhu is doing some very interesting work in this space at Masque. But foraged foods have always been an integral part of global traditional food systems. I first clued into the huge repertoire of foraged foods in Maharashtra when Dr. Kurush Dalal wrote about Raanachya Bhajya (Forrest Greens or vegetables) them on his blog. And then I explored some more, realising that in India many regional cuisines supplement their diets with foraged foods. I know Garhwali cuisine uses many foraged foods such as wild figs, a fruit called Kaphal, stinging nettle, and fiddle head ferns. Similarly I know that the Assamese food Gitika Saikia cooks uses a lot of foraged foods like fiddlehead ferns, wild cardamom, ant eggs and silkworm larvae. Things not seen in the mainstream. And then, thanks to the passionate folks at Triple OOO I got a chance to actually learn about the wild foods of the Sahyadris.

Wild versions of  familiar veggies, 
Green Pumkin, Drumsticks, White gourd (Doodhi),
Cucumber, Onion,  Sweet Potato, Eggplants, Okra, Bitter Gourd

An organisation set up by Karan and Pranav Khandelwal, Shailesh Awate and Abhay Bhatia Triple OOO Farms work with the Adivasis of the Sahyadris to conserve the ecosystem of their area by encouraging local farmers to cultivate indigenous seeds and propagate holistic traditional farming practices. Working here over the last few years, they discovered the Adivasis have a traditional diet that is extremely high in nutrition from eating a lot of foraged wild foods. Unfortunately as a result of commerce, unscrupulous traders and aspirations they were losing this traditional food knowledge.

Pranav Khandelwal, Shailesh Awate and Abhay Bhatia
 of Triple OOO farms

In a move to bring pride in their own foods back to them the folks at Triple OOO have been educating and propagating use of these wild foods in their home region as well as making food aficionados in Mumbai more aware of them. They first brought them to Mumbai at a Wild Foods festival last year, which is when I met them. We stayed in touch ever since and they have continued to fuel my explorations in local ingredients, bringing me all sorts of indigenous grains, fruit, herbs, vegetables and all manner of things to discover.

Here are some of the plants I got a chance to play with:

Phodshi and Takla (Dont have a picture) – are available in Mumbai markets June - end September. Both are powerhouses of minerals, vitamins and natural anti-oxidants. They are valued for their medicinal qualities and the ability to keep monsoon-related illnesses at bay. In fact according to Shailesh of Triple OOO, “The Adivasis believe that these greens must be consumed when they appear after the first rains. They are considered cleansers, that acclimatize the body to the coming monsoon diet, and must be eaten as a precursor to all the other monsoon produce that will come as the season intensifies. Phodshi (safed musli, mulshi, or Karli), in particular has moist vegetal undertones, and a slight bitterness that lightens on cooking. I first discovered it when Saee used it to make Pakodas for #ChaiPakodaDay a couple of years ago. To prep the white bottom and central vein needs to be removed prior to cooking. The Aadivasis sauté it with wild garlic and onions into a subzi. It can also be eaten raw in salads or fried into pakodas. It’s also cooked with Karandi, (tiny fresh shrimp) and Sukhat (dried shrimp) or chana dal. 

Shevlya and Kakad, grow together
 and are cooked together.
(Pic courtesy the Velkars)

Shevlya/Shevul/ Dragon stalk yam - is a wild uncultivated vegetable that shoots out of the soil in the hills and forests of Maharashtra after the first rains and is available for a very short time. Many Maharashtrian communities really value it. It’s a delicacy that one looks forward to. According the Soumitra and Manju Velkar, who first introduced me to this vegetable, "in Pathare Prabhu Cuisine it is cooked with tamarind, pureed and made into a prawn curry, in Saraswat cuisine it is cooked with Kadve Vaal and in CKP cuisine it is cooked with fresh or dried prawns (called Soday) or kheema. It is eaten with rice or bhakri or just by itself.” Shevlya are valued for their functional properties, namely restoring gut bacteria that pollution destroys and boosting immunity and micro-nutrient B12, D and more.

Gharbhadi

Fatangdi / Phangota/ Phatangdi/ Ambat tingra is a shrub and eaten as a vegetable. Fatangdi also known as Ambat tingra is a leafy green, slightly sourish green eaten as a vegetable. The leaves and tender stems of the plant are used (Larger, less tender stems can cause itching in the mouth and throat).

Gharbhandi – is a creeper that is found in the forests at this time of the year. It grows in symbiotic conditions with the karvanda. It is cooked into a vegetable. 

Pendhra

Pendhra - Another fruit that comes into season from Jun to September is Pendhra. It is almost extinct in the world today, and one of the last bastions of this plant are in India. The fruit is eaten in all its stages from unripe to ripe. Small tender fruit are cooked whole, Large ones are boiled, sliced, de-seeded and cooked into subzis. They may also be stuffed and cooked.

Fiddle head ferns - are a rainy season staple in many hill areas of India. It was pleasantly surprising to learn that they are also found in the Sahyadris. The Adivasis there cook them into simple subzis.

Mahua Flowers - Fresh and dried

Unripe Mahua Fruit

Mahua - The Mahua tree (called the Butter Tree) is an important food source across the tribal cultures of India. The Adivasis of the Sahyadris value the Mahua tree greatly. Legend has it that they survived famines on Mahua alone and call it the Kalpa Vriksh. Mahua flowers and fruit are consumed through the different stages of their cycle. Mahua flowers are made into the famous fermented "Mahua" or Mhaudi a local alcohol that was drunk for its medicinal functions. The flowers are also dried. Currently the unripe fruit is in season. Consumed as a vegetable in the months of May to June only the fruit that fall to the ground are foraged and cooked. Fruit left on the tree ripens with the advent of the monsoons and will be foraged as it falls and pressed for Mahua oil.

Phodshi or Kauli Bhaji / Fatangadi Bhaji

Serves 2 | Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

Phodshi bhaji, 2 bunches, white base and central vein removed and finely chopped OR Fatangadi bhaji 2 bunches

Onions, 2, sliced thin lengthwise

Garlic, 4 cloves, sliced

Oil, 2 tsp

Niger seeds, ¼ tsp (Or use Cumin)

Salt to taste

Method: 

Heat the oil in a pan and add the niger/cumin seeds. Once it splutters add the garlic. When it begins to get golden around the edges, add the onions. Saute till they begin to turn golden around the edges. Add the chopped Phodshi/Fatangdi and sauté till wilted and bright green. Serve hot with dal and rice or bhakris.

Gyaan and LINKS

Dr. Kurush Dalal's post on Raanachya Bhajya on his blog Eats, Feeds and Digs. 

My story on Monsoons Bounty for Mumbai Mirror (featuring Jackfruit Seeds And Papaya Curry By Gitika Saikia, CKP Style Shevlya Kheema Bhaaji By Manju Velkar 

Also find the recipe for Shevlya Che Sambhare by Soumitra Velkar in this Curries for Comfort article in Mumbai mirror.

My post on Fiddle Head ferns and a Video on how to cook Lingre /Fiddlehead Garhwali style

Dried Mahua is available from Triple OOO for purchase along with a bunch of indigenous dry ingredients  (no vegetables though). Call/connect on whassap at 9116666066 to get on their updates list)  Website | Instagram  | Facebook

Get a Taste of The Wild in Mumbai!

PP Prawn Curry made with Shevlya from Mumbai Curry 

This weekend (13th & 14th June) Mumbai Curry, a new urban Maharashtrian food delivery and catering service, based out of Mahim is celebrating a Maharashtrian Monsoon Special with a menu showcasing 'Shevlya.' The menu features a CKP style Mutton Kheema and a Pathare Prabhu style Prawn Curry paired with the exotic Shevlya blossoms to tickle the taste buds. Prices range from Rs. 300 to Rs. 450 plus GST & Del as applicable. To pre-order contact: 9920093266

Also ‘A Taste of the Wild’, is an exciting new menu celebrating seasonal wild vegetables from Maharashtra ongoing till 31st August at The Bombay Canteen to help create greater awareness of the rich and diverse culinary heritage of our forests (seasonal availability of produce means changes to the menu every 2-3 weeks but look forward to tasting sweet Mahua Flower, salty Moras Bhaji, meaty Shevlya and more along with cocktails like Karvanda Bramble and Wild Mahua Sour)

I will leave you all with this recipe. Would you like to experience a tribal foods meal ? I am planning  a pop-up this monsoon. Leave a comment if you are interested.

{Longread} Celebrating Sesame!

In Maharashtra, sesame is best known for its use in Til laddus  proffered as ambassadors of goodwill at Sankrant with the words ‘til gud ghya, god god bola” (eat sweet and speak sweet) and in the west sesame is best recognised as a garnish on buns. But go past Sesame’s most obvious uses and the culinary versatility of these seeds will inspire an “open sesame” moment bursting with possibility for you! Clichéd as that may sound, this phrase synonymous with Sesame, (deriving from the sound - like a lock spring opening – that ripe sesame seeds make when they burst out of their pods) seems appropriate to open a post on Sesame with! 

Sesame Indicum, originated in India and has been used in the Indian kitchen for millennia. Domesticated more than 3000 years ago it is one of the oldest oil-seeds known to humans and continues to be an ingredient of significance today. It is recommended and eaten in the winter because it is considered warming. No wonder then that our grandmothers fed us oodles of Til laddus, chikkis, gajak and revdi in the winters! But that is not the only reason we should be eating a lot more of this super food, not just saving it for festive occasions. Yes, you read right! Sesame is a Super food. It carries a mega punch in its little seeds! It has thrice the calcium, of milk (1 tbsp of Sesame contains 52 calories, 88 mg Calcium, 1.3 mg Iron, 32 mg Magnesium). It is also rich in vitamin A, some B vitamins, is a source of healthy fat, Methionine and Tryptophan and a significant source of other amino acids that make it an exceptional stabilizer of amino acids in vegetarian diets when combined with grains and legumes. 

Sesame has been used in kitchens worldwide for millennia and continues to be an ingredient of significance today. The little oval seeds of Sesame come in three main colours; an un-husked version in shades varying from off white to beige dark brown and black and a husked uniformly creamy white sesame. A wonderful ingredient in itself, it is extremely versatile, and lends itself to sweet and savoury dishes. Tap into their goodness to fortify the flavour and health of everyday meals. Add them raw to smoothies, toast and sprinkle whole into salads, swap butter for sesame butter or Tahina, powder and knead into dough or use to thicken soups, gravies and curries. Here are some ways I use sesame in my kitchen…

Being an oilseed, Sesame is prone to turning rancid quickly, so I recommend you roast them and store in air tight containers as soon as you can. (You can use sesame raw but a little heat therapy enhances its inherent nutty flavours a thousand fold and increases its shelf life). Plus, having ready roasted seeds on hand has interesting benefits. The toasted seeds can go into ANYTHING - porridge, atta, salad, chaat... you name it, to add tasty, healthy crunch. Plus they make an attractive garnish for anything from appetizers to desserts. Sprinkle them onto anything to add health and flavour to everyday meals. 

Nutty Sesame typically goes beautifully with many ingredients, it will work well with most spices, but works well with cumin and chilli in particular. It pairs well with most herbs, particularly Parsley, Oregano and Tarragon. It is also fabulous with many sour flavours like lemons, tomatoes, yogurt. It also works beautifully with lentils of all kinds, rice and almost all the other grains, it works well with almost all vegetables, raw and cooked, although I am partial to it with leafy greens like spinach and kale. In fact I would say there is little you cannot do with Sesame!

In Idian cuisine, especially in Gujarati food, Sesame is often added whole to tadkas along with cumin and curry leaves for farsans and snacks, adding healthy crunch to many dishes like Dhoklas, Khandvi, Patra and more. (I suspect to assist the body in assimilating the nutrition of these dishes). 

Whole Sesame is also great addition to spice and herb mixes. Some favourites include Japanese Gomasio, Middle Eastern cuisine, the many versions of Maharashtrian Tilkut...  Gomasio, is a condiment ubiquitous at the Japanese table. Consisting of toasted sesame ground coarsely with salt it is great with anything from a simple bowl of brown rice to salads, noodles, steamed vegetables, even khichdi. I make mine using granular sea salt and toasted white and black sesame. (Just fill in pepper mill and keep handy). Zahtar, is an everyday spice mix popularly mixed with olive oil and used as a dip or spread for pita bread. It's also used to flavour meat and vegetables dishes, sprinkled on Labneh (a thick hung yogurt dip) or on fried eggs as a garnish. But, it is fab on naan and kulcha, in raitas and even sprinkled on chunks of grilled paneer or chicken. But why stop there, you could also get creative by combining sesame with other ingredients to make interesting spice mixes and seasonings that enhance the nutrition of any dish they are added to. 

Something I discovered a few years ago was sprouted Sesame. An interesting way to eat whole sesame is as sprouts. Not being as robust as other sprouting friendly seeds, sesame need a little careful handling but yields delicious results. To sprout, soak a cup of un-husked sesame in water until swollen (a few hours). Drain, dry thoroughly, by rubbing gently with kitchen paper and spread thinly in a casserole or airtight flat container with a sheet of kitchen paper underneath. Leave at room temperature for a few hours and refrigerate overnight. You will see tiny little sprouts sticking out of the pointy end of the sesame seeds in the morning.  I typically add to salads, clear soups or stirred into hot rice with a drizzle of toasted sesame oil and salt.

Grinding toasted sesame opens up a whole new range of flavours. Although South India is best known for its use of sesame, I have discovered that the cuisine of Uttarakhand uses a lot of ground sesame in its winter dishes. Crushed Sesame adds a nutty accent when stirred into Lobia and Udad Khichdi (Udad Khichdi is eaten on Sankrant). It also adds its nuttiness tothe piquant Khatte Aloo a dish in which boiled potatoes are cooked in a mixture of yogurt, toasted sesame powder, lime and chillies. But two of my absolute favourite sesame dishes of this region are Garhwali Til ki Chutney and Pinni ka Saag. In the chutney toasted ground sesame is ground with toasted cumin, ginger, green chillies, and ground into a beautifully textured chutney with the juice of the Bada Nimbu (large wild lemons that come into season in the winter), and Pinni ka saag is a “Saag” or gravy my grandmother - in - law legendarily made from Pinni or compressed seed cakes left over from the oil extraction process of Sesame. With the oil removed, these become extremely high in protein and dietary fibre and were cooked into a delicious gravy preparation eaten with rice. I don't have access to Pinni, so I crush Sesame in a mortar and leave it in the sun in a strainer for the oil to drain out. Then I use the dry leftover meal to make the Pinni ka Saag.

When you grind Sesame until it gives forth its oil you also get Tahini or Sesame butter, a staple condiment in the Middle East and very versatile to have on hand. Sesame makes a great butter because it is extremely high in its oil content. It also offers a omega 3, protein and fiber rich alternative to regular butter. Stir it into hummus the traditional way or swirl into yogurt for an instant dip, add honey to that combination and you have a quick dessert dip for fruit. Substitute it for peanut butter to make sesame satay or use it to add body to fortify soups and even Indian gravies.  

Sesame is typically pressed for its oil. In fact it is one of the oldest oil-seeds in the world. Cold pressed ‘Gingelly’ oil is the oldest recorded oil used in Indian cuisine but considering how long we have been pressing sesame for oil, it is confounding that nobody thought to toast the seed prior to extracting its oil... Something that the rest of Asia has been using for millennia to produce the most magical ingredient, Toasted Sesame oil! This fabulous ingredient is available at fine food stores in small 250 ml bottles and it is vastly different from its local cold pressed cousin. The roasting process intensifies the nutty sesame flavour so Toasted Sesame oil is used more as a condiment or flavouring oil and a little goes a long way. Drizzle over poached or fried eggs, replace it for other oils in dressings and dips, swirl a few drops into soups, marinate tofu or chicken in it with a little garlic, honey and lemon juice and panfry for a quick and interesting dish. In fact it even goes well drizzled over ice creams! You will be amazed at how important it becomes in your kitchen!

Sesame’s nutty flavours work beautifully in both savoury and sweet dishes, the plethora of laddus and chikkis in Indian cuisine are testament to this fact. That said, Sesame is also used in sweet preparations around the world. All over the Middle East you will find Sesame Halva. Nothing like our Indian halvas this is made of sesame paste and sugar, and is available in large blocks, from which it is sliced off and sold by weight. It is just delicious, almost toffee like it just melts in the mouth and glides down the throat! Like all things Sesame it is hard to stop eating it! Many Asian cuisines do versions of Black Sesame Soup a subtly sweet, nutty custard like dessert soup often served with ice cream. Of course we in India also have some lovely Sesame desserts like the Assamese Til Pitha, Sindhi Sesame fudge and more. In fact in India Sesame is often also part of many after meal palatte cleansing mixtures as well. 

Why only savour Sesame on festive occaissions, lets tap into its goodness in our everyday meals!

Recipe - 
Sesame and Yogurt Gratinated Potatoes 

Garhwali urad Dal Khichdi with Sesame (Link goes to Mumbai Mirror Article on some fab Khichdis)

Lingde, Khutde, Dhekia xaak, Neuro or Fiddlehead ferns, whatever you call them, they are delicious!

An Assamese dish of fiddle head ferns cooked with Kala chana that Gitika Saikia made at the Haan Miholi pop up she did recently reminded me of this post I had been meaning to do.

I love Fiddlehead ferns known variously as Lingde or Khutde and it would be remiss of me not to give them their due devotion here. If you've tasted them, you will understand why. And just how excited I was to get my hands on Fiddlehead Ferns this season (thanks to Gitika again). Wondering what all the fuss is about? That is pretty hard to communicate without making you taste them. But the season is ongoing and there is a good chance you will find them if you go looking in hilly / mountain regions of India. So here is everything you need to know on Fiddleheads, just in case! (Thank me later!)

I learned about Fiddlehead ferns in the first year of being married. I was in Dehra Dun for a holiday. Nanu Chachaji, Shekhar's uncle, had decided to teach me to drive. Truth be told, I never did learn to drive but I DID fall in love with Lingure aka Fiddlehead Ferns! Chahachaji loves them, and every second day he'd make me drive around to a handful of subziwallas he had identified that sold them in season. It had been years since I'd been to Doon in season, so I hadn't eaten them in forever. Until Gitika got me some from a recent visit home to Assam (Along with a few other goodies like teasel gourds and pumkin from her garden!) But I'll stick to the Ferns for now. 

Fiddlehead ferns are the young shoots of edible ferns. Literally nano ferns before they become ferns. Tightly rolled up teeny baby ferns that spring up out of stubs of older plants by riversides and swampy areas, a few weeks after the first monsoon rains. Their compressed spirals (resembling the spiral end of a fiddle, hence the name) emerge, uncurling, stretching for the sun and grabbing for fresh air with all their tiny leafy frondy and tendrilly might. (Almost as though they want to make the most of the moment!) Left on the plant, each Fiddlehead would unfurl into a new frond. 

But they don't thanks to us Fiddlehead crazy foodies! Because boy, are they are popular! Known variously as Lingra, lingri, ningro, Lingure, Khutde, Fiddlehead Ferns are found all over the Indian Himalayas, Nepal, Bhutan and many other parts of the world. Availalble from Kashmir in the North to Assam in the North East. In Kashmir, they are called Kasrod and are popular in Dogra cuisine, pickled into a much loved Kasrod ka achaar. They are also eaten as a leafy vegetable with rotis or parathas. Himachali cuisine calls them Lingri and makes a lingri achaar. In Sikkim, they are called Niyuro and sometimes sauteed with chhurpi, the local cheese and also pickled. In the Kangra Valley they are called Lungdu. In Assam, they are called  

Dhekia xaak and cooked simply as a vegetable side dish or cooked with Pork and as I recently found out with Kala Chana.

And Fiddleheads are popular all over the world! Further out in Nepal, they are called Neuro (meaning 'bent,' 'curled' - neehureko, jhukeko). They have been eaten in Northern France since the start of the Middle Ages, are also savoured across Asia, among Native Americans, in the Hawain Islands and in the Russian Far East. Typically, Fiddleheads are steamed, sauteed, boiled and served with butter and or lemon, in egg dishes, with Hollandaise, or in combination with morel mushrooms. They are also pickled.

As green as they look, they are not like other greens, so I would not advise you eat Fiddleheads raw! Their habitat, makes them prone to carrying food-borne illnesses. So when you get them, wash them really well, rinsing of any grit stuck inside the heads. Be careful. And use as soon as you can once harvested. They are delicate, with a short shelf life and lose flavour and texture within days. I would not bother storing, freezing etc, it compromises the flavour. Though I have to admit I have never had enough to try pickling them so I cannot comment on that method of  storing them, currently.

Historically, Garhwali cuisine, has had a strong relaince on foraged foods and wild plants play a large part in fortifying the simple Garhwali diet. Fiddleheads, typically foraged from riversides would often supplement meals. Rich in omega-3, omega-6 essential fatty acids as well as iron, potassium and other minerals and vitamins its understandable why they came to be valued as food, but their earthy flavours is what makes them loved by those who have discovered them! During the Monsoon, women often harvest the tightly coiled fronds, for personal consumption, or to sell. Usually  harvested early in the season before the frond has opened and reached its full height, the ferns are cut fairly close to the ground and the entire stem and head is eaten. Fiddleheads have an addictive green, earthy flavour, with a nutty mushroom-y undertone and a tang of iron and pair beautifully with potatoes, into a subzi, which is how we eat them.

In Garhwali cuisine we stir-fry Ligure in Mustard oil, tempered with Jakhiya garlic and dry red chillies. Potatoes are often added and taste amazing cooked with the Lingure. (Come to think of it, potatoes, pork, mushrooms, eggs, fiddleheads marry with the best foods!) Here is the recipe and here is a link to a video of the Lingure ki Subzi recipe.

Lingure ki Sabzi 

Ingredients 

2 tbsp Mustard Oil 

1 tsp jakhiya

4-5 dry red chillies

8-10 cloves garlic, sliced 

2 large potatoes, peeled and diced 

500 gms Lingure /Fiddlehead fern, cleaned and chopped

Method

Heat the oil in an iron kadhai. 

When hot, add the jakhiya and let it splutter. 

Add the chillies and garlic and saute until garlic is golden. 

Add the potatoes and stirfry till 9o% cooked. (When pressed they should break easily) 

Add the Lingure and stirfry, first the vegetable will let of its water. Then the water will simmer away and the vegetable will be reduced and get a oily sheen. 

Transfer to a Serving bowl. 

Eat warm with rotis or Arhar Dal, and rice 

Interesting links! 

The Fiddlehead Gitika gets from Assam are different from the ones I have eaten in Dehra Dun. The Assamese ones look more like these (https://rubberslippersinitaly.wordpress.com/2006/05/31/hoio-hawaiis-edible-fern/) The ones we eat in Dehra Dun look more like these 

Here is a lovely post by Rekha Kakkar on Dogri Kasrod Achaar. https://mytastycurry.com/recipe-of-kasrod-ka-achaar-from-dogri-cuisine

A great post on foraging for Fiddleheads with some instructive infographics. http://www.foodandwine.com/fwx/food/foraging-beginners

Add a little Zest to your life!

I met Matt Preston from the fabulous TV show Master Chef Australia for lunch on his recent trip toi Mumbai and wanted to bring him a gift. Knowing that he loves limes and Sea Salt, I decided to create ‘A Perfect Bite’ of a Marmalade in his honour. And in a bold move I decided to intensify its citrus flavour by replacing the water marmalade recipes usually call for with citrus juice. Which meant. a lot of citrus to be juiced. Which ALSO meant my favourite ingredient in abundance - Citrus Zest.

Ever since I discovered Zest there has been no turning back! It all began I discovered a little magic wand, the Citrus Zester. It looks like a retarded back scratcher but is a nifty tool that harvests fine curls of the aromatic upper layer of skin from any citrus fruit, cleanly, in large proportions, without scraped knuckles and /or bitter pith! Now that I have clued in on it, I am hard put not to Zest Citrus. I add a bit of zest even if a recipe calls for juice only, it underscores the citrus flavor and announces the presence of citrus both visually and texturally.

We all use citrus juice, especially lime or lemon juice, its an important ingredient in cooking, with its ability to uplift even the most dismal dish. But it tends to be a one-note wonder adding sourness and flavour from whatever little oils of the skin make it into a dish.

Their most aromatic attribute – the skin – is relegated to soap dish to sparkle vessels with or discarded, taking the best of the fruit with it. The rind or peel of Citrus are the part of the fruit packed with maximum flavour thanks to volatile aromatic oils found in them, rich with floral, tangy tones against a background of slight, sophisticated bitterness. They are also incredibly rich in valuable phytonutrients and vitamin C which makes them ideal to help the body absorb the iron and protein in dishes they are added to. In fact I have even taken to adding zest, to my Dal tadkas. Yes you read right I put zest in a Dal Tadka! Orange Zest in Masoor dal and Kafir lime in Mung dal tadkas! 

Zest is very inportant in my CitruTzar masala.

Ironically, Indian cuisine just has not tapped the potential of citrus zest. Considering the sheer amount of time we’ve been squeezing Citrus for juice ! (limes originated in the Assam region of India). Having had them around for so long, you’d think we'd have discovered its Zest. It's even more tragic when one takes into account the fragrant varieties we have to our disposal in India; Uttaranchali Kagzi or Bada Nimbu, Gul Guls in Delhi, Bengali Gandharaj and Narthankai from South India. 

Zest can be scraped off with a zester but failing the possession of one the finest end of your grater will do. In my zester deprived days I preferred a sharp potato peeler. Peel of the thinnest outer layer, in large strips avoiding the pith or the white bit right underneath and chop up smaller. The outermost, coloured part of the peel is what you want. Aptly called zest, this bit of the fruit lives up to its name in what it brings to a dish. Zest can be scraped off with a zester but failing the possession of one the finest end of your grater will do. In my zester deprived days I prefered a sharp potato peeler. I'd peel of the thinnest outer layer, in large strips avoiding the pith or the white bit right underneath.

Mince fresh Zest, along with other fresh herbs/spices so ils can blend.

All citrus fruits can be zested, lemons are most popular but Mosambis and Oranges - especially Malta Oranges offer intensely fruity aromas. Even Grapefruit yields wonderfully complex zest. Vivid colors are usually, but not always, an indication of flavorful zest; in the case of our own nimbus, the greenest ones offer best Zest, not the yellow ones, which are dried out somewhat. (Also Lime zest loses some of its kick when cooked so be more generous with it) but when added fresh to a Nimbu or Kala khatta gola, it can't be beaten!

Dried Citrus peel sold as tea in Itanbul's Spice market.

When choosing fruit for zesting look for firm fruit with clear glossy skins, nick the peel of fruit you're considering to release the volatile oils in the skin. It should have a bright sharp wonderful bouquet. If it’s dull, skip it and pick another. Wash fruit well before zesting and zest just before using because the volatile oils are strongest then. It's much easier to zest a whole fruit so zest prior to juicing.

Here are a few ideas for using Zest :- 

If you do not have any time just put Zest into an open mouthed jar and top with olive oil. In a few days you will have a wonderfully aromatic citrus oil that can be added to salad, drizzled over soups or used anywhere that it will not be heated up. (Heat will kill its flavour).  

Another easy way to preserve zest that I discovered while making Matt’s Marmalade, is as Citrus Finishing Salt. It makes a lovely condiment just combine 1portion Citrus Zest with 1 ½-2 portions sea salt. Its an AWESOME condiment to finish anything from Nimbu Paani to soups, salads, stirfries, just about anything that calls for a little salt leaving a hauntingly zingy flavour in its wake. Fold it into Mayonnaise in place of regular salt for a citrusy dressing for chicken or salad.  I have used the Citrus finishing salt to season both Spinach and Pak Choy with delicious results. I also loved it with blanched vegetables. 

You can also make Citrus sugar, lemon sugar in particular, zest a lemon into fine sugar, mix well and pour into a container. Zesting releases the natural oils of the lemon and those oils absorb quickly into the sugar. Sallow mixture to dry then close bottle. Refresh as you use by adding regular sugar and or zest and stirring great in tea and lemonade, its great for rimming glasses for cocktails, topping brulees and stirring into desserts. Apologies, I do not have a picture for the sugar currantly, but to compensate please click through here to read my fellow food blogger Saee's FABULOUS POST ON ORENGETTE COFFEE CAKE TO DIE FOR! 

Links and GYAN

My column on Zest in HT, My story on Tadkas for Crest

And if you fancy winning packets of my Anna Rascalla and Citrus Tzar spice blends! Click through here to see what you need to do! 

Announcing the A Perfect Bite Pistachio Recipe contest!

A Perfect Bite is introducing a new section - Incredible Ingredient. It's pretty normal around our parts to be so enamored of an ingredient that we explore every aspect of it. In the past we have adored anise (star), flirted with figs, and continue to be seduced by citrus so now we are going to blog about specific ingredients. This time around the Incredible Ingredient in focus is The Pistachio!

Off late, my family is gleefully telling the world that I have gone nuts!

And I can’t blame them, because I have!
I have been more that a little obsessed with nuts of late. It is the right time of the year for it, after all, with the festive season on us, there will definitely be a surfeit of nuts and it seemed prudent to plan ahead on using them.

But, I digress, to be accurate it is one nut in particular that has me obsessed. I am passionate about pistachios currently. New research has already established that nuts are beneficial to one’s health. But I recently found out although like most nuts, pistachios are extremely good sources of protein and fiber, they have an advantage over their nutty buddies. At approximately 49 kernels per ounce, pistachios offer the most nuts per 160-calorie serving – comparatively almonds offer only have 23, cashews, 18 and walnuts, 7. Pistas are also the lowest in calories and fat and highest in fibre. One single ounce of pistachio provides 3 grams of fiber, (thats equivalent to approximately as much fibre as 1 serving of oatmeal and twice the fiber of walnuts).

I'd never really given Pistas (as we call them in India) much thought, beyond popping a couple in the mouth when presented or as an opulent garnish over festive dishes. So I was pretty flummoxed to discover a big bag of them had mysteriously snuck into my freezer. I couldn't think of a single thing to do with them (which is probably why they'd snuck to the bottom of the drawer in the first place), so I did what any curious cook does these days, I googled! And it turned out to be an an absolute journey of discovery!

But what really tipped me in favour of Pistachios was discovering that they are my route to having my proverbial cake and eating it too, this Diwali!

Diwali, being the largest festival in India offers one the classic excuse to indulge. How many times have we given in to that urge to indulfe in an extra serving of pulav because the curry is so good, or just one more irrisitible sweet or brushed off our resolution to diet since it is Diwali... Rich feasts of festive delicacies make it easy to be tempted. But Pistas, meet all the criterion of festive food with all their health benefits and their vibrant colours ( I am especially enamored of California Pistachios for their green and purple colour and their quality and taste) and instantly add oomph to any dish. Their health benifits also make them the perfect addition to my festive table for a little guilt free sinning! So enamored have I become of these ‘Skinny nuts’ that not only have I decided to gift Pistchios to my friends and family this festive season, but I am going to blog about them, my discoveries, experiences and favourite recipes, AND host the biggest ever recipe competition for them on A perfect bite throughout October!

So without further ado let me present The 1st A Perfect Bite Recipe Contest.
Send A Perfect Bite an original Pistachio recipe (it could be sweet, savoury, for any course from starters to dessert and even beverages and cocktails (ensure it is your original recipe not copied) with the story of how it was created and an accompanying photograph.
Email recipes with “A Perfect Bite – Pistachio recipe contest’ along with your mailing address and contact details because every entry will get a participation gift! at a.perfect.bite@gmail.com or post them on your blog and send us the link. Email us at a.perfect.bite@gmail.com with any questions you might have. The deadline is 05th November 2009. Winners will be announced by 15th Nov 2009. Three winning entries will get Hampers of Pistachio goodies such as Wonderful Pistachios, Turkish Baklava, Pistachio Mortadella and a few other surprises! (1st prize – Pistachio hamper valued at 2500, 2nd prize – Pistachio Hamper valued at Rs. 1500 and 3rd prize – Hamper valued at Rs. 1000. (All prizes to be picked up from Mumbai.) If winner is not a citizen of Mumbai, we will substitute the prize hamper with a book of the same value.
The rules

The recipes should be your own original recipes. A story of how the recipe was created is mandatory. Please keep in mind that we do need to be able to get the ingredients where we are to test recipes. (Email us at a.perfect.bite@gmail.com to check if you want to double check).