#PerfectFoodles - Citrus salad with feta and parsley

My love for Citrus borders on obsession as you know. So I was pretty excited to get my hands on some fab Organic Santras (as oranges are called in India) last week from Luv Thy Farmer. They were wiped out by the kids before I could say Orange juice! I did manage to make a marmalade out of a few so I could preserve some of the sun warmed goodness of our pure Indian Santras - pure Santra in a bottle but that's more or less over as well. And one afternoon when Aman was at school and Natasha was asleep, I indulged in a bowl of this lovely salad I had foodled a while ago. I developed it a few years ago for My Nature's Basket Salad series. I used up the last of some Feta in olive oil I had in the fridge and snipped up a handful of lovely flat leaf parsley. Santras are still around; try this before they are all gone!

Citrus Salad with Feta and Parsley 
Serves: 4 Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:
3 c orange segments
½ c whole leaves of flat leaf Parsley
1 ½ c feta or fresh paneer, cubed
1 ½ tbsp fresh or preserved red chillies sliced thinly
1 tbsp Zest of Orange
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Combine everything in a mixing bowl. Toss well and chill until ready to serve.

Enjoy!

GYAAN and Links
Find Feta and Parsley at Natures Basket 
Order Oranges and Mosambis straight from a farm at Luv Thy Farmer

#PerfectFoodle Recipes - Mango Chilli Rice Paper rolls (with illustrated guide to rolling!)

Anyone who has followed my culinary capers for any significant amount of time will have clued in to my love for Rice Paper rolls. They are so easy to do, allow for advance preparation, last perfectly wrapped in clingfilm and travel very well. Also they can be eaten with the fingers. Coming up with an innovative stuffing was another challenge but in the end the textures of the prawn smothered in spicy sweet mango reduction spiked with chillies and punched up with green onions works perfectly.

Mango Chilli Rice Paper rolls 
Makes 10 rolls, time 40 mins

Ingredients
250g Prawns, cleaned and deveined
1 tsp mustard
Salt
½ cup mango pulp
2-4 Thai Red Chilli, sliced
¼ tsp Lemon juice and zest
1 tsp oil
1 tbsp spring onion
½ tsp chilli oil
1 Pkt Rice paper
Shredded lettuce

Method
Combine lime juice chillies salt and zest mustard and mix add cleaned prawns and toss well. Leave to marinate for 20 mins. Then add mango puree and stir well. Heat oil in a pan add prawn mixture and simmer till prawns are cooked and sauce has dried. To make rolls Dampen rice paper in hot water and lay flat on a smooth surface. Place a little shredded lettuce down one side, top with cooked prawns, drizzle with chilli oil and spring onion. Fold edge of rice paper over the filling, fold sides over and then roll up. Repeat with rest of the rice paper.

Happiness is Homemade. A Christmas Roast-Up with Chef Ajay Chopra

So the winter (though minuscule in Mumbai) is here. The weather, the feel good air and the season of festivity usually gets tomeon 1st Dec itself. And it was no different this year. I love winter because it is also the season of delicious slow cooked winter treats, Undhiyu, Meat bhaat, slow cooked stews and roasts. For me it is also the season of Roast Chicken.

I remember the roast chicken I ordered a few years ago from Katy's Kitchen a catering outfit run by my friends Kurush and Rhea Dalal. It was so lovely to sit down to that meal! And ever since its been on my "scary but want to make list." The thing with Roast chicken — the gorgeous golden skin and juicy flavourful meat kind — is its one of those things that is simple for those who do it and complicated for newbies.

 My friends Saee and Rhea make it look like a breeze, but what should be simple, actually scared me. The idea of roasting a whole chicken just seemed so challenging! So much technique, (or so it seemed) and then the questions...  should one brine, marinate, season? or all of the above? how to truss? how long to roast. It sounded pretty complicated and time consuming to do on my own.  And I was not alone in this, many of the attendees at the studio and my friends echoed these thoughts.

But in the spirit of turning 40 and conquering my fears I had put this on my bucket-list. That said every time I reviewed said list, I'd skim over the item. I kept procrastinating over it! I needed to break the ice so to speak. The solution came from an unexpected quarter.

(OK and now I HAVE to say this here! I'm STILL patting myself on the back for the solution I found and I promise each of you that use this solution over the coming months are going to thank me for it.)

What if I told you that you could roast your own chicken, maybe get your kids involved to help even, have all the fun with a fraction of the hassle of running around shopping, prepping, marinating, and potentially messing up at the end?

I challenged my friend Chef Ajay Chopra to create a ready to cook meal kit for a whole roast chicken. Ajay of course should need no introduction, the man has so many fantastic accomplishments to his name, five star chef, Masterchef judge, TV show host and more. Most recently he is also the man behind Burgundy Box, a company that offers DIY meal kits personally designed by him. He had brought me some boxes to play with way back in Ajay accepted the challenge. And a few days later called to say would I try it out?

Now the other thing I am big on after winter foods, is getting together for cook-ups. There is so much fun to be had in cooking a meal and sitting down to eat it together. And our communal table at the studio offers the perfect place to do this. So I got a food loving friends together at the studio for a Meet The Chef Christmas Special (A monthly session at the studio in which people can sign up to cook with a Chef). We readied ourselves to roast some chickens on 2nd December! In fact we went the whole hog... er chicken... and decked out the studio with tinsel and bling. Never to early to get into the festive mood I say!

Everyone arrived well in time on the day, I had Saee, Rhea, Sandeep, Disha, Prathista, Dipali, Rachna, Romi and Nikki joining me. A stellar group of food lovers all set to cook. We congregated almost immediately around a table my team had kitted out in Christmas finery. We were already high on life (the kind of high only life, not alcohol can give) and rosemary scented lemonade by the time Ajay 'foodie Santa" Chopra arrived bearing his delicious gifts!

Introductions happened and Ajay shared a few things about the Christmas boxes before we got down to cooking. Burgundy Box meal kits usually contain the ingredients and recipes for restaurant style dishes that are prepped and ready to cook in 20 minutes. However, Ajay shared this Christmas box would be a little more time consuming than their usual offerings with both the Chicken and the pudding requiring long cooking. But hey, I was ok with that, after all, for all the things you can speed up, slow cooking of the roast chicken kind cannot be hurried!

What Burgundy box HAS done, is that they have taken most of the shopping and prep work out of the equation. Your time is only invested in mixing pre-measured ingredients together and putting the whole thing in to bake. I could already imagine doing the Roast meal over at home with my family and make a special cooking date out of it. The kids would enjoy helping. And then as the oven did its work (and my kids hovered over it), Id light some aromatic candles, the husband would play Christmas carols while I freshened up, arriving back into the kitchen in the last 10 minutes to elegantly toss up the trimmings and serve up a delicious meal!

Oops! I was off day dreaming! Cut to present, where my teammate Nikki and I were prepping the pudding. We finished it and put it in the oven. Ajay then showed us how to massage and truss our chicken amidst much silly conversation about prudish chickens that needed proper massages and didn't like being tied up (that last gem was from yours truly! Told you I was high on life!) Anyways soon the puddings were gently baking in one oven while the chickens roasted in another and we were back at the table digging into fresh bread, dips and a lovely chickpea soup our team had made. Much animated discussions on the Christmas box, roasting chicken, olive oil, cooking together ensued. With silence reigning and furious photography of the food porn kind,  happening every time Chef Ajay opened the oven to baste the chickens. 

Soon the beautiful golden brown roast chickens were out, and getting photographed like the stars they were as we revelled in the achievement we had unlocked. Successfully creating a whole roast chicken meal!

I love the spirit of festivals, any festival. And for me Festivals are all about getting together with friends and family and lots of good food! Christmas came early to APB Cook Studio thanks to Ajay and Burgundy Box. And I have been high on that  Christmassy feeling ever since.


Gyaan and links
The Christmas Special Festive Meal Kit combo pack is available on Burgundy Box at Rs. 1350/- from the 15th Dec till the end of the season, so go order it and thank me later!

Also FYI for every box sold Burgundy Box will donate Rs. 100 will towards a special treat for children of an orphanage run in collaboration with the Avatar Church, Bandra.

Have a look at the video we shot of the cook-up below. 

Ginger-Pineapple Chicken

 From adrak valli chai we down by the gallon to almost every dish we eat, ginger is an indelible part of the Indian kitchen. No surprise then that India is one of the largest producers of ginger! Chefs and cooks especially understand the value of our farmers! Where would we be without the fabulous fresh produce that is the cornerstone of our cooking? And it is up to cooks and chefs like us to support farmers. 

Today I have chosen to partner with Mahindra’s # SeedTheRiseChallenge that's doing such amazing work for people who need it the most - our farmers!

90% (if not more) Indian recipes will call for ginger in some form; as a paste, grated, chopped fine, julienned, dried or powdered. It is part of the triumvirate of flavor along with garlic and chilies that is at the base of all dishes. In fact many cuisines and dishes that avoid garlic and onion might still use ginger.

There is no doubt that ginger can work in conjunction with other flavours. But why relegate this ingredient to always being the extra and never the hero? Bring it out of the shadow of other ingredients and given the chance, ginger can be a dominant flavour with elaan, offering limitless options as an ingredient. The spicy aromatic notes of ginger can hold their own with any flavour profile from savoury to sweet. In fact I can safely say there are very few fruits or vegetables that do not pair well with ginger in some form. And ginger also has a natural affinity to meats, poultry, and fish.

The first of the tender young ginger is now available in the market, I just pickled some with Amba Haldi and chilies in salt and lime juice. Young ginger with its tangy citrussy freshness has a light spiciness and mellow sweetness that makes it gently warming and ideal to complement a range of raw and lightly cooked dishes. Either finely julienne or dice and sprinkle a little over north Indian chaats, salads or add at the end of cooking to stir-fries, light broths and soups and fruit fillings for desserts. At this stage it is also ideal to candy and nibble on through the coming winter. Trust me and candy some; chopped candied ginger will be handy in a myriad ways through the Christmas baking month! 

As it matures, ginger gets harder, more fibrous and spicier. At this stage it might be too stringy to candy, and too spicy to eat raw but is ideal for long cooking. Chop, crush, grate or puree and add to marinades, long cooking soups, stews, curries and roasts, giving its flavours a chance to truly open up into the dishes. It is also ideal to make a spicy ginger cordial to refresh you in the summer and spike cocktails and monsoon/winter warmers with as required.

Ginger is also available dried, either as whole roots or powdered. The roots retain flavours longer so buy those and powder as required. In its powdered form, dried ginger is at its spiciest best and a little goes a long way. Intrinsic to the saunth chutney of the North and the chai masala that spices the famed Gujarati masala chai, powdered ginger is ideal for adding warming spicy notes to meat rubs, chutneys, baked treats, and slow cooked dishes. Ginger can also be infused into milk and cream to make moreish custards, crème brulee  or ice creams.

PINEAPPLE GINGER CHICKEN

Serves: 4-6

Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

1 Chicken breast, pounded thin, cut into bite size pieces

1/4 cup Cornstarch

1tsp Garlic powder

½ tsp Red chili powder

1tsp Ginger powder

½ tsp White pepper powder

½tsp Salt

2tbsp Oil

Pineapple Ginger Sauce

¼ cup Pineapple juice

3tbsp White wine vinegar

1tsp Brown sugar

3 Garlic cloves, minced

½  cup Ginger juice (grate 1 cup ginger, squeeze for juice. Gratings can be used later.)

1tsp Red chili powder

½ tsp Salt

2tsp Cornstarch

3tbsp Sesame seeds, toasted

2tbsp Spring onion greens, chopped

Method

Combine cornstarch, garlic powder, red chili powder, ginger powder, pepper  and salt in a large zip lock bag and mix well to combine.

Add the chicken pieces and toss until evenly coated.

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large nonstick pan.

Add the coated chicken and cook for 2 minutes undisturbed then continue to stir fry until cooked through, about 5-7 minutes.

For the Sauce

Heat the oil in a small pan over medium heat.

Add the garlic and ginger and sauté for 30 seconds.

Add the remaining ingredients and whisk to combine.

Bring sauce to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until sauce thickens (approximately 3 minutes).

In a large bowl, toss the cooked chicken with the sauce using a spatula until evenly coated.

Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and chopped spring onion.

Serve immediately over rice.

Gyaan and Legends

#SeedTheRise is a crowd-funding campaign set up by Mahindra to help improve the lives of our country’s farmers. Working with 5 NGO-led projects across India, that strategically aim at bettering the farmers' lives in varied ways including setting up drip irrigation, sustainable farming units and educating the girl child. The campaign is looking to raise Rs. 2 crores in public donations, an amount that will be matched by Mahindra to double the benefit for the farmers. 

For more info watch this video: http://bit.ly/1Nu87KX and to contribute towards the cause, donate here: http://bit.ly/1ROiYCC.

Launching The Pinch and Handful Memory Jar Project

Do you remember your first postcard? I remember mine. My cousin Hasit Bhai sent it to me from somewhere in Europe. It had the picture of a wrinkled old woman on it. On the back he had written. "Don't laugh at her, one day we will be old like this and have so many stories to share." He passed away at 28. But I will always remember the joy of receiving that postcard. And in that joy I always find him. And I often share stories with him in my head when I think of that. It was just a fleeting scribble. But he was 25 and on his penultimate European adventure. And it told me that he was thinking of me, his pig-tailed, bespectacled entirely forgettable little sister, in that most exciting time of his life.

I have loved post cards, ever since. And letters. I loved LOVED letters, both writing and receiving them. But that's for another post. Over the years I was lucky enough to be the recipient of many postcards. From Romesh Uncle who sent me one from wherever he traveled, from my God parents in Germany, from pen-pals I made in faraway places and complete strangers in postcard swaps! Even some I mailed to myself at specific moments on my travels, so I would have them waiting at home to remind me of that moment on my return.

I remember the joy every time I found a postcard or a letter in the mail. I'd immediately pick it up and find a quiet corner or lock myself in my room to savour it in solitude. To the dreamy, bookish, romantic loner of a young girl I was, it meant the world to me. It was tangible evidence of someone taking a moment out of their busy life to spare a thought for me. I still have so many of them. In a little treasure chest by my bed.

So it seemed appropriate then to make the postcard my messenger of joy for the Pinch and Handful Memory Project.

A few weeks after my book A pinch of This, A handful of That launched, I met the first person who said "Your book reminded me of my Grandmother's Halwa. Since then I have lost count of how many people have written, called, messaged to tell me how it reminded them of somebody or someone's cooking; their Mom's Paneer, their Nani's Dal, their Dadi's achaar, their mausis laddoos, their chachis chutney,  their sisters chocolate cake.... you get the idea...

For me, each time someone has said my book reminded them of someone, it was a precious gift, a sign that writing this book was a good thing. Every event we had for the book, I asked people to go say thank you to those that cooked for them. But I always felt that the journey of this book was not done...

I am glad to have had a chance to pay tribute to the people that have cooked for me, fed me and nurtured me. More than anything I love that my Mom knows I am thankful for her Daal soup, her Chinese meals and her love. That my Nani admonishes me smilingly for giving her chaas and simple home cooking so much  importance. (She does not realise that nothing I say will ever be enough to do her justice).

But I also often wished I had had a chance to similarly thank my Dad for his fried rice. I would sell my soul to taste it again just one more time! And my Dadi for her aam papad, the ghesh she saved for me on her fasting days and her chai masala that scents my mornings everyday. And my father - in - law for his meat bhaat, kebabs and those two apples he scoured Dehra Dun for because I was pregnant and craving Apples.

It was a thought that was often echoed. Many people that told me the book reminded them of someone, said, "I wish I had told her/him...

It is from this that the Pinch and Handful Memory Jar Project was born....

We are all fortunate to have been the recipient of somebody's love in the form of food, cooked with love and served with care. But how many times do we actually thank that person? The Pinch and Handful Memory Jar Project is for each of us to do exactly that.

On Saturday 16 May we launched this lovely project at the Bombay Local, a homegrown Local Festival that celebrates home made, artisnal food and food producers through all its endeavors. A most appropriate space for the launch I thought. Thanks to the Insia and Paresh of Small Fry Co. for supporting my bizarre idea!

Some special friends from the food industry were also kind enough to support my insanity to inaugurate the project with a panel discussion. Kalyan Karmarkar, of the blog Finely Chopped, Chef Ranveer Brar, master story teller, one of the most erudite chefs I have met and an amazing friend, my favourite tale spinner archaeologist, food anthropologist, provider of great Parsi food and lots of laughter, Dr. Kurush Dalal and Rukmankan the man behind Trekurious a company that has brought so much excitement to Mumbai Dining with their fabulous curated experiences.

Each shared memories of people that cooked for them and added them to our installation of the memory jar. And then, each wrote a postcard to the people they remembered as my daughter distributed (rather over enthusiastically) retro candy. After this the audience shared their stories and memories and we inaugurated the installation that was open till late at night for people to stop by, dip into the candy jar, leave a memory and write a postcard.

It is a measure of the times we live in that most people were taken aback when we shared the idea. But almost immediately they smiled, popped a bullseye, jeera goli or aam papad and settled down to write a post card, or two, or three... or 10 (yes one young lady did that too!)

Over the next couple of weeks hundreds of postcards will go out carrying messeages of love and thanks that I hope will make people feel special and smile. And I would love to have you join us in this. If you would like me to send you a post card to start you off, email info@apbcookstudio.com your address and I will. Or just share a memory in the comments of this blog post or on the Facebook Page of A Pinch of This, A Handful of That (https://www.facebook.com/pinchofthishandfulofthat) and send off a post card or many on your own.

Share it with the world and us, or don't, but send out that post card!

Much love,
Rushina

Bawibride, Gitika's Pakghor and Poppaddum - Meet my Culinary Heroes

Gitika Saikia.

Imagine how refreshing it would be to experience meals that are different. Lighter on the stomach, seasonal, seasoned with stories and experiences; Like a Parsi Bhonu, washed down with stories of eccentric Bawas, beer and Raspberry at a period bungalow in a vintage Parsi Baug where time stops. Or a festive Assamese Bihu meal accompanied by dancing, anecdotes about looking for ant eggs cooking silk worms and learning about unknown North Eastern Cultures and Cuisines. Or a traditional Kerela Sadya served on a leaf, garnished with stories of coconut harvests and pepper picking…. Sounds like something you want to do? Well read on to find out how!

Until last year, the dining scene in Mumbai was pretty dismal. New restaurant openings, menu launches or food festival were daily occurrences. One hotel finished a Kashmiri festival and another announced theirs a week later. An element of ennui had set in. Nothing new was happening. They also caricature the cuisine in focus with the broadest brush, to appeal to the largest common denominator, dishing up predictable unimaginatively-executed menus. (Exceptions are ITC and Leela, where Indian food experiences are well researched and respectfully served).

Regional food festivals at hotels also for some reason, tend to be about royal cuisines… like they need to justify charging what they do by tagging it with ‘royal.’ Until now, home cooking has been largely ignored only seeing light in the recipe pages of columns like 'Ghar ka khana around festive times when papers are looking for something topical to feature. Or on the rare occasions that a hotel chain deigns to exploit a home-cook and showcase a cuisine their chefs cannot do (yes that is a grouse I will air at some point as well). So it is a happy thing, then, that into this desolate landscape of dining have arrived a tribe of extraordinary culinary evangelists. There is a burgeoning underground food scene that is mushrooming in our melting pot of a city and it is so exciting! Over the last few weeks I finally had a chance to catch up with some amazing women who are changing the dynamics of Mumbai’s culinary scene.

Perzen Patel

First I visited Perzen, who has been charming my twitter timeline with her indefatigable enthusiasm in promoting Parsi cuisine. I was invited to a Dhansak lunch at her new kitchen, in a vintage parsi bungalow. Perzen learned Parsi cooking from her mother to connect with her roots. Realizing that Parsi food was disappearing she decided to do something about it. The result? The Bawi Bride kitchen. She started taking orders for Parsi food, conducting personalised cooking classes among other things. But her most delicious offering is the Parsi meals she hosts. 

Jer Villa

Which climbed a few notches higher since she began offering them at her new home, Jer Villa a retro Parsi bungalow, in Malcolm Baug, Jogeshwari.  I got there on a humid Sunday afternoon to be welcomed by a smiling Perzen and a tall glass of chilled Raspberry. Much talk, eating of Saria (sago crackers) and sighing over Jer Villa’s antiquities (like a fan in the loo!) later we dug into lunch. A delicious meal of Dhansak, Salli chicken and Lagan nu Custard washed down with chilled beer. The Dhansak was perfect, but it was the Salli chicken that I really savoured that day. Tender chicken in a spicy, subtly sweet gravy with crispy salli to sprinkle over. I just could not get enough! Perzen has something happening almost every weekend so check out her website and sign up for one of her meals. For more info check – www.bawibride.com 

Next on the menu was an Assamese Bihu meal, right here at my studio. 

Assamese Bihu meal 

In Assam, April is when young village boys go hunting for a delicacy found only on mango and olive trees. Red ant eggs, costly to buy, they make for a special delicacy during Bihu, the Assamese New Year. Gitika Saikia timed herself perfectly and flew in from Assam bearing these and bags full of exotic ingredients we had never seen before like silkworm eggs and proceeded to cook up a fantastic meal of ant eggs scrambled with egg. There was also polu lota, made from the cocoon of the silkworm, boiled and stir fried, and washed down with a fermented rice drink flavoured with 80 different herbs. Gitika has singlehandedly given the cuisines of the North East and identity in India. She regularly hosts meals of different kinds all over the city. Find out more about what she does here http://gitika.me 

Sneha Niar

Soon after this I finally met Sneha Nair, an economist who started cooking to reconnect herself with Keralite food but soon found it became a full time job under the name Poppadum! Sneha invited me over and spoilt me rotten with a fantastic meal to give me a taste of her cooking. There was a subtly sweet Pineapple Pachadi spiked with mustard, Syrian Christian veg stew redolent of cinnamon, mutton pepper fry, pomfret pepper fry, raw mango mustard chutney, mango ginger chutney, yoghurt and Madras Cucumber Curry, Poppaddum and pickled mango ginger. And there was Sneha of the dancing eyes who fascinated me with her memories and stories. 

A Poppaddum Meal

                                                                        Every weekend Sneha serves up sadyas (traditional and often festive Keralite meals involving a selection of dishes served on a banana leaf) inspired by traditional Syrian, Malabar Muslim, and Kerela Hindu cuisines. The theme and menu varies with each lunch which – like all of Poppaddum’s lunches - are served in the informal setting of Nair’s home on banana leaves. For more information go to https://www.facebook.com/poppaddum

Perzen Patel 

                                                                            It’s one thing to cook a meal occasionally for friends it is absolutely another to do it on a weekly or often even daily basis. For me it is a great measure of regard and affection when someone cooks me a meal with love. They spend the most valuable commodity on us. Time. These three ladies, have taken the onus of evangelizing their heritage and culture through the medium of their food. They do what it takes, from going to any lengths to get the ingredients they need, to refusing to compromise on anything that is part of the experience they serve up.  They are up there - my culinary heroes.

I’d predicted that Indian food would be huge on the menu in 2015, when I was working on the Natures Basket Food Trends report for 2015,last year. With Indian food being discovered and rediscovered at every level in our country on a daily basis, today, I’m happy to be proven right. 

One of the areas that this is most evident in, is that of home cooks and home cooking experiences in Mumbai. In addition to contacting these ladies directly, keep an eye on the events curated by the following, Trekurious Mumbai (they have each of these ladies featuring in May), Secret Ingredient home chef experiences and Bombay Local food festivals from Small Fry Co. (They have the biggest ever Bombay Local edition on 16^th May) and of course the Culinary Legacy events I curate at APB Cook Studio (Rongali Bihu version 2 on 16^th May & a fabulous Maharashtrian Mejwani Food Festival coming up on 23 May. .

Culinary Legacy event at APB Cook Studio

Meal Sneha cooked for me

Jer Villa and a band of happy foodies! 

How lucky am I? On completing 10 years of Food Writing

This April marked 10 years from the day my first article was published. Often through the month I wondered, what if I had not discovered food writing as a career. Where would I be?

And then today someone asked me if I still had my 1st article. I did. I went looking for it and found the cupboard where I keep all my files of food writing. If one were to physically measure my writing its in those 2 piles of box files. 

As I browsed through the pile of carefully filed articles and papers; shuddering at some of my early writing (Was I that bad?), remembering the people I met, the food I tasted, the places I travelled to… And then browsed the spiral bound rough drafts of my books, diaries of thoughts and observations… I found myself reflecting… and narcissistic as this post might be, I needed to write down how I was feeling….

How lucky have I been? No, seriously! How lucky HAVE I BEEN?

If you went back in time to the clueless 18 year old college dropout I was, who had no idea where life would lead her.  Or the 25 year old homemaker and mother I was.... Id drifted through life upto that point, had a baby to early (only because an older me could have been a better Mom). I loved my life then but the me of today thinks it was an aimless existence. 

With no qualifications whatsoever in journalism or cuisine I blundered into a dream career! I would love to say I was born to it, perhaps as a wide-eyed child at my grandmother’s knee imbibing culinary knowledge as she created wonders in her kitchen, or born with a golden quill in my hand. But I didn’t. I stumbled upon food writing as a career option somewhere in 2003 -2004. And it changed my life. Thank God!

After that, food was where my heart was. Today I live and breathe it. Its given me direction and identity. And ever since I realized that food is where my heart is, I have let it take me where it will. Food blogging, food styling, food consulting, book writing, eventually creating A Perfect Bite Consulting, opening APB Cook Studio, having my first book published.  I have met amazing people, done phenomenal work, met unbelievable challenges and traveled a most unusual path. Along the way I have gained insights and lived through experiences that now define me. Life is a delicious, exciting journey that I am gratified to be living.  Today APB Cook Studio continues to thrive. This year it will turn 3, I will turn 40. And I suspect the next 10 years of my life will be even more exciting!

Thank you to each of you that have been part of this journey I call life.  May you always stay healthy and happy…  

 

 

Gujarati Chundo, Methambo and Katki Kairi My family recipes for your summer Mango Pickling

Summer has begun, the branches of mango trees everywhere are drooping low, pregnant with ripening mangoes. The heat has risen and everything has mellowed and as I give in to summer’s reveries and reminisce., I had my first bite of Mango for this season yesterday. Mango season always conjures up a burst of vivid memories. The succulent flesh of juicy alphonsos cut into petals, that first exquisite bite... sticky mango stained fingers and the fragrance of this voluptuous fruit permeating the nascent heat of summer in my kitchen. 

Mangoes are one of the most favoured ingredients for Pickling in India and every regional cuisine in India has a typical recipe for Achaar or Pickle. In this illustration I have captured the steps. The mangoes are first cut into chunks and mixed with salt and turmeric. They are then dried in the sun before they are pickled with choice spices and oil.

But Mango season for me, brings an annual ritual. Mango pickling. The Mango pickle has been part of every stage of my life. From my earliest memories of eating a piece of Mango Chunda and the kind of epiphany that dawned on my taste buds from the frenzied explosion of sweet, sour, heat and salt. To the musical chatter of the women in my family as they busied themselves with making mango pickles, my paternal grandmother presiding over the work. Lining up the finished works (yes, like art), ceramic or glass jars of mango pickles in myriad hues and flavors in Moti Mummys Kothar. My not so cleverly planned capers to pilfer pickles that always ended disastrously with turmeric stains giving us away. Boarding school years when that jar of pickle alliviated bouts of homesickness. Friendships forged on sessions of bonding over pickle with puckered faces and finger licking. Dating (my husband) our romance accompanied by the discovery of new pickles and flavors made by my future mother in law. Marriage, a new home, an entire frontier of new pickles conjured up by the new women in my life. Motherhood, and watching my son taste his first Heeng ka Achaar and now performing the yearly ritual of pickling mangoes to become part of my children’s memories.

           

I recall some of my favorite mango pickles I grew up eating. My paternal grandmother was Gujarati and known to lay almost 90 types of pickle in her prime! These include classics like Chundo, a hot and sweet grated raw Rajapuri Mango pickle with the consistency of marmalade, thick and chunky with grated slivers of mango. Murrabbo and Davra (a berry pickled in brine) are my other favorites. My maternal grandmother on the other hand was Kutchi and not as prolific with pickling but she had her own version of the Murabbo and her Chundo was the best I had ever tasted.

Mango pickles flavor life’s memories much like they flavor our foods. Bouquets of texture, taste and aromas, they make moments worth savoring. Here are a few of my family's recipes for Gujarati Mango Pickles from the chapter on my Nani in A Pinch of This, A Handful of That. I have also added in the recipe for Katki, an almost instant small batch pickle you can make and eat immediately while the other pickles mature. I will leave you with wishes to have a beautiful summer ... 

Also if you want to check it our here is a recipe for my Ma-In-Laws Heeng Ka Achaar

Chundo

Chundo is a grated Mango pickle that is sun cooked. Sweet and hot in flavour, when made right it has the consistency of marmalade but with lots of grated slivers of mango in it. It spreads easily onto anything and can be used as a relish. The simple ingredients also make it ideal in the hotter summer months.

Makes 3 X 500 g jars; 

Time: 1 hour plus a few days in the sun

Ingredients

3 Rajapuri Mangoes peeled, grated and weighed

Sugar 1.5 times the volume of mango

1 tbsp / 15 g Turmeric

1 tbsp / 15 g Cumin seed

2 tbsp / 30 g Chilli powder

½ c Salt

Method

Peel and grate mangoes, mix with the salt and turmeric and leave for about half an hour. Now with clean hands take handfuls of the grated mango pulp and squeezing gently put the dried pulp into a clean steel vessel. Add  sugar to the squeezed mango and mix well. Tie a piece of muslin over the mouth of the vessel and place in the sun. Now, if you want to do it right and have the patience, then like my Nani leave your Chundo in the sun for a full 21 days. This means that it goes out every morning (after a stir) and comes in every night. You will know your pickle is done when the sugar has melted to a syrup and reaches a 1.5 - 2 string consistency. (to test, take a smidgen of syrup between your thumb and forefinger. When you pull them apart, they should form 1.5 to 2 threads). When done, add the chilli powder. Crush the cumin coarsely and add to pickle. Be careful not to touch a wet spoon to the pickle.

For those of you not wanting to wait for the pickle to cook in the sun there is an easier option, but be warned it will not taste the same. It is almost like the flavour of sunlight is captured in this pickle! Place a heavy bottomed pan on the fire and put mango-sugar mixture in it. Cook till all the water has evaporated, stirring to avoid sticking until it reaches 1.5 to 2 thread consistency. Add chilli powder while still hot.

Variations - this is something I like to do with a small batch - up the chilli quotient and add raisins.

There are a couple of variables you need to watch out for with Chundo.

1. MANGOES - In case your mangoes are not firm i.e. have begun to ripen, they would not do for Chundo. Rajapuri mangoes is what the recipe calls for, these are large mangoes that are used raw, sour and firm. The idea being that the pickle on being done should hold the form of the slivers it has been grated into. Between us ,Nani and I have created a volume based recipe that will work to help you start with smaller quantities the first time.

2. THE SUN - The Sun is the other variable with this recipe. The sun is very hot in India averaging 38-40 degree Celsius. It might not be as strong where you are so vary the amount of days you sun the Chundo accordingly. If it’s really hot where you are then 3-4 days will suffice, but if the intensity is lower the number of days will vary between 4-8 days.

3. CRYSTALLIZATION - If you notice that there is crystallization happening in your Chundo, then the sugar ratio is too high, you need to grate salt and some more mango and add it in. Keeping one mango spare might be a good idea for the duration. If you don't use it in the chutney then refer to the bottom of this recipe for another one you can use it up in!

4. ANTS – Chundo is an Ant Magnet! The muslin cloth is to keep them and other stuff that might get in, out.  If ants are a problem where you live take the extra precaution of placing the whole container of chundo in a basin of water.Don’t let water get into the pickle however. 

Methambo

To fill in the gap while the sun cooks your Chundo, try this. It is also a sort of consolation for those who have a riper mango and can’t do the Chundo. The addition of the spices and the use of jaggery make Methambo ideal in colder climates and it might be worth putting some down to give as presents in the winter or for Christmas.

Time: 2 hours; Makes 3-4 X 500g jars

Ingredients

1 Kg raw Mangoes, peeled and chopped fine

1 Kg Jaggery

3 tbsp /45 g Salt

2 tbsp / 30 g Turmeric powder 

1 tbsp / 30 ml Oil

1 tsp / 5 g Mustard seeds

8-10 /25g Boria chillies (the little round ones) 

2 tbsp / 30 g Coriander seeds

7-8 / 5 g Cloves

7-8 / 5 g Cinnamon sticks

60 g Raisins

40 g Salt

Method

Place mango in a large mixing bowl, apply salt and turmeric and set aside for an hour or so until the juices of the fruit are released. Then strain but do not press. Heat the oil in a large pan and add in the mustard and chillies. When the seeds splutter, add coriander seeds, cloves and cinnamon sticks. Wait for two seconds to allow aromas to develop and then add the mango pieces and the finely cut jaggery, stirring all the time on a slow flame. Cook Methambo until uniformly thick. Add the chilli powder just before you take it off the flame. On cooling the Methambo will thicken further.

Katki Kairi

If you would like to make a quick mango pickle try this one. It also uses up the little bits closer to the stone that can’t be grated. Amazing with hot Parathas!

Ingredients 

2 small raw mangoes

1 tbsp cold pressed mustard oil 

2 tsp crushed yellow mustard seeds

1 tsp crushed fenugreek

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/8 tsp Asafeotida

11/2 tsp red chilli (or more if want things spicy)

Salt to taste

Method

Finely chop the mangoes and set aside. 

Heat the mustard oil, allow to cool a little and add the Asafeotida, crushed Mustard, Fenugreek and salt. Mix well and allow to cool completely. 

Add red chilli and stir in thoroughly 

Add the finely chopped mangoes and stir in well

Allow to stand for a while and the pickle is ready to eat It will be good for 3-4 days if refrigerated.