Dear Theyie, a Happy New Year from Dehra Dun

Dear Theyie,
Thank you for your spicy Christmas wishes!

Your note about the Raja Mirch in the context of Naga cuisine was a treat to read. Something that fascinates me endlessly is culinary diversity, chillies, citrus and with the BT Brinjal bringing things to light Brinjal. It is great to see the endless varieties of these you find as your travel the world and what different cuisines can do with them. You see, like the rest of the world, I first heard about The Naga Chilli when it scorched its way to world fame with its formidable heat. In fact it was that same quality that attracted me to them. I have made optimum use of the Naga chillies you got me but that is for another post. Right now I want to tell you about how our garden grows here Dehra Dun.

I will say this though there is much more to the Naga King Chilli or Raja Mirch than its heat. But I suspect it takes being completely clueless about an ingredient or a cuisine to break the barriers on its traditional usage! And from the caution I sense in all the ladies here in Dehra Dun when I talk about tabouleh made with jhangora (a local millet) or chicken smoked with Pharan (a local chive like herb used to temper dal) I know that is so.

It has been years since I have been here in the winter. But I cannot tell you how glad I am that I braved the biting cold of winter this year. I was so afraid of the cold I forgot about all the great things that winter brings in Dehra Dun!

Boisterous cuddly mornings waking up with the kids, all robust pink cheeks and spiky hair; Natasha’s endless excuses to avoid a bath because she feels cold, followed by rocking her precious weight to sleep in the winter sun; chasing Aman to get him to put lotion when he is clamouring to get out. And the thing that most gladdens my heart - the kids voracious appetites from playing on the frosty lawns all day.

One of the things I most treasure about coming to Dehra Dun is our garden. Not just for the frontal decorative front half that gives my kids space like they can never get in Mumbai but also for the other functional half that is rich with growing things.

A thumb that is decidedly NOT green and living in a Mumbai flat means I am lucky if lemongrass survives under my zealous attention. I either over-water the hapless thing to drowning point or forget about it! In direct contrast, my father in law was a prolific accomplished gardener. And coming from a traditional family and marrying into another in which daughter’s in law do not talk to father’s in law overmuch the garden was often the centre of my memories of him.

In fact it was on the same trip of the cucumber discovery that I had my first lesson in gardening from him... I still remember – in technicolor - the first time I saw the flourishing Chilli plants in our garden. That particular crop was so hot that the tiniest pinch was enough to liven up a dish for 4. We used it so sparingly that the yield lasted 2 years! (We’ve had a fairly fiery harvest this year as well and I am bringing some for you. ) Not only did I learn where chillies came from but I learnt many things about chillies from my father in law that day; chillies from the same plant range from mild to wild! The smaller the chilli, the hotter it is; chillies whose tails point toward the sky are the fieriest and the occasional black ones are potent!

Over the years each trip brought new garden to kitchen experiences and exchanges of information. One winter I spent a back breaking couple of hours at daybreak (because that is when greens are at their best) picking the smallest, most tender leaves of spinach, (only a few leaves of each plant to ensure continued yield). To the entertainment of the galleries if you please ... I remember my Pa – in – law and his brother standing at the kitchen door laughing at me! But when I tossed my meagre harvest with raisins, slivers of toasted walnut and EVOO into a salad it got lots of praise from the same two people! (Not easily earned where new dishes are concerned).

One summer the gardener pulled up some stray turmeric rhizomes. My mom – in – law was going to dry them to grind into powder but I remembered an instant pickle that was made of fresh turmeric in my mother’s Gujarati home. Peeled rhizomes were sliced fine and pickled with mango ginger and green chillies in salt and fresh lemon juice. I did not have Mango ginger there but I did have tender new ginger that made a delicious substitute.

And then there was the last summer before we lost him. I was pregnant with Natasha at the time and I went looking for something piquant to eat (Cravings!) one afternoon when everyone was asleep. I was debating between green mangoes or green guavas in the garden, when I spotted a solitary fat, plump, juicy, red tomato in the tomato patch. Of course there was not more thought after that. I plucked it off, sliced it into thick wedges, sprinkled it with salt and relished every bite, slurping down the juices in the bowl after. The next morning my Pa-in-law came in from harvesting greens for lunch, fuming. Someone had cut the tomato he’d been saving for the seeds! Of course everyone knew it was me, nobody else was that dumb! But once that bit of information came to light he just gave one of his indulgent smiles and walked away shaking his head!

This year the garden is a bounty of greens, we have rye (mustard greens), fenugreek, white raddish leaves, spinach and Pahadi palak. Feathery dill and green garlic are rife and the Guava, Kumquat and Chakotra trees are heavy with fruit even as the last of the chillies and Brinjals are still being harvested. I have always loved watching things grow and eating freshly harvested produce but more that that I love the access to ingredients that would not be available to us in Mumbai that access to a garden yields, green at the moment but later there will be edible flowers and tender pods that are the happy result of the growing process of plants and something we will never get in the city.

They say that we should all plant trees for our grandchildren to enjoy and I am thankful to Papa that we have this little haven of green to savour ever so often even if it is not something we can give the kids round the year.

I have been cooking up lots of yummy hings, marmalades, pickled mushrooms and sesame chutneys, I oforward to your sampling them! I will nd here, bt would like to tell you that meeting you has been one of the nicest bits of 2009 and I look forward to 2010 which I hope will be all theyummier because of all the tings we will cook up together.
Much love and may you eat well in 2010.
R

Dear Rushina

Dear Rushina,
It is a chilly winter morning here in Delhi as I write this. I arrived quite late from the airport last night and the reunion with my sisters was wonderful. Your Naga King chilli and wild apple pickle was one of the first things I proffered to them. And much like my response, eyes widened, smiles appeared accompanied with sounds of delight and words of appreciation. You might just be able to take Nagaland by storm with this one. You see, the Naga King chilli is a very serious condiment. Mostly eaten in/as chutney, or preserved in pickles (which are rarely sweet), its formidable heat is the highlight in dishes to which it is added. Anyone eating a chutney or dish with Naga king chilli will know and must know it is in there. It’s also ridiculously expensive for Naga market standards and costs anywhere from 1000 to 1500 rupees per kg.

Given this fact, I guess it’s understandable if you want your guests to know such an expensive ingredient is present in your dish. In this sense, your pickle is both cheeky and extravagant; because it allows king chilli connoisseurs like me to (re)discover and savour the flavours of the chilli which are too often overpowered by its heat, even as I wonder if it really is my beloved raja chilli; and because the absence of this consuming heat would also rob you of the credit of presenting an ‘expensive’ dish, an extravagance in reverse.
So much is said about how hot the Naga King chilli is that it is easy to think we only eat it for the same reason. The assamese name for this chilli, ‘bhoot jholokia’ meaning ghost chilli goes to show that its heat is unparelled in the land of the living or the dead. While heat could very well be the fifth sense of taste for Nagas, what with our intimate relationship with chillies (My village Chiechama grows a fragrant red chilly which when sun dried and crushed makes a profoundly complex and aromatic and yes, hot chilli powder). But to focus on heat as the sole merit of the Naga King chilli does an enormous disservice to it. The first thing one should do when you ‘encounter’ a fresh Naga King chilli is to smell it. A distinctly viscous sweet scent gives way to the sharp smell of grass. This aroma is quite persistent and one of the simplest things done is to cut fresh Naga King Chillies and douse (pun intended) them in vegetable oil. As its sits on your shelf, the oil takes on the fragrance and heat making it a great condiment in itself.
The taste of this cherished chilli is also sensational - sweet, juicy and savoury all at once. So worth it, that the devoted are willing to face the heat and battle it in order to get to this taste. This is particularly challenging given that a single chilli can season a full pot of curry. A word of caution to the uninitiated and curious, take it one tiny bite at a time and wash your hands after.

And the colours, who can forget the glorious colours, from lemon yellow, mellow to raging oranges, deep to almost fluorescent greens, and every imaginable shade of red. If only we could make a salad of only these beautiful chillies. Such a salad being impossible to consume, the next best thing is that Naga King chilli plants are used for ornamental purposes. Case in point is the photo above taken at a friend’s house. And of course, bottles of whole pickled Naga King chillies also make for great kitchen and dining room decoration.
But your pickle has made me rethink what is possible with the Naga King chilli. I am especially intrigued that it goes so well with fruit. And in this dosage, the experience doesn’t have be a masochistic one.
I can’t wait to see how my parents will respond to your pickle and to the new idea(s) it poses. Who knew a small jar of pickled wild apples and Naga King Chillies could be so much food for thought? I can only wonder what other concoctions you’ll conjure up once you reach Dehradun.
Well, I'm going to have breakfast now. Hot tea, toast and your pickle as spread. Nothing like a little chilli to warm you up on a cold winter morning.
Merry Christmas! Do write and let me know about your food capers as will I.
With much affection,
Theyie

Since I am travelling for the holidays I am using up perishables and I did not want to buy anything new. It has also been a bit of an eatfest for the last two weeks so I elected not to cook something that would be over too soon. As is the case with anything I just HAD to find a way to make the flavours last. I set aside the dried ingredients for the moment and decided to focus on the fresh.

Tree tomatoes come from the Solanum betaceum shrub that belongs to the solonacacea (deadly nightshade) family and are related to capsicums, potatoes, tomatoes and aubergines. They are called Tree Tomatoes in most of the world but were rechristened “Tamarillo by the New Zealand Tree Tomato Promotions Council in 1967 to distinguish them from the ordinary garden tomato and increase their exotic appeal.

An egg-shaped edible fruit native to the Andes of Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, and Bolivia This fruit is cultivated in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, Kenya, Portugal, the United States, Venezuela and grown as a commercial crop for international export in New Zealand and Portugal.

I also found out from the WWW that the skins are not eaten and are either blanched or charred off. I blanched them off for the relish and charred them for the chutney. I have to admit I preferred the flesh that resulted from the charred versions. I suspect this was because the heat caramelised the sugars in contact with the skin a little. The flavour of the tree tomato was similar to that of passion fruit (instant love for me!) with notes of kiwi and tomato thrown in. The fruit is usually eaten by scooping the flesh from a halved fruit, sometimes even lightly sugared and cooled. I could also see it bringing color, decorative value and interesting flavour and texture to salads. Tree Tomatoes in quantity could add an interesting dimension to stews, curries and chutneys, and curries. They certainly would make a luscious compote to top desserts, puddings and ice creams with a little spice stirred in.

Tree Tomatoes are also found all over the North East of India where they are commonly eaten raw, in salads and pickled. I began with the Tree tomatoes.

I had 6 Tree tomatoes of which two were looking a little worse for wear. I used the others along with the crab apples and a couple of the Naga chillies to make a Relish. The two softer ones I set aside to char and to make a chutney for dinner that night. As I was prepping the fruit, I realised that I did not have enough tree tomatoes. I added some figs I had picked up the week before. They were too green for eating raw but perfect to add to jam. Also their sweetness would make up the balance because the crab apples were very sour.

Tree Tomato and Naga Chilli Relish
2 c crab apples, sliced or diced fine
3 c tamarillos, blanched, peeled, halved lengthways, de-seeded and sliced (or other fruit)5 c sugar
1 c vinegar (I used a strong locally made toddy vinegar)3 naga chillies
1 c garlic
In a large deep saucepan, add thinly sliced crab apples with the vinegar (they discolour quickly but the vinegar arrests this) add a little sugar, add the tomatoes and a little more sugar. In a mortar and pestle pound the garlic and chillies. The inherent flavour that we love chillies and garlic for, comes from enzymes that are inbuilt to protect these plants. They come to the fore when they are endangered and there is nothing like a good bruising to get them good and angry! Exercise caution however, the Naga chillies are volatile, use gloves and avoid flying projectiles. Mix everything well and leave to macerate. In about 10 minutes the fruit will have given forth their juices and the sugar will have dissolved. Place on the flame and bring to a boil. Boil until all the ingredients are tender (about 40 minutes). Take off the heat, allow to cool slightly and then pour into sterilized and warmed jars (Place in an oven pre-heated to 120°C for 10 minutes). Cover with vinegar-proof lids and leave in a cool, dark, cupboard to mature for at least 4 weeks before using.

Shades of red and green...

Christmas came early for me this year!

Last week was fraught. Before I had even a moment to recover, I went from 10 sleepless nights surrounding my sister’s big fat Indian wedding straight into frenetic preparations’ for Amore’s Organic Gelatos launch. I was working on that almost single handedly, and juggling a million things besides. In fact by the 15th I was beginning to wonder how to hold on to my sanity. I was warming up dinner for the kids when the doorbell rang. I opened the door and I swear, if I had been the type, I would have jumped with joy!

Theyie was back!

A few seconds later, I did jump with joy (sometimes decorum needs to be set aside!) Theyie is Manager, content with my newly set up company, A Perfect Bite. She joined me earlier this year and had very quickly become a huge help with all the writing we had to do as a consultancy. At first I saw shades of myself in her from when I just began to discover food but over time I have found a kindred spirit in her. Any last doubts about how great we were as colleagues were dispelled by the surprise Theyie carried.

Those who know me know that there is nothing that excites me as much as new ingredients. Once people realize you are obsessed with food you are the happy recipient of all sorts of new and interesting ingredients but I can safely say, I have never EVER received such a huge bounty of new things to explore! Theyie had brought back a basket of ingredients indigenous to Naga cuisine!

Theyie had gone home to Nagaland and I had sent her off with pleas to bring back some Naga Chillies and other ingredients just like I do with anyone that travels anywhere. Very little is known of the 7 states that make up India’s North East, even lesser about their cuisines. Ever since Theyie joined me the closet culinary anthropologist side of me has been salivating over discovering Naga Cuisine through her. In fact I have convinced Theyie to give me and the readers of this blog an introduction to Naga Cuisine early next year.

And bizarrely I couldn’t help thinking how perfectly suited to the season the basket was. It was a study in shades of red and green! 12, T-W-E-L-V-E WHOLE Naga chillies sent out a siren call from the centre, daring, just daring me to do something about them as they angrily jostled aside a bunch of beans on the right and thrust a few Tree Tomatoes away on the left. But that was just the cherry on the top. Closer examination introduced a host of new and wonderful things; crab apples, different types of fresh green beans, all sorts of dried herbs, some dried nagas and even a variety of dried beans.

The woods were lovely dark and deep...
....but I had promises to keep...

Focusing on work the next few days with the lure of that basket in my kitchen was a diabolical test from the food gods! But finally, my commitments were met and I could indulge myself. I managed to pack of the Husband, the son and my Mom – in – law to the movies, to watch Avatar making all the appropriate noises. As soon as they were out of the door, Natasha obligingly fell asleep and it was me and my muse in the kitchen, assisted by my gung-ho but long suffering house keeper Shobha!

Like a recalcitrant child allowed to run free I tangoed with tree tomatoes, jammed with Kaffir limes (will tell that tale later) and cha cha’ed with a chutney of Crab apples and Naga chillies. What a fabulous time we had! 5 hours later my family walked in to a quiet house, spit-spot kitchen and me working at my computer – not a sign of the cooking concert that has crescendoed in 4 jars of preserves, a chutney and Berry pulav for dinner!

Coming up soon - recipes for Tree Tomatoes...!

A time to count my blessings

I try not to talk aboutmyself too much on this blog. I am thankful to be doing somehing I love. Every morning I wake up thinking of what I am going to cook today! I began it as a place to write about food. But being interviewed byFemina for a story on women that have persued careers that are different from the education they persued has led to a lot of thinking. Appropriate since we are in December now... ater all it is a time for introspection... and counting one's blessings... besides blogging is where it all began...

Food writing happened entirely by chance for me. I did not have any qualifications in journalism. I was a liturature and fine arts student at school, went on to study animation and then worked in the travel industry for 2 years untill I took a sabbatical to have a baby. I discovered food writing at this point. As the mother of a toddler I was pretty much confined to my home and the internet was my lifeline to the world. I spent hours surfing the net and reading about all sorts of things and experimenting with blogging. It was at this time when I was looking for information (on pickles I think) that I discovered egullet.org home to like minded people who reveled in food. I spent weeks dithering around, lurking through its forums, scribbling a line or two here and there until I finally worked up the courage to put up an essay on Uttarakhandi Cuisine. The cuisine in question being unknown, my post got a lot of attention and my inherent talent for research and writing must have come through because I got a lot of praise. The post was the first step to a book that is awaiting publishing but more immediately it brought me a job offer with local gastronomy magazine. The job did notworkout becase I did not want to leave my bby but it did get me started on foodwriting. made me think of persuing food writng. It was much later, that I realized that there was a career for me in food writing.

It has been a delicious journey so far. I have added food styling and a number of other skills to my repertoire over the years. But 2009 has been a year of growth for me. Off late dreams that seemed to big to dream are becoming tangible. I have two books in the works, my own company (A Perfect Bite - what else). I have also embarked on a journey of gastronomc discovery with Masala Trails a food tourism venture that will map food experiences in India.

Loks like 2010 will only get more delicious!

Rushina

Bombay Spice

For those of you who do nt know, in November, I began to write as Bombay Spice on Poetry of Food, a global food magazine from New York.

I was excited to have the opportunity to be a culinary ambassador of sorts, plating the food of my city, Mumbai and my country, India for food lovers from around the world. Indian food, to my mind has been currified too much. But Poetry of Food is dedicated to the beauty of food, without exoticising it too much and this simplicity of food is celebrated here.

At the same time I was also ecstatic to join a Poetry of food curates some of the most important culinary regions in the world including Melbourne, Beirut, London, Paris, California, and New York.

Poetry of food aims to create stories and recipes that entertain with ingredients and flavors from around the world. Every month the a theme is chosen and a global perspective is taken as we journey on that theme from California to New York, London, Paris and Beirut…all the way down under to Melbourne with a stop in Mumbai (of course) on the same theme— showcasing the amazing creativity that humankind has shown with the flavors and ingredients available to them.

So in November I began with a food promenade through Crawford market in which I showcased the local market I grew up shopping at. Read about my Food Promenade here. And read my December story on the Thali here. In fact I recomend that you register to Poetry of Food to recieve delicious food stories regularly!