DESI FLAVOURS – THE TASTE OF INDIA

There is no denying fact that food is the best way to win someone’s heart, irrespective of gender. So, a few years ago my mother won my heart by making some delicious recipes. It was so delicious and easy to cook that I learned from my mother, only to cook myself when she is away. So today I am going to talk about a dinner recipe that you can prepare and enjoy with your family members.

The first item in the recipe is ‘Chawal Ki Roti’ which means chapati prepared from rice flour.

For this, you need:
● Two cups of rice flour
● 3/4th cup of hot water
● Half teaspoon salt
● 4 Tablespoon Ghee
● One clean damp kitchen towel.

First of all, you need to boil the water in a suitable container. Meanwhile, sieve the rice flour into a kneading utensil to ensure no unwanted substance will go into your mouth. Now add the salt into the flour. Once the water starts boiling, turn off the knob and add the water into the flour.

Make sure you use a spatula to mix the water and flour as the mixture will be quite hot to be touched by bare hands. Leave the mixture as it until the mixture becomes slightly cool. Now you can start kneading the mixture into a dough by adding little amount of water. Make sure you do not add too much water at once. After you are done kneading the dough, keep it aside for 10-15 minutes after covering it with the kitchen towel.

After 10-15 minutes, take small portions of the dough and roll them into chapatis. Place the chapatis on the heated Tawa. While the chapati is being cooked due to the dry heat, use teaspoons to apply ghee on it. You can skip applying ghee and leave the chapatis dry but applying ghee will enhance the taste of the chapatis and will make them extremely soft.

The second item is ‘Bhindi Ka Chokha’.

For this, you’ll need:
● 4-6 Bhindis (Ladies’ finger)
● One nicely chopped onion
● 6-7 pieces of chopped garlic
● 2 finely chopped green chilies
● 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
● Some coriander leaves
● One teaspoon of lemon juice

In order to prepare this, you will have to roast the bhindis on the flame after properly washing it. Once the bhindis are completely roasted, peels off their out skin and mash them in a bowl. Add onion, garlic and chilies into it. Mix them properly and then add salt, lemon juice and vegetable oil. Once everything is well-mixed garnish it with coriander leaves.

You can have these two delicious recipes with any daal (lentils) or a gravy item. The above-mentioned recipes are quite simple, yet mouth-watering. The chapatis are prepared in my village after the harvest of Kharif crops (monsoon crops or autumn crops).

In this world of modernity, these Desi flavours of India are taking a back stage, these days. People are more in to fast foods and continental food and many other international cuisines. But sometimes these desi flavours teach us simplicity and humility which is very important for us in our lives. It reminds us our originality. It reminds us of the care a mother or a grand mother bestows upon us. I am happy, I am still so inclined to these simple preparations.

How about you?