 |
|
Star cuisine
This food seemed all right to me, till one day I chanced upon a typical rural meal at a farmer’s house on our farm. Despite the warning that mum would spank me if I ate the food, I couldn’t resist the crispy fried bhindi and aam ka achar with hot paranthas. I was only five then, and till date I can’t think of a meal I’ve enjoyed more! After that, the lavish spread at home seemed so boring! And many a time, I would throw a tantrum wanting to eat at the farmer’s home. (And fried bhindis have remained my favourite till date.) I was never much of a ‘sweet’
person. Even as a child I rarely ate dessert. If I did, it had to be
something Indian, like rabri or balai. Balai is literally
the mother of malai! It is malai treated with dahi.
For me, it is the ultimate in sweets. Balai is generally eaten
with roti and shakkar. But all this is Bhopal, granny and
mummy — (she’s also an expert in Mughlai, Bengali and continental
cuisine.) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
It was also the first time that I tasted tinned Indian curry! Ugh! It tasted like anything but curry! But thanks to boarding school, today I can eat any type of food! I know this may sound crazy, but sometimes I get this craving to eat a particular type of food could be Chinese, continental, Indian. And wherever I am, I just have to have it. And if no one is there to make it or get it for me, I just cook it myself!
With films came the unit food. Though I eat it without complaining, I just can’t stand the smell of the food or the sight of the oil floating on top. So, if there is a hotel nearby, I prefer going in for a sandwich or burger. Nowdays, I am quite conscious about keeping fit, and what I eat. I’ve given up smoking and gulping our aerated drinks and am concentrating on fruits. Fruits taste bland if you eat too much of processed food, but if you give that up, you realise that fruits taste great. I am fond of green apples, berries, jamun. You know, the sourish variety of fruit. You must be curious to know if Amrita can cook? Well, she does come up with decent scrambled eggs sometimes. That’s about it! On the other hand, I’m a fairly good cook. I’ve never made a full meal but I do make good rotis, burgers and bhindis. But fortunately, our cook is excellent. Lunch nowadays is Indian. I enjoy dal-chawal with pyaaz and paapad, and if there is fried bhindi to go with it, well. Dinner, on the other hand, is continental. (As told to
INFS) Saif Ali’s nawabi burger Since burger and hot dogs are among my favourites, I’ll share my recipe: Ingredients: Mutton (boneless) 500 gm Onions 3 (finely chopped) Flour 1 cup Eggs 2 Black Pepper1 tsp Oil for frying Salt to taste Burger buns 4 Relish or pickle Method:
Boil the mutton till tender, and dice and pound it well. Add salt and
black pepper and mash it well. Make into round flat patties — four
good-sized ones. Coat the patties with finely chopped onions. Cover with
flour and dip in beaten egg. Pour oil in a pan and heat. Fry the patties
on both sides till crisp. Frying the burger buns is optional. I like
mine plain. Place one pattie between each bun. Eat with relish or pickle
(the continental variety). |
 |
 |
MEAL
times at our palace in Bhopal, were a grand affair. There was always a
variety of steamed and grilled meat and an assortment of vegetables for
lunch, which was mainly continental. Dinner was, on the other hand,
typical Bhopali (a type of Muslim cuisine), which included rababs,
biryani, etc. And every morsel had to be perfectly cooked. I
remember my grandmother shouting at the chef if he didn’t get the phulkas
right.