Tikki on track

Relish that alu tikki without stepping out of the house or worrying about trans-fats or germs

THERE is an old saying in Hindi, "Ghar ki murgi daal barabar!" suggesting that whatever be the delicacy prepared at home, it is destined to be devalued and looked down upon. We have always felt that the adage is unfair both to the bird and the lentil.

We have tasted some homemade daal that puts the run-of-the-mill chicken curry to shame and many a fancy name bearing fowl can’t match the plumage of a home recipe. Nowhere is the myth of ‘ordinariness’ of homemade stuff more powerful than in the realm of street food.

Chaat, we are told, loses its taste the moment you try to do it yourself (DIT). Our problem has always been hygiene — more disturbing in the monsoons.`A0You can imagine our delight when we came across a product that ‘empowers’ us to fearlessly succumb to this temptation at will and at home. Alu tikki that can be enjoyed without stepping out or worrying about trans-fats, germs etc is no longer a dream but reality.`A0Mc Cain, the largest producers of French fries in the world, have come up with an ‘ethnic’ Indian product that we daresay rivals the best street side offering. All you have to do is to shallow fry the patties or pan-grill these in a non-stick pan or if you are even more health conscious, bake them in the oven (alas, the microwave option isn’t available).

If you are self-respecting, or a congenitally competitive over achiever, you can keep practicing the gentle art of tikki frying to impart just the right touch of khastagi — crispy crunchy fragility that’s untranslatable. On our part, we are quite content to exert arranging accompaniments and assembling a chaat platter around this exceptional value for money convenience food that certainly isn’t junk.

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