Aloo Gobi (Potato and Cauliflower)

How many of you have watched the film ‘ Bend it Like Beckham’? If you haven’t, please watch 🙂 It’s a fun film about a girl’s football club in England and an Indian girl trying to make football her career, facing some resistance along the way. It has some lovely music, some really funny lines and shines light on how girls in sport are not always looked upon favourably. Boo.

Anyway, enough about the film’s story. The reason I bring it up, is a line in the film. The Punjabi mother asks the girl whether or not she knows how to make aloo gobi. Aloo gobi is used as a symbol of basic, easy yet tasty home food that every girl must know, in order to be a good wife/mother/Indian girl etc etc. While that I don’t think is true (at all!), the way ‘aloo gobi’ was said in that line has stuck with me. It’s even cooler when the girl tells her friend  ‘Anyone can cook aloo gobi, but who can bend a ball like Beckham?’  YEAHHHH! Way to go! This movie made aloo gobi iconic! Who’d have thunk it? 😀

Whenever I cook this dish, I hear this line in my head. Sometimes I say it out loud too. Even though I have zero football skills.

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jagritikumar5 Comments

Shorshe Begun (Eggplant in Mustard Sauce)

Let me introduce you to the most iconic bengali flavour I grew up with – Kasundi. Kasundi is this sharp mustard paste typical to Bengal. I haven’t yet nailed how to make it, but I will get there.

There is normal mustard paste from a jar that you use for sandwiches, european dishes etc and then there is Kasundi. There is nothing quite like the taste – it is sharp, aromatic, pungent and altogether quite delicious. It takes the food to the next level! It is used as a dipping sauce with cutlets or as in this recipe, as the main ingredient in the dish itself. There will be quite a few kasundi led recipes on this blog, this is the first one 🙂

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jagritikumar4 Comments

Home Style Chole (Chickpea Curry)

When you’re from Delhi, Chole is pretty much a staple part of your diet. At home, at friend’s homes, at restaurants – because Chole is delish. And there are many ways to cook this. The standard curry, the tangier curry, the drier version, the darker version, the one with other vegetables added to it etc etc. I shall attempt to cover all of these in the blog, over time. Today, I am covering my version of the standard, home style chole/chickpeas curry.
Our family is not Punjabi, even though we live in Delhi (yes, that is quite common!). So our standard home food, isn’t very high on the garam masala, the spices. The chole we use to have at home was quite subtle. It was all I knew until I met B, my oldest friend. We have been friends since we were in class 4. So yup, we pretty much grew up together! The food at B’s house was slightly different from that at mine, more spicy, tangy and yumms! Given that we grew up together, I have spent a ton of time at her house. Days at a time even (summer vacations!). Both of us love food and spent a lot of time eating the various delicious things her mom and sister would make. Chole was one of my favourites.

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jagritikumar6 Comments