India on My Platter (29 page)

The tea cups, the bowls and all the crockery were very ornamental with intricate designs and paintings that were very typically Tibetan. Another remarkably striking feature of the ceremony were the outfits of both the ladies and the men. The outfits were multi-coloured and resembled the Japanese kimonos. What caught my attention was the biscuit called
khapse
or
zhedro,
prepared for festivals or important ceremonies. The dough is usually made with rice flour, butter, eggs, and sugar. The interesting part came when it was time to shape the dough before deep-frying it. It could be left flat or made into lattice like designs. Fried and sweet, it was a very lethal combination and was almost begging to be eaten! I got a lot of ideas when I was eating the
khapse.
To describe it, I would say it was a cross between
shakker para
and the Mexican churros. I spent a lot of time there eating, talking and celebrating with the gentle people of the Bhutia community. The family made me comfortable and fed me till I couldn’t eat any more. I love how food takes the physical form of generosity.

The day began on an exceptional note, but thanks to my producer, the day was getting better. I had the chance to meet and cook for India’s football legend Baichung Bhutia. I immediately went online and checked out about Baichung’s choice of food. I met him at the Paljor Stadium where he played football and coached the United Sikkim Football Club. The club is one of the top clubs in India, all thanks to Baichung and his inspiring career that put football on the world map in a cricket-crazy country. It is his passion and love for the game that has kept him motivated all these years. I think the secret is to just follow your heart. Talking to him, I also realised that it took him a lot of hard work and dedication to be where he is. Later in the day, I joined Baichung for a match. His team was playing and to add to the evening’s general cheerful spirit, his team won.

I cooked for him after the match, after doing my own little research about his preferences. His children loved chocolate and he loved momos, so I decided to make
Chocolate Football Momos.
Sometimes, you think of things on the spur of the moment and don’t really have a follow-up plan. The football design, however, turned out quite well and the kids loved the momos!

Baichung was one of the most celebrated people I had met on my journey, so like all social media junkies, I took pictures and tweeted all about my day.

C
HOCOLATE
F
OOTBALL
M
OMOS

(Deep-fried chocolate dumplings presented like a football.)

Ingredients

Method

1.  Knead the flour, salt and baking powder with water into a hard dough.

2.  In a bowl gently toss apples, chocolate, cinnamon, cardamom, salt and black pepper together. Freeze this mix.

3.  Now take the small balls of dough, flatten them into small rounds, put some frozen chocolate filling in between and seal folding the edges and shape it into a round like a football.

4.  Steam these for five minutes.

5.  Then deep-fry these until they’re well cooked and golden. Make the football design pattern on this fried momo with the help of chocolate sauce.

6.  Serve hot with chocolate sauce on the side.

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The end of the day was culturally significant, as I decided to meet the Shering Lepcha. He wanted to introduce me to the Lepcha community and the viewers of my show. The community is one of the most marginalised in the country and is on the brink of extinction as a group. He greeted me by saying, ‘
Thumri moh,’
meaning welcome. He told me that he organised festivals to promote the arts and crafts of his community. These festivals would help educate the general public about the Lepchas. Shering said that they are considered an ancient tribe and that he was trying to preserve the cultural heritage of his people. They believed that they were the most loved offspring of Mother Earth, and their origins could date back to the beginning of time. Such ancient cultures shouldn’t be forgotten or ignored. I was invited to watch a band perform folk songs. The musicians where dressed in
dumpra
which was a lot like the Scottish kilts. The ladies too wore a similar skirt called the
dumdem.
They explained how their food was very similar to the Sikkimese food culture.

I had thoroughly enjoyed exploring the links between culture and food in a new land, while making new friends and listening to new music. Gangtok was proving to be a beautiful beginning of my journey through the Northeast.

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4 November/ Gangtok

Early in the morning I went up to the Tashi Viewpoint to watch the sunrise. It was breathtaking to be in the east where the sun rose earlier than other places of the country. I was filled with the energy from the first light of the day and to keep up the good feeling I went to the Rumtek Monastery. To my eyes, it seemed like an outburst of different colours that was peaceful and powerful at the same time. From the monastery the view of the city was incredible. What really struck me was how quiet it was up there. I almost missed the noise of the city down below. In all honesty, if you have seen one, you have seen them all.

My roommate from college days, Aditya, owns a hotel called Tashi Delek, which in Sikkimese means welcome. It is right on the Mall Road. The narrow Mall Road was flanked by shops on both sides and the striking bit about the architecture on that road was that the big shops were always behind the small shops. The entrance to the shop was narrow and long, which finally opened up into a square. Aditya introduced me to Sonam, an expert on the local food. She was known for her catering business that served traditional food for ceremonies. I had the opportunity to cook on the terrace of the hotel at the back, which overlooked the valley and the rest of the city. On a sunny day, when the visibility was clear, you could even spot the Kanchenjunga. It was one of the most spectacular views after my experience in Varanasi. Sonam was looking extremely pretty; she was wearing a dress called the
baku,
made of Chinese silk. She gave me a quick lesson about Sikkimese basics. They used a lot of onions, ginger, garlic, turmeric, fresh chillies and mustard seeds. The food was not overloaded with spices, and based, more broadly, on a variety of vegetables that were both wild and grown in Sikkim. She explained that broths eaten with rice made up most of their diet. Few of the dishes that were popular were the
gaythuk, thukpa,
momos and the
khapse.
There were many names that I can’t quite recall, and don’t remember, even though this was my third visit! The ones I do remember were
prok gyari,
cooked with tender bamboo shoots;
sael roti,
cooked in a tomato masala, unlike the Sikkimese version that looked like thick onion rings made from fermented rice batter, that was deep fried. Another ingredient that she introduced me to was the
churpi
momos.
Churpi
is a type of cheese that is available both fresh and dried. It is slightly crumbly with sharpness in its taste. My mind was working overtime thinking about all the dishes that I could use the cheese in!

After giving me a brief lesson about Sikkimese food, she cooked with me and taught me how to make a typical dish eaten at her home;
Sikkim Chicken Curry.
This was very simple, so simple that it actually took me a while to adjust to the fact that there was barely anything in it!

S
IKKIM
C
HICKEN
C
URRY

(Wild chicken cooked in a flavoured broth.)

Ingredients

Method

1.  Marinate the chicken with ginger-garlic paste, salt, turmeric, chilli powder and lemon juice for two hours.

2.  Heat the mustard oil, bring it to a smoking point, and then reduce the flame to medium. Add onions to this and cook until translucent.

3.  Add the green chillies, followed by tomatoes. Cook for another three to four minutes.

4.  Lower the flame and then add yoghurt, followed by cumin power. Reduce this for two minutes.

5.  Add the marinated chicken and let it seal for three to four minutes.

6.  Top it with two cups of warm water; bring it to a boil and then let it cook for 25 minutes on simmer. Season with salt.

7.  Keep checking, as you need to cook it till the bones separate from the meat easily (check with a fork).

8.  Garnish it with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice.

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After learning the recipe, we all sat down together to eat lunch. Along with the chicken there were
churpi
momos and
sael roti.
Another dish that stood out was called
chaang.
It was an alcoholic beverage that was fermented and made with cereals. Drunk from a bamboo pipe, it is also called Sikkimese beer, and has fermented seeds of millet in it.

After this lovely meal with a lovely view, I thanked Sonam for her time and patience. I spent the evening walking around Gangtok and exploring the nightlife. The weather was perfect. Sikkim Super Lotto was very popular; I placed my bet and even won!

I want to thrown in my two cents to all travellers who would like to explore India and its hill stations. Sikkim is a fascinating, unique and beautiful destination that you must visit.

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I spent the day travelling from Gangtok to Guwahati, Assam.

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5 November / Guwahati

I arrived in Guwahati and somehow it made me feel like I had taken the road less travelled. This was going to be the last state that I would visit as part of the show. Assam is known for its silk and tea estates, it has a very rich culture and heritage; however, it has been politically unstable. We took a while to reach our destination because of the state of unrest. I reached at noon and it had taken me a day and a half to just get there. The saving grace was that the road I took was picturesque with tea estates on both sides.

A little later after my arrival I met Chef Atul Lahakar, who has done more for Assamese cuisine than anybody else has from the state. He runs restaurants to promote local Assamese cuisine and has written many books about the same. I was glad that he could fit me into his schedule that day and that I got the chance to cook and eat with the master himself.

Atul took me from Guwahati to Sonapur, a small village on the outskirts of Guwahati. He wanted me to experience traditional methods of cooking, with local fresh ingredients, in a unique surrounding. He gave me a small brief about the food. He explained that rice was very important and there was no use of
roti
s. They used few spices: cumin, coriander and black pepper. Assam’s 70 per cent of the population are tribal, who cook without oil and spices. They rely a lot on the natural herbs and local ingredients that are available in the wild. They like to preserve their meats by smoking them over fire. The dry meat or fish is then used as chutney by mixing them with fresh spices and flavourings. He also mentioned something that really caught my attention: the use of a hollow bamboo as a cooking vessel.

Coming from north India, the tastes here were very different from anything that is available to us or that we are used to; especially foods that are preserved using fermentation, smoking and drying. Chef Atul and I sat ourselves down at a small cooking site that he had set up. It was made of a few stones and between them, there was a fire burning and a wok made of bell metal resting, slightly elevated over the fire. There were also a few sticks that were arranged over the fire with stands, to roast meats. We sat down in front of the fire, with banana leaves beside us, with all our raw ingredients on display. On my right was a stone
silbatta
(grinding stone), with a wooden mallet to crush fresh spices. The
silbatta
could be used to make a paste, or could be used as a surface to flatten fruit or spices.

The two dishes Chef Atul and I were going to prepare today were
Fish Outenga,
which was river fish cooked with a vegetable particular to Assam, called outenga or elephant apple. It was a very simple recipe that used freshly pound turmeric, which closely resembled ginger. On tasting the recipe, I realised it reminded me of raw mango that had been cooked in a curry. The flavour profile was subtle; I could identify all the ingredients, and I was not bombarded with spices. The curry gave each ingredient the turn to shine.

F
ISH
O
UTENGA

(Fish cooked with elephant apples.)

Ingredients