Meaning of food 1, with dohkla and tamarind chutney.

Years ago I was asked to give a presentation in a museum on the occasion of the opening of an exhibition named ‘Religion on your plate’. Quite a difficult task as I had only 20 minutes for ALL world religions. 

Though I do not recall my presentation, I remember the opening. I showed some uncooked rice and asked the public how religious this handful of rice was. Not. Food as such has no intrinsically religious or philosophical significance, nor does any other object. Any kind of food product is meant to feed us for its nutritional value. As soon as we talk about taste, or discuss the assumed difference in nutritional value, we enter the field of giving meaning.

As any object, food evidently becomes imbued with substantial religious, social and cultural connotations as shown in social gatherings, rituals, celebrations and today even in television shows.

More and more the production of food is entering the moral debate and vegetarianism and veganism have become more and more part of this debate. Not a new thing as vegetarianism and veganism have long histories. I hear you thinking, ‘Yeah, right perhaps in India’, but not in the West. Au contraire my friend, vegetarianism also has its roots in Greek philosophy.

But before pondering any further on this (yes I will continue), first a vegan recipe from my favorite the kitchen, Indian of course . The Indian culinary tradition makes life for the vegan and vegetarian very easy with its abundance of recipes. This is not just a vegan dish, it is satvic as well.
However, perhaps next week, I'll get into that.

For an easy and healthy breakfast, snack or tiffin, I love the very tasty dohkla. Very easy and fast to prepare. It’s so good that even if it wasn’t very nutritious, you’ll still eat piles of it.

Dhokla

Ingredients:

150 gr chickpea flour (Besan)

1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon ginger paste

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sunflower oil

1 teaspoon green chilly paste

200 ml water

1 teaspoon lemon juice

½ teaspoon soda bi-carb

1½ teaspoons citric acid (Eno fruit salt)

For tempering:

2 tablespoons sunflower oil

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

4 green chillies, slit vertically

¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

6 curry leaves

175 ml water

2 tablespoons coriander leaves

For garnishing:

1 tablespoon coconut, grated

1 tablespoon coriander leaves

Preparation:

Grease a 22 cm round flat microwave dish

The batter:

Sift chickpea flour and mix in sugar, turmeric, ginger paste, salt, sunflower oil, green chilly paste and water to make a smooth batter.

Add lemon juice, soda bi-carb and citric acid. Beat for max 3-4 seconds.

Immediately pour this mixture into the greased dish and microwave for 7 minutes on high mode. When done, remove from the microwave, cut into large cubes and temper (see below) while in the dish itself!

Tempering:

Heat 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil in a pan for 30 seconds; add mustard seeds, curry leaves and fry for 30 seconds, add turmeric powder and green chillies. Fry for another 30 seconds add water, bring to a boil and add coriander leaves. Remove and pour over the prepared cubes in the dish.

Garnish:

Garnish with coriander leaves and grated coconut. Serve after a minimum of 30 minutes.

Serve with tamarind chutney and green chutney.

Tamarind chutney

Ingredients:

150 gr seedless tamarind

15-20 seedless dates

3 cups water

 2 teaspoons cumin seed

 ¼ teaspoon fennel seed

 200 gr grated jaggery + 100 gr sugar (or 300 gr cane sugar)

2 teaspoons red chilly powder

 1 teaspoon ginger powder

 1 teaspoon black salt (essential for the real taste)

Preparation:

Soak the tamarind and dates in hot (boiling) water for one hour.

 Roast cumin and fennel seed and grind.

 Bring the tamarind and dates in water to boil, add all other ingredients, let the jaggery and/or sugar dissolve completely. Simmer for 5 minutes.

 Mash this into a pulp and strain the mixture.