Life Without Alu?: When my Mom cooks for me (Yay!)

When my Mom cooks for me (Yay!)

After coming back from my long awaited India trip whenever I tell anyone that I went to visit my parents after a period of three years, their first reaction is, “Wow‼ three years is a long time!” and this is immediately followed with the question, “So, what all did you eat there? Did your mom cook all your favorite dishes?”

Well obviously, there were a lot of dishes on my list specially the comfort foods cooked by my mom. I knew that I will have a serious jet lag followed with health issues (like an upset stomach and fever) which are common due to the change in air and water. Hence I told mommy that I would like to eat simple home cooked meals for at least the first few days. I have to say, there is something special about the meals prepared by my mom, they just make me feel so warm and loved. Every bite is like reliving childhood and brings to mind all those happy memories we shared as a family. Even a simple rice and dal tastes great when we are eating it together.

I feel there is something nostalgic about my mom’s cooking. She does not use too many spices nor does she have any secrets, in fact she is always willing to share her recipes with everyone. Still, every dish prepared by her just seems special. So here are a couple of dishes she cooked specially for me which I will be missing till my next trip.

So, I have to admit, personally I am not a big fan of Peanuts. I like fried peanuts as a snack but I just don’t enjoy the fragrance of peanut in my food. However, when mom prepared this tasty Pulao I couldn’t refuse it. Now let me tell you first what a Pulao is, because it is totally different from fried rice. To prepare Pulao, uncooked rice is fried in Ghee (clarified butter), spices and vegetables and then cooked by adding water. Pulao is always cooked Al Dante and hence it’s important to measure the quantity of water and use a good quality rice like Basmati which is a long, slender and aromatic rice. When cooked properly each grain of the rice will be soft, fluffy and separate from each other. My mom added Nutrella chunks, Peanuts and Coconut slices in this Pulao and it tasted amazing.

This photo shows Pea Pulao with Paneer curry. Now that you know what Pulao is let me tell you about Paneer. This may look like tofu but is way tastier than it. Yes, it’s calorie rich as well but hey I was on vacation! It is also worth mentioning here that Paneer can be easily prepared at home by curdling whole milk with a food acid like lemon juice. This process helps to separate the liquid from the curdled milk which you can then drain on a cheesecloth. The excess water is then squeezed out and the cloth is tightly twisted to make a ball shape. You can put some heavy pot on top of the the cloth so that the Paneer holds a perfect shape.

In India, dairy products are readily available in all the grocery shops so usually people go for the option of buying fresh Paneer from the market, instead of preparing it at home from scratch. My mom gets it from the Loknath Gali in Chowk which is famous for its dairy and grocery items.

Paneer curry is a simple curry prepared with potato, paneer, tomato and a couple of spices and it goes very well with the Pea Pulao. It is also used to prepare a variety of other dishes – Fritters (Paneer Pakoras or Cutlet), Curries (with Spinach - Palak Paneer, with Peas - Matar Paneer, with Creamy Buttery Sauce - Shahi Paneer, sautéed with Mixed Vegetables - Kadai Paneer, Chili Paneer), Barbequed (Paneer Tikka), Parathas (Paneer Paratha), Pulao (Paneer Pulao or Biryani) and Bengali Sweets like Roshogolla or Chanar Payesh (Paneer Pudding). Paneer tastes best when consumed fresh, it has a delicate texture, soft and moist. It should be handled gently while cooking as it easily crumbles under pressure.

I know I haven’t been able to click a good photo of this yummy dessert but believe me its something which I truly miss. We usually eat different types of Indian sweets, muffins and cakes but Custard is a dessert which I ate almost after 3 years. To prepare Custard from scratch is a tedious and delicate task. It is prepared with milk, cream and eggs and even a slight change in temperature curdles the milk thus ruining the entire dish. In India we have a ready made Custard powder (available in the grocery shops) and my mom always uses it. The powder contains all the necessary ingredients for making Custard (like sugar, dried milk powder, corn flour and vanilla extract for the taste). Although this mix contains milk powder, my mom always adds the mix in hot milk instead of water which brings that milky, creamy taste. Because of the large vegan (vegetarian) population in India many products (like the Custard powder) are also sold eggless.

If you like to eat desserts but like them mildly sweetened and creamy then Custard is a very good option for you. My mom makes her special Fruit Custard in which she adds different varieties of fruits and nuts and it tastes just like childhood (filled with sweetness).

She also prepared a ton of my other favorite dishes like Chow Mein, Alu Pakoras, Sandwiches and Fish Curry and now I am just counting days till my next trip when I will be able to enjoy all my favorite dishes again.

More dishes in my next article, in the meantime, eat good and stay healthy.

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