Welcome to Punjab!

Hey guys! So with the help of the comments, I realized my first post from last week was a little too much, bulky and I should have started slowly. From now on I will consider that. So in this post I will be shifting over to the background, explain the state/region I am from and that is very famous in India too….Punjab! After all, the background, the culture plays a significant factor in the food. So join me in my journey as I revisit Punjab!

Punjab located on the map of India

Map of Punjab with its Districts

History

Punjab got its name from the five rivers in North West India and North East Pakistan. Punj means five and aab means water, so Punjab means five waters. These five rivers divide the state into three regions: Majha, Doaba and Malwa. Since my mother is from Amritsar and my father is from Gurdaspur, both cities which fall under the Majha region, that is our region. Punjab receives the natural benefits and fertile soil that gives good cultivation. The smell of the soil is so rich and strong that the first time I went to India, as we landed at the Amritsar airport and I took my first little foot (I was two years old) out of the plane, I knew I was finally in the country, in the homeland of my parents. I was very excited, little that I was but my parents had tears of joy, they felt relief at last because that was the first time they went back together after their marriage (four years). I could not even imagine living four days without them, God know how they did that! Sighs.

The Three Regions of Punjab

Punjab is one of the oldest cultivation on Earth with its distinguished language, culture, food, attire, script, folklore, people…etc which I will be mentioning partly now and tying in the rest in my future posts. Punjabi language has its originating source in Sanskrit (not Hindi or Urdu as many may believe). For example, the family of Indo-European group of languages which includes Persian and Latin.

The Famous Historical/Tourist Site

This state is the place of Sikhism (the Sikh religion of Punjab) as it includes the most holy Sikh shrine, The Sri Harmandir Sahib (or Golden Temple), in Amritsar which again is where my mother is from so it is only ten minutes away. We are very lucky to be from Amritsar mainly because it resides one of the most famous, holy site and because it is a city so there is always electricity (before there used to be cuts in the cities too but now that has changed and it is the villages that face these problems). We always stay longer in Amritsar since everything is there and we have quick access to everywhere especially by our own car and do not have to sweat about catching a rickshaw! I absolutely love being in Amritsar!

The Golden Temple is made of tons of gold and is surrounded by water which is called the Amrit Sarovar (holy water). We always go to the Golden Temple every time we go to India and even try to go multiple times especially because we go from here, seven seas across! Last summer, 2017 was the fifth time I went and we went as soon as we landed, went home, drank some tea, showered and changed because we were lucky to land so early in the morning which is the only time it is a little less crowded than the usual. The second time we went when there was some protest going on so again there were less people, less traffic and we were able to bathe in the sarovar. For those that are religious and strongly believe in God, it is said that bathing in the holy water and praying as you do so, helps to relieve stress/worries/problems and clean the sins. Regardless of whether a person has done something wrong or not, the holy water is very pure and clean so it is very valuable, precious.

The Holy Water Surrounds The Golden Temple

The big lines of people/crowd

Cuisine

Time for food! I have water in my mouth as I type! Mmmm! The cuisine of Punjab has a great variety of delicious with great, strong aroma of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. My family and I though are vegetarian Punjabis (do not eat eggs alone, but it an be an ingredient in for example sweets like cake). In Punjab, home cooking is different from the restaurant cooking style. The restaurants usually use desi ghee (homemade butter), butter and cream to really enhance the taste of the food and compel people to end up licking their fingers. At home, on the other hand, only very few or the old, elder, traditional people use desi ghee while most prefer using sunflower oil or some other refined oil for cooking, with the basic idea of making the food low fat.

The main traditional Punjabi foods are – Sarson ka saag (spinach), Shahi paneer (cottage cheese and gravy), Dal makhani (buttery lentils), Rajma (kidney beans), Chole (chickpeas), Aloo (potatoes), Different kinds of roti or chapati/bread: Tandoori Roti (baked chapati), Makki di Roti (corn chapati), Naan (pita chapati), Phulka/Roti (regular, flour chapati), Puri (deep-fried regular flour chapati), Papad (thin, crisp seasoned chips), Lassi (drink made of mixing yogurt and water), Kheer (sweet dish-rice pudding).

Saag (Spinach) and Makki di Roti (Corn chapati)

Rajma Chawal (Kidney beans with plain rice)

Kheer (Rice pudding)

Lassi (drink mixed of yogurt, water, salt)

All of these are my favorite and let me say, if they are cooked properly with love and patience, the results are AMAZING! Eating these dishes in Punjab, India just add more flavor because they are made with fresh, organic ingredients. The Saag is very famous and some people like eating it a lot to the point where they can eat it almost every month! Although I have noticed from our nearby friends/families and the Gurudwara (temple, worship place), most people like to eat Saag in the winter like us. My family, too loves this dish with the Makki di Roti (corn chapati). At first, when I was younger I did not like this type of chapati at all because I thought it was very thick so I will not be able to swallow/digest it properly, but recently I have started liking it I guess because of how studies say our taste buds usually change every seven years. Like I mentioned in my first post, my mom makes the best food and I usually help her so I can learn too. We recently made Saag at home which took us a total of four hours (from chopping to cooking) and boy was that work! I told my mom that when I get married, I will only make it once a year unless my husband helps me! Haha! However, most good, great tasks take a lot of work, hard efforts to reach the satisfying results and as soon as we ate, we forgot about all the time it took us to cook. Our exhaustion went away by bringing smiles on our face (when something tastes so good smile, eyes closed and the “Mmmmm”).

Our Homemade Saag (Spinach)

 

Saying Goodbye and Hello

The most hard part is coming back from Punjab, India. I always try but it is very hard to hold in the tears and to not create an upsetting moment because I miss my family, the food, the shopping/stores, the smell of the soil, all in all I miss PUNJAB! Sometimes, I do not feel like I was born here in the United States and instead that I was born there, my family there even says the same. They say whenever we go to India, they never feel like we have come from the US because my brother and I do not have any mispronunciations or trouble adapting. We are always quick to blend in because living in the US we have not forgotten our culture and have kept every part of it alive thanks to our parents. We have Punjab here with us at home, through our house spoken language/mother tongue, Punjabi, our homemade food and almost everything we do!

A lot of people from other countries, backgrounds visit Punjab, India and other famous places in the country. There are a lot more tourists visiting than before because they have heard more about the history, food, culture/tradition so I would always suggest more people to go if possible. The real life experience (from my experience) helps more to understand and know how the places in India are similar and how they are different within and compared to other countries. Thank you Punjab for teaching me so much and thanks to my parents for showing me. There is a lot more to share about Punjab, its culture and cuisine, so stay tuned!

 

 

Curry, but it just doesn’t stop here. This is only the beginning.

 

My Very Own Homemade Curry (Kadhi) 

 

Hi guys! So to begin with I thought I should talk about the most famous dish, Curry but I also want to clarify that although it’s very nice to hear how most people know about Indian food, they usually only mention Curry when being asked what they have eaten. However, like most cuisines, there’s a lot more than just one dish. Plus, one dish does not fill up the stomach especially not the same one. I think most people believe if they see an Indian dish (in the main course) and it’s texture is mostly liquid or has gravy, they quickly assume it is Curry. Yes Curry is like this and has gravy but it is also more yellow and sometimes close to light orange depending on how much it is cooked. Similar spices and ingredients are used when cooking Indian main course dishes, however there is always a little difference. Especially because I will be sharing the recipes for how we cook at home which may differ than other Indians because I am Punjabi (from a different region/from the Punjab state of India) so we have a little different lifestyle than other Indians. Curry (pronounced Kadhi in Punjabi) is made of home-made yogurt and besan (gram flour) which makes the base of the dish or the gravy. This is how most Punjabis and we make Curry at home,

Recipe:

1. In a regular sized (not too big or too small) bowl pour your home made yogurt to fill nearly 1/2 of the bowl (for serving size of 4-5 people) *helpful to mix the yogurt first and make it thin/liquid by itself to avoid lumps
2. Pour 2-3 scoops full (using a serving size spoon) of besan (gram flour) into the bowl of yogurt, some salt and turmeric powder and mix very well so there are no lumps of the flour, it should be all liquid and thin *add a little water if needed to make sure there are no lumps, put this mixture into a pot so it is easier to mix and cook later
3. Heat some oil (2 scoops of a serving spoon that is a little deep) in a pan and once it is hot, add some cumin seeds and for a few seconds let them sizzle before adding the ingredients in the next step because it is easier since they are alone
4. Add some coriander and methi or Fenugreek seeds and let them fry for some seconds until you can smell they are ready, roasted from their smell
5. Thinly slice 2 onions, 1-2 potatoes, 3 green chillies (chillies are for flavor and spice depends on how spicy you like it so can put less or more 3 are usually enough for a medium level), add them to the pan and cook everything until roasted/light brown *Everything together that is being cooked in the pan is called the tadka
6. Add the mixture from the pan to the pot, stir well, put on low gas and let it boil a little by itself (there should be little bubbles), just stir once in a while to make sure it doesn’t get burned, the smell and color (a little dark yellow) should tell you when its finally done (see pictures also)

*Some people add fritters (pakore) for more flavor, spice which can be made at home or are available at nearby Indian Sweets/Snack stores, just make sure you have them before making the Curry again this depends on you but the recipe above gives excellent, delicious taste as is; oh and this Curry is served best with plain rice (see pictures)

Curry with fritters

Curry with plain rice

I absolutely love this type of Curry and there is nothing that special about it like a specific time it can be eaten (seasonally, occasions, or anything) but whenever the heart desires. This is the only way though that I like Curry because I have had some Curries which did not taste good because of there being too much water/liquidy gravy or too thick gravy, too much yogurt which could clearly be tasted, too much salt/too less salt, or raw potatoes. Yuk! Now sometimes I can tell from looking at the Curry (its texture) if it will taste good or not. I only like Curry the way I have explained it for which I am glad the first time I tried it was when my mom made it. Thank God or else I think I would not have tried it again if it was bad the first time, like they say, “First impression always counts so try to make it the best.” As I cook with my mom at home, I feel very lucky because I am learning more quickly how to cook (especially my favorite dishes) so stay with me because there is a lot more coming up from my Rasoi (Kitchen)!

Mission Statement

Hi guys! So let’s clarify one thing, yes curry tastes delicious, but it is not the only Indian food/dish out there or in my kitchen, there’s a lot more that you should know and am sure will like as well! Like most cuisines, there is a plethora amount of different, unique, mouth watering foods (main courses, snacks, desserts, and drinks) available at home (by cooking yourself) or at the best restaurants here in New Jersey and I will talk about it all here. Through my eyes, experiences (memories and restaurant visits) I will be explaining and informing about Indian foods for you all to try help clear some misconceptions towards foods of other Asian countries. History will be an interesting aspect as well since other countries have played a huge role in availability of resources and influenced the creation of foods. The spices can be reused, used in other ways, too…Though I was born and raised here in the United States, I never forgot my Indian tastes, Indian rasoi’s (kitchen’s) smell and want to tell others about my journey thus far with everything about the Indian cuisine so stay tuned!