Rajasthan - street & highway food

 

Rajasthan is known for its food and the Marwari clan has popularized it further. Most of Rajasthan was desert & barren in the earlier days post freedom. But a decade later the then prime minister after a visit to Israel advised the state to sow Acacia (commonly known as Babool, Ker (Capparis in English), sangri (botanical name Prosopis Cineraria) tree seeds so that the sand storm effect is reduced and there will be productivity form these trees once they grow. It worked and today you can see the barren lands-desert areas strewn with these trees adding some green to the landscape plus food for the locals.

Ker Sangri is the most popular vegetable dish in Rajasthan and it is made in variety of ways in households, street dhabas and restaurants. Ker are berries and sangria are bean like pods both dried and then used.

Talking of food while travelling from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer via Bikaner one cannot find many dhabas on the highway but the few available do serve the local staple of kersangri ki sabzi, daal baati churma, chaas the least.

The typical breakfast consists of Bajra roti with Lahsun Chutni (pearl millets & garlic).
This garlic chutni is made with crushed garlic, mustard oil, pink salt and little jaggery. Hot roti with this fiery chutney wakes you up to the core. The Pyaaz kachori (Fried pastry filled with spicy Onion herbs filling) 

is a snack originated from Jodhpur, is eaten any time of the day but having for breakfast while sipping Nagori Chai  is heavenly. The pyaaz kachori comes in two sizes – a single 70gm piece of 4inch dia and a regular halwai kachori 100gm of 7inches. The breakfast is filling and one can travel for 3 hours nonstop.

   Shri Mishrilal Lassi in Jodhpur clock tower market is a must visit. We had kulhad makhaniya lassi, chilled – moderately sweet-thick and fresh in taste just for Rs.30.

Tea stops are a must on the highway. Nagor is a village where Nagori breed of cattle is found (buffalo /cow stables) & hence milk business boomed from there. As a bi-product you will find shops selling lassi (5-6 types), rabdi, barfi, chaas & of course tea. The name Nagori Dairy is found in many places in India, owned by the Rajasthani clan. The Nagori Tea (different flavours – masala, elaichi, haldi, sunth) is famous all over India.  Tastes great when sipped from a kulhad (mud cup). One can find shops serving Nagori Puri Halwa or Nagori sabzi puri halwa combo  The crispy puris are made from maida/sooji (semolina) & ghee and the halwa af course from the coarse sooji. Awesome to say the least, it is a feast.

For meals as mentioned earlier,  KerSangri ki sabzi  with roti is enough to satiate one’s hunger. 

The more hungry can go in for Daal Baati Churma 
 Baati (little dough balls made from flour, ghee, milk and then roasted in pit fire.), a war time preferred food in Mewar of olden days has now become popular all over and is eaten in a typical way – crush the baati & pour pure ghee on it, add spiced Panchmel Daal (5 lentils) and mix to eat with hand. Delicious! In addition to this Churma (an accidental invention by cook when he poured sugarcane juice on roasted baati) made by crushing baati sweetened with jiggery. Daal Baat Churma is the signature dish of Rajasthan.

The other local flavours are available in the form of Gatte ki Saag (chickpea flour dumplings). This originated early as there were no veggies available so this was the staple food fo Rajasthan then. Now it is served from household to 5 star hotels. It is best eaten with roti or plain steamed rice. The spices vary in different eateries along the highways junctions or small towns.

For the meat lovers, I recommend the Laal Maas 
& Nagori Mutton Laal maas is mutton cooked in chilly & herbs paste, spicy. Nagori Mutton has the unique flavour of Nagori Kasuri Methi. Both the dishes can’t be had enough, they are nastyly tasty.

The street eateries serve mirchi bada (jodhpuri mirch)   Green Large chillies stuffed with salty spices, coated with gram flour batter & deep fried. Big time pakoda to have at hi-tea time. Add to this the Kingsize Samosa   (typically they add chutni to the potato stuffing) with a totally different in taste than the Punjabi Samosa, these are spicy, tangy, sweet tickling the taste buds and leave you asking for more. Don’t forget to have Nagori Chai.

This culinary experience on the streets makes you think that why go to exotic restaurants to eat when so much is on display On The Way, ready to be gorged upon.!

UNEXPECTED TIMES 2020-21......CORONA part3

 

Part 3

On the citizen’s home front, the Pandemic taught the world many things that we knew but did not follow or value or bothered in our daily grind to earn –learn. Initially 1^st lockdown was fun for many as it was thought it is temporary. People enjoyed togetherness, playing household games, watching movies at home, cooking (poor housewives had no respite as demand for snacks- nibbles increased)......it was a Khao Piao Aish Karo phase. Romance bloomed with the couples, families bonded, parents found time for their children (a great factor in today’s life).

New normal of washing hands for 20seconds, using sanitizer after hand wash, spraying sanitizer on ant material received from outside, wearing face mask while going out, in some cases hand gloves were also worn while going out. Societies sanitized the premises one to thrice a day depending on severity as per media news.

Then came the 2^nd lockdown for 31days and reality started sinking in. Fun factor reduced and worry was just beginning to show its face. No work left many people bored, frustrated. Husbands started helping wives in their household work (Big Change in many families), kids still enjoying their holidays while mother toiled. As there were no markets open, home delivery of groceries, vegetables, dairy products was the in-thing. The new normal was of allowing the material to rest near the door for 4 hours after spraying with disinfectant. It was a huge exercise as one had to wash vegetables, fruits in disinfectant solution, dry them and then put in fridge.....a job spread over 3 hours. This job plus the daily household chores were keeping people busy at home.

Students were now put on online education mode. This was new to all (teachers, students & mainly parents). The exams were online. The daily classes were online and it was one sound constant during this lockdown /unlock period that was spot on at 930am and went on till 3pm. I learned many things that I ignored during my school days, with the conversation –teaching of teachers falling on my ears. It was fun initially but then after few months I got bored of studies as usual. The worst part was all mothers had to compulsorily sit thru the classes to keep track of what teacher instructs and then take the homework after that. Some fathers did take part. I am sure parents will be more educated (refreshed education) after this Pandemic ends

As the lockdown kept extending the frustration increased. There were frequent tiffs among the family members, irritation between couples (one is not used to see the same face 24/7) due to each other’s habits that came to fore front during these 68 days (1632 hours of continuous togetherness...ufff), kids glued to mobile phones and no one bothered to shut out as there was nothing else to do (nowadays digitalization has kept away books, card or board games), talking to each other is thing of the past with family members chatting on whtsapp within the house....ridiculous culture.

 

I remember Gurus say " self motivation is best motivation".....fck it sucks ! See how Covid destroys the saying. They say:

Try socializing: Covid cuts it off.

Go for a walk: covid restrictions cut off your oxygen.

Do hobbies: i have done them to death in lock down.

Cuddle: tried doing it by remaining 6ft away.

Smile often: behind mask ? No one notices. Your cheeks ache.

Be positive: this word is dreaded in covid period.

Talk with people: all on mobile so no conversation.

Do what you like: nothing can be done in social distancing…

Listen to music: finished listening from 40's to 70's. After that no music its mostly noise.

Ab batao kuch hai self motivation ke liye ?

 

The Covid19 patients were increasing daily and control was not happening. Vaccines were nowhere in sight. With the economy halted, government opened up certain sectors from 1^st June’20 Unlock 1. These unlocks kept on happening phase wise till today 11^th Unlock on April2021. Many industries limped back but Hospitality & Travel trade were totally ignored by the government and the tourism industry that was in the first 5 earners for the country lost its bearings and the people related to this trade were jobless, penniless, working as vegetable vendor or delivery boys, executives looking to alternate work with not much of success. Professionals & Vendors connected with this industry were helpless. Almost 60% units closed down, travel agents just shut shop as no business. Imagine plight of people with EMI and other financial burdens /liabilities, families to feed and no solution in sight. The industry that fed the country had no one to feed them!

The “Unlock11” or “Break The Chain” as it is named was done to arrest the growth in number of patients/ In this pandemic the public in general has been very irresponsible when it was required at later stages of the Pandemic. People gathered, crowded in markets, wore mask on their chins, some did not wear mask, social gatherings like Kumbh Mela, Prayer meets, Election meetings are happening, SO how does one expect the COVID19 to go away ?

As of April2021 the total Affected people number stands at 1.59cr with recovered number at 1.34cr. Still active cases 22.9lakhs. Long way to go.

To end this article my advise  “Mask Up”

For fun sake & to end on lighter note, Because of mask I have:

1.Stopped eating raw onions

2.Started drinking 30 ml less as after drink vapour is good enough for the road.

3. No worry of yawwwning in a meeting

4. No issues about growing or removing mustache.

5. Freedom to twitch my lips while listening to some nonsense advise.

6. Freedom to smile at someone's stupidity without offending.

7. Started talking loudly sometimes to the point of sounding rude

8. At the same time lost the fun of whispering sweet nothings to someone.

9. Lost facial identity….it has its pros & cons though !

Mask up guys !!

 

UNEXPECTED TIMES 2020-21...CORONA part2

 

Part 2

This was the most difficult period experienced by many as there was uncertainty of job, business and health issues. The lockdown shut all work and the migrant workers had nowhere to go as no job, no salary and no shops open for food. Trains & public transport was halted and hence there was no choice but to leave their city of work. India saw the largest migration of workers and families within the country. Harrowing experience for many, long walks to their village back home. Large numbers of NGO were helping the needy but that was not enough. Government trying to bring sense of discipline but it didn’t work. Chaos prevailed.

I wrote a poem on the Corona

ना बिवी ना बच्चा, ना बाप बडा ना मैया

The whole thing is that

भैया सब से बडा कोरोनो भैया.

ईस कोरोना की ताकत तो देखो

पुरी दुनिया को नचाया

देखते देखते virus को फैलाया !

The whole thing is that

भैया सब से बडा कोरोनो भैया.

घरवाले बोलते कितना काम करोगे

कभी तो बोलो के हम घरपर रहेंगे.

पर कोरोना को देखो कैसे झटसे घरपे बिठाया.

The whole thing is that

भैया सब से बडा कोरोनो भैया.

सब नेता सोचे अलग पर मोदी सोचे सबसे अलग

सबकी सोचको लगाया लगाम

कोरोनने बनाया गुलाम.

The whole thing is that

भैया सब से बडा कोरोनो भैया.

दुनिया कि अब है फटी, population थोडी घटी.

वातावरण खुश हुवा क्युंकी pollution घटी.

कोरोनाने बजाई सबकी घंटी.

The whole thing is that

भैया सब से बडा कोरोनो भैया.

Lockdown lockdown हो गया

अब पैसा भी down होगा.

कोरोना को हराना होगा तो घर बैठना होगा

वरना फिरसे बोलना होगा…. The whole thing is that भैया सब से बडा कोरोनो भैया !!

 

The India’s workforce initially did Work From Home (WFH) but as the lockdowns extended many industries, corporate, hospitality units were forced to shut shop thereby laying off  employees. Bad times for employed & self employed, shopkeepers, travel trade, hotels-resort-restaurants, construction trade, industries.....in short all except IT industry (WFH), Large corporate /Banks (WFH wherever possible continued while some were laid off), medical & pharma industry, Food & Dairies, Hospitals, clinics. The picture was grim with people’s bank balance dwindling and some already bankrupt. The speed of disaster...68 days!  

The government had geared up and medical facilities (Covid centers) were being erected, permission to start new testing labs were given and were being opened at frantic speed, doctors and other medical staff worked 24/7, police were on toes all the time without rest and these were the segments that were working to Save India, selflessly. Salutations to them !!

I will not go into details of government efforts at all levels but yes some states were doing good while some struggled. Lack of facilities due to large number of patients was the problem. By the end of 31^st May’20 the patients were 1.82lakhs plus form 500 on 24^th March2020.

UNEXPECTED TIMES 2020-21.....CORONA

 

UNEXPECTED TIMES 2020-21.......CORONA

Part 1

Earlier ‘Corona’ word used to be relaxing, comfort giving, refreshing. I remember since childhood Footwear used to be 2 brands....BATA & CORONA. Corona footwear for comfort was the tag line. Then the hospitality industry & a brewery introduced us to a refreshing beverage.....Corona Beer, served chilled. The memories are still strong. In this age of digitalization before 2020 if one Googled “Corona” the first 5 used to be Corona Footwear & Corona Beer. The times have changed & how?

Now the only word with C that comes to mind is Corona & that’s a Big Change. The earlier words Change – Carrot – Cat have taken a backseat too.

As early as 2019 this virus Corona, now known as Covid19 made its presence felt in China but not known to the world. The infected people travelled all over the world and by 2020 February, the world was beginning to feel the sting of this Coronavirus. New virus strain, no medicine for it and spreading thru human’s interaction, the disease spread and a “Covid19 Pandemic” era began. No one had a clue how to control and how long this will last. The WHO and doctors, scientists struggled to make the right serum.

The bigger & developed countries were the first to affected...US, UK, Spain, France, Germany, Brazil not counting China which was already worst affected. India was watching and the government had started to monitor the Covid19 effects & ways to manage its entry in India. It happened with one traveller +ve Covid19 landing in India somewhere in February followed by the Tabligis episode as informed by news media began the arrival of Covid19 in India. The government thru the media was informing of updates but the seriousness never sunk in as WE believed our immunity is better than the world because we eat street unhygienic junk food, use spices and cook all our food. This proved to be a myth as India was slowly getting affected, a large population of 130 crores spread length & breadth of the country with a blind-spot for finding /identifying the patient. Laboratory facilities for checking the strain were limited to under 2 digit in India, Hospitals not equipped, medical facilities in rural India still not developed to tackle the Pandemic.

The country’s prime minister made an appeal on 20^th March2020 to the people to follow “Janta Curfew” so that the Cororna can be controlled thru less public interaction. People responded & it was success. This done, the government announced complete Lockdown in India from 24^th March for 21 days to14th April’20. The patient number was around 500. This was phase 1. Everything shutdown, initially all enjoyed the forced holiday and family bonding unaware of the danger lurking around. The rate of spread did decrease but the authorities to control the spread totally extended the lockdown, 2^nd phase 15^th April to 3^rd May’20 (19days) followed by Phase 3 & 4 ending on 31^st May’20.

During this lockdown to keep the spirits high (no, not those spirits...shops were shut) the Prime Minister announced Thali Bajao Day, Clapping for Frontline Covid warriors, Diya Jalo Night and all these were well responded. But reality was different from this momentarily motivation.