The song and dance of curd
Picture Credit: Suki Iyer
As I begin to write about curd, its memories are not restricted to only taste and texture! I reflect on what curd means, and the sacrosanct space curd occupied in every meal while I was growing up. After spending considerable time across a few native cuisine cultures that I began to appreciate the diversity that curd symbolizes. Having lived in Delhi, I am swamped with nostalgia for street foods – add chaat to rich flavours and aromas of Punjabi cuisine that dominate my food cravings. The paapdi chaat in Khan Market acquires its magical flavours because of the delightful curd and spices mixture. It is a taste you don’t forget, ever – the perfect mix of sweet, spice and tanginess. Even celebrated chefs can’t replicate this chaat without the wonder ingredient – curd! Aside from these obvious mentions, as I began to make my own versions of Punjabi food, I realize how critical curd is to the renowned gravies in which most vegetables simmer! Can you imagine a rich creamy ‘kofta’ mixture or a korma without using curd, liberally?
But its not Punjab alone which can claim ownership or even indeed leadership over curd. When I shifted base down south to Chennai, I discovered an almost pious following for it. It is the kind of veneration which makes curd an indispensable feature of every Tamizh household. Each meal is deemed complete only after a faithful consumption of the perfect soporific curd rice. There is no substitute for curd rice and its calming, and soothing, effect even on blazing hot summer afternoon in Chennai. My family can compose sonnets about the heady mix of curd rice with ‘vadu manga’ (the indispensable whole small dried mango soaked in equally tangy watery gravy). Even though I did not grow up with this heady mixture, I grew accustomed to its taste and now deem it comfort food! I do not know of many stomach ailments that didn’t get cured by this faithful mixture. Every grandmother in Chennai has accordingly fed her grandkids curd rice with stories that have stuck in the head.
On our life journey we moved to Mumbai next where curd is celebrated with song and dance signifying Krishna’s breaking of the ‘dahi-handi’. It is a tradition which brings Mumbai to life – true to the spirit of the city, the celebration brings the entire city alive or to a standstill? I will let you decide! Streets are full of loud music, drum rolls and dance with the young climbing atop one another to reach the impossible! The potful of curd is placed at a seemingly impossible and dangerous height where the brave muster courage to pluck the divine mixture; much like how Krishna is alleged to have! Curd is seen here as part of celebration and heritage.
It is a mark of the hugely adaptable nature of curd that it has found a home in every kitchen across India. I might not have marked every cuisine type here but I have recounted all which I hold dear. And indeed, curd is an important element of each of these cultures where food itself is a celebration!
