Kaveri Sahay Prasad
History, 2002I am a soft skills trainer living in Bengaluru. My roots are in Patna and Delhi. I had the privilege of growing up across different cultures as my father worked for a pan-India organisation; my interest in food culture stems from this and my father’s fondness for road trips. LSR taught me to deconstruct and simplify; I apply these principles to food that are new to me: be it kokum meen curry or za'atar bread or kwanti! I inherit my knowledge around food from my dadi, nani, parents and parents-in-law, my mother being a strong influencer for the nutrition bit. My life is enriched with reading and playing with family, music, creative writing, and ideas around waste management!
Chef's Recipes
Ingredients
- Teesi (flax seeds): ½ cup
- Peanuts: ¼ cup
- Gud or jaggery powder: about ½ cup
- Salt: a pinch
- Water: 2-3 tbsp
- Ghee: 1 tsp
- Desiccated coconut (optional): 2 tbsp
- Nuts and seeds (chopped) (optional): 2 tbsp
Gud teesi patti
In the lip-smacking list of Bihari naashta (both morning and evening snacks are termed ‘naashta’), a warm teesi gud gulgulla holds…
Ingredients
- Raw mangoes (I prefer Kalappad or Totapuri in Bengaluru): 250 gm
- Mustard oil: 75 ml
- Salt to taste
- Turmeric powder: ½ tsp
- Chilli powder: ½ tsp
- A few dry or fresh chillies: 4-5 (according to taste)
- Pachphoran (mix of five spices)*
Aam ka achaar (mango pickle)
Recipe from my nani (maternal grandmother) Mrs. Premlata Sinha.
Ingredients
- Wholewheat flour: 2 cups.
- Sugar (can be replaced with powdered jaggery or gud): ⅔ cup
- Ghee (clarified butter): ⅔ cup
- Ghee (can be replaced with sunflower oil): for deep frying the thekua
- Fennel seeds: 1 tbsp
- Cardamom powder: 1 tbsp
- A little water for kneading the dough
- Refined flour: 2 cups
- Ghee: ½ cup
- A little water for kneading the dough
- Khoya (mawa, thickened milk): 200 gm
- Sooji (rawa, semolina): 1 cup
- Ghee (for sautéing the filling): 4 tbsp
- Sugar or gud (as per preference): 1 cup
- Assorted nuts (chopped): ½ cup
- Desiccated coconut: ½ cup
- Cardamom powder: 1 tbsp
- A little water for sealing the pedakiyas
Thekua and pedakiya
Traditionally, both these form the main prasad for the Hartalika Teej pooja. Hartalika Teej has been marked as a day when…