EVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: PUNJABI CUISINE Land of the Golden Temple, land of lassi, land of golden wheat, the land of the five rivers that is Punjab. Its the area where first civilization flourished around 2500BC, The Indus Civilization. Punjab is named after the five rivers, “Punj” means five and “aab” means water in Persian. The five rivers are Beas, Ravi, Chenab, Sutlej and Jehlum. Sikhism was founded in Punjab. Guru Nanak Dev laid the foundation of Sikhism in the late 15th Century. Did you know that Punjab and Haryana share the same capital city, Chandigarh? I didn’t till I read up a bit about Punjab. A state of colorful festivals and dances, then food from that place has to be awesome. Punjabi Cuisine…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: ODIA CUISINE May is when participants of Shhhh Cooking Secretly had to find an apt dish from the Odia Cuisine with the ingredients given by their partners.Orissa as it was known before and now known as Odisha, is a state that I’d love to visit one day. When one talks of Odisha then Bhubaneswar and Puri , the land of Jagannath Temple comes to mind. Other reasons to visit the state is for the art and craft, the beaches, the wildlife and Kalinga Architecture, home to both the white and Bengal tigers, to watch Odissi dances and to enjoy the cuisine. Odisha borders four states, Jharkhand in the north, West Bengal in northeast, Andhra Pradesh in the southwest and Chhattisgarh…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: NAGALAND CUISINE Nagaland, one of the seven sister state is mountainous state bordering Myanmar in the east, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam to the north, Assam to the west and Manipur to the south. Home to diverse indigenous tribes, their markets and festivals celebrate diverse cultures. I had no idea that the capital city of the state, Kohima, suffered heavy fighting during World War 2. Nagaland is one of the smallest states of India, but by no means backward. Literacy rate is 79.55% and the official language is English. Though the 16 different tribes may have different cultures, ethnic dresses and different languages, the official language unifies them as one. Majority of the people from Nagaland are Christians by faith. 20%…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: MIZO CUISINE The Seven Sister States have been a challenge where the cuisine is concerned. All these states depend on locally grown vegetables, fruits and herbs. So far we cooked from the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya and now its Mizoram. Still got two more to go Nagaland and Tripura. The states we have covered so far tend to use quite a bit of meat for their everyday meals. Mizoram is no exception. Mizo Vawksa made from pork, Misa Mach Poora, made from shrimps, Paanch Phoron Torkari is a veg and non veg dish, Bai a dish whereby pork and veggies are mixed, Swahchiar a rice dish cooked with meat, fish or chicken. Koat pitha is popular in…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: MEGHALAYA CUISINE Megha means clouds and thus this North Eastern State is known as the ‘Abode of the Clouds’. True to its name, its receives plenty of rainfall. The state comprises of Garo, Khasi and Jaintia Hills. Majority of the population are Christians. The neighbors are Assam to the north and Bangladesh to the south. The Nohkalikai falls near Cherrapunji is the highest plunge waterfall in India, 1115 feet. Till 1972 Meghalaya was a part of Assam. The hills have many caves which fast is making Meghalaya a famous destination for cave exploration activities. Meghalaya has many living bridges, roots that are old span waterbodies to form suspension like bridges. Coming to the cuisine of Meghalaya, the staple diet consists…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: MANIPURI CUISINE Search for Manipuri on the internet and you’re going to learn about some herbs and vegetables that are not commonly found in the market. The reason being that Manipuri cuisine depends largely on the seasonal ingredients. Have you heard about jelly ears, water spinach, roselle leaves, bitter beans to name a few? I hadn’t known that they existed till I was reading up on Manipuri Cuisine. Use of hot chillis is common as opposed to garam masala in the Manipuri cuisine. Manipur is known as the Jewelled Land because of its natural beauty. The numerous hills and peaks means that one has to consume food that provides strength and agility. Staple diet consists of rice, vegetables and fish.…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: MAHARASHTRA CUISINE If you’ve ever been to Mumbai then you’ve definitely been to the State of Maharashtra and sampled a bit of the local cuisine, from seafood to street food. Vada Pav, Pav Bhaji, Tawa Pulao, Misal Pav, Ragda Pattis are the more famous street food options but Maharashtra has much more to offer. Many vegetarian dishes are similar to Gujarati dishes but they all have their distinctive differences. Wheat, millet, sorghum, lentils, vegetables, fruits, peanuts, cashew nuts are some of the basic staples in any Maharashtrian dish. A basic diet is usually consists of bhakri made from jowar, millet or wheat flour, a dal and bhaji. Here the reference to bhaji is vegetables. I personally love thalipeeth, sabudana khichdi,…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: MADHYA PRADESH CUISINE I remember watching the Incredible India advertisement on most of the Indian Channels and also BBC World and the phrase ‘ Hindustan Ka Dil Dekho’ was a very catchy one. The Dil described in the phrase is Madhya Pradesh. This state of rich culture and history literally lies in the middle of India and is rightfully called the heart of India. Its the second largest state surrounded by Rajasthan to the northwest, Gujarat to the west, Maharashtra to the south, Chhattisgarh to the southeast and Uttar Pradesh to the northeast. Before 2000 Chhattisgarh too was a part of Madhya Pradesh. Its the home to the world heritage site Khajuraho monuments, with breathtaking sculptures. Its also the home…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: KERALA CUISINE It is truly sad that Mother Nature can create so much destruction in a beautiful part of the world. Kerala had its share of disaster when it got flooded due to excessive amount of rainfall. It is believed that it was the worst flooding in over a century in this state that is known as God’s Own Country. Many people died and about a million had to be evacuated. I cannot image what they must have gone through to lose their homes, to leave places they are familiar with and to lose loved ones. It is believed that it will take nearly 2 years for Kerala to recover from all the damage that the floods caused. It will…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: KARNATAKA CUISINE For the month of August the theme was Karnataka cuisine and I realized that though I lived in Bangalore, what’s now called Bengaluru for 4 years, I didn’t get to experience so many dishes that are famous in Karnataka. As a non South Indian I usually stick to the more comfortable dosas, idlis, vadas, sambhars. My neighbor on occasions would share with me crispy maddur vadas. I’ve tasted bisi bele bath once. Next visit to Bangalore, I’m definitely going to try out more of the local cuisine. For this month my partner was the friendly and humble Aruna who blogs at ãhãram. I love her blog because its got quite a few traditional recipes especially from the Andhra…
