Pritam's Food for Thought

I am strictly a non-vegetarian: But on Tuesdays and Saturdays I don't eat non-vegetarian. Otherwise, I love non-vegetarian food. I am partial to fish because I am a Bengali. And I love fresh water fish cooked in Bengali style.

My favourites in Bengali foods are: poshto, shukto and mocha, a sabzi of banana flowers which are in an early stage of growth.

I begin my day: With a glass of warm water followed with a cup of tea and breakfast.

My breakfast normally is: Two toasts and half boiled eggs. At times I have cornflakes with milk or poha or upma.

When I am recording: My lunch comes from home as I mostly work around Andheri in Mumbai. For lunch, I have rice, dal, a sabzi and fish curry. Once a week I have chicken curry.

In the evenings: I love to have kurmura, chana, mungphali with kanda kata hua. This is a must for me every evening.

I get diet pangs every four months: But unfortunately they don't last. Whenever I feel like going on a diet I avoid rice and rotis and drink sugar-free tea. I feel frustrated when I am on a diet. I am a hardcore foodie. I love eating out too.

My favourite restaurants are: Mostly around Andheri in Mumbai. Mainland China for Chinese. Urban Tadka for Punjabi and Pratap Da Dhabba and Masala Mantra. When I feel the urge to have sizzlers I call from Yokos as it's close to my office. I love to have continental food. Grilled chicken with garlic sauce and lots of boiled vegetables is my favourite. In Italian cuisine, I love to have non-vegetarian pasta.

In Kolkata: My favourite restaurant is my home as my mom cooks fabulously. Bhojohari Manna serves authentic Bengali food. Aminia in Kolkata serves very good biryani. Nizam serves excellent kathi rolls and sheek kebabs. Every lane in Kolkata has a mithai shop which has great Bengali sweets. Sweet Bengal in Mumbai has very good Bengali sweets.

In sweets: I can't resist the sandesh made with gur and mishti doi if it's placed before me. But otherwise, I have lost my appetite for sweets for the past two-three years.

I dislike: Potatoes. And I don't like French fries too.

Dinner is: Very late. We used to eat at around 2 or 3 am. That's because I wake up around 11 in the morning and sleep by 3 am or 4 am. However, of late, I make it a point to eat dinner by 9 pm. It is the same as lunch. I am more of a rice eater. These days I love having nachni rotis and nachni khakras because I love the taste of nachni. I never had nachni in Kolkata though.

My best dining friend is: My wife Smita. Like me, she enjoys eating too.

I am a very bad cook: I can't even make a cup of tea. I can only make Maggi and keep experimenting with it. Sometimes I put eggs in it and at other times I add jeera. I have never cooked in my life. Even when I was living in a hostel my roommate would cook very well. When I came to Mumbai and was sharing the flat with a friend from the institute, he was the one who would do the cooking while I offered to do the other chores.

My favourite cooks in the family: My mom for Bengali food. My wife makes very good Continental dishes. My sister too cooks fabulous Bengali dishes. My nani made excellent vegetarian dishes. Her shukto was out of the world.

Sunday lunch at home is: Very elaborate and heavy. There is a lot of variety. There are vegetable dishes aplenty, fish, chicken and mutton. I am not fond of mutton. They also make payas at home. It's like payasam, made with rice and khajoor gur.

My idea of a romantic meal: Is going for long drives and eating at a dhaba or going for midnight buffets. Earlier, when I was dating my wife, we would often go on a long drive. Near Bhayander there is a dhaba where we would enjoy our meals. Also we would drive to Lonavala and eat at dhabas. Earlier we would drive all the way to Marine Drive for a midnight buffet at a hotel. We love going to Orchid too. These days, my wife loves going to Sahara Star for pasta. Everytime we return from a late night film she says 'Let's go to Sahara Star for a midnight buffet'.

I remember as a child: My nani, who became a widow early, used to follow the Vidhwa dharma. Widows were not allowed to eat non-vegetarian food. She followed it very strictly. She would not go anywhere close to non-vegetarian food. Even her kitchen was separate. The vegetarian food, especially shukto cooked by my grandmom, was awesome. Even today when we sit to eat, my didi says we miss the food made by our grandmom.

I feel guilty after eating: A pizza or a burger. Whenever I see good food, my eyes just light up.

I can't resist buying: Cookies and fruit cakes. In Hyper City, you get excellent Blue Foods fruit cake. I stay close to Inorbit. The aroma of their cookie shop is very alluring. Whenever I pass the place, I have to stop and buy the cookies.

My favourite spice is: Garlic.

My favourite beverage: A mango drink or a fruit juice.

My favourite alcoholic drink: An occasional red wine.

I hate fruits: But I love padwal. They call it potol in Bengali. I love padwal stuffed either with chicken, fish or vegetables.


Pritam favourite recipe: Shukto

Ingredients

1 big baingan
1 small turiya (peeled)
1 raw banana
1 potato ( peeled)
2 drumsticks (cut into medium sized pieces)
2 padwal (peeled)
1 medium sized karela (peeled)
1 carrot (peeled)
½ raw papaya
1 sweet potato (peeled)
 1 tbsp khus-khus
1 tbsp mustard seeds
Sufficient oil to shallow fry the karelas
5 to 6 tbsp oil
3/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
 Â½ tsp mustard seeds
2 bay leaves
2'' piece ginger (crushed)
1 tsp sugar
½ cup milk
1 tbsp ghee
Salt to taste

Method

Wash and chop the vegetables into small pieces. Grind together 1 tbsp khus-khus and 1 tbsp mustard seeds to a fine paste with some water and keep aside.

Shallow fry the karelas in sufficient oil till golden and keep aside. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed kadai, add fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds and bay leaves. Sauté till the seeds crackle.

Add the vegetables except the karelas and salt. Sauté for few minutes. Cover with a lid with water on it. Cook on a low flame. Gently mix at regular intervals.

When the vegetables are half done, add ginger, ground khus-khus and mustard paste along with the water. Mix well.

Add sugar. Add the karelas to the vegetables. Mix well. After the vegetables are cooked, add milk and ghee.

Mix well. Simmer for few minutes and serve hot with rice.