On a sour note

For the move to Indias capital after having lived all my life in Mumbai I did thorough homework pyaaz not kanda dhania not kothmir aloo not batata I even accepted jugni for zucchini But Delhi manages to throw your way an out of syllabus googlyIt comes in the form of a blank face when I ask Mr Pal a grocery store owner in Kalkaji for a packet of kokum Woh toh hum nahin rakhte I am the Gujarati who likes her khaatimeethi Surti dal How do I make it without kokum And what about someone who wishes to stir up a pot of sol kadi or thandu sherbatNew friends and their families help by suggesting souring agents used in North Indian homestyle cooking Suman auntymdashSuman Lakhani to the rest of the worldmdashis a 62yearold homemaker from Friends Colony Try amchur dried mango powder or anardana dried pounded pomegranate seeds She makes a mean jeera aloo with a final sprinkle of anardana to give the dish a grainy texture and wellrounded sour touch Amchur works better for dals I use imli water but only in sambhar or to make date chutney she explainsMumbai author Saee Koranne Khandekar stuffs kokum rinds with sugar to prepare a sweet kokum sherbet concentrateGreater Kailashbased home chef Rajan Bedi recommends curd and tomatoes The smaller desi varieties are best Food made every day in Punjabi homes uses tomato and curd in most dishes Curd makes the curries dense and adds a balanced tartness Meat and amchur dont go well So we marinate meats in curd We add anardana to missi roti Indian cooking after all is a marriage of flavours he thinksKnown for his laal maas in foodie circles Bedi uses powdered and dried kachri a wild variety of kheera or cucumber not only to tenderise the meat but also add a tangy finish My kachri chutney is fingerlicking good he claims While experiments with new souring agents are underway in my kitchen the sweet and sour versatility of kokum makes its absence felt and the mouth waters until someone from mayanagrimdashas an autowalla in Dilli called Mumbaimdashcan carry some on flightGrown abundantly along the coast of Maharashtra and Konkan the kokum has many uses Almost all parts of this mangosteen fruit are utilised Mumbaibased writer and culinary consultant Saee Koranne Khandekar says the freshest batch is available in the summersHomemaker Suman Lakhani finishes off aloo jeera with a sprinkle of anardana PicNishad AlamKokum looks like plum and should stain your fingers purple Khandekar cuts them into hemispheres scoops out the seeds and fills the rinds with sugar to make the concentrate for kokum sherbet She replaces the sugar with salt to make agal before binning them in glass jars and leaving it in the sun Agal the unsweetened concentrate is used as a souring agent in sol kadi and fish curries The leftover skin is washed salted and dried to make amsool or kokum for curry she addsKokan Bazaar in Sena Bhavan Dadar is a speciality store that offers products made by women from the Konkan belt Nayan Khadapkar stocks traditional sherbet agal and kokum butter on the racks After extracting concentrate for agal and sherbet the seeds are dried and ground They are then put to boil to make a butter that works wonderfully as moisturiser for cracked feetThis can replace oil in cooking too as it is great for digestion and diabetes says Khadapkar When mummy comes visiting she brings along pansy purplehued Lonavla kokum a soughtafter variety where the entire fruit with the seeds is dried No prizes for guessing what I served for dinnerCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates