The Art of Making Soft and Fluffy Phulkas

I find that most South Indian women, even those who are normally good cooks, throw up their hands when it comes to making chapattis. “I just can’t make good chapattis,” they say apologetically.

Admittedly, rice is mostly eaten in the south and chapattis or rotis are more a staple food north of the Vindhyas. But making good chapattis is not really a big deal and there is no one correct secret formula to making a decent, soft stack of the ubiquitous Indian bread.

I have watched quite a few people in the process of making chapattis, rotis, parathas and phulkas and there seem to be almost as many methods as people making them. Right from Step 1 people go their different ways, but most do manage to produce rotis that are fairly soft and edible.

In days gone by, women would bake the rotis while the menfolk and children sat down to their meal, and provide fresh, hot rotis straight from the fire while they ate. Today’s women like to eat with the family, so the rotis necessarily have to be made in advance. So how do you ensure that by the time one gets to eat the chapattis, they have not mysteriously turned to leather?

The process starts right from selecting the wheat; - the grains should be fat and preferably a light brown in colour – to having it ground to the right texture. Some sieve it to remove the bran and some add maida to make it softer and lighter. Some people add salt for extra taste, while others add ghee or oil for softness and flavour.

Then comes the actual kneading process. Some mix the dough quickly, leave it for a while and then make the chapattis. Others knead patiently until the dough is the right texture and consistency. How soft do you make the dough? My mother used to make it stiff – you needed strong arms to knead it. My grandmother’s dough was so soft, it wouldn’t remain in a ball, but flow out flat.

Then there are questions on the size of the balls and the thickness of the rotis. How do you roll them so they are evenly round and all the same size? And what about the actual baking process, the puffing up on the fire and whether to smear it with ghee or not? These are all areas where people entertain many doubts.

I have been making rotis since before I was fifteen. I had three teachers – my mother, my paternal grandmother and my maternal aunt. Each one had a different method and every time I helped out, I had to follow a different set of rules. Eventually, I developed my own. Over the years I have relaxed some of the rules, as my standards became less stringent. In the long list of dos and don’ts, I discovered, there is a lot of scope for variation and improvisation. I used to select my wheat and grind it just right, but now I buy readymade atta (Pilsbury is my favourite). I don’t add oil or salt, but knead it with plain water at room temperature. I used to make small balls and roll the chapattis so thin they were almost translucent. But then you have to make many more, and I find now that I have more important things to do than make perfect chapattis.

I have come to the conclusion that there is only one cardinal rule for making soft chapattis, rotis or phulkas – DO NOT LET THE DOUGH OR THE CHAPATTI DRY OUT AT ANY STAGE! Apart from that rule, everything else is pretty flexible. A dehydrated roti is stiff, dry, leathery and unappetizing. So to prevent dehydration is the most important thing.

So, now that you know that there is nothing formidable about making rotis, let’s get down to making some phulkas, my favourite everyday bread.

Let’s start with the kneading process, assuming you have flour of a reasonably good quality. I find that phulkas have a better chance of puffing up, if the dough is well kneaded.

Use a roomy shallow bowl and measure out the flour. Pour water a little at a time, mixing roughly. Then knead with your knuckles, sprinkling more water as you go along, until you get the right consistency, i.e., what you can comfortably roll. If your touch is light, you can handle a soft dough, but if you tend to press heavily on the rolling pin and need to keep picking up the roti to turn it round, you had better make it fairly stiff. Keep kneading it until the dough is fairly smooth. If it sticks too much, it may help to smear your hands with a little oil.

Now remember the rule – DON’T LET IT DRY OUT! Roll the dough into a ball, wet your hand and pat it all over. Now cover it with another upturned vessel not too much bigger than the ball. Leave it for fifteen minutes to half an hour while you do something else, like setting the table or heating the rest of the food. Remember that if you leave it too long, the dough will get soft. When you actually begin to roll, it may be softer than you can handle. If you have been too generous with the water earlier, you may have to add dry flour to stiffen it up a bit.

Put the tava (griddle) on a medium to low flame, position your ‘chakla’ in front of you and keep a plate or large bowl filled with dry flour to your right. Have your chapatti box lined with a cloth or kitchen paper and a pot of ghee with a spoon within easy reach. I use a metal spatula to turn my rotis as I find it easier to handle than tongs – the choice is yours.

Now you have to be as quick as possible to avoid drying out the dough. Keep the dough covered, lifting the lid only enough to pinch off a bit to make a ball. Now dunk the ball in the dry flour and flatten it on the rolling surface – a ‘chakla’, an upturned thali on a piece of cloth (so it won’t keep moving) or even a clean counter top. Roll gently and firmly, until it just begins to stick. Then pick up the roti, place it on the flour, turn it so both surfaces are coated and then back on the rolling surface to finish rolling to the desired size. Don’t worry too much about shape at this juncture – concentrate more on speed. As you get used to the process, slowly the shape will begin to improve. I have learned to roll with a light hand so the roti turns itself and I hardly have to lift it at all.

Now put your roti on a hot tawa, which should be on a low flame. The right way to do this is to place it on top of your right palm (if you are right handed), move your hand directly over the tawa and quickly flip your wrist so that it falls on the tawa flat, without wrinkling or folding. It may be difficult at first, so be ready with the spatula to straighten out the wrinkles or folds. It may be easier for beginners to pick up the roti with both hands and place it gently on the tawa. But this too is not foolproof. However, you get better with practice.

When your first roti is on the tawa, start on the next one, keeping a watchful eye on the first. As soon as the colour changes and bubbles begin to appear, quickly turn it over and increase the flame to medium or high. Ideally it should be undercooked with no dark specks. Now roll the next roti as quickly as you can. Do not keep lifting the first roti off the tawa or turn it round and round! Keep handling it to a minimum. If you must, lift up one edge and take a peek to see if it is ready. 

When enough brown specks appear, flip it over with the spatula and, in one smooth move, lift the tawa away and slide the roti on to the flame. In three to five seconds it should puff up. If it doesn’t, never mind – better luck next time. flip it back on to the tawa, lift it off and put it on a flat surface. Smear it lightly with a teaspoon dipped in melted ghee (otherwise you may have too much ghee on your roti), place it in the chapatti box and cover. You need to apply ghee to the surface that was in contact with the flame.

Meanwhile, you should have replaced the tawa on the fire, wiped it free of flour and lowered the flame in readiness for the next roti. It will take a bit of practice and juggling to get the timing and sequences right, but it is well worth the trouble. Before long, you will be receiving compliments for your soft and fluffy phulkas!

Here are some common practices that lead to drying and therefore to be avoided:

·      DON’T make all the balls in advance and keep them exposed. Instead, you can roll the ball of dough into a long roll, cut into suitable sized pieces and keep the whole thing under cover, picking out one at a time and rolling into a ball.

·      DON’T roll out all the rotis in advance and then bake them one by one. The top dries out and the underside gets too moist. The phulkas, if they do puff up, will not be soft.

·      DON’T bake the phulka entirely on a low flame. It will be stiff because it will dry out. DON’T use a high flame throughout either, as the first side will cook too fast or burn – unless you have become expert enough to roll at the speed of lightening!

·      DON’T turn the roti more than once and DON’T keep picking it up to shift it around. If you must shift it, slide it, rather than lift it and expose the underside to air.

·      DON’T keep the chapatti box open while you make the rotis. Keep a loose cover on, lift it to add the next chapatti and immediately cover it again. Even while serving, replace the lid as soon as you have removed a chapatti to keep the others soft.

·      Lastly, Don’t entertain phone calls or participate in family arguments while making chapattis. Otherwise, you may find yourself shouting, “Help! My chapatti is on fire!”

~~~~~~~

Where have I been?

Well! It is a whole year since I did a post on this blog.... had you given up on me? I don’t blame you. Here is another one who started with a bang and then fizzled out, I hear you say to yourself.

But wait. Things are not as they seem. In fact, far from fizzling out, there has been a lot of activity going on; only it was not in the public eye. You see, when I went back to reading the very first post on this blog, I was amazed at how God can bring up long buried dreams and make them come true in his good time!

No, I have certainly not fizzled out. In fact, today I can call myself a professional writer with a good rating, 100% recommendations and positive reviews from my clients. The reason I have not been updating this blog is because I have been writing for others – and getting paid for it! At the moment I'm enjoying a break from professional writing, having just completed a ghostwriting project for an eBook. “Enjoying” may not be the right word here - I have got so addicted to writing that between jobs I’m restless and take up personal projects like translating my grandmother’s poems.

And how did all this come about? I found out that in every adversity there is a seed of future blessing. I discovered that the promise in the Bible is true, that when we go through difficult times, God provides a way out, so that we can bear up under it.

My husband and I are no strangers to adversity. In fact, people who know us well have often wondered why we seem to have more than our fair share of misfortunes and difficulties. But who is to say what constitutes a “fair share”? We have stopped questioning now and learned to appreciate every good thing that happens. We have developed a habit of counting our blessings, going through trials without complaining and trusting God for the outcome. But to come back to the point.

For the past four years I have been looking after old and sick parents. Frequent hospitalizations, doctor’s visits and anxious times along with a severely curtailed social life and difficulties with the support system had worn me down. This was compounded by no opportunities for getting away even for a short while to recharge my systems. My father passed away at the age of 90 in April 2012, leaving behind my mother, who is bedridden, silent and often unresponsive. I needed some form of activity that would be a pleasant distraction to keep me from sinking into depression, but going to work was not an option.

Finally, I decided to write a blog to at least do something creative and enjoyable while staying home. At some point, I learned about a freelance site where I could find writing jobs and registered myself in their “Writing and Translation” category. All I had to put on my portfolio were a few articles I had written and my blog posts. I got my first job after I had almost given up, from a client in Australia who had liked one of my posts. The payment was prompt and she left me a 5 star feedback. That was enough to motivate me to try again and soon I was writing for more clients – translation, editing and formatting a book of poems, a meal-plan for a special diet, a Bible-based story, a lesson plan on a gluten free lifestyle, an anti-cancer diet plan and finally, ghostwriting an eBook on Natural cures for cancer!

Last week I had to take my laptop for repairs and was told I would need to come back for it in three days. “Oh, please, couldn’t you give it to me faster? I have deadlines to meet. All my work is on this laptop!” I exclaimed. The technician promised to try. As I was leaving, the receptionist asked me what I did for a living. “I’m a writer,” I told her. She looked impressed. I walked out  with a spring in my step.

So, as I was saying earlier, a couple of days ago I was re-reading the old posts on my blog. I was amazed to find that a childhood dream, buried for four decades, that I had dared to dig up and look in the face a year ago had already come true within a few short months!

Finally, the “someday” had turned into “Today”!

Mucking About!

It is just a few days to my mother’s 83^rd birthday. For the last three years she has spent her time between her bed and a wheel chair. Seeing her now, so helpless and weak, it is hard to believe how active and enterprising she used to be when we were young.

When I was around 6 years old, we moved into the ground floor of one of the lecturer’s quarters in IIT Powai, Bombay. There was ample space around the house, so my mother got a man to put a fence of wooden posts and barbed wire around it and proceeded to grow a vegetable garden. Initially, a man was hired to clear the space and dig the ground. In one corner of the garden she got him to dig a compost pit. But after that we were on our own. She would work in the garden a little bit every day and little by little it began to take shape. Of course, my brother and I got involved in this interesting enterprise. Initially we had to pick up the stones that she dug out from the ground and carry them to a pile in a corner. As the beds began to take shape, she would let me rake and break up the clods of earth with a fork and then showed me how to use a small digging trowel to make rows in the bed to plant seeds. My brother was still too small to do any real ‘work’, but pottered around alongside us.

My mother believed in using natural fertilizers and there was an abundance of it all around us. There were cows, buffaloes, donkeys and goats wandering about the IIT campus in plenty. Since she couldn’t possibly go around collecting the stuff herself, my brother and I were recruited for this important job. We were too young to know enough to be embarrassed by this assignment and, fascinated by the different types of droppings left by the various animals, we willingly agreed to go. Armed with a bucket, a trowel and a dustpan, we set off in search of the desired commodity. Every time we spotted a dark pile on the ground, we’d rush to it with cries of glee, shouting “cow!” “goat!” “donkey!”, scoop it up triumphantly and put it in the bucket. When there was enough in the bucket and it was too heavy for one small child to carry, the two of us would take the handle together, and singing, “Jack and Jill went up the hill” at the top of our voices, march back home with our precious booty.

We were soon spotted by other kids playing around in the vicinity. Noticing that we seemed to be having fun, they came up to investigate and quickly got involved in the project. Spreading out with eyes glued to the ground, they would shout whenever they saw a pile. Soon, it developed into a “Who can spot the dung first” competition. We showed them how to identify the different kinds of droppings – the large, flat cowpats, the lumps of donkey dung and the black marble-like goat droppings. What a jolly game this was! The bucket was full in no time and the band of us made our way back to our house, arranging to meet again the next day.

The following day so many of our friends turned up, that my mother had to find us another bucket. She didn’t complain. She mixed some of the manure into the soil in the beds she was preparing and then added the rest to the compost pit. As we brought her more manure, she filled the pit gradually, interspersing it with layers of soil, leaves, grass and kitchen waste, until in a few short days it was full. She then covered it with earth and we forgot about it for a few months. When enough time had elapsed, she dug it out and used it in the garden.

My mother did all the real work of building and planting our garden, but we got to help water the growing seedlings with a watering can and watch with fascination as they sprouted leaves and grew bigger and bigger. Soon I graduated from the trowel to the spade and then the pick and did some real, hard digging and gardening. It was fun to wander in the garden every day and see how the plants were doing. I soon learnt to identify the various kinds of plants by the leaves. We grew spinach, ladies fingers, brinjal and tomatoes, as well as coriander, mint and green chillies. Just outside the kitchen window, my mother planted a curry leaf tree. On our verandah grill climbed vines of marrow, cucumber and ridge gourd.

Very soon, the vegetable garden began to yield and we would go out in the mornings to pick the ladies fingers or cut some spinach leaves, green chillies and coriander or mint leaves. Eating fresh vegetables from our own garden was a wonderful privilege. We happily ate everything that grew and it never occurred to us to fuss or complain that we didn’t like a certain vegetable. My mother planted pumpkin seeds, which she saved from the vegetable we bought from the market. We loved the preparation she would make with the tender leaves and flowers of the pumpkin creeper. She would exchange notes with other garden enthusiasts on the campus and would often return home happily carrying some seeds or sapling they had given her.

My mother learnt that chicken manure was an excellent fertilizer, and banana plants love it.  So one day she and my Dad went to a farm exhibition and returned home with eight White Leghorn chicks. They built a large cage in the garden against our verandah and covered the floor with sawdust. The cage had a door through which we could enter. My Dad made a large sieve with wood and wire mesh. Every few days, we would rake up the sawdust, sieve it, spread it back on the floor, and add the chicken muck to the compost heap. This also became one of my regular chores.

Soon there were a couple of banana plants and a few papaya plants growing in our garden. We kept one male and one female papaya tree and removed the others. The banana was of the “Elchi” variety – small, yellow and thin-skinned. But the bunch that grew in our garden had about a hundred fat and delicious fruit, larger than any we had ever seen in the markets. My dad cut the bunch of bananas and hung it from the ceiling in our dining room and as they ripened, we ate them and gave them away to friends and neighbours. We got a lot of delicious papayas too, and during the days when seedless papayas were unknown, we were delighted to find ours had hardly any seeds.

Sadly, we moved to Delhi when I was 10 years old and we moved house so many times, that my mother never got up the energy or time to start another kitchen garden. Most of the time we lived in flats on the first or second floor. Finally when we moved to the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus, she was much older and had learnt Russian and was spending her free time doing translation. We had a patch of garden in front of the house, but by then we had a gardener coming once a week to weed and clean and plant and dig when necessary. We grew mainly flowers and our role was reduced to just watering the plants every day.

However, this part of my childhood is forever etched in my mind because of the kind of life my parents gave us. One of my main regrets is that we were not able to do this for our children, since our circumstances were so different. However, if and when we are fortunate enough to have grandchildren, I am very keen that we should be able to offer them similar experiences, because I know that this is the stuff treasured childhood memories are made of.

The Dignity of Labour

One of the good things about having been brought up in a middle class family in India was that I learnt  to be self-reliant. 

Like I said earlier in my post “A Happy Childhood”, we didn’t have much money when I was growing up.  My Dad was a lecturer in Russian at IIT Powai, Bombay, and we lived in the lecturers’ flats on the campus.  My mother managed the home without any domestic help, so I learnt to help around the house.  Dad was a handyman - he just liked to fix things.  We hardly ever gave anything to be repaired as far as I remember.  He had a set of tools at home to do practically anything, and weekends invariably saw him sitting at the table taking apart some gadget (not that we had many), or fiddling with the plumbing or electricity in the house.  Dad didn't differentiate between my brother and me on the basis of gender and taught us both the same things.  At an early age, I learnt what a hammer, screwdriver, drill (the manual one), saw, pliers, chisel, etc. were and what they were used for. 

We had tape cots and cotton mattresses in those days, and every once in a while, when the bed began to sag, he would get set to tighten the tapes, or, if they were worn out, to change them.  We children had an important job to do then – we were stationed on the opposite side from where he was working, and we had to brace our feet on the edge of the cot and pull the section of the tape that he passed us with all our might.  We did the long side first and then the broad side, where it was fun to weave the tape in and out.  It was tiring work and we were quite small, so we had to take it in turns to help.

During holidays, he would decide to build something or paint something and my brother and I enjoyed working with him.  He started with small stools, which he cut and built from scratch.  During that part, all we could do was to fetch and carry for him and sweep away the sawdust. But when it was done, then we had the privilege of helping with the sanding and the fun job of painting. We learnt about different grades of sandpaper and how to make the surface smooth and nice, how to dip the brush in the paint, wipe gently on the side to remove the excess paint and paint with smooth strokes.  We were all proud of our handiwork when the stool was ready and was being used.

When I grew up some more, I knew how to change bulbs and fix a loose connection in a faulty plug.  I could fix a leaking WC cistern and have even taken apart the trap under the bathroom sink to rescue the tiny ruby earring that slipped and fell through the drain holes – what a tremendous relief it was to see the red stone glittering through the muck. My maternal grandmother had given them to me when I was a toddler and my mother would have been furious if I had lost it.  I never thought of all this as unusual.

So when I got married, it was a tremendous surprise to me that my husband didn’t do any of these things.  If anything needed doing, it had to be done by me, or it wouldn’t get done.  I couldn't understand it - I had thought all men were like my Dad!  When I was expecting my daughter, I went to stay at his parents’ house for a few weeks, and I understood why.  His parents were used to having helpers do all the manual work.  I stood amazed while his father called their local handyman to change a bulb!  Though my father-in-law was a university teacher just like my Dad, they had a woman to clean the house, another to cook, a man to take care of the garden and someone who came on call to do odd jobs!  It was all very alien to me.  I later realized that I was seeing them when they were quite old (they were at least a decade older than my parents) and no longer comfortable with physical labour.  Being the youngest of five children, my husband had grown up when they were aging and perhaps able to do less on their own.  Besides, my mother-in-law had gone through a serious surgery to remove a brain tumour when he was barely a toddler.  The operation had caused her to lose the function in one eye and one ear.

But it was also true that my in-laws knew how to manage workers.  My mother-in-law was a very patient woman and able to put up with faults of people, whereas my mother was quite intolerant and so couldn’t keep a helper for long.  The result of this abundance of domestic help was that my husband grew up not having to help much around the house or think about any of the domestic chores or responsibilities.  It may have also had to do with socially acceptable roles of boys and girls in those days – girls had to help in domestic chores, but boys were not expected to do much and were allowed to play when they were not studying. 

Being so independent and self-reliant sometimes worked to my disadvantage, as I would automatically take on everything that needed to be done and exhaust myself.  To avoid being a drudge, I had to keep domestic help.  Also, our circumstances were such that I was totally consumed by the task of looking after an extremely hyperactive and dysfunctional younger son, so I just couldn’t cope without someone to help me. 

The result was that our daughter also grew up with other people doing everything that needed to be done, so there was no need for her to help around the house.  Because of this, when she was old enough, I looked for an opportunity to send her abroad to study.  This was not because education was better there, but because she would learn the dignity of labour and get an opportunity to learn to manage multiple activities like work, study, housework, cooking and managing finances.  She was also very possessive about her privacy, since she had to protect herself constantly from her intrusive brother, so living with other housemates taught her tolerance, cooperation and better interpersonal skills.  She got a part time job in a retail chain and held it for a year and a half, learning to work hard and speak politely to difficult customers.  She also learnt to be responsible and to value money, since she knew how tough it was to earn it herself.  The expense of studying abroad was huge, because she was there for three years. However, in the experience she gained on how to manage on her own, I truly believe it was a wise investment, given that she was learning life skills I had not been able to teach her as she was growing up.

Westerners reading this will not quite understand the Indian context and will be quick to judge us.  In these countries, people are geared to doing their own work and public systems support this lifestyle through the conveniences and facilities provided by the government as also by public and private enterprises.  Most young people work at part time jobs to pay their way through college.  Learning these skills is necessary for survival as an adult, because unless you are very rich, there is no other option.

However, here in India, because labour is so abundantly available due to widespread poverty and lack of education, our social systems are geared differently.  If people became independent enough to all their own work, millions of poor people would lose their jobs.  Also, our culture of male dominance ensures that if we were to do all the work ourselves, it would be the women of the house struggling to do it all, with no practical help from their male siblings or partners.  Availability of affordable labour has made it possible, for our women especially, to delegate the routine and time-consuming chores to someone else and devote their time to a career or hobby and a more active social life.

But things are changing now.  Our generation of Indians may be the last to have enjoyed having domestic help to do all our manual work.  We already see now that it is becoming more expensive and more difficult to find domestic workers, because the poor in our country have begun to have higher aspirations.  They want to educate their children and come out of poverty and the youngsters among them would much rather work at jobs in factories and retail outlets than at manual work in someone’s home.  This in my opinion is the best thing that could have happened for them – the breaking free from the cycle of poverty through education, higher aspirations and greater opportunities.  At the same time, it also means that the more well-to-do among us need to foresee the change that will surely come in the future and teach our children to do everything that needs to be done; and for that we ourselves need to believe in the dignity of labour.

Facts about Fat

As you have probably noticed by now, the advertising and marketing industry seem set on confusing us, deceiving us with all kinds of lies, half-truths, misinformation and feeding us hogwash as reliable information based on “research”. Conflicting information on the same things are forcing discerning consumers to distrust the tall claims of products and product categories and do their own research to find out what is really true. And even then, one can never be sure, as there are so many vested interests involved.

For example, something shouts out “Fat free!” but fails to tell you it is loaded with bad-for-you refined carbohydrates, sugar, sodium and all kinds of artificial ingredients that will make you fat anyway and are much worse than having a bit of butter or oil. And that it contains plenty of calories from the carbs and sugar contained in it. Or something that cries out “Sugar Free!” and is loaded with artificial sweeteners, trans fats and a lot of other harmful stuff. All the ads try to tell you that just because something is “fat free”, “sugar free” or “low calorie”, you can eat any amount and nothing will happen, which is a lie. Because calories are numbers – they add up. And if what you take in is more than what you expend, you have excess calories in your body, which will be stored as fat! Simple Math – which they try and deceive you into ignoring!

One of the dietary items to fall casualty to people’s misconceptions is fat. Many people in their fruitless efforts to lose weight cut out fats, because fats are high in calories and also are blamed for causing heart disease and clogged arteries. Or if they do have fats, they stick to only one kind of highly polyunsaturated fat like sunflower oil, thinking it is ‘healthy’ fat. 

Here are some facts I have collected about fat over the years that help me to be balanced in my attitude to them and use them judiciously.

Facts about Fat:

There are two main types of natural fats: Saturated fats and unsaturated fats. The unsaturated fats are further divided into polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats.

Then there are the artificially created hydrogenated oils like Dalda or margarine that contain the extremely unhealthy trans-fats. Because they are more stable, they are preferred by the food industry.  Avoid them - they are dangerous for health. Bought bakery goods like cookies, cakes, muffins, puffs etc. contain them, and so do many processed foods. Most biryanis have hydrogenated fats used in their preparation. Buy only from reliable sources.  

• Fat does not make you fat! Fat takes longer to digest, so you feel full longer and you will take in less calories totally because you don’t get hungry too quickly and snack in between or overeat at the next meal. 
• Some vitamins like A, D and E are fat soluble, so if you don’t take enough fat, you will have deficiency in these vitamins. 
• Our body needs a balance of different kinds of fatty acids to be healthy, so consume a variety of fats and use various kinds of natural oils in your cooking. Don’t use only oils that claim to be ‘heart healthy’. 
• Dairy fat is good provided it is not highly processed. Stick to natural butter, ghee and natural cheeses in limited quantities (if you can make these at home, all the better). Avoid highly processed dairy products, esp. cheeses and U.H.T. milk .
• Add nuts to your diet, but not fried and/or salted ones. Have them raw or lightly roasted and unsalted, and in very limited quantities, as they are high in calories. Nuts contain Omega3 fatty acids and vitamin E and protect the heart by lowering the LDL cholesterol. Avoid nuts that have gone rancid. 
• Polyunsaturated fats like sunflower oil are more fragile and deteriorate at high temperatures. They also go rancid faster. Both processes generate free radicals that are damaging to our health. Use these fats, but not exclusively, and don’t heat them to high levels or keep them too long.  
• Coconut oil and ghee can stand much higher temperatures before they deteriorate. Since they are saturated fats, use sparingly in small amounts in certain foods that are improved by the flavor of these fats. Don’t avoid them completely as they too have health benefits.
• Olive oil is very good, but it is not suitable for Indian cooking. In fact, it deteriorates at high temperatures and creates free radicals that are harmful. Use it raw for salads or sprinkled on bread, or for sautéing vegetables, but not at high or smoking temperatures. If you don’t use it frequently, buy smaller bottles and keep in the fridge. Use as quickly as possible.
• Indians use sesame (til) oil, peanut oil, mustard oil, all of which are good and contain higher amounts of monounsaturated fats and a healthier balance of Omega3 and Omega6 fatty acids. Use more of these oils.
• If you use oil for deep-frying anything, don’t heat too much oil. Use a smaller quantity and fry the item in batches. Top up with more oil as needed. Use the left over oil the same day in cooking other dishes.
• Throw away any oil that has accidentally become too hot and has smoked too much. It has already deteriorated to dangerous levels and is loaded with carcinogenic free radicals.
• Don’t buy oils and fats in bulk and don’t use rancid fats or damaged fats! The small amount of money you save may backfire in poorer health and higher medical bills! Buy oils in smaller packets/bottles and check date for freshness. If you cannot consume it within a few days, keep it in an airtight bottle in the fridge and keep smaller quantities of it outside.  
• Don't eat out too often, as you cannot control the type, quality and quantity of fat among other things. Most restaurants reuse oil, use hydrogenated fats, (and harmful MSG and artificial colorings), so for better health limit eating out to special occasions as much as possible

(To know more about the different kinds of fats, their benefits and dangers, Myths and Facts, Good vs Bad cholesterol, Omega 3 fatty acids, etc., see http://www.helpguide.org/life/healthy_diet_fats.htm   I personally don’t agree completely with everything written here, but this article is a good source of information on the role of the various fats in our bodies and can help to improve our fat-eating habits for better health.)

On Selecting Vegetables

In my last post I had given some general tips about getting the best out of your vegetables. Here I would like to give you some hints about some of the common vegetables used in Indian cooking.

In most Indian markets, you can hand pick your vegetables, esp if you have made friends with the vegetable vendor. It is advantageous to cultivate such friendships - the vendor gets a regular customer and keeps you happy by giving discounts and letting you handpick your choice. Find a friendly vendor who sells good ware at a fair price and stick to him/her as far as possible. Give a smile and ask how he/she is whenever you meet, ask questions and indulge in some friendly bargaining and you have got yourself an ally. Avoid unpleasant bargaining that borders on exploitation - remember he has to make a living and the bit of money you save means more to him than you.

When choosing vegetables, try and pick them of uniform size, because it is easier to cut them the same size so that they cook evenly and look attractive. 

Basic and essential vegetables in Indian cooking:

Coriander leaves – Choose a bunch that looks fresh, dark green and leafy. Cut off the roots and excess stalks and if it is to be consumed within a couple of days, put in a plastic container in the fridge as it is. Otherwise, roll in a piece of newspaper and store in an airtight bag till needed. Never store any greens wet, they will rot. If you wash before storing, dry thoroughly on a newspaper under the fan. Usually green coriander is added to the food at the last minute, just before taking off the fire. Cut just before adding for fresher flavor – never cut and store or leave around for too long.

Green chillies – buy fresh and tender chillies, not over ripe ones, which are full of seeds and tough to slice or chop. Remove the stalks (that’s where the rotting begins) and store in a container in the fridge. Line the container with a piece of newspaper to keep them dry. If you want the flavor without it being too hot, slit the chillies lengthwise and scrape off the seeds with a spoon or the back of a knife. Some chillies are hotter than others, so quantity may have to be adjusted accordingly. Touch your finger to the cut edge of a chilly and then place it on your tongue to gauge its strength. DO NOT touch your eyes after handling chillies!

Mint leaves – Remove yellowed or discolored leaves if any and follow the same instructions as Coriander leaves. As far as possible, buy only fresh looking bunches.

Curry leaves – These are usually given free when you buy vegetables in India. Avoid discolored or spotted leaves or those that are too tender, too large or too small. Remove the leaves from the stalks and store in a container in the fridge. Wash and shake off the water just before adding to the seasoning and they will not burn, but remain green. Watch out for spluttering, though.

Limes – Buy limes that look fresh and yellow, but not over-ripe. Check to ensure there are no soft brown spots – the hard circular marks don’t mean anything. Green limes are sometimes good too, provided they are not too immature. Test for juiciness by pressing lightly – they must not feel dry and hard, but give a little under pressure and bounce back. Limes that don’t release their juice easily can be heated a bit either by plunging them in hot water or microwaving them for a few seconds before cutting. The membranes of those tiny capsules containing the juice will burst and release the juice and they will be easier to squeeze.

Ginger – buy plump, healthy looking rhizomes. Avoid shriveled or dry ones. Soak for a few minutes to loosen dirt, wash with a brush to remove soil and air-dry before storing in the refrigerator in a container or bag. You can grate some whenever you need it – no need to peel if it is clean.

Garlic – buy plump, healthy looking bulbs – avoid shriveled or dried up pieces with exposed, yellowing flesh. Hill garlic with its larger cloves is easier to handle, though a bit more expensive. To peel separate the cloves, slice into two lengthwise and twist off the skin – it comes off easily.

(Ginger-garlic paste -To crush a small amount of ginger and/or garlic, chop roughly, place on the chopping board, sprinkle some salt over it and crush with a rolling pin. You will get a fairly smooth paste. Scrape off with a knife and use in cooking. It is good to use fresh ginger garlic paste, but if you use a lot of it in your cooking, it is time consuming to do it every time.

Most of us make ginger-garlic paste in bulk and store in the freezer for up to a week or more. Proportions vary according to preference. Some people use equal proportions, others use four parts of ginger to three parts of garlic. Cut roughly and put in the mixie jar with some salt and grind, stopping often to push it down with a spoon or spatula. The salt will make it easier to grind and will also act as a preservative. Adding a bit of oil towards the endwill help keep it fresh longer and you need not store it in the freezer, but can keep it in a jar in the fridge for a week or more.)

 

Potatoes - Choose smooth, firm, well-shaped (not crooked or bumpy) potatoes of medium size without green patches, blemishes or sprouts. Store in an airy basket at room temperature – don’t leave them in a plastic bag, or they will get moist and rot. New potatoes are thin-skinned and can be scraped. Older potatoes need to be peeled. Peel as thinly as possible, as most of the vitamins are just under the skin. Don't expose peeled or cut potatoes to air for too long - keep them submerged in water until needed to avoid oxidation.

Onions – The bulbs should be smooth, well shaped and dry, with clean, papery outer skin. The ends should be tight and dry. They should not have hard stalks, shoots or smelly wet patches. Avoid double onions. Wash them after removing the skins, as they often have a sooty deposit on them. Store open at room temperature. It is easier to remove the skins if you first cut the onion in half lengthwise. Use cut onions quickly, do not store as they deteriorate very fast.

Tomatoes – must be firm, smooth and red without wrinkles or cracks. Local or country tomatoes are better for cooking  - they are juicy and sour and make tastier gravies. Hybrid tomatoes are good for salads, but can also be used for cooking. Store in the refrigerator in a plastic bag. If you are slicing tomatoes for sandwiches, it is good to peel them first, or the whole slice comes out when you take a bite. Plunge them in boiling water, leave covered for a minute and then remove and cool. The skin will come off easily. Tomatoes contain a cancer fighting flavinoid called Lycopene, which becomes more easily available to the body when cooked.

Some Common Vegetables:

For most vegetables, follow the general tips given in the previous post.  Here I’m going to give some tips for certain vegetables so you get the best out of them. If you are not going to use them immediately, refrigerate them in a plastic bag or large airtight container, or they will get dehydrated. Wash before cooking, not before storing.

Greens (Saag, keerai)– They should look fresh and crisp, not limp. Avoid wet bunches that have rot in between and those with spotted leaves or holes chewed by insects. Also, avoid greens that have flowers or seeds, as these will be tough and fibrous. Break off excess stalks to clean and wash thoroughly in as many changes of water as needed to get them clean, otherwise you will be chewing mud and sand and ruin your tooth enamel. Soaking first for 5 - 10 minutes (not more) should loosen the dirt so it washes off more easily. Again, don’t cut too long before cooking. To store the greens for a couple of days, wrap in newspaper or cloth, put in an airtight bag and store in the fridge. Never store wet greens, store dry and wash before using.

Brinjals (Baingan, Katrikai) – Brinjals are of many kinds – large, small, long, round, dark purple, violet, green, white, striped, etc. Press each piece lightly – they must feel fairly springy and must not be heavy. I usually pick them up and tap them. If they sound hollow, they are tender. Seedy ones sound more solid and feel hard. Visually check each brinjal, as they are prone to worms and reject the ones with holes. Always be alert when you are cutting and remove all wormy and defective parts.

 

Bottle gourd (Lauki, dudhi, sorakkai) – Tender bottle gourds are usually slimmer and you can pierce the skin with your thumbnail. If they are tender and unblemished, you can cook them without peeling. Store as it is in the vegetable drawer of the fridge - cut only when needed.

French/bush beans – Fresh and tender beans should be fleshy and snap if you bend them. Don’t buy them if they look old and have large seeds, as they will be stringy and fibrous. Always string the beans before cutting. Break off the point in the opposite direction and slowly pull away the string. Then do the same with the top end and pull away on the opposite side. Really tender beans will not have string.

Flat beans (Papdi, Avarakkai) – Don’t buy them if they are bulging with seeds – they will be fibrous and tough. Look for beans with tender seeds inside, which you can hardly feel under your fingers. These too need to be properly stringed before cutting.

Cluster beans (Gavar, Kotarakkai) – These should be young, slim and green. Don’t buy yellowish ones full of seeds, they will be tough. It is difficult to string cluster beans, as the string does not pull off completely. Young beans need not be stringed, only topped and tailed.

String beans (Lobia, karamani) – Buy the green variety, they are more expensive, but fleshy and delicious. They should be smooth and springy. Avoid seedy beans. The white variety is not so fleshy – mostly skin and seeds.

Cabbage (Pattagobhi, Kos)– See that there are no holes in the outer leaves; otherwise the inside may also be infested with grubs. A cabbage head should be heavy. Can be stored in the fridge as it is as the outer leaves will protect the insides.

Cauliflower (Phool gobhi)– The florets should be densely packed and white. Don’t buy if the florets are yellow, loose or sprouting or if they have blemishes. I have not found the popular practice of soaking in salt water effective in removing grubs in cauliflower. The most effective way I find is to break the cauliflower into florets and hold each under running water, opening it as much as possible for the stream of water to get in and loosen the grubs. Store as it is in the fridge or break into florets and store in an airtight bag or container.

Drumsticks – Drumsticks should be fleshy and springy. Pick up one and twist gently  - it must twist easily and spring back. Over-ripe drumsticks will resist twisting and crack at the joints, esp at the tip. Don’t buy thin, stringy ones either, as they have no flesh, or ones that look dried up. When I was a child, my mother removed the outer skin from the drumsticks by cutting them half way with a knife then pulling it off the main body. Hold the skin that is jutting out and pull away, and cut another piece across the clean side and pull away the skin from the other side. Do this with each piece until the whole drumstick is cut. When I moved to Chennai, I found that most people here don’t remove the skin and the drumstick tastes just as good and is easier to handle while eating, so just do what suits you. Drumsticks are awkward to store because of their length, so cut into 2" pieces and store in an airtight container. As far as possible, cook the same day or the next day for best flavor.

Ladies Finger (Okra, Bhindi, Vendakkai) - Pick medium size ladies fingers that look fresh and green. To check for tenderness, bend the tail end with your thumb - it must snap off. Don't snap ends of all the pieces - just a random few if in doubt. If the tail does not snap but just bends or splits, it is too fibrous and will not cook well. Top and tail and cut as you wish. Some people don't cut off the tail end - it is edible, but I personally like to chop off a tiny bit for aesthetic reasons alone. Ladies fingers release a mucilaginous slime when the cut edges are wet, so wash and dry well before cutting and keep wiping the knife with a piece of absorbent paper whenever necessary. If you are cooking dry bhindi sabzi, don't add salt too soon, or it will release water and get slimy. Add salt when it is half cooked and looks fairly dry. Cook in an open vessel to retain color and avoid excessive moisture. Turn carefully to avoid breaking up the pieces.

I know this is not an exhaustive list, but hope it was helpful. My next Post will be about facts and myths about Fat. Until then, bye!