continued Chapter 2: School - Home - School (1993-2000)
My boarding school journey would be incomplete without a full post dedicated to Kadhi Chawal.
With some exceptions, our school food was generally palatable. Yes, sounds unbelievable, but believe you me. So much so, that the kids from neighbouring schools with lesser culinary luck, would eat like pigs when they got a chance to visit our campus for competitions and debates. And I don’t think it was just underdeveloped taste buds that led to this belief, as I would happily eat some of those meals even today!
There were no Tuesdays in school. Just Kadhi Chawal Tuesdays. On this day the ‘bearer-ji’s’ (cooks) would stir large pots (think feast for 400+ very hungry girls!) simmering with a curry made of yogurt and gram flour (kadhi), topped with little pakoras (balls of fried onion dough), and all finished with a spicy ghee tadka (tempering). Served with chawal (steamed rice), it was most surely my favourite meal all week. And it was consistent - every Tuesday without fail.
But most upsides have a downside, don’t they? Or so I believe.
Tuesday lunch was also ice-cream day. And boy did we wait for this day all week. For anyone who has interacted with a boarding school, you’d know treats are few & far in between. So when you get one, you hold on to it and don’t let it go. So why was this a downside you ask? Simply because it was served along my favourite lunch. As a hungry 9 or 14 year old, you definitely do not understand portion control. When we sat for lunch, I would eat Kadhi like there’s no tomorrow. Like I haven’t eaten in days. Or weeks. And I would eat for the remaining week as well. I wasn’t what you’d consider a big eater - so this was something of a deal. By the time dessert rolled in, and most girls’ scurried in line to check the flavour of ice cream we were being served, I was almost always too full to move. Satiated, but immobile.
I mentioned in my earlier post, that boarding is an amalgamation of girls’ from all walks of life. This included some smarter (and less full) than the others. We also had developed a rather advanced food barter system, whereby you could exchange meal items you didn’t enjoy with girls’ who did (businesswomen in the making if you may!). If I hated chips, I could give it to someone who loved it in return for perhaps a pudding she enjoyed less and I loved. And one had to hold their part of the deal - no exceptions.
One of my friends reaped this opportunity every Tuesday to partake in my ice cream. Naive of me when I think of it now, but oh-so smart of her. She knew I was always too full to eat all of it, so offered to ‘help’ and take the remaining. And since it wasn’t a ‘whole’ dish, the barter system didn’t quite apply. I hated wasting food then, and hate it now. So instead of seeing it melt away in my steel plate, or at least negotiate a part-barter, I would simply give.it.away. Yes, I hear you. That’s not naive, that’s plain stupid.
But such highs and lows were what school was all about. And as I end the chapter about this monumental phase of my life, I’d like to share my version of that very Kadhi, served alongside a salad for a healthier twist.
Give it a try will ya? If only to pay homage to all that lost ice-cream over 8 years!
Ingredients
For the kadhi
1/2 cup besan / gram flour
1.5 cups plain yogurt, whisked to make smooth
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 green chili , finely chopped
4 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp chili garlic sauce (yes! the chinese condiment, lee kum kee is a good brand. trust me on this)
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 teaspoon methi seeds ( fenugreek seeds)
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon hing (asafoetida)
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon coriander powder
Approx 5 cups water
Salt to taste
6 tbsp light olive oil
Some fresh chopped cilantro to garnish
For the tadka (tempering)
1 tbsp ghee or butter
2 dried red chilies
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
For the salad
1 courgette, grated
1 carrot, grated
2 tbsp fresh coriander, finely chopped
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Salt & pepper to taste
Method
Make the kadhi
Add besan to the whisked yogurt, and mix well till no lumps remain. Add water to this, and continue to mix to make a watery mixture. Keep aside.
Heat oil in a deep pan. Add the cumin and fenugreek seeds and cook till they begin to splutter. Now add the ginger garlic paste, hing and green chili. Cook for a few seconds and stir in the onions. Cook till the onions start to turn translucent and begin to brown. Now still in the tomato paste, chili garlic sauce and all the remaining dry spices. Mix well and cook covered on medium low flame for 8-10 minutes, till the paste has lost it’s raw flavour and oil begins to separate on the sides.
Slowly add the besan mixture to your pot, stirring continuously. Add some salt, and continue to mix till the mixture starts to boil. Once on boil, reduce heat to low, and let the kadhi simmer on low for 20-25 minutes. Stir a few times every 5 minutes or so, to avoid lumps forming or the mixture sticking to the bottom of the pan.
After about 30 minutes, the kadhi will be thick and creamy. It should also have lost it’s raw floury taste. At this stage, remove from heat and blend the mixture using a hand blender (you can skip this step, but it gives the kadhi a lovely smooth texture and also ensures all flavours blend well together). Put the pot back on the gas, and let it simmer on low for another 10 minutes. Once done, adjust salt and remove from heat. Garnish with the fresh coriander.
Make the tempering
Heat the ghee/butter in a small pot. Once hot, add the dried chili and cumin seeds. Once the seeds begin to splutter, add the paprika and immediately remove from heat. Add the tempering on top of the kadhi (be careful, it might sizzle) and mix.
Make the salad
Squeeze the courgette a little to remove any excess water. Mix all the ingredients when ready to eat. Do not mix this salad ahead of time as it will become water.
Put it all together
Put a large spoon of the salad in the centre of a shallow bowl. Slowly add the kadhi from the sides. Garnish with some crisps of choice and eat fresh.
The warm spice of the kadhi, with the tangy cold crunch of the salad is truly a burst of flavours!
And of course, you can always have the kadhi with traditional accompaniments like rice, naan or roti.
