This is the English translation of the Marathi post. http://amrutahardikar.blogspot.com/2017/12/blog-post_20.html
Annapurna’s Pan
After enjoying a hearty
meal if we complimented our Mom, she would tell us to, "Bless the cook and
hope to get a bellyful tomorrow too.” In a more appreciative mood if we alluded
to her as our Annapurna, she would deny the compliment, stressing, “No, I am
not Annapurna; it was my mother who was a true Annapurna! She never had
anything except a surplus of wheat flour, but everyone left her house well fed
and sated.” My mom’s mom, Malati Ajji , passed away when I was too young to
form definitive,distinct memories of her. I wasn’t blessed with her presence
for long. But friends and acquaintances of my mom, aunts and uncle, even neighbors
living in the by lanes of Ajji’s house near Dakshinmukhi Maruti Mandir,
they all regaled us grand kids with anecdotes about her cooking. Most commonly we
would hear ,” Your grandma could whip up a storm with her ball of wheat dough… she
would keep them rolling and we would lose count of the polya we were
eating..” From what my Mom tells us ,
the hot polya off the pan were eaten with some jaggery, or at times with a spicy dip of raw
garlic, red chilli powder and oil. So the taste buds weren’t enchanted with the
accompaniments, but Ajji’s soft polya were the real deal.
If there was a special occasion
involving us grandkids, Ajji would make savoury Ukad or sweet Sheera with
jaggery. If
Ajji had at her disposal a long gourmet list of essentials, if she wasn’t dealing with
the paucity in her circumstances, I am sure she could have whipped up a long list
of special , delicious meals, much more than just the Polya that she offered
her guests. But she didn’t let the economics of her family circumstances stop
her from being the gracious host that she was meant to be. The people whom she
fed may not remember the taste of her Polya anymore, but her
graciousness stayed with them long after she was gone. My elder brother tries
making the wheat Ukad many times, but he is never satisfied with the
taste. He never is able to recreate the taste from his childhood, his craving
for Ajii’s Ukkad remains unfulfilled.
These are some tall shoes
to fill, but this ‘Annapurna’ legacy has been successfully carried on by my mom
and aunts! My mom carries an essence of my grandmother’s spirit, so whether she
agrees or not, she is our Annapurna!
Just recently my parents
celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary. In my mom’s journey as a ‘home
maker’ ( who was a fulltime working woman too) ,in her kitchen, she has
had a steady companion in the form of this aluminum,round bottomed pan or Kadahi
. I call it Annapurna’s Patra or Pan.
After her marriage, mom had joined a kitty with the other ladies in our Waada. She bought this round bottomed pan from the winnings of the kitty. Its older than I am and has been with my mom longer than I have been..Even after she had a disposable income at hand and had wanted or wished to buy non stick pans or grills of branded companies, my Mom chose not to buy any . When she was buying a Futura pressure cooker we convinced her that she needed to buy a pan too, and she bought it to pacify us. But after a
few months, she complained, " I can’t use the spatula as usual, a little
pressure here and there and see? you see these scratches!” Soon,Mom relegated the Futura pan to the back of
her kitchen cupboard.
Long Before the ‘Wok ‘craze
had hit India, my Mom was cooking up her own storm in this round bottomed
Annapurna Pot. Her 'Stir fry' type veggies made us love the whole concept of taking ‘पोळी भाजी’tiffins to school. We
loved eating Green beans, okra, cluster beans,ivy gourd, radish fruits/mungrey/;
half cooked, crunchy,and roasted yet cooked just right with the green colour of the veggies left intact.
Cabbage stir fried with just sesame seeds, green chillies and cilantro was a
special treat, which, even today, all three of us try to recreate in our own
kitchens. We considered having to eat the spicy potato wedges with poli to
be a crime, so we would just savor the wedges. Mom would then have to send
peanut chutney rolls with the wedges. Leafy
greens tempered with roasted peanut powder, onions and garlic were also gobbled
down with the same zest. But while Mom was indulging in this ‘stir fry’ cooking
style, she was very particular about the proportion of oil used in the cooking.
On the days that she miscalculated or went overboard, she would wipe the
Annapurna pot clean with white rice. The resulting ‘fodnicha bhaat’ or ‘spicy
rice’ was a delicacy to be savored and was always on the top of our wish list.
But sadly, we were indulged only every 15-20 days.
I think that this round
bottomed pan has never had a moment of rest in our household. Besides the
everyday cooking, Chiwda, Ladoo, Masalebhaat and Pulav for special occasions,
all the goodies for Diwali, Bhajani, experimental dishes while all three of us
learnt cooking; This pan has seen it all. If the three of us were ever asked, “ What would
you like from your Mom’s kitchen?”, I am sure all three of us would reach out
for this pan. But even if we were to get the pan, how can you transition the
taste that is simply Mom’s food? Laying claim to the pan is foolhardy.. Mom is the
source of its abundance and it’s not a Annapurna patra if its separated from
the Annapurna herself...
To make a healthy
gratifying meal you don’t need equipment or fancy pots and pans. Ajji didn’t have
the resources, my Mom had, still has the economic independence to buy these
things, but her formula of cooking is simple, pretty basic. You don’t need 30
ingredients to make a tasty meal; a hearty, nutritious meal can sate the belly
and enrich the soul. We were lucky that we spent our childhoods in this well-nourished
enchantment. But as we grew up our taste buds were corrupted with the tantalizing
tastes of Punjabi , Chinese, Pizza, Italian, continental cuisines in
hotels and restaurants. Once your taste buds are exposed to these sizzling tastes
you can’t turn back the clock....
We grew up in a very ‘organic’
food culture (It was honest to its roots). But our kids are exposed to Mexican, Ethiopian,
Thai, Burmese, Italian, American food cultures and tastes, much before they
have had the chance to form an organic food culture of their own. It’s
difficult trying to recreate the well-nourished enchantment of our own
childhoods for the sake of our kids. But when my daughter, living in Berkeley,
licks clean her fingers while consuming kulthacha
pithla and toop bhat, or when she insists on a steam puffed poli right off the pan,
or when she asks for a second serving of stir fried , crunchy, Kale tempered
with coconut and sesame seeds, I feel a tiny bit fulfilled. I feel like the
essence of my Annapurna’s spirit has rooted within me, I just need to find my
own Patra/ Pan and try my best in creating a legacy of my own…
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