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Thursday, December 21, 2017

Annapurna's Pan ( English Translation of the original)

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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