All that is good for health this summer
घर का खाना, BDS and exercising (your voting right)
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My mother makes the best करेले की सब्ज़ी (bitter gourd) hands down. Her unique करेला दो प्याज़ा, a derivation of क़ीमा दो प्याज़ा, is mouth watering. The mix of black caraway seeds, sliced onions and rings of bitter gourd make for a mouth watering delight. Unfortunately, it has a bad rep in my family simply because it happens to be करेला.
In my childhood, Amma would often throw around some of its health benefits, “खून साफ़ करता है”, maintains blood sugar levels, helps in keeping skin radiant etc. So I grew up loving it, simply because “करेला सेहत के लिए बहुत फ़ायदेमंद होता है.” Over the years, the dislike for the poor vegetable in my family has lasted, but so has the capacity of being the करेला sometimes, sprinkling bitter truths here and there.
“Stop spending so much time on the screen,” my mother will remind my father.
“We must try therapy at some point,” I’ll suggest at the dinner table.
“You’ve been procrastinating more lately,” my sister will alert me.
As I’ve grown older, bitter gourd and bitter truths are not the only items I include in my diet to maintain a good health. There are certain things I avoid too — like excess oil, too many sweets, and people who speak sweetly on Eid but vote for fascists in elections. I drink green tea on and off. I abstain from speaking too much, especially with those who carry some kind of dominant ethnic / social group pride. I prefer watermelon juice over shikanji. I workout on some days and always exercise my right to vote.
“It is so hard to buy anything these days, thanks to BDS,” my sister remarked. She was regretting the cold cream she purchased by mistake, not knowing the brand was on the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) list. “Haan aur kya, ab toh sab dekh kar khareedna padta hai. Kayi cheezoein ke toh ingredients bhi check kartey hain hum log, ki kahin usme koi BDS ka samaan toh nahi hai,” my aunt noted.
She further stated how her six-year old grandson had understood why he couldn’t have certain chips and chocolates. “Dekho tum yeh jo chocolates khaate ho, yeh companies tumhare paise se Palestine mein bacchoein par missile aur bomb attacks kartey hain.” It was that easy for her grandson to understand the concept of BDS and has since been asking her to check everything before they buy.
Including BDS in my shopping routine has been good for my mental health. I have less choices to make, limited options to choose from and end up saving time. Not surprisingly, many fashion brands that are on BDS list are also those that hardly care for environment, human rights and fair wages, you get the gist.
Factoring BDS in my purchasing choices has also been a journey down the memory lane. My sister bought a pack of Fun Flips - a local Indian brand that makes corn puffs, simply because all other brands are on the boycott list. Amid the endless varieties of chips and crisps that had flooded the market, I had completely forgotten snacks like Fun Flips, Natkhat and Krax.
The last time I had these snacks was decades ago, and while I can taste the incredibly high salt content in them now, at least they don’t leave a bitter BDS aftertaste.
Last week, Amma made haleem (or खिचड़ा as purists would call it). Haleem is a blend of (mostly) mutton curry and lentils cooked separately and then together, served with garnishing of fresh coriander, sliced ginger, chopped green chillies, and a crowning glory of sizzling fried brown onions. “In logoein ne humse bohot kuch seekha hai, par humne inse itni cheezein nahi seekhi,” my aunt quipped. “Pakode kisne kisko sikhaye?” I asked.
Later that evening, she got up to make gulab jamuns - a dessert that is rarely made at our home. Intrigued, I followed her into the kitchen. My aunt began by prepping chaashni - the sugar syrup in which fried gulab jamuns would eventually find nirvana.
To a cooking pot, she added two spoonfuls of ghee, and once it melted over heat, she added sugar, crushed cardamom seeds and sprinkles of saffron. As the mixture began popping, she covered it with a lid and a few minutes later, added lots of water and let it simmer and caramelise. I was eager to see her make the dough, the hardest part.
To my surprise, she unsealed an MTR pre-mix and began kneading it with some water. But oh no! The moment those dough balls landed in hot ghee, they began cracking up - a common jamun tragedy. Afraid they all might turn into halwa, my aunt resorted to a solution honed over decades of experience. She gave each dough ball a milk wash to seal the cracks as she rolled them back gently between her palms. The नुस्ख़ा worked! Every gulab jamun stayed intact, which she then dipped into the hot chaashni.
The end result was a roaring success.
Turns out, behind every successful home-made gulab jamun, is a secret नुस्ख़ा and a Bangalore made pre-mix.
Mariyam Haider is an independent writer-researcher, spoken word artist and producer & host of Main Bhi Muslim podcast. Check out the latest episode below: