My Science School

From a working class meal to a popular culinary trend, fish and chips have come a long way since their origin.

Long Long ago

Fried fish is believed to have been brought to Britain by Jewish immigrants fleeing persecution in Portugal and Spain during the 16th Century. There are several reports that suggest fish and chips were initially sold on large trays hung around the necks of vendors. Some historians say the first fish and chips shop was opened by a Jewish immigrant in East London around 1860. Another legend on the origin of this crispy meal suggests fish and chips were not meant to be one whole dish. According to this story, in the 1680s when the Meuse River froze during winter, Belgian housewives cut potatoes in the shape of fishes and deep fried them as fishes were scarcely available.

There is no proper record that claims who put the two components (fish and chips) together.

By 1870s, fish and chips became a popular meal among the economically weak people in London. Rapid industrialisation during this period enhanced the sale of fish and chips as steam-trawling boats boosted the supplies of fish. The working class people found it convenient to grab a bag of freshly fried fish and chips before rushing to mills and factories.

Comfort in tough times

Certain historians believe fish and chips played an important role in Britain’s victory in World War I. According to studies, fish and chips served as a food that brought contentment during difficult periods. George Orwell in ‘The Road to Wigan Pier’ (1937) wrote, fish and chips were among the home comforts that kept the people happy and this “averted revolution”.

During World War II, when there was difficulty in providing supplies to every household, the British ministers made it a point to make sure fish and chips were one of the few foods that were never rationed.

Varied versions

The fishes used in this dish are usually a variety of white fish such as cod, haddock or pollock. Fresh slices of fish are dipped into a light and airy batter before being deep-fried. In Britain, fish and chips are usually served with mushy peas and homemade sauces such as lemon mayonnaise and cury. In Scotland, it is served with chippy sauce, which comprises brown sauce and vinegar. Belgians eat their fish and chips with mayonnaise and the Chinese eat them with with sugar. Fish and chip topped with crab sauce is popular in Singapore.

Ever-evolving classic

There are several adaptations of the classic fish and chips that aim to cater to a wide range of people. There are vegan fish and chips, where tofu is used instead of white fish. Gluten-free fish and chips make use of alternatives such as rice crumbs. There are also several interesting flavours such as peri-peri, masala and barbeque.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Did you know that the European staple pasta’s origin can perhaps be traced back to at least 3500 BC Japan and China?

History

 The exact story behind the birth of pasta is unknown. However, most food historians believe pasta was first prepared in ancient China and Japan. This is then believed to have spread to the Middle East and northern Africa via the Silk Road. Some food experts claim that the 7th Century nomadic Arabs would have brought pasta with them as they travelled from Libya to Sicily, Italy.

Pasta is the Italian word for “paste”, referring to the consistency of the pasta dough while kneading. Some reports suggest pasta originated in Italy. There are several mentions of the dish in Italian texts since the early 12th Century. According to Italian writer Boccaccio, pasta was popular in Italy in the 14th Century. Pasta was a dish reserved for the aristocrats and the elite until the end of 17th Century. The recipe of pasta prepared for the wealthy was elaborate and comprised exquisite ingredients. The cheeses used were also very expensive.

Due to poor economic conditions, the common people were not able to afford meat. Hence they resorted to making pasta with cheap wheat that was widely available.

The production of pasta with the help of machines such as a mechanical press also began during this time. This also contributed to the increased consumption of the dish. Pasta was carried by Italian immigrants as they moved to different parts of the world. By the mid-20th Century, it became popular in several parts of the world.

A global phenomenon

From the shape of the pasta to the kinds of ingredients used, pasta is one of the most diverse dishes in the world. As the dish spread to several countries from Italy, it was adapted to suit the local palates. For example, in the U.S., spaghetti and meatballs, and mac and cheese are popular. Argentineans prepare large ravioli-like pasta called sorrentinos.

India has a vegetable masala version.

In all shapes and sizes

There are over 350 types of pastas around the world. Different pastas have different names, and most of them are based on the shape the dough is moulded into.

A few famous shapes of pasta include penne, fusilli, spaghetti, rigatoni, ravioli and tortellini. All the types of pastas can be tossed with a sauce and toppings of one’s choice.

Some of the popular sauces are carbonara, Bolognese, pesto, marinara, alfredo and ragu.

Rarest of rare

In Italy, a few types of pastas are extremely rare. For instance, the recipe of su filindeu, the most expensive pasta in the world, remained in the Italian town of Nuoro for 300 years. This pasta was not served to the public for over 200 years. It is made by folding semolina dough into 256 strands and stretching it to form needle-thin wires, which are diagonally placed in a circular frame in an intricate three-layer pattern. Another such rare pasta is the lorighittas, which is passed down by women from generation to generation, within the Sardinian community. Unlike su filindeu, lorighittas have remained relatively unknown to the outside world.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Green salad

Also known as garden salad, this is mainly made up of leafy greens such as lettuce and spinach mixed with common salad vegetables such as cucumbers, tomatoes, avocadoes, peppers, onions, radishes, mushrooms, beets and olives and flavoured with assorted herbs such as parsley. It might be garnished with eggs, thinly sliced meats and a variety of cheese. Chopped nuts and edible flowers may be used too. Often, the mix is drizzled with lines juice or olive oil served on a lettuce leaf.

Bound salad

Finely chopped salad vegetables are bound in a thick sauce. Mayonnaise, green goddess, thousand island and ranch dressings are commonly used. Typically, bound salads, which hold their shape even when scooped and served in a plate, are used as sandwich fillings. Examples include coleslaw and potato salad.

Dinner salad

These rich salads usually contain meat or seafood with a helping of vegetables. Caesar, Cobb and Chef’s salads are popular diner salads.

Fruit salad

Chopped fruits (fresh or canned, seasonal or not ) are topped with lime juice and honey. Or fresh cream. Or custard. Or a scoop of ice-cream. And garnished with chopped nuts.

Dessert salad

This combination of fruits and vegetables, mayonnaise, whipped cream and jellies is often served along with the main meal rather than at the end.

Chef’s salad

This American salad combines hard-boiled eggs, some form of meat (ham, beef, chicken etc), tomatoes, cucumbers and cheese. It’s served on a bed of lettuce or another green, leafy vegetable with a variety of dressings.

Caesar salad

This is a green salad made of lettuce, Worcestershire sauce (a fermented fish sauce that contains tamarind, sugar, salt, vinegar and spices leading to a medley of tastes), anchovies (saltwater fish), garlic, mustard paste, black pepper, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, eggs and lemon juice.

Cobb’s salad

This American garden salad contains salad greens, tomatoes, crisp bacon, grilled or boiled chicken, hard-boiled eggs, avocadoes, chives, Roquefort cheese (from sheep milk) and vinaigrette (oil mixed with lemon juice).

Waldorf salad

A crunchy fruit and nut salad, this has fresh apples, celery and grapes bound in mayonnaise and garnished with walnuts. It’s served on a lettuce leaf: Modern Waldorf recipes include fruits of every flavour and colour, from oranges to pomegranates.

 

Picture Credit : Google

 

Marcus Gavius Apicius, a food connoisseur who lived in ancient Rome in 1 AD, is believed to have written a cookbook titled “De Re Coquinaria” (“The Art of Cooking”), which contains several recipes for salads. The name salad comes from herba salata, Latin for raw vegetables seasoned with brine. Of course, the Romans themselves never referred to the dish as salad. They just enjoyed assembling raw vegetables, enhancing the taste with sprinklings of salt and herbs and a dash of vinegar. Medical experts such as Hippocrates recommended it as the ideal dish to begin a meal.

Gone.. and back!

With the fall of the Roman empire, salads became less popular as meal starters and slowly went out of fashion – with raw vegetables increasingly being prescribed as medicine. The, between the 11th and 15th Centuries, basic salads made of raw vegetables, herbs and edible flowers made a comeback. By the end of the 15th Century, a great deal of experimentation was happening with salads and salad dressings. In 1756, mayonnaise debuted as a ‘victory sauce’ to celebrate France’s victory over Spain. Since then it has remained a popular salad dressing, a dip for fries and a part of sandwich fillings.

A Dutch cookbook dating back to 1770 mentions a recipe in which things sliced cabbage (koolsla in Dutch) is mixed with melted butter, vinegar and oil. This went on to become ‘coleslaw’ as it travelled the world. As it travelled, the thinly sliced cabbage remained constant while other ingredients – from grated carrots to pineapple, bell peppers, pickles, onions, herbs, buttermilk, cream and in some cases, even fruit – were added to the coleslaw. It has been toasted as a sandwich filling. And it’s been dressed with peanut sauce, green goddess and blue cheese.

Salads came into their own in the late 1800s, with fruit salads making an appearance and leading to the ‘dessert salads’ course. With their health benefits being wildly recognised by the 20th Century, salads entered the diet of countries such as India that had no real tradition for salad consumption. Salad bars appeared in real tradition for salad consumption. Salad bars appeared in restaurants and chefs began experimenting with offerings. Caesar’s salad, Waldorf salad and Cobb’s salad are well known signature dishes. With cookie salads and pasta salads joining the ranks, we can admit that salads have become whacky and exotic!

 

Picture Credit : Google

The rich and fulfilling butter chicken is one of the most popular dishes in Indian cuisine.

The story of butter chicken is connected to the beginning of two other popular Indian dishes, namely tandoori chicken and dal makhani.

Origin

Kundan lal Gujral, an Indian chef and the inventor of butter chicken worked at Mukhey Da Dhaba, a food joint in Peshawar (now in Pakistan). Around the 1920s, the owners of the dhaba sold it to Gujral. Following this, he changed the name of the food joint to Moti Mahal.

Gujral, also the inventor of tandoori chicken, wanted to find a way to make use of the tandoori chicken pieces that were drying up when left unsold in his restaurant. In order to make the chicken moist and palatable, he tossed them in tomato puree, butter, fresh cream and spices such as coriander, fenugreek, cloves and cardamom. This was the birth of butter chicken.

When the 1947 Partition took place, Gujral flew to Delhi with his family.

He established his hotel Moti Mahal in Delhi and his tasty inventions led to the rise of popularity of his restaurant. After butter chicken, he also went on to create the famous dal makhani.

International appeal

Gradually, Gujral opened a chain of restaurants acroos India and several other countries such as New Zealand, Tanzania and Oman. Several popular names such as Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, former U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy, and star chef Gordon Ramsay have visited Gujral’s restaurant to taste the butter chicken. Over the years, many other eateries and restaurants have also developed their own versions of the butter chicken. The dish is now a quintessential part of North Indian cuisine.

Evolution

The butter chicken prepared in Peshawar has evolved into several other dishes such as chicken lababdar and murgh makhanwallah.

Some food experts suggest that the recipe of chicken tikka masala is also inspired by butter chicken.

Quirky adaptations

There are several interesting adaptations of butter chicken today, namely butter chicken tacos, pizzas, rolls, burgers, biryani, lasagna, dumplings and even kurtoskalacs (a Hungarian spit cake).

 

Picture Credit : Google

Unlike several other Mexican dishes, nachos are a fairly recent invention. First prepared in the height of World War II in Mexico, the crispy snack became a huge hit across the globe in just a few decades,

History

The first plate of nachos was created by restaurateur Ignacio Anaya Garcia in 1943 in a restaurant in Piedras Negras, a Mexican city. Garcia, who was working as the head waiter at the restaurant had to feed a group of women, who came from the U.S. military base nearby, situated in Fort Duncan, Texas. As there was no food left at the restaurant at that time of day, he reportedly at that time of day, he reportedly fried some tortilla chips and topped them with shredded cheese and jalapenos. He called this dish, “nacho”, after his nickname. Nachos were first mentioned in a cookbook in 1949 and Garcia was given the credit for creating the dish. In the next few decades, nachos became popular, Garcia opened his own restaurant in Piedras Negras. As Garcia never patented the dish, his son tried to obtain the rights for the original recipe in 1960. However, as a long time had passed since the invention, the recipe couldn’t be owned by the creators and it automatically became free for public use. In the 1970s and 80s, the dish began to be widely consumed as a snack across the U.S. Entrepreneur Frank Liberto is credited with the boom in the popularity of the snack in North America. Liberto invented the special “nacho cheese” and marketed the nachos at sport stadiums and movie theatres.

Not-so-real nacho cheese

In the initial years after the nachos were created, the cheese had to be melted in an oven before being added as the topping. The invention of nacho cheese eliminated the need for an oven and also enabled easy storage and a longer shelf life. Nacho cheese, created by Liberto is a gooey liquid that can be poured over nachos without being melted or heated. The recipe of this cheese remains a secret. However, this cheese is not considered real by many experts, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Nachos with the cheesy topping were first sold at a stadium food stall in 1976. Since then it has become one of the famous snacks in such venues.

Across the world

Nachos are still predominantly consumed only in North America and Mexico. However, owing to globalisation in the last few decades, several other places across the world have also been preparing varieties of nachos. For example, beef nachos are one of the most popular dishes made on Australia Day across Australia Bacon and baked beans nachos are widely consumed in Britain. In India, cheesy, tangy and sweet nachos spiced with cumin seeds and red chilli powder are often eaten with chutneys.

Among the most iconic Japanese variants are the kimchi and miso nachos.

Endless choices

From the tortilla chips to the cheese, there are several options. Tortilla chips made with gluten-free or carb-free ingredients are gaining popularity.

Some even use shredded vegetables such as sweet potatoes or squash to make the chips. The cheese can be made with other plant-based alternatives too. From strawberry cream, pineapple to chilli (gravy made with ground beef) and guacamole (an avocado dip), the choice of toppings that can be added to the nachos are endless.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Salt is now sold in a variety of shapes and size.

Table salt

It is mostly harvested from salt deposits found underground. It’s iodized, highly refined and finely ground, with impurities and trace minerals removed in the process. It’s also treated with an anti-caking agent to keep from clumping.

Kosher salt

It is also called koshering salt. It is flakier and coarser-grained than regular table salt. Its large grain-size makes it perfect for sprinkling on top of meat, where it releases a surprising blast of flavour. Kosher salt also dissolves quickly, making it a perfect all-purpose cooking salt. According to Saltworks, most kosher salt does not contain any added iodine or any anti-caking agents. The salt is used in the koshering process, when surface fluids are removed from meat through drying.

Sea salt

Harvested from evaporated sea water, it is usually unrefined and coarse-grained. It also contains minerals like zinc, potassium and iron, which give sea salt its special flavour. Sea salt is made into several specialty salts.

Himalayan pink salt

Himalayan alt is the purest form of salt in the world. It is harvested by hand from the Khewra Salt Mine in the Himalayan Mountains of Pakistan. Its colour ranges from off-white to deep pink. It contains the 84 natural minerals and elements found in the human body. Himalayan salt is used in cooking and in spa treatments. You can buy a slab of this salt in the shops in the mountains.

Celtic sea salt

It is also known as sel gris (French for “grey salt”). Celtic sea salt is harvested from the bottom of tidal ponds off the coast of France. The salt crystals are raked out from the mineral-rich seawater and this gives Celtic salt its moist, chunky grains, grey colour and briny taste. Bakers prefer this salt.

Fleur de Sel

The word means “flower of salt.” Fleur de sel is a sea salt hand-harvested from tidal pools off the coast of Brittany, France. Paper-thin salt crystals are cut off carefully from the water’s surface, much like cream is taken from milk. This is done on sunny, dry days with a slight breeze, and only with traditional wooden rakes. This salt is rarely found and needs a lot of work and therefore is the most expensive salt (five pounds of it is 80).

The salt is moist, has a blue-grey tint and is rich in minerals. Fleur de sel is used as a finishing salt to add a dash of flavour to meat, seafood, vegetables and even sweets like chocolate and caramel.

Kala Namak

Kala namak or black salt is Himalayan salt that’s been packed in a jar with charcoal, herbs, seeds, and bark, then fired in a furnace for a full 24 hours before it is cooled, stored and aged. It is reddish-black in colour, has a pungent, salty taste and a faint smell of eggs. It’s often used in vegan and vegetarian dishes to give egg-free dishes the taste of egg. Also used in Ayurvedic practice.

Flake salt

Harvested from salt water through evaporation, boiling or other means, flake salt is thin and irregularly shaped with a bright, salty taste and very low mineral content. Its shape makes the salt dissolve quickly. So this can be used for gargling and oral dehydration therapy.

 

Picture Credit : Google

The website Saltworks calls the common salt (sodium chloride) a “timeless ingredient.” And goes on to tell you why.

Salt must have been discovered accidentally, we don’t know when. But there are records to show that in 6050 BC (some 8 thousand years ago), salt was used. Around 2700 BC, in a research paper on pharmacology published in China, more than 40 kinds of salt and descriptions of two methods of salt extraction were mentioned. Nomads spreading westward carried salt, and Egyptian art of 1450 BC records salt making. Phoenicians traded salt with parts of their Mediterranean empire. In all the civilizations, salt has been used for cooking, preserving and in cultural, economic and religious practices.

The expression “not worth his salt” comes from the practice of trading slaves for salt in ancient Greece. Special salt rations given to early Roman soldiers were known as “salarium argentum,” (“sal” is salt in Latin) from which we get the word “salary.” Another theory says the word “salad” also came from “salt”, since early Romans added salt to the green leafy vegetables they ate. In ancient times, salt was a highly valued product, and its production was legally restricted. So it was used as currency. The Bible has 30 references to salt including the phrase “salt of the earth.” Salt stood for purity.

World history has close connections with salt. The city of Tuzia in Bosnia-Herzegovina is named for “tuz,” Turkish word for salt. Salzburg, Austria, has made its four salt mines major tourist attractions. Bolivia’s main tourist attraction is a hotel constructed entirely of salt. In the 16th Century, when the Dutch blockaded the Iberian salt mines, Spain went bankrupt and king Philip II was defeated. Mahatma Gandhi’s resistance to British colonial rule was marked by his Dandi march to make salt.

Portuguese and Spanish fleets used the “wet” method of preserving fish onboard with salt, while the French and English fleets used the “dry” or “shore” salting method. Thanks to this, the French and British fishermen became the first European inhabitants of North America since the Vikings a half century earlier.

In America, the Erie Canal, opened in 1825, was known as “the ditch that salt built” because salt was its principal cargo. Syracuse, NY, is proud of its salt history and its nickname, “Salt City.” The important role of salt in the history of Kanas is captured in a salt museum in Hutchinson, KS. In the American West, a “salt war” was fought at El Paso, Texas.

Salt is an extraordinary ingredient. No kitchen can function without it. Plants need salt to survive. It is a great food preservative. Salt is used in a lot of industries. In the 19th Century, techniques using salt were used to make photographic prints. Salt-glazed pottery is still popular in the U.S.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Cheesecakes have been prepared for several centuries across Europe. With several regional adaptations, it is one of the most widely consumed dessert globally.

History

One of the first evidence of cheesecake can be traced back to ancient Greece. Food anthropologists believe cheesecakes were served for the participants at the ancient Olympic games in 776 B.C. These Greek cheesecakes were reportedly made with four ingredients, namely flour, wheat, honey and cheese.

The Roman annexation of Greece resulted in the introduction of cheesecakes in Rome. One of the earliest mentions of cheesecake can be seen in Roman statesman and writer Marcus Porcius Cato’s book “De re Rustica”, around 200 B.C. In the next few centuries, as the Romans expanded their empire, the dessert was taken to several places across Europe. During this period, those in the Great Britain and a few other Eastern European countries began making their own versions of cheesecakes. Henry VIII, the King of England from 1509 to 1547 was very fond of cheesecake that he asked his chef to experiment new types. Over the years, ingredients such as eggs, butter and sugar began to be used. Colonization was a major factor in taking cheesecakes to the U.S. and other former colonies.

Regional adaptations

Though cheesecake has its roots in Europe, it has been embraced in several forms across the world. They have been adapted according to local taste preferences. The New York cheesecake is made with thick and velvety cream cheese with a base made of cookie crumbs. The French use Neufchatel cheese and also add gelatin to the mixture. In Japan, cheesecakes o not have a separate cookie base, instead cornstarch and whipped egg whites are added to the cheese mixture, which makes the cake extremely fluffy. Germans make their cheesecake (known as Quarkkuchen) with cottage cheese or quark (a type of cheese). Several other European cheesecakes make use of other cheese varieties such as ricotta, mizithra, feta or Swiss.

Pie or cake?

Some believe cheesecakes are pies or even tarts because most of them come with multiple layers – a crust filling and sometimes even a topping. While some food experts suggest cheesecakes are cakes as they are “sweet baked foods made using a thick batter”. The debate of whether the cheesecake is a cake or a pie is unsolved.

What do you think? Is cheesecake a cake, pie or a tart?

Cheesecakes for all

From vegan and dairy-free cheesecakes made with plant-based cream to keto and gluten-free cheesecakes, there are many varieties prepared to cater to the dietary preferences of people.

Apart from the usual berry or fruit flavours, there are many interesting and unique options such as garlic, foie gras, hibiscus, sweet potato, matcha and maple bacon cheesecakes.

Tasty stamps!

American ice-cream brand Haagen-Dazs, in collaboration with the Austrian Postal Service, made stamps infused with flavours of strawberry cheesecake, macadamia nut brittle, and cookies and cream into the adhesive on the back. So when someone licks the stamp to stick it on a parcel or envelope, they get a taste of their favourite flavour!

 

Picture Credit : Google

The Agra petha, made of ash gourd (white pumpkin), is probably the Indian sweet with the fewest ingredients. Even-popular, the petha is believed to have originated when Shah Jahan ordered his cook to make a sweet as white as the Taj Mahal. The chef, experimenting at short notice, probably found it easiest to dunk white ash gourd in sugar syrup. The result was the soft but firm and sweet jujube-like petha. While the original recipe contained just sugar, water and pumpkin, modern recipes include additives for colour and flavour. Cherry, orange-pineapple, khus khus, paan and even chocolate are some of the flavours in which pethas are available today.

We have a rich, varied and, if prepared the traditional way, even healthy repertoire of sweets.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Relatively more recent in origin is the Mysore pak. In the 1930s, chef Kakasura Madappa concocted a mixture of sugar, gram flour and ghee, seasoned with cardamom powder. He intended to serve it as a liquid desert to the King of Mysore, Krishnaraja Wodeyar. But by the time the king finished his meal, the syrupy dish had cooled down and solidified. The king loved the dish and the world was gifted Mysore pak.

It is testimony to the ingenuity and talent of the Wodeyar chef Kakasura Madappa, that the Mysore pak is still so popular! It is available almost anywhere you go, but you have to make a trip to the Guru Sweet Mart shop in Mysore, which is run by Mdappa’s descendants, to get the original recipe of Mysore pak and take a bite into its amazing history!

 

Picture Credit : Google

Another sweet we’ve been eating since the Vedic times is the laddoo (or laddu/ luddoo). Interestingly, laddoos started out as medicine. In 4 B.C., Sushruta, a revered Indian physician and surgeon, combined sesame seeds, jiggery and peanuts as an antiseptic for patients who had undergone surgery. Ayurvedic texts contain dozens of recipes for medicinal laddoos, including methi and sonth (ginger) laddoos. And then we have coconut laddoos, chickpea flour laddoos, boondi laddoos, millet laddoos, puffed rice laddoos and wheat laddoos, among numerous others. The sweetener was primarily jiggery until sugar became affordable.

The Balaji Temple in Tirupati started offering Laddus as an offering to the God as early as August 2nd, 1715! That makes this famous offering over 300 years old!

Another landmark event in the history of laddu is the fact that the famous Tirupati laddu has acquired the Geographical Indication (GI) tag. The purpose of issuing the GI tag is to preserve collective community rights.

This was a controversial move as some people felt that the Tirupati laddu was a money spinner for the temple and was not made by the local community. However, the courts decided to grant the GI tag in early 2014 and the naysayers lost.

The argument that a GI tag on the Tirupati laddu is an example of commercialisation of divine affairs and would inspire other temples to follow the Tirupati example, and thus lead to “irrevocable damage to the values of society”, was rejected!

 

Picture Credit : Google

However, malpua is believed to be the oldest-known indigenous Indian sweet. In fact, it is one of the first offerings to the residing deity at the Jagannath Temple in Odisha. Referenced in the Rigveda as ‘apupa’, in ancient times, malpuas were flat cakes made of barley flour, deep fried in ghee and dipped in honey before eating. As time passed, rice and wheat replaced barley. The Mughals added eggs to the recipe. Modern recipes include mashed ripe bananas and pineapples in the batter and may use cream and dry fruits as toppings. The basic method of preparation, however, has remained largely unchanged.

Today, the malpua is popular and is a must have during festivals like Holi, Diwali and the Ramadan.

 

Picture Credit : Google

The gulab jamun – at least as popular as the rasgulla, if not more – is the default sweetmeat for almost every occasion. Among the several theories about its origin, one attributes it to a cooking accident in emperor Shah Jahan’s kitchen. Another trace it to Persia, where dried and fresh milk are mixed into flour and shaped into balls. The balls are deep fried and dunked in rosewater syrup, lending the dish its name. The basic Indian version uses cardamom- and saffron-flavoured syrup and finely chopped dry fruits as garnishing. Sometimes, the balls are dusted with sugar before they’re fried, turning them into black “kala jamuns”. The Kumbakonam dry jamun is similar, with a crisp crust. The ledikeni, first prepared for Lady Canning in Bengal, uses light-fried cottage cheese rather than milk. Another variant, pantua, uses smaller cottage cheese balls stuffed with sugar crystals.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Popular myth has it that upon his return from a nine-day vacation, Lord Jagannath had to bribe Goddess Lakshmi to gain entry into the Jagannath Puri temple – his own home. He used the sweet khira mohana as bribe. According to folklore, the temple kept khira mohana’s recipe a secret. But one of the priests, disturbed at the amount of milk being thrown away by the villagers of Phala, taught them to curdle milk and prepare the sweet. Soon, that tiny village on the outskirts of Bhubhaneshwar became a mandatory stop for everyone passing through Odisha. A local confectioner named Bikalananda Kar perfected the technique of steaming the cottage cheese balls and allowing them to swell in sugar syrup. This version travelled to West Bengal, where Nobin Chandra Das adapted it. The recipe soon became popular everywhere, spawning famous variations such as rasmalai, cham cham and Kamala bhog.

 

Picture Credit : Google