Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur) - Hindustan Times (Jaipur) - City
The lost recipes of festive feast
The way we celebrate festivals has changed over time. What used to be a grand affair not so long ago, is now more intimate and personal. And delicacies that took hours to prepare and had a distinct aroma and flavour to them, are now replaced with quick and ready to eat variants. The festival of Eid ul-adha today, reminds one of many such great dishes that have been part of the celebrations for generations.
“We used to wait entire year to eat bakra musallam (the grilled goat). It was an intricate process; the whole goat was marinated and then grilled in a pit. The meat was shared by the entire community. Now families are nuclear and everyone celebrates it in the close circle and that’s why community dishes are on the verge of extinction,” says Osama Jalali, chef and restaurateur, adding, “All the grilled items used to be the speciality of this Eid. Mutton parchey (fine thin lamb slices, marinated and grilled) used to be another popular dish. Kacche kimme ki tikiya (minced meat kebab) and fresh organ meat such as kaleji were equally popular. One recipe that everyone loved in Rampura cuisine and is completely lost now is gosh ht ka halwa.”
Dahi pakori, or dahi phulki as it is called in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, is also an Eid treat, says food historian and author Anoothi Vishal.
“I’d look forward to not just the dahi bada aunty served but also the dry fried seviyan full of dried fruit. While many people know of seviyan cooked in milk, the dry ones, roasted d in ghee with sugar and dried fruit are decadent,” she says.
It’s all about mutton biry yani, mutton qorma, or those frozen packet kebabs now, says food blogger, Sarah Hussain. “My nani, Christina Khan, one of the finest cook I have seen, told me that people have almost forgotten how delicious it is to eat mutton stew, lamb leg roast, bihari boti, kafta kebab and lohori karahi,” she says.
Remembering his favourite dishes that are rarely cooked now, chef Anees Khan, says, “Dum or Kimami Seviyan, sweet vermicelli dum cooked with sugar, saffron, nuts and mawa still make me fall on my knees. Traditional sheer kurma which takes six-seven hours to prepare, slow cooked kacchay ghost ki biryani are least known now. More often people on festival days order food from the local caterer) and the tradition of passing down recipes is dying a slow death.”