VIBHA VARSHNEY
USING LOCAL INGREDIENTS IN BAKING CAN MAKE FOOD HEALTHIER
IT’S AN interesting idea. In her book, Uparwali Chai: The Indian Art of High Tea, Pamela Timms promotes high teas. But there is a twist to the book—she has used indigenous Indian ingredients for preparing the cakes, pastries and cookies to be served at this meal. She has customised traditional European recipes to replace cream, berries, apples and bananas with cape gooseberries mulberries lime, (Bengal currant), pickles, tamarind, curd and
(concentrated and solidified milk). She has even used Roohafza cordial, a multiherb cooling drink that can be found in most Indian homes to flavour cakes, and used for making cupcakes.
The idea of using Indian ingredients in baking is intriguing and required experimentation which the author did during her work on events, which were held across Delhi since 2009. The results of these experiments were presented to the patrons of these events. Tea was only a peripheral part of these meals.
In one of the recipes, she uses
to make a muffin. Carrot cakes are common, but
has and and the carrots are a bit candied during the preparation process. This is what gives an extra depth to what could have been a simple muffin. In another recipe, she prepared a jam using used on tarts.
Baking is not new to India. We have been using traditional clay oven—from time immemorial, and even the most rustic of the dishes, like and
are baked using open fires. But cakes are more fashionable. The book provides the new generation an understanding that local ingredients can be used for baking. This makes baking easy as one need not run across town to find blueberries. And it is better to bake at home as most cakes sold in the market have creamy icings and sugary decorations which are unhealthy. Using the local ingredients at home provides a way of making them even healthier. I personally prefer snacks like
and with my cup of tea in the afternoon and the book does provide recipes for some savoury baked dishes too. But this does not take away the fact that Indian snacks are easier to prepare and do not need special equipment.
But Timms justifies the book beautifully—it is a meal which does not have any purpose other than the fact that it is an indulgence.
In most cases a simple (wok) suffices. However, the book may leave you wanting to know more about what a mulberry meringue or cape gooseberry
or a cream horn looks like. which she then