A jungle in a bottle

Initially, he started making them for his office, Whoa Mama Design on Mount Road. Eventually, as he got obsessed — the number of terrariums in the office kept growing. Now, computer screens and keyboards jostle for space with them.

Miniature gardens in a glass bowl or container  

 D’Sa is now exhibiting his creations for the first time at Humming Room in a show titled ‘The Worlds Within Savage’. There will be 65 pieces on display with the price range starting at Rs. 2,500. “I call my brand Savage. I launched it three years ago. It’s because when I was younger people called me that. I am a bit of a jungle person.”

D’Sa is currently working on a large terrarium that’s 6 ft wide and 4 ft long. It’s being designed for The Grid, a new co-working space coming up in RA Puram. The exhibition is on March 18 and 19 at Humming Room, Khader Nawaz Khan Road, between 10 am and 8 pm.

Surprising Delicious Revolution

The drought in the State has proved beneficial for a group of traditional grains and millets. Overlooked since the ‘Green Revolution’ of the 1960s, these forgotten food grains are making a comeback because they have proven to be drought-resistant. Tamil Nadu was reported to have produced over 29 lakh tonnes of millet last year (up from 9 lakh tonnes), marking a significant shift from ‘polished’ rice.

The low glycaemic index of millets (a measure of how fast our body converts food into sugar) compared to rice, is just one of the many nutritional advantages of these grains. The number of non-governmental organisations promoting organic farming and ethnic food grain cultivation has grown in Tamil Nadu. A recent three-day ethnic food festival, organised by the Department of Social Welfare and Nutritious Meal Programme and Integrated Child Development Services Scheme in Tiruchi, was proof of this revival.

Millets mission

“As a graduate in Agricultural Science, I wanted to do something useful for the farming community. Most agriculturists go for high-yield crops that need chemical fertilisers. We are trying to refocus their attention on traditional methods of farming,” says K Suresh Kumar, whose Sri K S Lakshmi Agri Clinic and Agri Extension Centre is the first of its kind in Tamil Nadu.

For the past two years, the company’s Mithraa Millets has been popularising alternatives to rice-based dishes with its millet flour and plant-origin ready mixes. “Ragi and kambu should come back into our diets in a big way,” says Kumar. The company operates two stalls at the Uzhavar Sandhai (Farmers’ Market) in Tiruchi. “We sell at least 10kg of steamed ragi puttu on Sundays.”

Organic groceries

Spending a week at a workshop on sustainable living conducted by organic farming pioneer Nammalvar in 2013 convinced G Sathyabhama to switch over to a more nature-aware lifestyle and set up a shop to sell organic food products. Sathyabhama found chemical-free food to be the perfect antidote for her chronic ulcer. “I feel organic food and nature cures can regulate our lifestyle over the long term.”

Her Evergreen Organic Store in Srirangam sources groceries and beauty products from nearly 15 suppliers all over the State. She rues the absence of a pricing and quality control body that could standardise the organic food business in Tamil Nadu. “All our organic produce is sent to metro cities, and the shortage causes a hike in prices, locally.” Among the heirloom grains in her store are ‘kaattu arisi’, a type of wild rice, and ‘mapillai samba’.

Healthy option

E Gopalakrishnan, a veteran of agriculture-based business, has now shifted to the next level — his Millet-In products are sold online. This has freed him up to supply bigger retailers. “It is healthier to opt for kanji rather than koozh, according to native medicine,” says Gopalakrishnan. His ready-to-cook kanji mix is among the top sellers of Millet-In. Besides this, he also has a regular clientèle for his karsilankanni hair oil and mudakattan massage oil. “Since the oils don’t have any chemical additives, they last for at least three years,” says Gopalakrishnan. 

He is currently developing flatbread flour mixes to be sold in a ready-to-eat form. “I’m planning to sell kneaded ragi flour dough that can be rolled out as rotis and cooked on the day of purchase. As our customer base changes, organic food and product manufacturers must also adapt to modern sensibilities,” he says.

A dose of kindness on your plate

** Ninety-nine per cent free

In Anantapur’s markets, where the convicts sell their harvest directly to customers, their town’s prison produce is associated with chemical-free, high-quality fruits and vegetables. Even in the aftermath of demonetisation, when cash was hard to come by and shelves were full of unsold stock, prisoners say their produce consistently sold out. “The locals don’t treat us like criminals. Because of what we do here, they don’t see a criminal as someone to be feared or kept at a distance. They call us anna (brother) instead of kaidhi (criminal),”

** Usually,thandai masalais a mix of spices, all fragrant and with the inherent cooling properties as per Ayurveda. This love for thandai begins during Maha Shivratri and culminates in a heady climax on Holi. If you were to take a poll, Varanasi would be the best place to enjoy an authentic glass of thandai .

THANDAI SHOTS

INGREDIENTS

1CUP THANDAI SHERBAT

45ML GIN PER GLASS (or bhang for a traditional touch)

LOTS OF ICE METHOD

Add 45ml of gin/vodka/white rum to the thandai sherbet and serve chilled. You can rim the shot glasses with colourful sprinkles to give it a festive holi vibe.

Usually, thandai masala is a mix of fragrant spices with inherent cooling properties as per Ayurveda. Blended with water, milk and even some fruit juice,thandai is a delight. Dry fruits such as almonds, cashews and pistachios are often paired with watermelon and musk melon seeds, poppy,

THANDAI SHERBAT

INGREDIENTS

2CUP MILK

1CUP WATER

2TBSP THANDAI MASALA

CARDAMOM, ROSE PETAL, SAFFRON FOR GARNISH METHOD

In a sauce pan, add the milk, water and suga. Add the thandai masala and let it come to a boil. Then reduce flame and simmer for 10minutes. Let it cool to room temperature. When cool enough muslin cloth or leave it as it is, depending on how you like it. Chill in the fridge for at least an hour before serving. Garnish with rose petals, saffron and cardamom.

     

    fennel, cardamom, nutmeg, and peppercorn, and ground. This is then added to soaked saffron strands and rose petals. Then it is further ground with a mortar and pestle.

One teaspoon of this aromatic thandai masala can turn your daily glass of milk into a celebratory affair. Usually for our Holi soirees, we serve these with milk.

** 

A dose of kindness on your plate

Ram Mohan of Farm Made Foods, which supplies free-range eggs to several stores across Chennai

Born free

He adds that free-range simply means the animal has been allowed to grow in a natural environment. “For instance, in our farms, we let the chickens run about and scratch the ground for their feed. There are no hormones or antibiotics involved; nor are they forced to lay eggs. Everything is a natural process. This does mean that production costs are higher and the yield lower, but that’s how it usually pans out when it comes to natural products. This is also why free-range products

An egg a day

Eggs are rich in choline, which promotes normal cell activity, liver function and the transportation of nutrients throughout the body.much like a commuter train for vitamins and minerals.

Health above all

One of the biggest advantages of choosing free-range products, says Chandran, is that the animal takes its own time to grow. “This directly translates to better composition of protein and vitamins and reduced fat. Everything is natural; the growth is not accelerated with hormones. It’s a healthier alternative.”

At The Farm in Semmancheri, where one can buy free-range eggs and organic dairy products such as cheese, paneer, curd, butter and ghee, the focus is on letting their animals lead a free life. “The cows are not tied up; they move about freely. Also, we milk them once the calf has been fed. There are no machines involved in the process, which means that there’s no pain or discomfort caused to the animal. When they walk around the farm, the bull is around too; there’s no artificial insemination involved. The natural grass they feed on adds tremendously to their diet. All of this translates to great quality milk and the nutrients that we get from it,” says Shalini Philip, who runs The Farm with Arul Futnani. She adds that while a conscious shift has happened in terms of choosing free-range eggs

The Darshinis of Bengaluru

Here is traditional ‘tiffin’, served quickly and with no frills, at affordable prices

The “Darshini” seems a concept unique to Bengaluru. It started in the early-1980s. It is a small eatery where you pay first and go for self-service. The first such to come up was named Cafe Darshini and it became so popular many others followed, each one named something-or-the-other Darshini to cash in on the popularity. An alternative to the Darshini tag is “Sagar”. The concept is the same. Traditional “tiffin”, served fast and with no frills, at affordable prices.

The dishes available are the common ones such as idli, vadai, dosai varieties, khara bhath, kesri bhath, some rice/roti dishes and simple plate meals during lunch hour, tea and coffee. There is no seating in a typical Darshini, but nowadays many have areas where you can be seated and be served, for an additional charge.

Take, for instance, the most popular breakfast item this side of the earth: idli-vadai. A plate comprises two idlis and one vadai, accompanied by sambar and coconut chutney. The protocol is like this — when you hand over your ‘paid’ bill at the service counter, the chap in charge will ask you if you want a “dip”. This will mean the idli and vadai will be placed in a bowl and sambar poured over them, half-submerging them. You may ask for a cup of chutney and it will come at no extra cost.

The idli begins to disintegrate in the sambar and the vadai becomes softer. You pick up a spoon, or two spoons if you wish, from the strategically placed spoon-holder, which is a stainless steel receptacle filled with water. A tube runs steam from the idli-steamer through the water and keeps it bubbling hot, so the spoons come to you clean. You proceed to separate and shovel spoonfuls of the mash into yourself with a flourish.

The other option

If, however, you don’t really prefer disintegrated idlis or sambar-slathered vadais, you can ask the chap to give them to you “separate”. He may look askance, because nine out of 11 prefer the “dip”. But he will oblige you by placing the idli and vadai in a plate, along with a cup each of sambar and chutney, and hand over the plate to you with a smile. Or, if pressed for time, he may slide the plate across the counter and shout out, “idli vadai, separate”. You pick up the plate and collect one spoon, or two, from the receptacle described above and proceed to cut the idli and vadai into small bits, dip them in the chutney or sambar or both, in any order you like, and wolf them down.

Khara bhath and kesri bhath are but upma in savoury and sweet form respectively. When ordered separately, they are known by their individual given names. But when ordered together, they go by the name “chow chow bhath”. “Chow chow” is Kannada slang for “mixed” or “put together”, and a plate consists of khara bhath and kesari bhath in equal measure. Each item is packed tightly into a cup and the cup is then up-ended on the plate. So you get an inverted cup-shaped mound of each. Chutney to accompany the savoury twin, nothing to accompany the sweet one.

Dosai comes in three main varieties — the crisp golden brown plain or saada, the one that carries the potato-onion stuffing or “masala”, and the “set” of two (even three) spongy pancake-like dosais. Other varieties too, which, to me, are not really Darshini-eligible, are nowadays available.

The beverages

You wash it down with tea or filter coffee. Tea is tea. But filter coffee can be had just the way you want — strong, weak, with sugar, less sugar or with no sugar at all, and in full or fractional measures. If, say, there are five of you, you may order four cups of coffee and ask the coffee-maker to divide those four into five parts. And tell him to make the first one strong, the second regular, the third without sugar ... Tell me, where else will you get this kind of service? Nowhere except in the Darshinis of Bengaluru.