Rice vs roti in Madurai

At Sree Mohan Bhojanalay,khoba rotianddal batihold their own in a land ofsappadu

Sree Mohan Bhojanalay is iconic in more ways than one. The establishment has been treating the Temple Town of Madurai to authentic Rajasthani food for nearly half a century, and boasts of an interesting history and an enticing menu.

Sree Mohan Bhojanalay, which began as a tea stall selling k achoris and samosas, is today a favourite with the city for its authentic Rajasthani thali . The joint also specialises in Jain food, catering to the handful of residents and pilgrims who come in from above the Vindhyas.

Tucked inside a narrow lane, the restaurant is next to the west tower of the Meenakshi Temple, and retains an old-world charm.

The food is simple home-cooked fare. Just for a little less than Rs. 150, the thali packs a slew of subzis, including standards like aloo and pyaz tamatar, peeli and kaali dal , basundi and gulab jamun for dessert, along with a glass of lassi and unlimited phulkas , puris and parathas .

Strict formulae

We continue to procure wheat from Punjab and UP. Our papads come from Bikaner, the achar from Pune and the zatka chutney from Kolhapur. Right from the dollop of ghee on the rotis to the amount of milk and sugar in the basundi , the formulae are strictly followed.

If there’s one place in Madurai where one can find k hoba roti and d al bati churma on the menu for dinner, then it’s Mohan Bhojanalay. A freshly baked khoba roti looks like a basket made of dough. “It takes about half-an-hour to make one ; it’s a signature dish of the Marwar region. A thick sheet of kneaded dough is stretched over a hot overturned kadai ,” explains Dinesh. “One khoba roti is eaten by six to eight people. The roti is shredded into crumbs and mashed with lots of lasooni dal . Some people also like it with ghee and jaggery or chutneys .”

The restaurant is also known for its brand of rabdi , doodhi and lauki halwa , apart from packed namkeens and khakhras that are sold at the counter. “It was by accident that I learnt to make these sweets. Once, I was left with extra mava and experimented in the kitchen. I introduced rabdi and basundi in the menu, and it worked well,” says Mohan. “I am now thinking of adding shrikhand to the list. However, my mantra for success has remained unchanged. It is all about giving the customers ‘ ghar ka swad ’

Global local beauty secrets

Ancient beauty secrets find a way of becoming a rage. At times discovered by beauty experts, at other, it’s self-discovery. Here are five picks from world over for a global glow 

RICE TO THE OCCASION China

If you have read pearl s buck’s peony, you will be aware that like the protagonist in the book, women in China used rice water to clean their face and finely-ground rice powder as a face powder.

Claims to fame: Since rice is loaded with antioxidants, it can take care of multiple skin issues, from premature aging of the skin to brightening. Here’s a quick DIY recipe: Soak half cup uncooked organic rice in 1 cup purified water for at least 2 hours (overnight, it possible). Strain the rice and dip a wash-cloth in it. Place this sheet to your face; leave for 10-15 minutes. This skincare ritual will reduce tanning and pigmentation and also heal blemishes.

MUD MATTERS Israel

Believed to have exceptionally cleansing and healing properties, Dead sea’s black mud is much sought after by beauty brands. If you are travelling to Israel, soak up the goodness of the minerals by floating in the rich muddy sea. But even if you are not, spas in your city will be offering dead sea deep cleansing facials and other skin treatments. Claim to fame: Besides being rich in minerals such as magnesium, sodium, potassium and calcium, this mud is an effective relaxant for sore muscles. It is also known for drawing out toxins and other impurities from the deepest layers of the skin. Oily and acne-prone skin types will benefit from a deep cleaning mud mask. 

Healing with a laser touch

Lasers are providing a breakthrough in burn injury management. Burn injuries are a major public health issue and their management is a key concern. Regular assessment of healing tissues is necessary but biopsies are painful and may hinder the healing process. Now, a group of Indian scientists have come up with a solution for easier assessment of healing progression, using laser light.

The process

Scientists at Manipal University in Karnataka have demonstrated the ability of the laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) technique to quantify the amount of collagen in healing tissues and thus analyse the recovery process: the more the collagen content, the healthier the tissue.

The strategy is to study biochemical changes by exploiting tissue fluorophores or chemical compounds that can re-emit light upon light excitation. Some of the most common fluorophores are collagen, elastin, amino acids (building blocks of proteins) such as tryptophan, phenylalanine and tyrosine that are responsible for tissue autofluorescence.

Researchers hit injured areas with a laser light of a particular wavelength and captured the emitted light in the range, generating a spectrum. For each region, multiple spectra are generated and averaged. This yields an image that correlates with the collagen content reflective of healthy repair. Based on this knowledge, scientists have proposed a simple technique to evaluate the progression of healing using a non-invasive, fast and an easy-to-use tool. The results have published in the journal, Lasers in Medical Science .

“With LIF we evaluated collagen synthesis and the healing process in vivo without sacrificing the animal. The evaluation using this technique takes only 15-20 seconds and is a biopsy free or non-invasive approach,” explains Prof. Krishna K. Mahato, who led the research team.

Preliminary studies on monitoring effectiveness of low power laser therapy (LPLT) in mice with burn wounds showed encouraging results. “LIF is sensitive and since it is an objective assessment, it doesn’t demand experienced operators and thus is user-friendly,” suggest the researchers.

“We have promising results in tissue samples from burn patients and with further analyses and studies, we hope to have this tool routinely used for patients in the near future,” Prof. Mahato told India Science Wire. — India Science Wire

Shop here for nostalgia (food)

Mylapore’s Ganapathy’s Butter & Ghee, celebrating its 75th year, is a haven for healthy, homemade foods. 

Changing times: Started stocking appalam, podi, vadam and pickle sourced locally in the neighbourhood. Among the pickle varieties (over 50), the special avaka and vadu maanga are most popular. Since inception, the shop has been selling two types of butter and ghee — cooking butter/ghee from buffalo milk and cow’s milk butter and ghee.

“Right from my grandfather’s days, we have been making ghee from butter, following traditional processes in our homes. Our process takes three to four hours, giving it a good aroma and flavour,” says S Saravanan.

Focus on health  “We have started sourcing vaagai mara chekku oil (wooden cold pressed) from our native town. We have shifted our focus to health food, and therefore millet-based ready-to-make tiffin items such as navadhanya adai mix, thinai kichidi and kanji mavu are also available,” says Saravanan.

Apart from the traditional sweets of Tamil Nadu, such as adhirasam, somas, kamarkat and thaen mittai, the brothers are taking efforts to bring in regional specialities (sweets and savories) as well — Kovilpatti kadalai mittai, Srivilliputhur palgova, Tirunelveli halwa (from Iruttu Kadai), Thoothukudi achu murukku. They source palm jaggery and palm sugar from Udangudi, veppilakatti from Palakkad and honey from Marthandam. Customers across Chennai can currently place orders over the phone, and have their products delivered to their homes.

@Ganapathy’s Butter & Ghee, 14, Chitrakulam west street, Mylapore,9840359274

A wood-fired taste of Chettinad

Family-run Guru Biryani is the toast of the town, and with good reason

Every dish in this restaurant is made from wood-fire cooking. The cooks start the day at 6 am and by noon, they have prepared close to 30 items on the menu. A complete Chettinad thali awaits you, with side dishes that include country chicken, liver fry and prawn thokku.

“We do not serve anything deep fried; it’s all pan fried” says Pandiyan. The required masala for each dish is carefully combined and powdered by his wife, which makes each dish, served with love.

Today, along with their son Ramamoorthy, they also manage a second hotel on the ECR Main Road, three kms from Mamallapuram: a swanky, well-designed vision of Ram. Ram, an MBA graduate from London unlike the many Indians who settle down in the countries they go for education, decided to come back to where his heart belongs, Mahabs.

Besides his parents’ dreams that he would study in a reputed institute in the UK, for Ram, it was also an opportunity to understand the service industry and to better his business back home. His hospitality is proof of this knowledge he gained during the two years in London.

“When my father has given me such a great opportunity here, all I wanted to do was to bring the know-how and some skills that we lack, back into his business. Besides, Mahabs is my home and this is where my heart belongs,” Ram smiles away with joy.

Today, at the rate of Rs. 130 a plate, Guru sells close to 300 plates of biryani on weekends, and at Rs. 100, close to 200 meals on a daily basis.