What is comfort food? People talk of something gooey, unhealthy and delicious that usually makes them forget about the world when the chips are down. Others may consume a dessert or look at having a chocolate-based something that is again gooey and delicious.
Personally, desserts and gooey food are delicious. I love them and enjoy eating them. But it’s not comfort food. When I think comfort, I think of that scene in Pixar’s Ratatouille where Anton Ego, the food critic, eats the dish placed before him and is transported back to his childhood where his mother made ratatouille for him after he hurt himself.
For me, however, food for the soul is curd rice with gunpowder chutney with thick dal, a fried potato curry with Haldiram’s Bhujia Sev on the side.
The combination may sound bizarre to many, especially my foodie friends, but trust me when I say this: it’s delicious.
For starters, rice and curd does wonders to anyone in a bad mood. My mother once told me that whenever her younger sister threw a tantrum, she was pacified with rice and curd. This isn’t the only case, to be honest. Ask any Tamil family and they will tell you that no meal is complete without rice and curd – irrespective of whether you have an avial as a side dish or whether it’s a beef masala.
Now, let’s come to the fried potatoes. It’s a family recipe, which I have managed to master.
You need,
3-4 potatoes (chopped),
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp urad dal
1 tsp turmeric
3 tbsp oil
salt (to taste)
Method: In a kadai, pour 3 tbsp of oil. Once it begins to simmer, add the mustard seeds and the urad dal until you see spluttering. Add the potatoes and mix well. Add the turmeric and salt and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes. You will see a thick fried layer on the side of the potatoes that has mixed with the urad dal. Once you transfer the potatoes into a serving dish, garnish it with the crisp parts of the potato that have stuck to the kadai.
Finally, the bhujia sev and thick dal is a combination like no other. Pour bhujia onto your plate and mix some dal with it. That, along with the potatoes and the rice and curd takes me to food heaven.
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