A spoonful of culture

Food and memory Esther David believes are intertwined To prove her point she tells us how she stumbled upon an old bottle of saffron that on opening spread its fragrance all over her home taking her on a nostalgic trip ldquoIt brought back memories of my grandmother and how she hid it in a coinsizebox in various places around the house using it sparingly for certain dishes And when I was seven she forced me to cut frills around the lsquoKippur chi Purirsquo which is made to break the fast of Yom Kippur Day of Atonement in Judaism So in most of my novels which are based on Jewish life in India these images often surfaced when I wanted to create a certain mood like using a black sauce recipe to create a dark mood But with time these traditional recipes disappeared from our tablerdquo she saysEsther David PicPascal MonteilIn 2009 Davidrsquos Sahitya Akademi Awardwinning novel Book of Rachel was translated into French and she made a trip to Paris for the launch It was at a Jewish New Year dinner party that she realised how Indian Jewish food was unlike the cuisine of the Jewish community in the West Itrsquos when she knew another book had to be written Bene Appeacutetit HarperCollins India that was released this month is dotted with illustrations by David snippets of history and over a hundred traditional recipesThe number of Jews in India has been dwindling till 1940 their population was estimated at 50000 and as of today they stand at approximately 5000 David travelled to acquaint herself with the culinary traditions of the five Jewish communities scattered across the country mdash from the south to the Northeast The Bene Israelis the Cochin Jews the Baghdadi Jews the Bene Ephraim Jews and the Bnei Menashe Jews With Bene Appeacutetit David who belongs to Bene Israel Jewish community of Ahmedabad introduces readers to everything they need to know about Indian Jews while capturing the joy food brings to communities by playing on the French salutation mdash in a way shersquos hoping her readers have a hearty meal after giving these recipes a goThe book is dotted with illustrations by David who is also an accomplished artist and sculptorThe culinary methods of each Jewish community in India vary but there are still commonalities ldquoIndian Jewish communities follow the lsquoDietary Lawrsquo which says lsquoThou shall not cook the lamb in its motherrsquos milkrsquo So Jews do not mix milk with meat dishes and keep separate vessels for both And as a substitute to dairy products they use coconut milk to make curries and sweets With meat dishes Indian Jews prefer to end their meals with fruit and do not have milkbased sweets like lsquomithairsquo In accordance with the dietary law Indian Jews have fish with scales along with ricerdquo David informs The writer also draws on her personal experiencesThe recipe for a dish called Tilkut Potatoes for instance was handed to her by her grandmother Shebabeth ldquoTill she was with us the dining table held a great attraction for me during Shabbath a malida or a festive meal I remember many flavours like fish or chicken cooked in green masala curry Most meals were made by the women of my family as they laughed joked and talked about the finer points of recipes And as the oil lamps or candles were lit I felt that the dining table was the centre of my liferdquo she recallsDavidrsquos cause is to preserve the heritage for food so she hopes these recipes find their way to digital avenues too mdash though the real magic of course is in bringing them to life for all to savourTilkut PotatoesIngredientsgtgt Potatoes ndash 7gtgt Tilkut powder ndash 1 frac34 tablespoonsgtgt Onions ndash 2gtgt Spring onions ndash 4gtgt Oil ndash 1 cupgtgt Whole sesame seeds for garnishing ndash 1 tablespoongtgt Salt to tasteMethodPeel the potatoes and slice Heat oil in a heavy kadhai in which sesame seeds are tempered Add the potatoes and cook on a high flame Stir continuously till the potatoes are half done after which lower the flame and cover the kadhai Cook the potatoes for another five to ten minutes Then add sliced onions with tilkut powder salt and chopped spring onions Cover the kadhai once again and cook till done Drain any excess oil and cook the potatoes for five more minutes till crisp This dish is served hot with khichdi or chapattis or bread or with a plain dalandrice combination or with yogurt or yogurtbased kadhi and khichdiOptionalTilkut potatoes can be made without spring onions but if available they give a fresh flavour to this recipeNoteFor 7 potatoes you need tilkut powder made with 1 tablespoon chilli powder and 34 teaspoon sesame seeds And 1 tablespoon whole sesame seeds are usedfor garnishing