Puneetinder Kaur Sidhu
“Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first.” When American writer Ernestine Ulmer mouthed these words, she was, in a sense, echoing what Ayurveda has advocated all along, albeit for reasons more digestive in nature. This ancient knowledge system recognises six principal tastes or rassas — madhur (sweet), amla (sour), lavana (salty), tikta (pungent), katu (bitter) and kasaya (astringent). Together with the strands (gunas), humors (doshas), seasons, senses and feelings, they form a grouping called gastro-semantics that has long driven Indian gastronomy as we know it. Ayurveda argues that foods sweet in taste have a cooling effect on the body, fire up taste buds and aid digestion. And that is why they should be eaten at the start of a meal. But we generally don’t heed this sage advice nowadays, with most of us having anointed dessert as our post-prandial treat. Be that as it may, there is not a smidgen of a doubt about our irrepressible penchant for all things madhur.
Over time and history, India, and in particular, its northern and western parts have spawned a gob-smacking variety of confections from merely a handful of nutritious ingredients — milk, khoya, besan, chenna, ghee, nuts. And, of course, sugar, a derivative of sharkara, the Sanskrit word for its refined form. Interestingly, the word candy is also rooted in a Sanskrit term, khaanda, used to describe an unrefined sweetening agent. Incidentally, it’s not just we lesser mortals unfailingly succumbing to sweet temptations, Indian divinities too have a long-held proclivity for sugary treats. Krishna’s love for butter and laddoos is well known, Ganesha can’t get enough of modaks; boondi laddoos are Hanuman’s weakness; Vishnu finds pleasure in the elaborate chappan bhog. The yogi that is Shiva prefers sweets white in colour, and relishes thandai, bhang and dhatura in equal measure. While Shani, with his particular proclivity for the colour black, is known to savour black sesame laddoos made with gur. Female divinities are equally afflicted by the sweet tooth with many of them, including Saraswati, Durga and Kali, displaying a great fondness for kheer. Lakshmi goes on to pair this sweet treat with malpuas, a combination relished by many through the monsoon season in these parts.
India’s countless festivals are yet another mouthwatering testimony to our die-hard craving for sweet somethings. Should you seek empirical evidence, I suggest you pick an occasion and swing by to your friendly neighbourhood halwai for a spot check. The clamour for all manner of halwas, gulab jamuns, rasgullas, rasmalai, barfis, jalebis and laddoos, to name just a few regional favourites, is increasingly animated and the queues endless. Regardless of space, scale and specialisation, every one of these sweet makers witnesses a massive spike in footfall during festivities. And with Holi knocking on the door as I write this column, it’s a certain treacle-glazed, deep-fried flour pocket filled with khoya, nuts and grated coconut, which has our rapt attention. Fresh-out-of-the-wok gujiyas, a speciality from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, eaten nationwide, fly off the shelves faster than you can say ‘Holi hai’! They are as inextricably linked with this colourful spring-heralding spectacle as is imbibing gallons of bhang and eating tons of bhang-infused pakoras.
The Great Indian Sweet Tooth has ensured an eternal spot under the sun for mithai makers. Whether it’s that nameless gulab jamun or jalebi place across from a city landmark or the multi-product, multi-city brand shipping online orders overseas, the halwai has evidently never had it so good. That he takes visible pride in his craft, and fiercely protects a reputation (often) built over generations, can only mean one thing: the dentist has never had it this good either!
from The Tribune https://ift.tt/2HQjg0u
via Today’s News Headlines
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