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| Building An Appetite For Indulgence |
“I have heard a lot about ‘paav bhaajji.’ I want to know what it tastes like,” my 10-year old cousin from the United Kingdom stated, when she came to India for the first time. Starting with the description of pav, I said that it was a ‘thick piece’ of bread mostly consumed while eating pav bhaji. “What is thick bread?” I was asked. “Eh, a joined, two-layered piece of thick bread. Okay, wait. It is a joined-on-one-side, double-layered piece of bread,” I hesitantly tried to explain. I wonder if my cousin ever thought about my obsession with the word ‘thick’, after I tried explaining the constituents of bhajji. “A thick gravy of varied mashed vegetables topped with raw onions and lemon,” I said, while being certain that I had left room for doubts. As a stickler for chaste English, I felt ashamed of not being able to phrase the description correctly, which led to what I would like to call, a full-blown, challenging battle with words to come up with a translation for every Indian food dish possible till the time the English bug in me was not satisfied.
Here goes the list of some of the popular Indian food dishes translated to English meant to compensate for my momentary lapse. It’s an attempt to try and make every dish sound as interesting as possible before an American can go, “Can I get some dough-zaa?’’
1) Pani puri (pronounced paa-nee poori) - Minted Chilly Water Crisps
An elliptical, crunchy puff made from semolina with a hollow in the centre filled with squelchy chick peas, mashed potato and date sauce, all of which is topped off with its peculiar, green water oozing out.
2) Vada Pav (pronounced va-daa paa-v) - Potato Dough Ball Sandwich
Potato fritter in the size of a big dough ball squeezed in a bread bun and garnished with spicy, chilly sauces and a generous serving of butter.
3) Samosa (pronounced samoh-saa) - Flaky Potato Wraps
An evergreen favourite with Indians, it is a supple, glazy dough of potatoes and peas deep-fried to form a thick, flaky crust around the mixture.
4) Kanda Poha (pronounced kaan-daa poh-ha) - Onion Shreds In Rice Flakes
Imagine the divinity of pink, sautéed onions mixed with rice flakes flushed in oil and turmeric only to give your taste buds a true feel of deliciousness.
5) Gulab Jamun (pronounced gulaab jaa-moon) - Sugary Berry Ball
Made out of milk solids, Gulab Jamun is a representation of an Indian doughnut that is dunked in sizzling, sugary syrup to give one heavenly feels till the time its taste lasts.
6) Sabudana Khichdi (pronounced saa-boo-daa-naa khich-dee) - Pearly Pot
Tapioca pearls tossed in a rich assortment of peanuts, green chillies and cumin seeds ensuring a delightful sojourn for your oral glands, while exploring the taste of the varied ingredients, collectively.
7) Chole Bhature (pronounced chho-le bh-toora) - Palatable Peas & Bumper Bread
Beguiling, juicy chick peas drenched in a hot, red gravy served with deep-fried, leavened bread meant to seduce the consumer one dripping bite at a time.
8) Jalebi (pronounced ja-ley-bee) - Spiral Crunches
Hot and crunchy delight spiralled in a deep-frying pan before being amply loaded with sugar syrup so as to stimulate your sensory glands.
9) Pav Bhaji (pronounced paa-v bhaa-jee) - Bunned Hotchpotch
An assortment of vegetables mashed in a cooking pot to form a stocky, red gravy before devouring it with a bread bun garnished with butter and then more butter.
10) Dhokla (pronounced dh-o-klaa) - Gujarati Cake
A scrumptious and spongy piece of floured finery pairing up with green, coriander sauce in order to tease your notorious taste buds.
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