Serve heritage recipes with a snip
The Hindu
Ceres Foods introduces liquid masalas, aiming to capture the flavours of traditional recipes, for home cooks in a hurry
For me, the only way to make a sorshe bata mach, the popular Bengali dish of fish in mustard paste, is by soaking and grinding a carefully balanced proportion of black and white sesame seeds. I didn’t mind going through this undeniably laborious task to extract the right flavours in this dish, which reminds me of home.
So naturally, I was reluctant to try a ready-made liquid masala. After all, how can snipping open a packet give the same creamy paste I get from grinding together green chilis, onion and ginger? Nevertheless, when Ceres Foods, with an aim to bring restaurant-style cooking into home kitchens, launched their mustard fish liquid masala, with a promise that even a newbie can get the same results as an experienced cook, I was intrigued.
Following the instructions, I took enough paste to make mustard fish for one person. (the entire packet is intended for 500 -750 gms of fish or any vegetarian substitute). In 15 minutes my curry was ready, and the results were fairly authentic, offering a freshness in flavour and pleasingly pungent punch of mustard.
Even as prominent ecotourism destinations in Kozhikode offer visitors a feast for the eyes during the monsoon season, the district is yet to witness promotional activities by the Tourism department or the District Tourism Promotion Council. On the other hand, private tourism entrepreneurs are benefiting from the season by offering visitors reduced tariffs for accommodation and recreational activities.