Week 12, Cooking Lesson

On Sunday, Susan, Jenny and I went to our boss, Pratima’s house for a cooking lesson. We learned how to make gulab jamun, khichadi and rava upma. Gulab jamun is a sweet; they are small dough balls that are deep fried (kind of like donut holes) and then soaked in sugar syrup. They absorb the syrup but don’t become soggy. They are really good. You make the dough from a mix, so I’m going to buy some and bring it back with me.

Next we made khichadi, which comes in many different varieties. The one we made is made out of sago and is spiced with fresh green chilies, fresh coriander, ground peanuts, salt, sugar and cumin seeds. I hope I can get sago in the UK. Here’s Susan eating the finished product.

Last we made rava upma. Rava is a kind of wheat flour that seems a bit coarser than the flour we get at home, and upma is a standard Indian breakfast dish. It ends up like a mush, similar to cream of wheat, and is spiced with fresh green chilies, mustard seeds, asadoeda powder, salt, and sugar, and is garnished with fresh coriander and grated coconut. Here in India they keep their spices in a ‘masala dabba’, which is a round container with lots of little compartments for the different spices. This one has (clockwise from top) mustard seeds, chili powder, cumin seeds, ground coriander, asafetida powder, turmeric, and a miscellaneous masala in the center.