THE ART OF "FAST" FOOD

By

VIKRAM KARVE

“Fast Food”

My wife observes, and indulges in, (and consequently subjects me to) all types of fasts.

She fasts on Mondays, Chaturthies, festivals, and any occasion she wants to fast [and I have no choice but to “fast” along with her too!].

Actually, her fasts are not true fasts in the rigorous ascetic Spartan sense. In fact they are delicious satiating fulfilling “fasts”, an appetizing change of cuisine, to what I call “fast-food” which is quite mouth-wateringly yummy and maybe a bit more calorie-rich than normal food (that’s the “fast food” I am referring to, not the burgers and pizza you thought!).

Kachori

My favorite fast food is the Kachori.

No! No! It is not the scrumptious Rajasthani style lip-smacking Khasta Kachori that I am referring to, but the “Sweet” crunchy Kachori served by most Udipi eateries in Mumbai and Pune.

Recipe – The Art of Cooking Kachori

It is quite simple to make this scrumptious vegetarian delicacy. Just take boiled mashed potato, add a bit of sabudana peeth (sago flour) for binding, a pinch of salt and sugar and knead into a dough.

Roast fresh juicy grated coconut with sugar, khus khus, dry fruit like raisins, cashews, till it is nice and crispy khamang and your filling is ready.

You must roast in pure ghee, as oil is not permitted on a fast.

Make largish round patties with the potato dough on the outside and a generous portion of the roasted sweet coconut filling inside and deep fry till nicely crusty, crisp and light brown and your sweet kachori is done (fast and simple isn’t it?).

Serve the sweet kachori with a katori of whipped sweetened curds and your “fast food” is ready to eat.

“Fast Food” – The Art of Eating Kachori

You will be tempted to break a piece of Kachori, dip it in the curds and then eat it. Please don’t do it! That’s not the right way to eat sweet kachori. You will ruin the eating experience as the concoction will turn soggy.

What you must do is to place a chunk of crisp hot kachori on your tongue and close your eyes. Now savor the khamang crunchy taste of the lively roasted coconut filling for some time, then press your tongue on your palate and roll till the heavenly sweet filling and the crisp potato covering amalgamate. Tell me, dear fellow foodie, it tastes really yummy, isn’t it?

Now is the time to pop in a spoon of sweet whipped curds, and let the feisty assortment of flavors dance and mingle on your tongue till the food dissolves in your mouth and disappears into you giving you a feeling of supreme satisfaction.

I once saw a movie called “Blow Hot Blow Cold” in the nineteen seventies. The art of eating a sweet kachori is similar: hot and cold, hot and cold, crunchy and soft, crunchy and soft, sweet and sour, sweet and sour!

I first tasted this delicious dish, the sweet kachori, long long back, at a place called Apsara near Hirabaug on Tilak Road in Pune. It is still my favorite Kachori.

Vihar, at Churchgate, in Mumbai, and Vaishali, on Fergusson College Road in Pune, and many other eateries serve excellent sweet kachori too; and I am sure you will find it on the menu of almost all Udipi restaurants.

So next time you want to relish your “fast” you know which “fast food” to eat, in addition to the usual sabudana khichadi, sabudana wade and ratalyacha kees.

Happy "Fasting”!

VIKRAM KARVE

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