Happy
Birthday, Julia !
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| Julia Child, photo courtesy Esquire.com |
“Suddenly the dining room filled with
wonderfully intermixing
aromas that I sort of recognized but
couldn't name. The first smell
was something
oniony-"shallots," Paul identified it, "being sautéed in
fresh butter." ("What's a
shallot?" I asked, sheepishly. "You'll see,"
he said.) Then came a warm and winy
fragrance from the kitchen, which
was probably a delicious sauce being
reduced on the stove. This was
followed by a whiff of something
astringent: the salad being tossed in
a big ceramic bowl with lemon, wine
vinegar, olive oil, and a few
shakes of salt and pepper.
My stomach gurgled with
hunger.”
(From “My Life in France”, by Julia Child, published posthumously, April 2006)
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| Shallots or small onions |
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| Meryl Streep as Julia Child in "Julie&Julia" |
Julia
Child would perhaps be turning out
fantastic food—not necessarily only French—to mark her 100th
birthday, if she had been around. In
India, she was not a household name for foodies and aspiring food writers and
wannabe chefs, of the kind Sanjeev Kapoor is, till Meryl Streep and Amy Adams
played Julia and Julie respectively in “Julie and Julia”. a couple of years
ago.
The
Hollywood film was as much a hit in India as elsewhere, and the American woman,
Julia Child, perhaps the first celebrity chef /chef to host a food show on tv,
became well known if not a household name in the land she visited , among other
countries.
Julia
Child did not cook Indian, did they say?
Now shallots, we all know is “small red onions” – or chinna(small) vengayam(onion) or sambar vengayam in South India.
And many South Indians reading the opening para I have
quoted, will find it difficult to believe that Julia did not dabble in South
Indian cooking !
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| Vengaya Vathakozhambu or braised shallots in spcy tamrind sauce |
In memory of the woman who did not camouflage the real-life experiences
of a person in the kitchen, I decided to
make Vengaya Vathakozhambu.
Here goes the recipe:
Shallots 200 gms
Tamrind paste—3 tablespoons
Vegetable oil—3 teaspoons
Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds-1 tsp
Urad dhuli-1 tsp
Chana dal-1 tsp
Asofeatida- a pinch
Curry leaves-a few
Dry red chillies-two
Sambar powder-1 teaspoon
Water-two cups
Salt-to taste
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| Condiments & Herbs that add zing to the dish |
Peel the shallots,cut the heads off, and pat try.
Pour the vegetable oil in a sauce
pan, and place on the gas.
When it begins to smoke, add the dry red chillies.
When it begins to smoke, add the dry red chillies.
When it is about to turn dark, add the mustard seeds.When they begin to crackle, add the chana dal, then the urad dal, then the fenugreek, the asofeatida and the curry leaves in that order.
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| Saute the shallots and condiments in a dash of oil |
Stir them nicely for a minute, and toss in the shallots.
Saute them for a couple of minutes, and add the sambar powder, mix well.
The air around the stove will be a bit pungent!
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| Braised shallots simmer in tamrind sauce |
Add the tamarind paste, water, salt, stir well, and allow it to come to boil.
Now reduce the heat, and allow the “vethakozhambu” to simmer and reduce, till the oil floats on top, or the “tamrind sauce” gets slightly reduced, and thick. Switch off.
The braised shallot in tamrind sauce has just the kind of fragrance and astringent quality that made Julia’s tummy gurgle!
This tastes great with plain boiled
rice to which a touch of butter or
ghee(clarified butter) has been mixed.
Interestingly enough, Julia’s Kitchen
Wisdom, by Julia Child, includes a braised
onions recipe using the kind of shallots that were being sauted in the French
dining room when Julia was 36.
For other interesting reads on the
Original Master Chef , check out
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