‘Yoğurmak, which means thickened or curdled or coagulated, is the original Turkish word for the product that we know today as yogurt!’ droned Nawab Wajid Ali Shah. ‘This fermented milk product has been extremely well known amongst our people since it first originated in Central Asia roughly around 5000 to 10,000 bce. The original instances of yogurt were created accidentally when wild leaves dropped into extracted milk. The bacteria present on the leaves started a fermentation process where the sugars present in the milk, and more specifically lactose, were converted into lactic acid. The lactic acid then works its magic on the milk protein that is miraculously converted into the beautifully tart flavoured and firm textured product that we know as yogurt. It wasn’t until cattle were domesticated somewhere around 7000 bce that yogurt started becoming a commonplace component of meals. Traditionally, yogurt was prepared predominantly from cowmilk, but over time, we started incorporating the milk from ewes, goats, yaks, camels and mares into the process.
‘Yogurt, as an ingredient or as an integral part of a meal, has found a place of prominence in multiple religious tomes. In fact, the Bible, Koran, Talmud, Buddhist teachings and Ayurveda, all mention the health benefits of consuming yogurt. In Buddhist tantra texts that hark back to early medieval India, yogurt was often used as a symbol of purity. The white colour of this wonder food denoted a product that was free from negativity. In fact, the transformation of milk into yogurt has often been viewed as a metaphor of the transformation of the spirit. Youth and fecundity have often been linked to the consumption of yogurt and it has been used in religious and social rituals as an important offering. Yogurt features as one of the five elixirs collectively called panchamrit that is important for Hindu religious rituals.
‘The reason that yogurt has been adored since the time ofremembered history is because it is a wholesome food that can easily be converted into a myriad of different dishes. It can be eaten raw or spiced, seasoned or sweetened. It can be used as a marinade or a base for a sauce. It can be churned into a drink or watered down into a spicy digestif. And every once in a while, we use it as a medicine!
‘What you probably did not know,’ continued the wizened nawab, ‘is a fascinating story that involved how yogurt was made famous in Europe. Francis I, the king of France, was invalidedby means of a really persistent diarrhoea. He sent word to all the famous physicians in his lands, but no cure could be found. It was almost a given that the ruler would soon meet with a premature and rather embarrassing death. Luckily for him, Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman sultan and his ally, sent his personal physician to cure the miserable monarch. Over time, and after ingesting copious amounts of yogurt, the potentate was freed from his malady. The grateful sovereign spread the word about this wonderful food, and it soon caught the fancy of his realm. And not too long after, there were variations of this beautiful element popping all across the continent.
‘Although yogurt is a safe and nutritious food, I think that Indians have primarily been interested in the sheer versatility that it allows an exponent of the cuisine. Although yogurt has allowed itself to be modelled into an amazing array of stellar products, there are only two that we may focus on today given the topic at hand.
‘A raita is a wonderful dip or cold sauce that one finds to bean excellent companion when serving a biryani. The tart and often times texturally juxtaposed condiment works as a perfect collaborator to the rich and spice-laden biryani. And a raita lends itself extremely well to a multitude of variations. You could throw in a charge of freshness with the addition of fresh mint leaves or spike it with chopped fresh chillies. Sometimes you may want to add fried chickpea flour pearls called boondi or you may want to smoke the finished product to obtain an earthy and ethereal fragrance. Sometimes raitas are laden with a horde of components that create a contrast in terms of textures and flavours and often it may be reduced to a single ingredient that merely whispers its presence.
‘A kadhi, on the other hand, is a spiced yogurt-based sauce that is thickened with chickpea flour and often speckled witha variety of detailed constituents. This hot, spiced, reduced, intense and silken sauce is often served with the mushier and the milder of the biryanis to add a bit of zing to them. And between the raitas and the kadhis, we have a whole lot of ground and a bullock cart-load of variety. I am positive that we will explore them as we move along! But before we move any further, I really must share a recipe of my version of a tadkewala raita that was served at all my state functions.’
Tadkewala?’ said I, ‘I was always under the impression that it was referred to as “tadkewali”!’‘Oh barkhudar, you really amuse me,’ said my guide. ‘As all things in the various forms of the Indian languages, even inanimate objects possess genders. A raita, based on its robust appearance, acidic undertones, hidden spice content and sheer ability to believe that it deserves more importance than the biryani itself, takes a masculine tag, and hence “tadkewala”!’
TADKEWALA RAITA
Ingredients
• Thick yogurt – 1 cup
• Chopped garlic – 1 tbsp
• Red chilli powder – a pinch
• Cumin powder – a pinch
• Salt – to taste
• Spinach, shredded – 10 leaves
• Mustard oil – 3 tbsp
• Mustard seeds – a pinch
• Fennel seeds – a pinch
• Dried red chilli – 1
• Palm sugar, grated – 1 tbsp
Instructions
Whisk the yogurt with the garlic, chilli powder, cumin powder and salt till it is smooth. Gently stir in the shredded spinach and ensure that it is evenly dispersed.
In a pan, heat the oil, and when it begins to let off smoke, remove off the heat. Throw in the mustard seeds, fennel seeds and dried red chilli. When the spices crackle and begin to change colour, return the pan to a low heat and add the palm sugar. Gently stir the mix around till the sugar melts, pour thecontents of the pan over the yogurt. Stir the mixture once againto ensure that all the ingredients are uniformly distributed. Taste and adjust the seasoning if required and chill the raita in a refrigerator prior to serving.
Excerpted with permission from A Quest for The Perfect Rice: Biryanis, Khichadis, Teharis & Pulao, by Zubin D'Souza, published by Penguin Random House India; pages: 344; ₹599.