An oil misspill !

Kausalya Supraja Rama Purva Sandhya …….It was 4AM.Nayaki woke up to the lilting melody of Sri Venkateswara Suprabhatham rendered by M S Subbulakshmi.The petite dame sat up in bed,with closed eyes.She held her two palms together and had a quick glimpse of the Godesses of health,wealth and enlightenement.

With the day well begun,she set upon her tasks in a routine manner.It was customary to light the divine lamp with sesame oil and then go about the rest of the day in typical TambrahmBong fashion.
The capsicums and shallots are fresh .”I shall use them to make sambhar for today’s lunch ,“a beaming Nayaki muttered unto herself.The diced tender beans ,cut drumsticks,pieces of pumpkin,yam,shelled peas,shredded cabbage and scraped carrots awaited their fate.The middleaged Tambrahm was in the meantime,slowly slipping back into her oriental memories.

The damsel belonged to the best part of two centuries and she was a beautiful blend of two not so different cultures also.If breakfasts saw an alacarte of delightful sandwiches with chutneys.yummy idlis with sambar,luchis with aloo,…..lunch and dinner too saw the best of TamBong vegetarian cuisine.

Kannamani was a caring mother in law.Yet she wielded a ruler too.Lovingly she had initiated her daughter in law Vijaya into the tricks of the culinary trade.As she taught the basics,over and over again,Nayaki was a beneficiary too.A stern Kannamani had the rules of procurement, of the monthly provisions also, neatly laid down , in a calendar ,that always hung on the door of the kitchen . .

The rules were meticulously carried over to a new calendar every year.The monthly provisions read 5 litres refined groundnut oil,2 litres Sesame oil,200 gms of coconut oil,1 kg cooking butter for ghee,500gms of mustard oil for the Bong delicacies….and then went on to cover all the other requirements of a joint family.

The oil for the lamps was Sesame,the seasoning for sambhar and Kuzhambu in sesame,coconut oil for aviyal and all coconut based savoury preparations,fresh ghee for spluttering mustard seeds into the rasam,ghee pongal,rava pongal etc etc ,mustard oil for Aloor Dhum,Brinjal Fry, Dhal……..and so on.

It was a weekend and as was the practice, the Iyer family were getting ready to host Bengali friends over lunch.The menu was Roasted aloo,Beans and cabbage,carrot salad with a dash of lime,mix veg sambhar,Aviyal ,rasam,….and the mandatory curds & pickle……all in typical Tambrahm style

For those who may not be aware,the Aviyal is a South Indian delicacy….a mix veg stew where the main ingredient is fresh coconut paste and curd.Fresh coconut oil is used for the seasoning.

The friends arrived and were pleasantly in for a surprise.As they entered the Iyer home, the familiar aroma of mustard oil welcomed them.It was a blend of other fragrances as well and the taste buds were being tingled.

You must have noticed that if you are a cook, whilst you cook and afterwards too,you seldom breathe in air that smells of a rich aroma that emanates from the hot pot in front of which you stand.It was a similar situation that day.Vijaya went about her chores and was pleased with herself.It was the sight of a well laid out table that impressed her…that her sense of smell did not work ,did not bother her either.

Orthodox Tambrahms do not believe in tasting the food while cooking.Years of experience teach them to evaluate the cooked food based on the final presentation alone…and Vijaya was no different.

In the meantime,Subu had gone out to get some sweets.As he entered ,he was a lil surprised toh ! Vijaya he called out to his wife,”Have you prepared some Bengali dish too ?”….” No ! Ofcourse Not “replied Vijaya…it’s a South Indian Special today…Subu chose to ignore the smell and joined his friends for adda over the full meals.

The buffet had been spread out and friends helped themselves.Bengalis love sambhar and rasam and Vijaya was generous in her preparation.As she joined the luncheon group Nayaki chipped in to serve too."Oh ! Mom ! the Aviyal tastes a lil weird…rather scented too….Its not Ok !Can you please taste it ?" Vijaya was taken aback and hesitatingly took out a spoonful of the mix veg stew to taste.She was in for a shock.The rich stew was perfumed.She went into the kitchen to find out the reason for such a gross error.She picked up the plastic blue coloured bottle that read Coconut Hair oil…Hurriedly she ran into the bedroom.A similar blue coloured plastic bottle lay on the dressing table….the contents were Plain Coconut Oil …The provisions had arrived the previous day and had been inadvertently placed….

Nayaki was quick to react.That’s my handiwork.Please excuse us dear friends…Subu then went on to ask…Why do I smell mustard oil too ?Vijaya seemed to have an answer…" Dear girl..When I asked you to light the oil lamp which oil did you use ?" Nayaki went in and brought a bottle of oil….and it happened to be mustard oil.

Both mustard and sesame oil are almost the same in colour.
In those days when satchets were not available , tins were dear, the local kirana was the only provision store……oil,rice and pulses were bought in loose…..

The lamp was burning in mustard oil and to this day friends also remember with a hearty laugh that a Keo Karpin alike was used as an ingredient in the mix veg stew one fine day…..:rotfl

 

As I travel down memory lane,I shall try to highlight the fall outs of the faults in my later posts