Comfort food. Heard of the term? I hadn't. Till a new but dear friend mentioned this in passing. It certainly got me thinking. Of course there are certain items cooked at home that are extremely dear to us. And of course they can be called comfort food. Food that reminds you of your mother, your childhood...providing of course that both are happy memories...is comfort food. Then, there are culture based comfort foods. Which means, no matter what your memories are, there are certain foods that override the most luxurious of delicacies available at the best five star restaurants...this is available not just in your home but also in the homes of your relatives or perhaps even at homes of people from your community. This is specially true in the Indian context. But the one thing common about all comfort foods, no matter what region you belong to, is its easy preparation technique and simplicity in taste. Whether it is varan-bhaat of the Maharashtrian, the curd rice of the South or the rajma chawal of the Punjabis.
For the Bengali, comfort food comes in plurality. Sheddo Bhaat or Alu Bhaate or Fena Bhaat tops the list. So what are these and are they different from one another? No, they are just different names for the same dish. Which is, rice and vegetables--it could be mixed vegetables like potato, flat beans, parwal (potol), karela....or it could just be rice and potatoes. Boiled together, sometimes with a handful of masoor dal. No haldi, no oil, no salt. Just plain boiled in a dekchi or in the pressure cooker. Cooked, it has to be slightly gooey, not too much though--just enough for the veggies and the rice to be nicely married. And now the finale: Two or more scoops of this combo onto your plate, a generous dollop of ghee or raw mustard oil (some people like both!), salt to taste, raw onions chopped finely to be mixed with rice and at least one really spicy green chilli chopped to be mixed with the rice. The onion can also be cut into slices or chunks to be chomped on, separately as an accompaniment. Ditto with the chilli. Though personally, a jhaal (teekha) mirchi also broken and mashed into the rice, can raise the taste quotient considerably.
Close on the heels of the Sheddo Bhaat, is its non-veg option. The deem sheddo bhaat. In other words, a boiled egg with the rest of the veggies, or with potatoes or just the egg and rice. Both boiled, but treated of course, like the other options, with honour and with attention to detail, once it reaches the plate
The best part of Sheddo Bhaat, is that you can have it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Generally though it's a hot breakfast favourite.
Next comfort food: Paatla Machher Jhol.
In my next post... :)
