How We Eat: Aditya Bhagat

Adi loves local Czech favorites like schnitzle, potato salad and pernik but he misses the street food and foods from home, like the rice, two veg and lentil lunches he enjoyed as a child and the fresh spices his mother used to use. In India, many traditional foods are cooked over an open fire which also greatly alters their flavor, and although he has not been able to match the tastes from home exactly, through trial and error he has managed to recreate some of the familiar flavors from home by using similar types of local ingredients.

Historically, Indian spices and herbs were a highly sought after trade commodities and one of the biggest problems for Adi is that there are no proper fresh Indian spices and even fresh and affordable coriander is sometimes hard to find. There are also some kitchen tools like the large flat pans for cooking Indian bread, deep mixing bowls and the limiting size of some apartment kitchens that have had to be adjusted for. However, the basics are easy: onions are always on their shopping list as well as basmati rice and lentils which provide protein for many meatless meals. (Of course when Adi isn’t cooking he likes popular Vinohrady Indian restaurant The Pind!)

For the last year Adi and his wife have been bringing the taste of India to people through his food blog, www.myindiankitchen.eu, (in Czech at www.mojeindickakuchyne.cz), which features Indian food and dishes he has created himself.

Toor Dal
Serves 3-4
Prep time: approx. 15 mins | Cooking time: approx. 20 mins

Ingredients
250 g toor dal
Pinch salt, to taste
Pinch plus ½ tsp turmeric
Drizzle plus 1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion
3 tbsp fresh coriander leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
2 bay leaves
¼ tsp hing (or asafoetida, a pungent spice derived from the ferula plant)
2 tsp ginger and garlic paste
1 ½ tsp coriander powder
200 g chopped tomatoes or puree
½ tsp red chilli powder (adjust to taste)

Preperation
Boil the toor dal (lentils) with salt, a pinch of turmeric powder and a drizzle of vegetable oil until soft and fully cooked.
Chop the onion and fresh coriander leaves and set in seperate bowls to the side.

SHALAMAR FOODS
Lipanská 835/3
130 00  Praha-Žižkov
+420 222 713 522
+420 608 960 942
shalamarfoods@seznam.cz
www.shalamar.eu

Saloma – e-shop
littleindia.cz
(For speciality food and equipment)
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Where do you shop (or dine) for an authentic taste of India?

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