In the second episode of the Jharkhand Food series, we have come to the home of our host Rashmi Saha in Patna to experience a traditional Jharkhandi breakfast that is primarily rice dominant. Rashmi is a Life Coach & NLP practitioner by profession, a Social reformer by heart, and a Traveler by passion, a Poet, and Vlogger by interest. As a Life Coach and Social Reformer, she works on Menstrual Hygiene problems & Taboos, Mental Health Issues, Unemployment, Gender-based violence, etc.
Here we met Rashmi's soft-spoken and warm-hearted parents who introduced us to various aspects of their breakfast culture. Soon after we joined Rashmi at the kitchen to make one of the family's favorite snacks, Chura Matar. As the name suggests, it is a savory dish made of flattened rice and fresh green peas. They had used dry roasted flattened rice that lent it a satisfying crunch. After munching on it with tea we went on to make the most popular Jharkhandi breakfast dish called dhuska. These are deep-fried fluffy and spiced bread made of rice and lentil batter. It was followed by malpua whose pleasant smell pervaded the whole kitchen.
The dhuska were served with chutney, pickle and ghugni. With the latter, it made a complete meal. We loved the sugar syrup rich malpua with ghugni. The interplay of sweet and savory flavors were simply exciting. Jharkhandi breakfast is predominantly rice-based as it is the staple crop. The eating spree was punctuated with much personal, anecdotal, and socio-cultural information.
Rashmi Saha - https://rashmisaha.com/