In today's episode we have arrived at the paternal home of our gracious host Garima Tiwari in Sonpur village in Durg. Garima is a passionate food blogger who with her stories is on a quest to introduce the world to the unique culinary canvas of Chhattisgarhi cuisine.
On reaching there we were welcomed with a refreshing glass of amaari phool ka sharbat and some fascinating anecdotes about the local food traditions shared by Garima, her father Ravindra Ji and her husband Abhishek. Next we joined caretaker Amrita to make aam ka kucha. Once this spicy and tangy raw mango condiment was ready, Garima served us bassi with an array of accompaniments. The fermented rice dish was indeed yummy.
After this we moved on to the lunch preparation. Green leafy vegetables are a staple over here so Garima prepared some karmatta bhaji with badi. Next were the turn of masoor batkar and rasayan katra rassa, another fascinating curry made of diamond shaped lentil chunks. The curries were served with rice, bada, mirchi, bijauri, chipote tamatar far dhaniya chutney etc. Each and every dish had a distinct flavour of it's own but the most common flavour is many of these dishes was that of garlic. It was a soulful and wholesome meal full of earthy flavours and textures. Every morsel reminded us of the pristine flavours of this beautiful state.
Dessert consisted of a rice flour based sweet called dehraori. It seemed like a closer cousin of gulab jamun but there is no khoya in it. Rice lents it a dense luscious flavour.
Heartfelt gratitude to Garima and her family for this wonderful meal.