Kache Aam ki Kadhi and memories of my Summer holidays

Summer holidays for me as far as I can remember meant a three day long journey, the majority of which was travelling in sleeper class of Punjab Mail and the rest in the rickety-rackety state buses of Punjab to finally reach my maternal grandparents house in a small town called Kotkapura. 

It used to be such a grand affair. The suitcases very meticulously filled with clothes by my mother and simple delicious food was prepared for us to survive the journey which was always 'aloo di sabji' (potato sabzi), stuffed karela's and the quintessential Parantha's. Few pieces of the homemade 'aam da achaar'(raw mango pickle) would also make our train journey a little more yummier. And how can a Sardar gene swallow all this without some raw onion. Yes, we also carried raw onions which if my Paternal grandfather was travelling with us, would always be smashed with his fist and then torn in pieces and distributed. All this would be like a picnic on the train and an exciting event that I would look forward to while travelling. I still call it 'Train wala khaana'.

Once in Punjab, Summer holidays was all about playing non-stop with my cousins in the scorching heat. Strangely, I have no memory of feeling uneasy or feeling very hot in that heat. Perhaps we had no idea what that was and were anyways too busy enjoying ourselves running around in those wide spread open landscapes. And then there was always Lassi to cool us down. 

After a month of non stop fun, on the day of our departure, it was a ritual for me and my cousin sister to hug each other and cry as if we will never meet each other again. But we did because every single Summer vacation my mother would make sure we visited the land of our roots. 

Summers always bring back these lovely memories. Today all my cousins are living abroad and there are no more Summer vacations for us.

As a Mother, I feel it as a responsible duty now to have my daughter have the same wonderful feeling about Summer vacations.  And so I make sure that Vaanya gets to spend some amazing time with her cousins and build on beautiful memories that will stay with her forever. 

The recipe that I am sharing today is one that I make each Summer for the last 3-4 years and love it for the simplicity. It is very easy to make and is very light except the boondi added on top. I love to pair it with some boiled rice and raw mango chutney and find it an extremely yummy Summer meal. 

Ingredients : Serves 2-3

• 1 medium sized Raw Mango
• 1 tbsp panchphoron (equal quantity of jeera, saunf, methidana, kalaunji and sarso seeds)
• 3-4 tbsp besan
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/4 tsp red chilli powder
• salt to taste
• sugar to taste
• 2 glass water
• a handful or two of plain boondi

Procedure : 

Boil mango with 2 glass of water in a pressure cooker for around 5 minutes.

Allow to cool and then peel off the skin of the mango.

Use your hands to squish out the pulp of the mango. 

Discard the seed inside.

Strain the mixture to remove any mango threads.

Take a bowl and mix the strained mango pulp with besan, salt, turmeric powder and red chilli powder. 
Take a tbsp of oil in a deep pan and add panchphoron to it. 
As it splutters add the mango mixture and stir continuously. 
Let it come to a rolling boil and then cook on low flame for about 5 minutes. 
Add sugar and adjust seasoning according to your taste. 
Add boondi just before serving to keep it crisp.

Relish this light and summery kadhi with boiled rice and raw mango chutney

Sending this recipe to KFB's ongoing event Mango Festival.

Happy Kadhi relishing

Amrita