Mona Verma - Fasting Foods of India

ISBN 978-93-81115-95-4
Mona Verma, 2014

Printing Repro India Pvt Ltd

Mona Verma ( nee Pahlajani), was born in 1940, in Sukker, Pakistan, before the fateful events of Partition. Following an Intermediate in Arts from Bhopal University, her interest in cookery took wing after marriage. She learnt the art of cookery by attending classes and experimenting on her own with ingredients and flavours. In 1968, she started her own cookery classes in Calcutta, which became extremely popular, and she was soon appointed cookery teacher for graduate students at St. Lorettos Convent. In 1971, she moved to Mumbai and so did her cookery classes. The fact that, at one time, 13 of her students were running their own cookery classes, is a tribute to her skill both as a cook as well as a teacher. For many years she also conducted Finishing Courses for final year students at Vivekanand Education Trusts High School & College. Mona has varied social interests. She has been actively involved with the Lions Movement; served on the board of Seva Samiti , a charitable trust working for needy women; and is an active member of the National Council of Women in India (Nagpur Chapter). She is also a poet and student of Indian classical music. Writing is one of her many passions and her articles have been published in many newspapers and magazines. She continues to write a Sunday cookery column for The Hitavada . Mona lives in Nagpur with her husband Asoka, a Management Consultant. Mona can be reached at: monaverma@ sancharnet.in

A BOUT THE I LLUSTRATOR

Suhita Mitra was born in Kohima, Nagaland a region of untouched, natural beauty. Wherever the eye travelled, there were hills, trees, flowers and wildlife. Television was still unknown and all that young children had to amuse them was the enchantment offered by the gardens, the playing fields and bookslots of story books. Such an environment was a natural nursery for the imagination. Suhita joined the National Institute Of Design, Ahmedabad, where the untrammeled imagination fostered by her childhood environment, suddenly found meaningful channels through art appreciation, photography, freehand drawing, animation and typography. With her love of nature, she feels inspired to give back through her work as an illustrator and designer. Suhita can be reached at: suhita.mitra@gmail.com

C ONTENTS

T HE R ECIPIES

I NTRODUCTION

India is a fascinating country with varied cultures and languages across its immense vastness. It has a rich and distinct culinary legacy, but its size and diversity makes it difficult to keep track of the many names for various food items or the multitude of ingredients used by people from different States, speaking various dialects.

What binds India together is spirituality, which I believe is not a religion but a way of life, allowing each one of us to believe in what appeals to us. It could be gods and goddess, saints (seers and fakir s included), or simply the faith in a superpower that controls living and being. This way of life has, over the centuries, bred tolerance and acceptance of different views.

India is often described as a country of fasts, feasts and festivals. Fasting is a pan-religion tradition to please god by controlling and curbing ones desires. It is a feature of Hinduism, the Islamic Ramzan , the Christian Lent , the Jains Pariyushan and so on. It a ritual followed all over India in order to purify the body and soul. In this book, I have referred to Hindu fasts since they are what I am familiar with. However, the recipes can be used by anyone of any faith.