If you are into watching TV serials in DoorDarshan(DD), you should be knowing Gul(flower), Gulshan(garden), Gulfam(gardener), a TV series portraying the life of a Kashmir family. The name Gul, Gulshan and Gulfam are the boat houses run by the family and how their lives are affected post-terrorism in J&K. It was only DD those days, so i never miss any of these serials and when my friends here, even the taxi drivers when praise that my hindi is too good for a south-indian, i secretly thank these TV serials for that!!! 😉
So my first intro to J&K is through this serial. During my school days, when girls together gossip and talk about marriage and honeymoon (with what we understood by watching TV) i used to say that i will go to Kashmir for my honeymoon. The Movie Roja had a very bad influence on me, first arvind swamy and second those snow-clad mountains where the song Pudhu Vellai Mazhai was pictured. But, sadly i have never been on to any place after marriage, that is altogether another story. My hubby has promised to take me to J&K once before my lifetime. I
I have always seen J&K has the proud head of the Indian Lady. yes, if you see the Indian Map, you can see a lady standing spreading her arms and J&K adorns the beautiful head & face of the country and it will truly remain that way.
Kashmiri cuisine has had the earliest influence on Kashmirkadai Pandit cuisine. Usually, Pandits do not eat meat, however the Pandits of Kashmir have always eaten all meats except beef.Meat is cooked in Kashmiri Pandit festivals and forms an extremely important part of Kashmiri Pandit identity.
Tea drinking forms a very important of Kashmiri Pandit cuisine and is often used in place of dessert. Two very important types of tea are Kehwa (Sweet Green tea with Cardammom and almonds) and Sheer Chai (salty pink tea with almonds). Such teas are usually taken with Baked Breads like Kulcha and Katlam. Today i bring you a filling lunch from J&K. When i was making this khichdi, i was in a doubt how will it taste so much less spice, it has only ginger and 2 green chilies and nothing more. But i was awestruck with the aroma and flavor. It was a filling meal with the raita. If you want you can have it along with some deep-fried snack. But we seriously didn't miss anything.
Ingredients
½ Cup Dhuli Moong/Split Moong dal with skin
1 Cup Basmati Rice
2 teaspoon Mustard Oil
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
2 green chilies, slited lengthwise
1 tablespoon grated ginger
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
salt to taste
Method
- Soak Moong dal and Rice together for 20 minutes, Drain and set aside.
- Heat oil in a pressure pan, add cumin. When it crackles, add green chilies, ginger and turmeric powder. Saute for 2 minutes.
- Next add the drained rice and dal to this and add saute for 2 minutes. Add water to this just to the level of rice and dal. Approximately 2 cups. The water should be to the level of rice and dal and not immersing them.
- Add salt, mix well. Close the pressure pan and let this cook on a medium flame for 15 minutes WITHOUT WHISTLE.
- After 15 minutes, put the whistle on and switch off the stove. Let the pressure cool down on its own. Release the cooker and fluff the rice with a fork. Serve with a teaspoon of ghee drizzled on top.
Dodhe Mujh Chaitin/Radish raita
Ingredients
1 medium-sized, daikon radish, grated
1 cup whisked yogurt
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds, roasted
salt to taste
few leaves of fresh mint for garnish
Method
- Grate the radish and squeeze out the excess water. Add this to whisked yogurt.
- Add salt, roasted cumin seeds and mix well. Garnish with fresh mint leaves and serve along Mong Ketchir.
Unknown
even I learned Hindi easily with all the movies I watched... Thanks to DDLJ and KKHH for improving my hindi in my college days.. lol:)
and yes this dish is so healthy and elegant..
The Pumpkin Farm
Aww priya...i wish you get to visit your fav place soon...this is nice dish and similar to the lilva rice from gujarat
MySpicyKitchen
I don't remember that many serials from DD except Fauji, which gave Shahrukh the fame and Hum Log I think in the 80s. Scenes of Kashmir from Roja are beautiful. Mong ketchir & radish raita sounds like a nice combination.
Torviewtoronto
looks wonderful
Varada's Kitchen
Nice combo. Enjoyed reading the post. I hope you get to visit J&K soon.
Priya Suresh
Am so weak in hindi, but i still remember few serials from DD through which i tried learning hindi myself hehe, Mong ketchir and dodhe mujh looks prefect pair,irresistible combination.
Nalini's Kitchen
Nice write up,mong ketir sounds very interesting and delicious...perfect with radish raita..A healthy and filling meal.
vaishali sabnani
The words Gul Gulshan Gulfam...immediately took me back to the old daysof t.v..but beyond those names I do not remember anything:((...the rice looks very interesting..and worth book marking!
Gayathri Kumar
Delicious combination of rice and raitha...
Unknown
priya, we think alike.. i thought of roja and arvind swamy too when I thought of kashmir. did you read my post? cinema paithiyam me.. I got curious about arvind swamy and started googling about him instead of Kashmir cuisine 🙂 the kichdi and raita look nice and comforting..
Srivalli
Priya, you got me so nostalgic..thank you..:)..such a lovely combo thee..
Harini R
I remember that serial as well, Priya. Lovely pick from Kashmir!
Pavani
I don't remember much of gul, gulshan, gulfam except for the house boats. Loved Arvind Swamy in Roja 🙂
Both the dishes look comforting and delicious. Nice pics.
Chef Mireille
my first knowledge of Kashmir was also with Indian movie - Mission Kashmir but your romantic version sounds like a better 1st impression!!!
Archana
How did I forget GGG the serial I used to love it and the of course Arvind Swamy ....
Delicious dishes I am really impressed about th etexture of ketchir wish I can atleast once get mine to stop falling in love with the next grain.
Suma Gandlur
Though I don't remember the story of the serial anymore, I remember Parikshit sahani was the lead. Even we used to watch all the Hindi serials that used to come on DD those days.
That khichdi / raita look simple and yummy.