Ladyfinger or ‘bhindi’ is one of the staple vegetables cooked and enjoyed in Punjab in scorching summer season which grips Punjab from April till September. It is deep fried hence the taste and the fan following. There are many variations in the way it is cooked, the most common is to simply cut it into small pieces and deep fry it with added spices, tomatoes and onions.
Now to come to the origins of the title of this article: ‘Bhindi Rasoolpuri’. It is a recipe which includes deep-fried potatoes, which are added to bhindi and it takes the taste to the next level, though both being fried, cholesterol levels of the eaters probably go up by several notches too!
How did this recipe get its name? There is a very interesting story behind it. An uncle of mine, from the land of ‘Majha’ in Punjab, where people are known to have gargantuan appetite both for food and drinks happened to visit us on the day mom had made ‘alu bhindi’.
After a round of drinks, everyone went to the dining room where dinner was served, including the spicy and deep-fried ‘alu bhindi’.
I could rightly presume uncle didn’t have the pleasure of tasting it before because the moment he put it in his mouth, the taste buds were hit for a six, gauging by the reaction in his eyes, which were shimmering with pleasure.
“This is very tasty, the best bhindi I have ever had!” Uncle roared, having downed four large pegs of whisky.
Little did we know that the taste would stay with him and he would drive all the way from Amritsar to Mohali just to have his favourite ‘alu bhindi’ and he used to call before starting requesting that his favourite dish be prepared.
So, uncle’s regular forays to Mohali started. His department’s head office was in Chandigarh and some of the visits were ‘official’ and only on paper, the main reason to come here was to enjoy dad’s quota of CSD whisky, ‘bhindi alu’ and gup-shup!
At times, he used to bring raw bhindi and requested mom to cook it the way he liked and sometimes he used to bring properly chopped bhindi so mom didn’t have to labour too much. And before we started for Amritsar to visit them, he requested mom to cook ‘alu bhindi’ and bring it along!
This went on for a few years until uncle retired and old age and health issues caught up with him. Uncle is still around and does come here occasionally but he has fallen out of love with his favourite vegetable.
From time to time, we amuse ourselves recollecting memories from the days gone by and as uncle is from Rasoolpur village in Tarn Taran district, we have named the recipe ‘Bhindi Rasoolpuri’ in his honour.
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Ramandeep Singh Bajwa, Senior Associate Editor
bajwa.rs@gmail.com
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