Sweet taste of home

AHMEDABAD: There's no place like home, says Dorothy in 'The Wizard of Oz'. As the Cooking Fiesta of Times Ahmedabad Festival shifted to Vishalla restaurant on Thursday, Kachru Maharaj, Chimanlal Maharaj and their team showed their wizardry with homely Gujarati cuisine and taught participants ways to perfect that tricky 'doodhi na muthia', 'mariwala idra' and the common yet popular dessert 'sukhdi'.
For doodhi na muthia, Kachru Maharaj demonstrated how to knead the dough with curd, leaving it slightly runny. After resting the dough for 45minutes, the muthia is sautéed with asafoetida powder, mustard and sesame seeds.
The secret to an instant idra is kneading the rice flour and urad daal flour with just curd and no water. This quickens the fermentation, Kachru Maharaj explained.
“Idra with mixed flour was new for me,” said Himangi Gokhle. “I have always kept the dough to ferment for six to eight hours. This instant fermentation method is so much more convenient,” said C Saxena, a regular at the Cooking Fiesta, which as Ista Hotels as hospitality partner.
Fact dish
There are four major varieties of Gujarati cuisine. Surti food is usually steamed and contains oodles of ghee, Kathiawadis use a lot of spice and oil, Kutchi food is dry, and seasonal vegetables form the main ingredients in central Gujarat.