Another one in the series. So, it is a well established common notion that gravies taste better when they have a good amount of onions, garlic and ginger as ingredients in them. Well, I am not just discussing the Indian cuisines here, but also many Italian gravies for sure have garlic as one of the main ingredients. Surely, whenever I have added a sizable amount of sauteed onion, garlic and ginger to things like gravies, or for that matter to the significant dhal makhni, they all have ended up tasting just heavenly.
Now what I don't get is how come the community in my country that is averse to eating all these 3 magic ingredients, or at least onions and garlic for sure end up cooking such tasty tasty food without their presence??? I just do not have an answer to that.
I recall an incident when one of my good friend who is a Swami Narayan disciple accompanied with me to a Gurudwara. I had an embarrassing and also a fun time inquiring the sewadars (people who cook the langar) if the langar had "garlic" or "onion" added to it. Well of course heart-in-heart I knew that the sabji served there would have these ingredients, but there was some hope of these foods being absent in the dhal at least. It was fun conversation when I asked one of the sewadars:
"Ji, pyaaz lehsun hai???"
"Haan ji behenji, koi lod nahi ji, hamare paas sab kuch hai, Wahe Guru ki kripa hai"
English translation:
"Hmmm, there is onion and garlic????"
"Oh lady, we have everything, by God's grace we got everything with us, heaven's sake"
hahhahha
Though I did not show my laughter to the god fearing Sardarji at the very moment; but when I told the same to my Swami Narayan disciple friend, he started laughing. Then, my poor friend had no other option but to suffice himself with just the kheer.
This brings me back to my doubt, how come the food that my Swami Narayan friend used to get, tasted so awesome??? Though it lacked the onions, garlic and also the ginger; rather the gravy was only made of plain tomato puree. How come??
Does that mean that onion, garlic and ginger play no role in imparting a distinct taste to a dish or is it just that we perceive these 3 ingredients to be giving an imaginary flavour to the dishes that we cook??
To test the same I even tried making maa ki dhal or the commonly known dhal makhni without these 3 ingredients, and believe me even the Punjabi friends of mine could not make out the absence of them in it.
I so do not get this stuff....
Now what I don't get is how come the community in my country that is averse to eating all these 3 magic ingredients, or at least onions and garlic for sure end up cooking such tasty tasty food without their presence??? I just do not have an answer to that.
I recall an incident when one of my good friend who is a Swami Narayan disciple accompanied with me to a Gurudwara. I had an embarrassing and also a fun time inquiring the sewadars (people who cook the langar) if the langar had "garlic" or "onion" added to it. Well of course heart-in-heart I knew that the sabji served there would have these ingredients, but there was some hope of these foods being absent in the dhal at least. It was fun conversation when I asked one of the sewadars:
"Ji, pyaaz lehsun hai???"
"Haan ji behenji, koi lod nahi ji, hamare paas sab kuch hai, Wahe Guru ki kripa hai"
English translation:
"Hmmm, there is onion and garlic????"
"Oh lady, we have everything, by God's grace we got everything with us, heaven's sake"
hahhahha
Though I did not show my laughter to the god fearing Sardarji at the very moment; but when I told the same to my Swami Narayan disciple friend, he started laughing. Then, my poor friend had no other option but to suffice himself with just the kheer.
This brings me back to my doubt, how come the food that my Swami Narayan friend used to get, tasted so awesome??? Though it lacked the onions, garlic and also the ginger; rather the gravy was only made of plain tomato puree. How come??
Does that mean that onion, garlic and ginger play no role in imparting a distinct taste to a dish or is it just that we perceive these 3 ingredients to be giving an imaginary flavour to the dishes that we cook??
To test the same I even tried making maa ki dhal or the commonly known dhal makhni without these 3 ingredients, and believe me even the Punjabi friends of mine could not make out the absence of them in it.
