Gustatelo!

I was sick when I arrived at Chhat Sagar in Nimaj. We had been in the car for almost 7 hours that day most of which I spent sleeping or blowing my nose. I was not exactly my usual enthusiastic self. But it did not take long to change my tune at this incredible tented camp.  It was dark when we arrived, and we were greeted with a cool glass of delicious sweet limejuice and a cool towel. We got settled in our tented accommodations, which were more than comfortable with all the basic necessities and running water! We sat down to dinner soon after. Even in my sick and exhausted stupor, I thought the food was very comfortable and homey, which was perfect considering how bad I was feeling. Nothing makes you want to go home like being sick on vacation. The food was served family style, but instead of placing serving dishes on the table, Chhat Sagar serves lunch and dinner right off the stove from the pot it was cooked in. The servers come from the kitchen with a series of five or six pots and give you a small pile from each on your plate. But don’t worry; there are always opportunities for seconds and thirds.

Dinner included rabori and kurkuri bhindi. Rabori is an old Rajasthani recipe where you take a batter of maize flour, buttermilk, cumin and chili powder, spread it out in flat sheets in the sun to dry and crack and then store it. This dried rabori is then added to some kind of masala gravy to make a starch dish. Kurkuri bhindi is essentially okra fried with a bit of batter. The okra was very good, a bit salty, but certainly the first time I have tasted okra totally void of that awful slimy texture that makes it so unappealing. I believe okra to be an acquired texture for the most part. Dessert was a delightful surprise: zucchini pudding. It was a great mouth feel. The julienned zucchini gave a substantial quality to the dish while the sweet cardamom infused milk assured me I was enjoying a delicious Indian dessert. I want the recipe for this one! Delicious and nutritious, what will the kids think?!

Clockwise: Rice, Rabori, Mixed Vegetables, Kurkuri Bhindi, Goat in "Red Sauce"

I learned the following day that the kitchen doesn’t claim to be Rajestani but home-style Indian. (precisely what I had assessed) All meals are made completely from scratch with meats and produce from the village and farms that are part of the coop farm property Chhat Sagar is a part of. With the fresh milk they receive every morning, they make their own butter, yogurt and paneer (a fresh farmers cheese that is very common in Indian cooking); all of which are superb!

Breakfast

That morning I finally got a look around our camp to see where we were situated. This family run operation sits atop a dam and looks out on a breath-taking view of a 100-year-old reservoir on one side and beautiful farmland and countryside on the other.

Red Chili Fields

The two cousin owners made us feel right at home. It was their great grandfather who created this reservoir and the following generation divided the farmland amongst the 6 brothers. Now most of the land is farmland surrounding the camp grounds along with a small village down the road with about 1500 residents (it sounds like a lot, but believe me, it is very small) During the day we got a chance to walk though the farmland on this incredible estate as well as visit the village complete with thorough explanation. We saw chili, anis, and fenugreek, a common Indian spice, growing in the fields all of which are fed from the reservoir, which collects monsoon rains. In the village we visited a few homes and workshops. We saw a potter, a tailor, a carpenter and a shepherd. It was the first time I have really felt that I got to see home many people live in this country. We met people, asked questions, and really interacted with the culture a bit. For the short time I have been here, I learned more about the current way of life in that 3 hours than I have the whole rest of the trip combined. It is nice to see all the ancient sights and learn about the history, but what I am more interested in is the situation going on right now. How do many people go through life here in India? Since I cannot do a proper home stay in India, this farm and village visit was the next best for me.

The Pickings for the Day

In the afternoon we got a full cooking demonstration including a basic yogurt based gravy on gram ‘dumplings’, which aren’t really dumplings at all, and goat soola, a thin-sliced goat meat barbeque with a fantastic marinade. I’ll do my best to walk you through the recipe.

Gram flour dumplings in yogurt curry:
For the curry:
4-5 tbs. sunflower oil
<½ tsp cumin seeds
½ c diced red onions
1 c yogurt
½ tsp red chili powder
Salt
Turmeric
1 tsp coriander powder
>1 tsp fresh garlic paste

Heat the sunflower oil thoroughly in a medium saucepan. In a bowl combine the yogurt, red chili powder, salt, turmeric, coriander powder, and fresh garlic paste. Add the cumin seeds to the pan. After a few seconds add the onions. Sauté this mixture until the onions are dark brown in color. Once the onions are browned add the yogurt mixture to the pan and stir constantly in one direction until the mixture boils. You will know your gravy is done when the oil separates from the curry. Turn off the heat and set aside.

For the “dumplings”:
4 Tbs sunflower oil
Gram flour (chick pea flour is the closest equivalent)
Salt
Turmeric
Red chili powder
Water
Chopped seeded green chilies
Wood coals
Cloves
Ghee

Heat the sunflower oil in a new pan. Mix the gram flour, salt, turmeric, and red chili powder in a bowl and add water until you achieve a thin batter consistency. Stir in the green chilies. Pour the batter into the hot oil and cook until the batter is reduced to dough. Remove from heat and cover. Allow the dough to sit in the pan for a few min to cook a little father in its own steam. While the dough is still hot, press it out into a flat circle about 3 or 4 cm thick. Cut the circle into thin strips, turn, and cut again to create thin diamond strips, these are your “dumplings” (can anyone think of a better word for this because I can’t) Carefully add these dumplings to the curry, heat again over medium heat and stir gently until coated. Think you’re done? Well, you’re not. Here is the cool part. In a very small metal bowl place one or two wood coals and a clove or two. Carefully place this bowl inside your saucepan on top of your curry dumplings. Quickly drizzle Ghee on top of the coals and cover. This is a method of smoking called Dhuanaar; it gives the dumplings a mild smoky flavor. Allow the pot to smoke for a few minutes before removing the lid and bowl of coals. Serve warm.

Mans ka Soola:
This meat is so delicious and tender with a huge spice and complex flavors. It is traditionally, and I think best, served as an appetizer as its bold flavor would be too much for a main dish.

Goat/lamb or game meat
Yogurt
Fresh garlic paste
Onions sautéed golden and ground to a paste
Fresh ginger paste
Kachari powdered (or tomatoes or papaya in a paste form)
Deseeded chili powder
Salt
Wood coals
Cloves
Cumin seeds
Ghee

Mix all the ingredients except the meat together in a large bowl or pot. Use the best cuts of meat, whichever animal you are using, and slice the meat into very thin 3 cm by 8 cm strips. Add these strips to the marinade; mix well, and let sit for two days. Yes, that’s right, two whole days. The meat will not turn out the same if you don’t marinade for a long time. This is especially true if you are using goat meat, which is very lean and dries out easily. After the marinade, place a few coals and cloves in a bowl on top of your meat and marinade. Add some ghee, and quickly cover to allow the meat to smoke briefly.  Now attach the strips of meat to a two or preferably three-pronged spit piece by piece. Tie it all up with a string and roast it over wood coals for 1 ½ hours, turning and basting with ghee periodically.  Once your meat is done, remove from the spit into a pot with a lid. Smoke the meat again for a few min with coals in a bowl, cumin seeds and ghee. Once the smoking is complete, serve warm as an appetizer or with a drink.

Our stay at this camp was relaxing, enlightening, and full of delicious food. I would return to this camp sight before any of the fancy luxury hotels we’ve been to. The scenery is beautiful, the context is educational, the food is delectable and most importantly the people are simpaticissimi! I arrived at Chhat Sagar with a bad cold and I left feeling rested, refreshed and happy. This is truly my favorite stop thus far. Gustatelo!