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Praseed Kumar Thayyil is back home after another busy day at work. It was the last day of planting rice seedlings for the new “rice paddy art” coming up on his paddy field. “We are ‘drawing’ Lord Buddha. The photo will be released in a month’s time,” says this farmer from Sultan Bathery in Wayanad district.

Developed by farmers of Inakadate village in Japan, rice paddy art or Tanbo Art is creating images in a paddy field using paddy of various shades. “The leaves and the inflorescence that bears rice spikelets come in different colours such as violet, purple, black, green, yellow… or in variations of these shades,” says Praseed, who has been into this art for the last five years.

Rice paddy art featuring two fish on Praseed Kumar Thayyil’s field, which was made last year

| Photo Credit: Special arrangement

The first work to come up on his field was a map of India (2017). While the second one, an eagle, got washed away in the flood, the third figure, featuring Swami Vivekananda, failed after wild animals ravaged the field. Nevertheless, his team, led by his friend and artist Prasad, did not give up. Next year, they made the figure of an elephant as a tribute to Guruvayur Kesavan, the legendary tusker of the Guruvayur Sri Krishna temple. Last year, it was two fish.

“Once the field is levelled, the outline is drawn with rice flour. Then we plant the seedlings. A specific portion of the field is always set aside for paddy rice art. The new work is coming up on 30 cents,” says 47-year-old Praseed. While Nazar Bath, a black-leaved paddy from Maharashtra, makes the border, the main ones are Dambar Sali, a variety from Karnataka with purple leaves, Jeerakashala and Mappilai Samba (originally from Tamil Nadu).

Praseed Kumar Thayyil, a farmer from Wayanad, grows over 125 paddy varieties

| Photo Credit: Special arrangement

“To create the fish, we used Nazar Bath, Jeerakashala, Gandhakashala, Rakthashali and Malli Kuruva,” he adds.

Recipient of Kerala State Biodiversity Board’s ‘Haritha Vyakthi Award’ (2019-20) for conserving and promoting rice varieties, Praseed grows over 125 varieties on 10 acres spread in three locations in the district. Born into a farmer family, it was 10 years ago that he decided to try growing new paddy varieties.

The first variety he tested was Krishna Kamod, the aromatic Basmati rice variety from Gujarat, on one cent of his field. When that succeeded, he began collecting more types from across the country. “Black rice has been an attraction for me and I grow it on five acres. I have come across 17 types, out of which seven are with me,” he adds.

Seed bank

With a focus on conserving seeds, he harvests them before they mature. “Not all seed collectors are interested in the sale or exchange of seeds. But I want to promote traditional rice varieties. I sell some of these varieties as grains as well. This Onam, I sold 50 kilogram of black rice,” he shares. The seeds and rice are mainly sold through his website, https://automateanywhere.in/get-paid-to-sell-your-home-at-a-loss/

In the last two years, Praseed has sold nearly 700 kilogram seeds, at rates varying from ₹50 per kilogram (Valichoori from Wayanad) , ₹500 per kilogram and up (black rice ) to the costliest ₹2,000 per kilogram (Ambemohar, a fragrant rice from Maharashtra). “Boka Saul from Assam is a unique variety. Merely putting it in water or milk is enough for it to be cooked. Once the seeds are ready, I plan to sell it at ₹5,000 per kilogram,” he adds.

Praseed emphasises that it is not easy to cultivate the black rice varieties. “At times, I get only 50 or 100 gram of seeds from seed collectors. There have been occasions when I could manage to get only a sheaf of a variety or just a few grains. In such cases, I grow them in pots and when there are enough seedlings I transfer them to the field. One such variety was Karuvachi, an indigenous variety found in the forests of Wayanad,” he explains.

A prized possession is Annoori in which flowering and ripening of the grain happens on the same day, between sunrise and sunset. Since it grows in the wild, there are debates about whether it can be called a paddy. “The grains remain on the plant for a day or two but usually birds eat them before I can collect them. I now grow them in 20 pots,” says Praseed.

In addition to indigenous rice varieties from Kerala, he grows Kalabati, Kala Namak, Burma Black, Kattuyaanam, Japan Violet, Ramli and Poongar.

“Farmers are dependent on then monsoon and climate change always puts us in a fix; so it is high time we thought about cultivating more varieties to increase our income. I want to set an example by bringing in as many varieties as possible through rice paddy art,” he says.

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I am craving comfort food, the way my mother makes it: well-cooked kanji, payar thoran, red coconut chutney, dollops of ghee and generous helpings of crisp, hot, golden pappadam and, maybe, a dash of pickle. If you read Pune-based Sudha Menon’s new book, Recipes for Life, published by Penguin, it is bound to make you long for the food of your childhood. Comfort food is all about nostalgia and what we eat as children.

As lockdowns motivated many people to return to comfort food, journalist-turned-writer Sudha Menon began her new book, Recipes for Life , on comfort food from all over India. Here, 30 celebrities from different walks of life talk about their food memories, the way their mothers would make it and how it evokes images of childhood, warmth and home.

The idea evolved when Sudha lost her mother-in-law and with it her treasured recipes for different kinds of masala and dishes. “None of us, including her children, had any idea how to make those. Indians don’t have a tradition of documenting recipes. Most of us learn cooking from our mothers or elders by helping them in the kitchen. Rarely are the ingredients or methods written down. Orally transmitted by women in the household, the measures are not accurate; you depend on expertise to discern what spice has to be added or decreased. The idea of the book gained traction when my mother, Pramila Radhakrishnan, and I spent time in UK with my elder sister, Sabita, a couple of years ago,” said Sudha.

Age was playing tricks with her mother’s memory and the excellent cook who had pampered her three daughters with homemade food occasionally found it difficult to recollect a recipe.

A pan-Indian collection

That motivated Sudha to accelerate the work on her book of recipes, with stories collected from all over India. There is Olympian Mary Kom, authors Amish Tripathi, Shantha Gokhale and Manu Pillai, politician-author Shashi Tharoor, actors Suhasini Mani Ratnam and Vidya Balan, author and sports commentator Harsha Bhogle, Michelin-starred chef Atul Kochchar, artist Atul Dodiya, cricketer Irfan Pathan and banker Uday Kothak among others reminiscing about the food that shaped their childhood and youth.

As each one enthusiastically narrates stories about their choice of food, what is evident is the variety, simplicity and nutritive value of eating local and fresh food. Cuisines are never watertight compartments and ingredients, cooking methods and flavours from many regions in India blended in kitchens to form new taste palates.

“The book is a recognition of mothers’ ingenuity in transforming the most humble vegetable or meat into flavoursome dishes that pamper the taste buds. No matter where they lived, they would find ways to recreate the taste of home for their children,” she says.

One also gets glimpses of Indians acquiring cross-culinary tastes from nooks and corners of the country thanks to their parents working in public sector companies, banks, railways, huge private firms and so on.

While Tisca Chopra recalls the roast chicken, mutton, tinned sardines and veggies such as brussels sprouts when her father was working in Kabul, VR Ferose, senior vice -president and head, SAP Academy of Engineering, reminisces how their home was a melting pot of different Indian cuisines as they lived in a Railways colony in Kharagpur, West Bengal.

Culinary traditions of India

From molgapodi, curd rice, vathakozhambu, bharli karli, saalans and mampoo pachadi (mango blossom chutney) and jackfruit seed payasam to puran poli, different kinds of dals, flavoured rice, breads and wadiwaali aloo, the book maps the rich culinary traditions of the country.

Sudha says although we believe ourselves to be cosmopolitan, she realised how little she knew about the diet in the North eastern states and her conversation with Mary Kom came as a revelation.

“Mothers usually shape the eating habits of children and those have a lasting effect on our food choice. So, there is Atul Kochchar who talks about how his strict mother made him eat lauki for a week because he refused to eat the vegetable. But it also showcased her culinary artistry because each time the lauki appeared on the table in a different taste. That was how mothers of an earlier generation made sure we never wasted food or turned up our nose at any kind of food,” says Sudha.

Her own favourites from her mother’s treasure trove of recipes include Avoli (promfret) cooked with mango and coconut, ripe mango chammanthi, raw mango and cucumber curry and mango pulissery.

Along with recipes of snacks, vegetarian and non-vegetarian food, the book celebrates India’s vast food diversity. Many of the celebrities also reminisce on the food that used to be made during festivals. Every festival in the country, many with roots in our agricultural past, is closely linked to a wide range of cereals, snacks, curries, preserves, sweets and drinks.

Sudha hopes the book motivates readers to collect the recipes in his/her family to pass on to a new generation.

The book was launched on July 23.

Move over BYOB, it is time to BYOC: Bring Your Own Car. With customers still nervous about eating at busy restaurants, but eager to get out of the house after successive lockdowns, a trend from the 70s is making a comeback and drive-in restaurants are sprouting across the country.

At Drive & Dine by Dhuaan in Kanpur, golf carts deliver food to cars packed in designated spots. Launched last August, by the Status Hospitality Group, this idea was a response to the pandemic. “The hospitality industry was shook. We have hundreds of employees to support. Home delivery was the only thing that was working but that was not enough to cover costs,” says Yash Malhotra who has taken over the family hospitality business along with his sister Insha Malhotra.

Drive and dine by Dhuaan
 

With large banquet lawns at their disposal, they realised a drive-in diner was a great way to capitalise on their expansive property. “This way diners can maintain distancing while being able to go out of the house and enjoy a meal,” says Yash. Picnic benches are placed alongside cars, in case people wish to stretch their legs, and get out of the car as well. Orders are made via QR codes.

The drive-in experiment got more traction than the Malhotras expected (roughly 60 cars over the weekend), and has now become a permanent feature. “Seeing the success, a couple of small restaurants from cities such as Surat and Chandigarh reached out to us and have implemented a similar concept,” says Yash. As Drive & Dine by Dhuaan turns one this week, the team continues to make an effort to keep the space exciting. They host themed evenings such as movie nights, Sufi nights, and even distance dancing nights. “Sometimes clients book the entire or part of the space to play tambola in their cars or for social events,” adds Yash.

Drive-in birthday parties are trending too. Shyam Sunder, who runs Arjun Garden Cafe in Chennai’s Medavakkam says he often hosts families and friends who park their cars at his cafe, and celebrate special occasions with confetti and cake. Flash mobs have also taken place here, he says.

Shyam, who worked briefly at the Imperial in Delhi, and trained at the Indian Accent restaurant, also in the capital, returned home to Chennai in 2019, to set up the drive-in Cafe with his father Bala Sunder. Spread over an acre, it houses a seating area with a thatched roof, another space for pets and their owners, as well as 30,000 square feet of open space that can accommodate 45-50 cars.

When launched two years ago, he says, no one really came just for the drive-in. He tried telecasting cricket and football matches on the large screen, which drew in a few clients. Post pandemic, it is a different story.

“People are more comfortable sitting in their car as it’s their space, while we take care of everything else,” says Shyam. He adds that once the pandemic hit, he lost out on his bachelor clients as most of them moved back to their home-towns. Instead, he saw a rise in the family crowd. “I now have 80% more sales from the drive-in than I did pre-pandemic,” he says.

What makes it safer

To ensure physical distancing, a metre’s gap is maintained between the cars. Although the drive-in cafe is busiest at dinner time, they have a growing clientele coming in early in the day, to breakfast on the cafe’s popular uthappam waffles, gingelly oil dosa and chicken keema dosa. Regulars often call in and order in advance. Some call to pre-order slow-cooked meat, which they then enjoy outside on areca palm plates.

In an attempt to make clients feel safer, restaurants are constantly upgrading systems now. At Kaasa Kitchen, Kochi, finger bowls and fumigators (to get rid of the smell of the food) are part of the process. Others, like Zam Zam in Thiruvananthapuram are thoughtfully providing trays that can be attached to the cars’ windows, so diners can eat comfortably without juggling hot food on their laps.

Sri Kamakshi Mess
 
| Photo Credit: Ragu R.

Recently launched Sri Kamatchi Mess drive-in in Parrys Corner, Chennai, has a carefully thought out system in place. “We have designed wooden benches that we slide into the cars, so customers can eat off them. They come in two different sizes to suit different models of cars,” says producer-turned-actor, V Natarajan, who launched this venture along with his daughter-in-law Rani Kumar. Their earlier businesses include maavadu.in (a Thanjavur-style meal delivery service), Sri Kamatchi mess in West Mambalam, and a food truck.

“We also have tables and chairs placed for those who prefer to sit outside and eat,” says Natarajan. Functioning out of the canteen building in the Raja Annamalai Mandram complex, the facility can hold about 40 cars at a time. Their strategic location, with the High Court and many Government offices located in the vicinity, has made it convenient for many to stop by for breakfast or lunch.

“Our USP is reviving old-style tiffin items such as Kanjeevaram idli, more koozh, puli upma, arisi upma. We also have a tandoori and Chinese counter, but the focus is on South Indian dishes,” says Rani.

This is an effective module, provided there is ample parking space. Some, like Sante Spa Cuisine in Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai, have made drive-in an extension of its dine-in restaurant. Kaneesha Jain, who owns this branch, says their parking area can easily hold up to 50 cars.

To cater to this car dining audience, the restaurant has invested in eco-friendly, plastic-free cutlery, hands-free ordering service via their app and a Spotify playlist that enables in-car diners to listen to the same music being played inside the restaurant.

People want to be in their safe bubbles and think of their cars as one. Yes, home delivery is always an option agrees Kaneesha, but certain dishes lose their flavour and character by the time they get delivered. This way, one gets to enjoy the best of both worlds: People get to go out and be safe at the same time. And of course, a little nostalgia never hurt anyone.

Woodlands did it first

In 1962, at the centre of what is now Semmozhi Poonga, stood Woodlands, South India’s first drive-in restaurant. The Woodlands Hotel Group leased out 18 of the 320 acres of the Agri-Horticultural Society on Cathedral Road to build what would go on to become one of the city’s most popular landmarks until it shut down in 2008.

Considered an innovative venture then, it helped popularise Udupi style vegetarian cuisine. The entire car parking area functioned as the restaurant and steel trays, with glasses of water, were fitted to the front doors of the cars. Waiters would then come to the car and narrate the items on the menu that day.

Its sprawling greenery that included a play area for children made it popular among families. Located in the heart of the city, it attracted many morning walkers who would stop by for breakfast and be assured of steaming hot pongal and idli as early as 6 am. Their chole bhature, masala dosa, sambar vada, chilli cheese, toast bonda and coffee were the most popular items on menu.

With inputs from Chitra Deepa Anantharam