IMake a magical slice of tender white bread layered with sharp Colman mustard, boiled and topped with shredded rooster or mashed eggs. It’s mustard that offers the sting. Sharpness and grape shades convey the only sandwiches and dishes to a different degree. I am an enormous mustard fan. As an alternative of the Shorshe or Sarson utilized in Bengali curry, the sorts of sauce served as accompaniment to varied dishes. And one among my absolute favorites is Kasundi of Bengal.
I am not a bigot right here. You knew it from my common indifference at Shorshe Maach or Shorshe Phulkopi. However give me a spoonful of sharp, thrilling and well-made kasundi. I can eat it alone.
The creation of Bengali Kasundi is nothing greater than a ritual. I got here from a home that does not play the lead function on the eating desk. Regardless of having fun with the very best Bengali delicacies, Kasundi was not what we had eaten or served. Like Sandesh and lots of Bengali sweets, Kasundi is broadly accessible all through Bengali, bottled and bought by quite a few massive and small producers.
So why is that this sudden odey in the direction of Kasundi? It is because it’s a meals information that has been inflicting controversy within the culinary world in recent times. A comparatively new information from Croatia launched in 2018, Thateatlas takes away every part from international delicacies and eating places to substances. Naturally, these rankings could cause heartburn, particularly after they seem misinformed or arbitrary.
The newest record of the very best mustard on the planet included some German, French, English and even Chinese language varieties. However it’s not the delicate factor of Bengali, and due to this fact probably the most delicate mustard of Indian Kasundi.
Mustard – Sasón, typically Rye– Broadly used all through India for tempering or culinary flavours. The leaves are cooked in salson ka saag or fry like spinach in lots of areas. Nonetheless, solely in Bengal, mustard has change into a sauce akin to the very best mustard on the planet. It may be eaten with spinach, gentle rain on prime, or as a dip to stuff fish or “chops”. It is sharp, holey and completely scrumptious.
Nonetheless, making kasundi shouldn’t be as straightforward as mixing mustard seeds with water and salt. And that is not the case prior to now both.
I believe the rationale Kasundi was by no means made at house is as a result of they did not observe sure archaic or regressive habits, particularly these rooted in caste and gender roles. Historically, kasundi was solely ready by Brahmin. I am unable to think about my very educated, impartial nice grandmother following these guidelines. Subsequently, we caught to the bottled kasundi.
Tasteatlas’s world’s record of finest mustards included a number of German, French, English and even Chinese language varieties. (Freepik)
Kasundi is historically made in Akshaya Tritiya on the Bengali month of Baishakh simply after the mustard harvest. In accordance with outdated customs, solely Brahmin males have been allowed to make kasundi. Even Brahmin ladies have been capable of wash, dry and beat mustard seeds. I did not make any precise paste. Even probably the most conventional Bengali properties have by no means seen this rule observe, however that is what the outdated prescription says.
What I witnessed was that kasundi was made within the kitchen. And the entire complexity of the method shocked me. This can be a sauce that has been ready for hundreds of years, ready with out flashy instruments, utilizing flashy fingers and conventional data. It’s used to create spice mixes that give kasundi a signature punch, comparable to inexperienced and black cardamom, cumin, coriander, nutmeg, mace, lengthy pepper, chili pepper, black pepper, and distinctive bengallurraduni (wild celery seeds).
It’s the exact combine and measure of those spices that distinguish one kasundi from one other. As soon as dried, beat the mustard seeds and spices, sieve and blend with water, salt and vinegar. Earlier than refrigeration, this combination is saved in a clay pot and sealed in a cool, darkish place for 2 and a half days. The model referred to as Phol or Aam Kasundi is made with turmeric, chili and inexperienced mangoes, and provides taste kicks.
The closest mustard I discovered in Kasundi is from Kolman. The powdered model particularly, when combined with water, it will get sharp and near Tang. However it’s right here. Opposite to what many fashionable recipes counsel, you’ll not prepare dinner with Kasundi. It’s an immersed or flavored sauce and is meant to be eaten as is. Additionally it is one of many uncommon Indian seasonings that don’t have regional variants apart from Bengal.
My recommendation: Eat the way in which you intend to eat. Turn into a purist. Don’t apply it with a sandwich. To do that, Dijon is there. As an alternative, stir-fry the fish or steam the spinach produced from steamed spinach. That is once you perceive how the only substances can present probably the most complicated flavors.
Under is the one Kasundi recipe I’ve ever adopted. I made it as soon as and it’s undoubtedly price making an attempt.
Kasundi
1Bay Leaf
1 teaspoon black pepper
¼1¼Ajwain (Calom Seed)
¼1¼radhuni/celery Seeds
1 cup of cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
½ tsp fenugreek seeds
Two cloves
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tbsp mustard oil
Tsp½ Timeceric Powder
1 cup of yellow mustard seeds
½ cup black mustard seeds
Dried crimson chili 2
Two Inexperienced Cardamoms
1 tsp salt
course of
1. In a bowl, combine all of the dry substances besides turmeric and salt.
2. Warmth the pan, dry roast the spices over low warmth till they scent higher, and begin crackling.
3. Don’t burn the combination. Let it cool after which grind it into nice powder.
4. Add boiling water slowly and slowly cooled water to create consistency within the mustard paste. Add turmeric. The consistency needs to be extremely constant.
5. Combine the salt and white vinegar.
6. Switch the combination to a glass jar and add mustard oil on prime of the paste. Don’t stir within the paste. That is merely to ensure the highest layer of the paste is roofed. Place the closed jar within the fridge for no less than every week or 10 days and permit it to ferment earlier than digging.
Subsequent week I might be writing about Woman Canning. why? It’s worthwhile to learn it to search out out.
