Sun-dried vegetables, fruits and meats sustain the winter diet : The Tribune India

Pushpesh Pant

THE winter in the hills where we grew up was arduous. Days were short and nights long. Shadows started lengthening right after noon and the wind was touched with chill. The pale sun failed to warm. The worst part was that meals without fresh ingredients were insipid. Mothers tried valiantly to feed the children well-prepared meals that were nutritious and not monotonous. This is where the dried stuff transformed the winter of discontent to a more joyous season.

In the northern tip of the land, Ladakh has sun-dried yak cheese called churbi, a hard, chewing gum-like product, as well as sun-dried yak meat that can be easily rehydrated to make piping hot curries. In the valley of Kashmir, the most prized item is guchhi (a variety of wild mushrooms called morel). Considered the most expensive ‘vegetable’ in the world, it has a subtle flavour and can be enjoyed either stuffed or lightly cooked, in delicate yoghurt-based gravy or in pulav, both fresh and dried. Eggplant is also dried to be cooked as the tangy-sweet tusk vangun. In Kashmir, cockscomb or velvet flower called mawal is dried and used to impart a scarlet hue and distinct flavour to rogan josh.

In the entire Himalayan belt from Himachal Pradesh to the states in the north-eastern part of the country, there is a strong tradition of using dried or preserved products through fermentation….