Chutney and 'Aatma Nirbharta'

Chutney has been with us over the last three centuries. In my childhood days in the big joint family, it was an inseparable and relished item on the menu. My college days in the 70s were nicely backed by the right kind of chutneys that selflessly demanded lip-smacking consumption. In fact, some hotels were hesitant to serve the third time.

During service, I had often followed a good plan of staying late in the name of discussions, eats accompanied of course. It seemed quite fine until the doctor smilingly advised me to avoid chutney, due to a possible water infection. This advice was lurking in the background stopping me from breaking free.

Amid the pandemic lockdown, my wife invited me to the kitchen and told me I should hand-grind ingredients for the best chutney.

All arrangements were neatly laid out. I refused initially but began eventually. The ingredients — coconut, grams, cumin, curry leaves, coriander, pepper, chillies, and ginger, and others — winked at me. I felt I am one among them, but started grinding them anyway.

The whole process, moving the stone in an anti-clockwise manner, ingredients at different stages getting pushed and coaxed into the grinding area, appeared natural like the dynamic life pattern.

The chutney tasted good and was assuring. I objected strongly to my wife’s suggestion about visiting the kitchen every day but willfully complied with it.

The fact of the matter is that the superiority of “chutney-rubbing” over “mixer-preparation” is widely observed and noted, even by tribologists. Cutting in the mixer enhances speed but is no match to hand-grinding.

The hand-grinding of chutney is very neat. It establishes wholesome connectivity with the varied menu and aids immunity. Further, the hand-grinding process also demands effective research as well as data analytics to establish the goodness of following the best practices of making chutney.

My daughter also indicated this understanding in the West and extended a hearty invitation to come with the full apparatus and enthusiasm to prepare chutney.

After my newfound knowledge of making the best chutney, I feel like connecting chutney to Aatma Nirbharta.