On the plate in front of me, slices of raw mango are carefully arranged in the shape of petals. Her friend Alka Dogra advises her to eat it right away.
As soon as I take a bite, my taste buds are stimulated by the hot and tangy taste of salt, which pairs beautifully with the acidity of the fruit.
“This has Hari Mirchi Pishun Loon (green chilli salt) from Uttarakhand that you've been wanting to taste,” she shares.
But I barely listen and have already traveled back in time. During the sixth grade's lunch break, we eat school lunch. A girl named Mahima takes out a small package and asks teasingly. “Kis ki sko chahie (How many do you want?)” We jump with joy. This is her mother's signature spice mix.
I spread out guavas, apples, and oranges. Sprinkle the coarse, dark green mixture over the orange slices and pop into your mouth. Sharp salt and chili pepper mix with sweet and sour orange juice for an explosion of intensely tangy flavor.
We were craving that legendary spice mix. And the next year when Mahima left school, we had to eat fruits with regular salt and we got grumpy.
I had almost forgotten this memory, but it came back to me 20 years later, one sunny winter afternoon while eating alka and fruit in Delhi. she lamented. She said, “Daadi ka pisyun loon hota to kya baat thi (I wish salt tasted like my grandmother's here).''
“Pishun, what?” I asked confused.
“It is a special salt from Uttarakhand,” she replied, and promised to share some with me the next time her mother sent me some pishun abi.
It was worth the wait. As I savored the salt-dusted mango slices prepared by Alka, I was happy to learn the name of my favorite spice mix from my school days.
Special seasonings
Pishun Abhi (meaning “coarse salt ground with spices”) is a cherished condiment in Uttarakhand. It is deeply connected to the local culture and there are even songs written about it. “Hun Pish Loan” is the story of a boy's desire to return to his village in search of his mother's salt. And “Hai Kakdi Zilema loon pisse sile ma” is the story of a girl who sees a ripe cucumber and dreams of happily grinding salt for her fiancé.
Culinary expert Rushina Mansho Girdiyar says she has discovered that this salty condiment exists only in the kitchens of Uttarakhand. In the culinary archives of the region (her husband is from the region), which she has compiled for 25 years to record recipes, she records more than 17 types of flavored salts. Each of them claims “health and medicinal benefits.'' ”
“Every cook and family in the region has their own variations based on personal and family preferences,” she says, adding that she hopes to publish a cookbook next year.
Nitika Kutiala, a culinary expert and home cook from neighboring Himachal, says: [everyday spice mixture] Every family has a recipe and uses whatever they can get their hands on. ”
Those who grew up with this condiment often have fond childhood memories. Nandini Jayal Khanduri, a jewelry designer in the state capital Dehradun, sits in the winter sun watching her mother make katais with neighbors as she runs home from school every day. I remember that.
A popular mixture from this region is made with chakotla (grapefruit), malta (blood orange), and galgal (hill lemon). Peel the fruit and remove the pulp, then mix it with salt and spices. Roasted sesame powder is sometimes added to reduce the acidity. It is often enjoyed with parathas and flatbreads. “Even when I talk about the Katai people, I drool,” Khanduri says with a laugh.
Kavita Manralum spent her childhood in Ranikhet, where her father, an army officer, was posted. She remembers enjoying lemons from her backyard with her favorite dish, green chili garlic pishon loong. In her adult life, she makes this salt at her home in Ghaziabad.
salty history
Because salt is an essential element for important bodily functions and humans tend to crave it, it has historically been used as currency, but at the same time it was heavily taxed, and during the Ferrara War (1482-1484). It has also become the center of conflicts such as the 1990s. the Salt Wars between Venice and Ferrara and Naples and the Papal States (1556-1557); The famous Dandi March led by Mahatma Gandhi in 1930, also known as the Salt March, was an important event in India's struggle for independence from British rule. This was a non-violent protest against the British-imposed salt tax, which gave the British government a monopoly on salt production and distribution and made it illegal for Indians to collect or sell salt.
Salt is essential and expensive, forcing people to find more salt. Girdiyar cites wild salt leaves used by tribal communities in the Sahyadri region of western India and salt bush used by Aboriginal communities in Australia.
Due to its potency, salt can be used in small quantities to make pickles, chutneys and abhi (salt) and can be “stretched,” Gildiyar added.
That's why “this salt tradition developed in both Svaneti, Georgia, and Uttarakhand, India, two mountainous regions where salt had to be transported across difficult terrain,” says Canadian cookbook author Naomi Duguid, who wrote “The Joy of Salt,'' explains: In Quebec, Canada, a salt mixture called “herbal sari” is made from finely chopped fresh green herbs and chopped carrots, stored in jars, and used as a seasoning in a variety of dishes, says Duguid. he explains.
The origin of Pishun Abi is still a mystery. However, Mr. Gildiyal has his own theories. The Bhutiya communities, which span three Indian states bordering Tibet and Nepal (Sikkim, West Bengal and Uttarakhand), historically traded herbs and spices with each other. Salt was sold in rocks or blocks and had to be ground with a silbatta (grindstone), and so were spices. Gildiyar believes this led to the serendipitous creation of flavored salt. “Someone would have ground the salt using a mortar and pestle that they had previously used to grind something, and would have found that the masala left on the stone added to the flavor of the salt.”
Tanaya Joshi, a chef from Uttarakhand, said the lack of fresh vegetables during the winter, especially in hilly regions, may have been a factor, urging people to explore new ways to prepare meals. It is said that he did.
make flavorful salt
There are no written recipes, variations or combinations of these salts, says Girdiyar. Family recipes are “passed down primarily through great-grandmothers and great-great-grandmothers,” but are rooted in available ingredients, personal preferences, and “the philosophy of the family's main cook,” as well as the medicinal properties of the ingredients. . Therefore, the mixture varies from household to household and region to region.
This also applies to Svanuri Marili or Svan Salt, the Svaneti flavored salt, Duguid Note. It usually includes dill, fenugreek, marigold petals, coriander, caraway, dried red chili peppers, and lots of garlic. It can be used in marinades and rubs for meat, as well as seasonings and seasonings during cooking.
For Pishun Abhi, white, pink and senda namak (rock salt) are added with dry spices such as asafoetida (fennel), basil, carom (caraway), mint, coriander and green chilli, Kutiala said. To tell. Fresh coriander is used when it is in season, although it is not always available in this region. “The main ingredient is salt, so feel free to add as much as you like.”
In the Kumaon region, salt made from bhang (hemp seeds), jakiya (wild mustard) and bhan jeera are very popular, Joshi said.
In Uttarakhand, green garlic salt is a winter specialty. Also during this season, iodine, pink salt and rock salt are blended with amchur (dried mango powder) and sprinkled on oranges, guavas and papayas. Mint salt and chilli cumin salt are popular in summer, and various salts are added to dahilaita (yoghurt mixed with tomatoes, onions and cucumbers) and matta (tempered buttermilk).
In both seasons, spread the mixture on paper to preserve its flavor and dry it in the shade, never in the sun. However, it can be eaten fresh during the monsoon, Kutiara explains. When dry, the mixture resembles grains of salt. In many households he is produced in 7-8 varieties. The shelf life of the batch is approximately 2 years.
There are many options when it comes to eating Pishun Abi. You can sprinkle it on fruits and vegetables, add it to dishes, mix it with rice or ghee, or add it to ramen or instant noodles.
Joshi recalls eating ragi (finger millet) roti smeared with ghee and pishun abhi. Spreading flavorful salt on the roti is a popular lunch option. It is highly portable and does not require refrigeration.
Green garlic salt and sugar are often served with jangora (millet) cooked in buttermilk to make a porridge called paleu or chencha that is eaten for breakfast. The flavored salt used in this porridge varies depending on the season. For example, in winter, hare rasin ka namak (green garlic salt) is used, and in summer, jire ka namak (cumin salt) is used.
find overseas fans
Due to its growing popularity in other parts of India and abroad, Pishun Abhi is now being sold through social media and online shopping platforms.
Shashi Raturi has been running an NGO (Mahila Nav Jagran Samiti) in Dehradun since 1982, helping women find employment. “We used to eat lunch together and all the women would buy homemade salt,” she says. This gave her the idea of selling Pishun Abi to generate income and employment for her.
Raturi started selling flavored salts in 2015 under the label Namakwari (“Woman with Salt”) and is now available for purchase on Amazon. “We use gharewal namak (rock salt) rather than commercially available salt,” she says, adding that the mixture is handmade using a pestle and mortar. It takes approximately 3 to 4 days to prepare a batch of 10 kg (22 lb) of flavored salt.
Deepa Devi, a native of Kaklighat village near Almora, has been selling flavored salt since 2011. She started with a small business with a shop on a main road, where she prepared chili peppers and various mixtures and sold salt worth about 5,000 rupees ($60). For her first two years.
Now, working with a team of nine women and taking orders via WhatsApp, she sells 20 varieties made from chili peppers, local spices and herbs such as timur, ginger, green garlic, cumin, asafoetida and sesame seeds. We sell more than one variety. She has also trained around 500 women to start their own businesses.
Girdiyar said he could not find a similar tradition of flavored salt making anywhere else in India and wanted to keep the practice alive. During her culinary stay in Uttarakhand, she was gifted a jar of ghar ka namak (her homemade salt) by her homeowner and also developed her own flavors such as nettle. There is.
Our ancestors figured out how to use salt wisely to survive in times of famine, hardship, and seasons of scarcity, Duguide says. “Salt needs to be respected and respected.”
Uttarakhand's flavorful salt is more than just a seasoning. They celebrate relationships, create memories, inspire stories and songs, and commemorate the beloved people who built them: grandmothers, mothers, sisters, wives.