Watch Your Diet

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Dipanita Nath: Jul 20 2012, 00:22 IST

If there ever is a tour of all the kitchens in India, its path would be long, winding and packed with variety at every step. Few things divide India more than food. In a pinch of condiments and a toss of herbs, the flavours of the North get separated from that of the Northeast, and the colours of a Southern thali become distinct from the taste of the West. Now, two documentaries by Public Service Broadcasting Trust explore how food is not just good enough to eat. It is also a calling card for a community, family and individual — and these identities are constantly asserting themselves.

Vani Subramaniam, best known for the documentary, Ayodhya Gatha, turns her attention to food in her latest work, Stir.Fry.Simmer. Arun Kumar TR, on the other hand, combines his filmmaking career of 25 years with a lifelong passion for cooking in his film Beyond Chicken

Tikka Masala.

A Malayalee brought up on traditional fare since childhood, Kumar, in his fifties, had found out early that the worldwide definition of Indian food did not include the meals that his mother made and served. “To the whole world, Indian food seemed to be restricted to tandoori, kebab, tikka and curry. I didn’t identify with this. It seemed like somebody had created a mould and was trying to fit me into it,” he says. Beyond Chicken Tikka Masala begins with chef

Sanjeev Kapoor stating as much: “If somebody rubbishes chicken tikka masala, they don’t know the power of chicken

... contd.

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