Rasam and Beans Curry

Comfort food.

Basically, माँ के हाथ का खाना.

Comfort food is food that reminds you of your childhood.  It isn't usually just one dish.  It is often a combination of foods.  One such childhood food combination etched in my memory is jeera rasam with rice and ghee, with a side of green beans curry.  Today's lunch menu of a simple tomato saaru and beans palya, although not the same, instantly conjured up a collage of sights, smells, and memories from childhood.  In essence, food prepared by my mother and both my grandmothers.  Food that supplied energy for my growth.  Food that provided me comfort through my adolescent years.  REAL comfort food!

At lunch time today, I found myself reminiscing about more than just the aforementioned jeera rasam and green beans curry.  I entered a dreamland where I could almost taste Sankariamma's (my paternal grandma) Peerkangai (ridge gourd) kootu with chapati, bite into Premamma's (my maternal grandma) crispy vazhaikkai/senai kizhangu/seppankinzhangu roast with milagu rasam, catch a whiff of Amma's fragrant amti (with amsul) bhaat with tondlichi bhaji (cut lengthwise), savor Premamma's kurma (with ample potatoes) with chapati, work my way through a well of Sankariamma's spicy vatthal kuzhambu inside curd rice with keerai kootu on the side, and devour Amma's flavorful bharli vangi with chapati.

I think it is also about little traditions.  For instance, back when Appa would do grocery shopping on Thursdays (his work week ended on Wednesdays with a break on Thursdays), he would almost every time buy matar karanjis and suralichya vadya (khandvi) from Chitale Bandhu to supplement lunch.  Little things like these are never forgotten.  I hope my kids are building such memories as well.  At least we try to make little traditions.  For example, we try to do Friday chaat nights, Saturdays hakka-noodle nights, and Sunday pongal-gojji lunches.  Ultimately, when my daughters grow up, I would like them to think of home cooked food like sambar, saaru, kootu etc. as their comfort food, instead of what is portrayed as comfort food in popular culture, viz. all high sugar, high carb, indulgent items like ice cream, french fries, pizza, etc.