Chef Deepa Chauhan revives her Sindhi traditions with her fragnant Mogra Sharbat, a floral summer cooler. Taste the refreshing sip of heritage and seasonal simplicity.
Deepa Chauhan’s journey as a chef has been remarkably inspiring. She earnestly endeavoured to showcase fading Sindhi dishes on Masterchef India and now to global palates. With simple ingredients, traditional methods, and love for her Sindhi culture, Deepa has cultivated recipes that are simmered in love and cooked to perfection. Sindhis were fortunate to wrap the best of everything to create culinary marvels. Partition was hard for everyone, but “Sindhis were already travellers, accustomed to new situations and experiences, which made it easier for them to adapt,” said Deepa Chauhan in conversation with Outlook Traveller Eats. Deepa sees celebration in everything about the Sindhi culture. Even with the simplest ingredients, the cuisines are crafted to perfection. The right blend of spices, classic ingredients and traditional methods makes the food a delectable feast. “It’s the simplicity and boldness of the recipes that make everything so unique and memorable,” claimed Deepa.
Talking about some of the unique ingredients of Sindhi cuisine, Deepa shared how tender drumsticks, dried lotus stem(been in Sindhi), and dried ladyfinger have been some of her favourites.
Deepa highlighted the lost essence of these ingredients: “With the increased facility of storing and transporting certain fresh food/ ingredients, certain traditions like sun drying of vegetables, pickling, fermentation are declining”. She highlights how fresh food is great, but certain ingredients like rice, millet, and tubers taste better and cook better when aged or stored. “You should respect what the earth is giving you in the right season and the right manner,” she added.
Sindhi food is versatile, using simple and unique ingredients. Most Sindhis follow cultural traditions that include a speciality for every season. To send seasonal goodies to their daughters, families send a variety of syrups and sharbats like Chandan, Mogra, Mango, Thandai, and Khus.
The Mogra Sharbat, a legacy passed on from Deepa’s mother and grandmother, has the freshness that can bog down the heat and humidity, a perfect blend of flowery fragrance, and flavours of elaichi paired with the sweetness of sugar.