So, I have yet another
guest post by my gracious SIL who has
managed to document a recipe very close to my heart. Traditionally, most Indian
people know of kanji as a winter drink. The very mention of the word conjures
fond memories of my maternal grandmother, who was the only person I ever knew
who would make yummy kanji. Winter vacations, were always associated with
yummy gaajar achaar and kanji. She passed away a long time back, the tradition
moved on to my mother and when I got married, I found kanji again being made,
every winter by my mother-in-law. For the sake of posterity and to honour and
continue the tradition, I’m glad that my SIl decide to document this one and
that we will have the benefit to carry this custom forward. The best part is:
the recipe was tested far away in the US, and the photographs were taken here; a
complete cooperative effort.
Kanji is truly a family recipe. One of my earliest and
fondest childhood memories is that of my great grandmother and her huge ceramic
martabaans (jugs) of kanji.
In the winter afternoons, we would all settle down on the
verandah of the ancestral home in Amritsar looking forward to an afternoon of
the winter sun. These lazy afternoons were always accompanied by cool glasses
of this mildly sour beverage, a bit of gossip and a lot of fun.
