Thread by @Joshi_Aar

To welcome the ‘cold wave’ in Bengaluru, i made my tradtional Kumaoni staple for lunch today. This is what gets us fired up on a cold/snowy afternoon in the hills. Let me describe the dishes in detail

Top left is Ras. A flavourful broth made of whole legumes and cloves slow-cooked in an iron wok (which gives it the distinctive black colour) for 5 hours. Then tempered with garlic, ginger, chillies in 4 dollops of ghee

Next is Palak ka Kaapa. Spinach lightly fried in red chillies sputtering in mustard oil. A little turmeric and salt does the trick. It’s finished off with a spoonful of wheat flour to thicken it

A simple salad of radish, onions and tomatoes slathered with stone ground coriander and green chilli. Sprinkle some salt and a dash of lime and you’re done.

Now comes the fun part. Bhaang ki chutney. Hemp seeds roasted and ground with chillies, coriander, lime and salt. The heat From the roasting and The lime take the edge off.

All this is had with rice or roti. I went with rice. And yes, this is not the way to it. Not in fancy dishes. Just dunk all the dishes in a steel plate, mix them with your hand and slurp away. And remember, deep sleep for next 2 hours is guaranteed